DEVIANT [H.S.]

2 - A Different Perspective

I've been up in my room for about five hours now, listening to the rumbling laughter of Jeriah and Caleb downstairs as they watch television and create some unique bond.

Something we have never been able to do. Something that I don't have the desire to do. I watch my chest as it rises up and down too many times for me to count, and I get a thought.

This isn't how I should be spending my birthday. In my room, alone.

I should be out there... in the streets of London.

I shift my head to the side to look at my bedside clock; it's only 5:30.

If I want to sneak out, I have to do it at 8:00. That's when Jeriah goes into his office to review his work of the day before heading to bed. That gives me a good two hours to get ready.

I swing my legs over the edge of my bed and once my bare feet hit my wood floor, a shiver crawls up my spine. I look down and realize I never bothered to change out of this dress. Sighing, I pull the dress off and find a big t-shirt to wear while I put on makeup and redo my hair. I walk into my bathroom, my curling iron still warm from doing my hair earlier.

"He's not going to control me completely..." I tell my reflection in the large mirror in front of me. My hands grip the marble counter forcefully as I look at myself, seeing a bird locked in a cage. This bird needs to be set free.

///

Two hours later my hair is back to its full volume and my makeup is London ready; I'm prepared to take on the streets. All I need to do is put on my outfit and a pair of shoes and I should be good.

As I walk into my closet I hear my bedroom door creak open, and I automatically regret looking back to who is standing there.

"Going somewhere?" Caleb asks, leaning slyly against my door frame. I want to take a pair of scissors and shred off every bit of his perfect blonde hair.

"Um, yeah," I mutter, sliding dress after dress aside. I hear his sneakers squeak against my floor and I have the immediate urge to throw him out of my window into the bushes of roses and thorns outside it.

He actually has the nerve to walk into my room without permission to come in.

"And where do you plan on going?" He keeps on, his blue eyes taking in every detail of all my gold-furnished decor. As if he's surveying me, judging in a way.

I look up at him. "Out," I reply dryly, hoping to eliminate him from my space. But when he throws himself onto my bed, I know I won't get rid of him that easily.

"You need me to come with you?" He smirks. He already knows of his obligations to accompany me wherever I go. Unfortunately, I'm not going to oblige to his obligations.

"I would prefer you didn't." I say, pulling out a short black dress off the hanger, tossing it onto the bed (more like Caleb's chest). He takes it into his hands.

"You're going strapless? Wow, you must be eager for some attention.." Caleb chuckles, barely missing the pair of red pumps I chuck at his face. One shoe clambers down to the floor and the other lands on the bed, a few inches out of Caleb's reach.

"Why are you here? You know I don't want to talk to you," I snap, walking out of the closet and closing my door. Whatever Caleb and I talk about, I don't want Jeriah to know about.

"That's why I'm here actually. We got off on the wrong foot-"

"And I would like it if it stayed that way."

He rolls his eyes and sits up, his crew neck sweater bunching up around the rim of his jeans, revealing the hint of a black boxer band. "You can't stay mad at me forever."