The Other Side

Chapter Three

As he watched Mindy stirring in her sleep, Nolan debated what to do. In the light of a new day the events of last night seemed surreal and embarrassing. There was nothing ominous or frightening about this awkward seventeen year old girl, but that hadn’t stopped him from crying to Riley about it. No doubt it would be a long time before Riley let him live that one down.

            When her eyes finally fluttered open, she didn’t get out of bed right away. The stinging slap of not making the cheerleading squad didn’t hurt as much as it had yesterday, but her near miss with Leland still filled her mouth with a taste fouler than her morning breath. Just the memory of the way he looked at her yesterday was enough to make her want to shower.

            Mindy threw off the covers and jumped from her bed. She started to pull her tank top over her head and then paused and looked around the room. “Nolan, are you still here?”  

             I’ll be damned, Nolan thought.

            While he didn’t answer her, he did wrestle with it. No one ever accused him of being a nice guy. Even in life he’d been considered an asshole, a conceited prick, a total pervert and a litany of other insults girls hurled at guys. Setting all that aside, it was a little late for Mindy to worry about being modest. Having spent the last week shadowing her, he’d already seen her naked, and he’d been surprised to admit it wasn’t a bad show. Though small, her tits were the perfect shape and she actually had hair on her crotch. Too many girls these days were into the waxing thing. For him, that was a huge turn off. That wax job always made him feel like some sort of pedophile. Not that it made a difference. The days of being able to do anything with his sexual energy ended when his physical body died.

            As he considered this, Mindy shed her tank top and tiny shorts before heading into her bathroom. Seeing no reason to do otherwise, Nolan followed. Mindy started the shower. While waiting for the water to warm up, she brushed her teeth. The effort jiggled all of her naughty parts, and Nolan smirked. Once her teeth were clean and her breath fresh, she stepped into the shower and adjusted the knob to a satisfactory temperature.

            If he concentrated hard enough he could almost smell the fruity scent of her body wash. For a second, he contemplated stripping down and getting in with her, but he held back. Just because he was an angel of darkness on a mission to tap into her recesses of evil didn’t mean he was going to do anything to make her fearful of him. The thought of her looking at him the way she looked at Leland was enough to drive him from the room.

            Nolan sat at her desk chair while he waited for her to finish getting ready. The shower turning off wasn’t the end. It was only a signal she’d be in the bathroom at least another half-hour. In that time, she’d dry off and then blow dry and brush her hair and apply deodorant and lotion. Then she’d emerge from the bathroom clean but naked.

            As if on cue, Mindy opened her bathroom door and returned to her room. Nolan stayed silent as she pawed through her underwear drawer for a pair of panties and bra. He wanted to ask her why she was digging when every undergarment she owned was a crisp but dull white, but he didn’t want to embarrass her. She’d just pulled on her shorts and T-shirt when the sound of her mother’s muffled moans infiltrated the room. Blood rushed to her face and then drained just as fast.

            Oh, God, Leland’s here, she thought.

            That was one time where the use of the word God didn’t have a negative affect on Nolan. The only time it got to him was when people spoke directly to God. Then it made him ill in the most literal sense of the word.