Hours later the bedroom door I have been staring at opens. It's Ryan. I clench my fists in an attempt to control my anger.
"Thanks for bringing back my homework" Ryan says as he closes the door behind him. He stretches his arms over and behind him, his back cracking.
He's wearing a shirt now, and I wonder where he got it since he hasn't been in his room.
"I have to take a shower, when I get back we'll figure out this whole sleeping situation" he says with a small smile playing on his lips.
For a moment I'm petrified, why'd he smile like that?
Ryan leaves his room and soon I hear the water run in the bathroom I was just in.
Several minutes later Ryan comes back. He enters his room and I notice all he has on is a towel strung low on his hips. He runs a hand through his sopping wet hair and looks up at me to catch me staring. Fuck.
I turn my head to the left, I don't want him to think I was checking him out.
"I don't care if you look" Ryan says cheekily.
I bite my lip as I try hard to focus on the dresser on the left side of his room. He's disgusting me.
Unfortunately Ryan walks right in front of my line of sight.
"You are really hot Jen. Let me bite that lip" Ryan flirts and I look in the other direction.
Suddenly my chin is yanked towards Ryan, and I'm looking right into dark and dangerous eyes. "I don't think you're in a position to defy me" Ryan threatens, his voice low.
His breath is hot on my lips, water dripping off his hair and onto my face.
"Please... Don't do this" I beg quietly.
A drop of water lands on my lower lip and Ryan's eyes drop down and focus on it. Suddenly, his lips claim mine. I pull on all four restraints tied to my limbs, but nothing gives.
He bites my lower lip and I feel his tongue leave a warm, wet trail across it. I open my mouth to protest but he takes the opportunity to his advantage, his tongue entering and exploring my mouth.
I can feel his hand rubbing against the fabric of my jeans, inching his way closer to one spot. His other hand runs down the side of my neck, stopping at my collar bones.
"Ryan, stop" I command when he moves his lips to my neck, but my voice doesn't sound demanding at all.
While he nibbles down my neck, he presses his firm body against mine and slides his hand down my torso to rest on my thigh. I whimper when I feel the hardness of his erection on my hip through his towel.
"Ryan please stop. I didn't do anything to you" I beg again.
"I have to admit, as soon as I saw you up close at the lunch table yesterday I was hard in an instant. So I would say you definitely did something to me" he responds, making me mortified.
"You're crazy. A psycho" I say.
"I do what makes me happy" Ryan says, and suddenly stands up.
He listened to me?
Ryan's hands drop to his towel. He moves his hands to pull it off of him and I squeeze my eyes shut before I see something else I don't want to.
I hear him giggle and then a drawer open and shut. Finally, a door clicking shut.
My eyes open and I realize I'm alone in his room again. My breathing is erratic. My lips still taste like Ryan's mouth and I can feel the damage done on my body from Ryan's teeth.
There's nothing I can do except catch my breath. I want to rub Ryan's taste right off my lips but I can't.
A couple minutes later Ryan comes back in, only wearing boxer briefs. He's carrying a duvet and a pillow.
He throws them on the ground between his dresser and the bed.
He straightens out the covers and then walks back to the door to hit the light switch attached to the wall next to it.
Once off, dim city light from Ryan's window above his dresser barely illuminates the room. He makes his way back to his makeshift bed with a sense of familiarity.
As he lies down I ask, "Why'd you stop?"
"Did you want me to keep going? Because I can certainly do that" Ryan responds with his back facing me and his front facing the dresser.
"Of course not" I say.
"Good. Because it's a school night and I need my sleep" Ryan says and is silent after that.
He still cares about his sleep after all that has happened today? I think about how simple it seems to Ryan, that it's totally okay to kill someone if they're a bad person.
"Why do you do it?" I ask, my wrists still twist in the ropes, trying to find a comfortable way to rest.
"It feels good" Ryan says, without me having to further explain my question.
What feels good? The revenge? I think back to my first psychology course last year at school. A fact comes to mind. One of the most common reasons a person becomes a murderer: control. At school he and his friends put on a façade where they don't fight back against bullies or rude people. This plays to their advantage by keeping them out of trouble. But once no one is watching, they will show who is in charge. The things they do, it's a claim for power, for control.
I'm brought out of my thoughts by seeing Ryan shift around in his covers.
"I'll sleep on the ground if you'd like" I say.
Ryan turns over and I can just make out that he's looking right at me. "Yeah right. How dumb do you think I am?" he asks.
"Honestly, I would do anything to just get out of these ropes. And if I tried to escape, I know you could easily outrun me. I'm not athletic at all" I say, trying to convince Ryan to free me.
"You'd do anything?" Ryan asks.
Possibilities of what Ryan would have me do to get out of these ropes run through my mind.
"Well, not anyth-" I begin to say but Ryan cuts me off.
"I have an idea" Ryan says and springs to his feet.
He walks over to me. "Don't try to escape, you know what will happen when we catch you" he threatens.
I wasn't planning on it and I still am not.
I let Ryan untie me without a fight.
"I'm going to lay with you" Ryan says.
I frown and start backing off his small double bed.
"Not like that. Just stay still or I'll tie you back up" he says.
He climbs onto the side of the bed where I have now made room for him.
"I'm not going to pull anything on you Jen, otherwise I would have continued what I was doing before. But I need to keep my arms around you as we sleep so I know you aren't escaping" he explains.
I consider my options. Be tied up all night or have a killer next to me in bed all night. As much as my mind says go back to being tied up, my irritated wrists say differently.
I turn on my side and I feel his arms wrap securely around me. I'm disappointed in myself for giving in, but right now I just want to fall into unconsciousness and forget today ever happened.
