Tear You Apart

Vices

I avoided the Birch house for as long as I could but unfortunately, I had promised Leah to go with her to that stupid wedding. My mother had dropped off the things she bought me to my father earlier in the week and the dress hung in my closet awaiting its debut.

I was sitting in my last class for the day thinking about the upcoming weekend. Leah and I had agreed to get ready at her place Saturday morning and we would drive separately from her parents. It was perfect. I could fulfill my promise to my friend and avoid her brother almost completely.

The thought of the eldest Birch child brought about a plethora of emotions and I found myself feeling hopeless. What was my problem? Given my intentions originally were hostile, that feeling melted away the moment he kissed me. I had never felt something that strong when it came to the opposite sex. I still couldn't believe it. I didn't know where we stood though. He'd blatantly ignored my attempts at flirting when I tried last time. What had changed?

Sadly, I wasn't able to ponder the thought any further because the bell rang, signaling the end of the school week. Rushing out to my Jeep, I threw my bag into the backseat thankful I'd taken the top down. The October sun was shining and there was a crisp bite to the breeze as I pulled out of the parking lot and headed towards home to bury myself in blankets and finish my Mystery Science Theatre 3000 marathon I'd been working on the last two days.
**
Saturday morning rolled around much faster than I liked. I was standing on the porch with my backpack slung over my shoulder and my dress carefully hung over my right arm at exactly ten AM. The air was warm and lazy and there wasn't a cloud in the sky.

I contemplated faking an illness and flaking out but thought better of it.

You'd be better off. Nobody wants you here.

Biting the inside of my cheek and taking a breath, I rang the doorbell. There was already noise coming from the house before I even got to the door and Nick answered it while giving me a once over. He was dressed in a pair of pajama pants and a tee shirt.

"Good morning beautiful," his voice was horribly flirtatious. It was almost comical.

"Hi." I pushed past him and nearly ran into Diane who was rushing past dressed in nothing but a fuzzy blue bathrobe and looking almost deranged.

"Oh, thank God you're here! We're running late as you can see. Leah is upstairs dear; we're hoping to be in the car within the hour so please hurry!" She wasn't even looking at me as she practically ran upstairs.

Biting my lip to suppress a chuckle, I made my way after her towards Leah's room. Her door was wide open but by the warbling coming from the bathroom, it sounded like she was in the shower.

Knocking on the door and alerting her of my presence, I warned her I was going to get dressed while I waited for her. She shouted her confirmation and went back to singing as I rolled my eyes and chuckled, heading back into the mauve bedroom and closing the door behind me. Placing my bag on her bed I slipped out of my shoes and simultaneously slipped my tee shirt over my head. Just as I started to pull off my black leggings a noise overhead caught my attention.

A light scratching sound was coming from the old metal vent that ran the length of the room. I wondered if they had mice as I peered up at the ductwork before snorting. Not this perfect family. Nonetheless, I couldn't help but feel paranoid, almost as if I was being watched. As I turned away to continue undressing, the skin on my neck prickled.

Chalking up the feeling as nerves, I slowly peeled down my leggings, leaving me standing there in nothing but the strapless nude bra I'd donned for just the occasion and a lacy black thong that I'd chosen to avoid any embarrassing panty lines. The moment I dipped down to remove the fleece pants from around my ankles, a loud bang came from the vent above me, causing me to jump nearly out of my skin and gasp.