Fatal Attractions

Chapter Two

     A loud electric buzzing jerked me out of sleep. I shoved my arm out from under the covers and smacked my hand down onto the snooze button of my alarm clock, silencing it. 

     "Ugh." My neck ached as I lifted my head out from under the pillow and combed sweaty fingers through messy hair.

     "One more day," I mumbled to the quiet of my bedroom. "A couple more hours, and you're free."

     It was the last day of school. My last day as a senior, and I couldn't be happier. I've been dreaming of this day since I first walked into my kindergarten class as a five-year-old.

     "Lena, you up yet?" a voice called, and my bedroom door burst open. I tensed and looked to see who it was disturbing my quiet time. Realizing it was Ally, I relaxed and pulled myself up into a sitting position.

     "What can I help you with?" I questioned as she hopped up next to me and settled into the mattress.

     "Is today really your last day of school?" she asked, eyeing me. I responded with a firm nod.

     "That's so cool!" she exclaimed, and I lifted my chin up to laugh.

     "So you're, like, really a grown up now, huh?" She scooted closer to me.

     "I guess you could call it that." I turned to look at my alarm clock. I had already wasted a good chunk of time, and wasn't even out of bed yet.

     "Come on, you can ask me more questions later." I threw the covers off of me and stood, the soles of my feet comforted by the coolness of the hardwood floor.

     "We've both got to get ready for school. It's your last day, too." I placed my hand on her back and ushered her towards my bedroom door.

     "But it's, like, your last day, ever." She looked up at me and I nodded, fighting the urge to pick her up and toss her out of the room, cartoon-style.

     "Yes, Ally, my very last day, ever, ever, ever." I walked with her through the bedroom door. She seemed to be out of questions as she ran off down the hallway and disappeared around the corner to the living room. I chose not to follow her.

     Rounding the corner, I saw my mother standing at the stove in silk pajama bottoms, poking at slices of bacon cooking in a pan. I had always seen my mother as a beautiful woman. She had caramel colored brown hair that fell to her breasts when she didn't have it tied up in a bun. Light freckles dusted her nose, the same nose that sat on my face as well.

     Birthing three children turned her slim early-20's figure into a voluptuous and curvy one, and I always admired how elegant she always managed to look in jeans and a t-shirt.

     I entered the kitchen with a loud sigh, and she looked up from her cooking.

     "Oh good, you're up." She smiled and placed a hand on her hip. "Can you go see if Josh is awake?"

     I almost argued, but didn't. My mother was a master at getting her children to do things they didn't want to do, so I bit my tongue and made my way towards Josh's room. 

     Josh was older than me by a year and a half, and liked to rub it in my face every chance he got. For being the older one, he didn't act like it.

     I grabbed the doorknob to his room and slowly turned it. His room was pitch black, and I was silently hoping he wasn't even home and had left early. I stuck my arm inside the room and felt around for the light switch, flipping it up when I found it.

     Light filled the room and when my eyes adjusted, I saw my brother laying in bed in nothing but a pair of boxers.

     "Oh, gross! Not cool, not okay!" I yelled, turning away from the scene and knocking frantically on his bedroom door. A groan followed by muttered cuss words let me know he was awake.