Jack-In-The-Box-Girl: Chapter Four

Chapter Four: Sunglasses

Pounding. Someone was splitting my head open with a sledgehammer.

Or, maybe, was it a ringing? Was I inside a gigantic bell? Hitting against it with my forehead?

No, it was neither of these things. This was the feeling of dying. How did I know this? Well, I really didn’t. But it sure as hell felt like I thought dying felt like.

Groaning, I shifted to a new position. My head was throbbing horrendously and my leg felt like it was lying on spikes. Stars burst beneath my eyelids, and I started feeling nauseous. After a while, I opened my eyes, dreading to see a white florescent light and Dr. Klopfler’s smug face. Instead, I saw a dark ceiling. Turning my head, I saw an alarm clock. It was ten after one. Then I finally realized: I’m in my own room, not the hospital! And this is where I wanted to be. But the pain was no less incredible one way or the other. But I had the perfect painkiller!

Groping around, I opened a drawer in my nightstand, and pushed the back of the bottom down. Reaching in my little pigeonhole, I withdrew a small baggie. I smiled to myself, as I closed the drawer. After doing that, I switched on a lamp, wincing slightly at the bright light. Using the light that was emitted, I rolled myself a joint, and lit it using my Zippo lighter, which had a green four-leafed clover on the front, that was sitting on my nightstand. Then, suddenly, I put the joint out.

I deserve to suffer for what I did to Denny. I’m not smoking this! So, I put the whole thing back in my pigeonhole, and sprayed the Oust that I kept with my stash, for deodorizing. I wanted to go back to sleep, but now I was wide awake. I already felt stoned anyway, even though my wounds throbbed terribly, So, I turned on my CD player, and put in A Perfect Circles album, eMOTIVe, skipping directly to song number three:

As I walk on, through this Wicked World

Searching for light in the darkness of insanity

Ask myself: Is all hope lost?

Is there only pain and hatred and misery?

And it’s time I feel this way inside.

There’s one thing I want to know

What’s so fun about peace, love, and understanding?

What’s so fun about peace, love, and understanding?

As I listened to the longhaired hippies sing, I tried thinking about better times, but failed miserably. For one thing, my wounds bothered me continuously. For another thing, I seemed to be lying on my arm, and could no longer feel it As I moved my arm around, trying to rub some feeling back into it, my phone started spewing Saliva’s [Untitled Bonus Track] from their album Survival Of The Sickest:

…Sex, Drugs, and Rock N’ Roll

I got a feelin’ down in my Soul, yeah!

Sex, Drugs, and Rock N’ Roll

You’re never too young

You’re never too old, yeah!

Looking at the name, I saw R. Haster. Flipping the phone open, I demanded of her, “How’d you get my number? Who gave it to you?!”

“Relax, Allan! Nobody gave it to me. I heard your mother asking your dad what it was, so I whipped out my own phone and copied the number.”

“Which I’m gonna hafta switch now, thanks to you.” Sighing from my headache, I wearily asked, “Whaddaya want?”

“Well now, aren’t we cheery tonight?”

“Y’know what? How bout you go scrape off all the skin on your leg, then come back and tell me how you feel!? Do NOT answer that,” I continued once I heard her suck in a breath. “It wasn’t an actual question.”

“Y’know, you’re actually better mannered now, than you usually are. I’d better push you off your bike more often,” She laughed.

“Your poor attempts at humor disgrace all that is funny.”

“Ha ha! Very funny,” she said nastily. “Actually, I called to see how you were feeling. I said nothing. Hint, hint: how are you feeling? Again, I said nothing. I heard her sigh. I want you to see something.”

“What?”

“Get up and walk over to the window.”

“My leg hurts.”

“You’ll wanna see this,” She said, amused.

“Fine,” I sighed. Struggling up, I limped over to the window. “What am I supposed to see?”

“Oh, yeah. I should probably go over there, shouldn’t I?” I let out an impatient sigh. “Okay, okay. I’m commin’; Just don’t get your skivvies in a bunch!” She walked in front of her window, wearing a pink belly-shirt, jean-short cutoffs, and—

“Hey! Gimme back my sunglasses!”

“Aha! I thought you’d say something to that degree or another! Since you were rude, I don’t think I will. I think that I’ll just keep ‘em. What do you think about that?”

I took a deep breath. Then, I took another one, for good measure. “If you don’t give back my sunglasses, then I will personally castrate you and hang you by your entrails from the ceiling in the school gymnasium. What do you think about that?” She just laughed.

“You’re so funny! Okay, okay. I’ll give you your precious glasses back, if it means that much to you. T-t-y-l.”

“Huh? Tee-tee—what?”

“Talk to ya later? Duh!” I heard the tone go blank, and Rebecca walked out of my line of sight. Turning my back on the window, I stripped out of my gym clothes, down to my boxers and switched those for another pair. I was just walking over to the door, when it flew open, and Rebecca walked in.

“Wha—!? What the hell are you doing here? How’d you get in here?” She just chuckled evilly. “Shoo! Go away.”

“…No. I don’t think I will.” She looked me up and down, eye lingering on my boxers and bare chest. “I like it here, better.”

Glaring and flushing both, I demanded my sunglasses back. “Where are they, by the way?” I asked, seeing that she wasn’t wearing. She smirked. “Don’t fuck with me. I am so not in the mood right now,” I told her, as I was looking for a pair of pants. Her smirk widened. Sighing, I continued, “Alright, what do you want?”

“Oh, you’re so smart. Yes you are; yes you are!” She smiled hugely at me. I stared stoically back, totally unfazed, pulling my pants on. Her smile fell, leaving behind a frustrated expression. “Aw, you’re no fun. You’re never any fun!” My face remained blank. “Fine, then. You won’t play along, then no sunglasses for you.” Still no change. “Fine then. Be that way. Goodbye.”

She was halfway out the door when I finally caved with a sigh. “Fine. What do you want?”

“Emotion,” was the response I got as she turned around, and skipped back up to me, without missing a beat.

“Sorry. I’m all out. Next?”

“What do you mean ‘next?’” she laughed at me. “There is no next. I want emotion.”

I blinked at her. “Like I said, I’m all out. What else do you want?”

“Like I said, I don’t want anything else.”

I ran my hand across my face. “I know I’m gonna regret this; what emotion is it that you think you want?”

“I’ll settle for any emotion. You’re so cute when you show emotion!”

Please, God. I don’t ask much of you, do I? I just want peace, please, I asked, knowing full well that what I wanted was actually the complete opposite. That’s all. “Ugh,” I said grimacing. “You’re so weird.” For some reason, this sent her into a fit of giggling which, in turn, made the sunglasses being fought over fall out of wherever it was that she hid them (I was faintly curious as to where they were hidden, but would never admit to it) and land on the floor, which I promptly snatched up and stuck on my face.

“Wai—! No! No fair,” she finally managed to force out in between gulping breaths. “Wha— I— H-how— You didn’t sh-show any e-em-emot— Aw, you know what I mean!”

I smiled grimly. “I know. Anyway, now that I have these,” I hefted my sunglasses, “you c’n leave.”

I saw her face fall. “You don’t want me here?” she asked in a hurt voice. “B-but what you said earlier”

“Forget what I said earlier,” I interrupted in a dangerously cold voice. “I wasn’t myself when I said that.”

“What do you mean, you weren’t yourself? Of cours—”

“No I wasn’t!” I roared back at her, making her cower. Taking a deep breath, I continued, a little more calmly. “I was… distraught when I said that. I wasn’t making much sense. And it’d be best if you just forgot I said anything.” Tears welled up in her eyes. “And dammit, stop that crying! I can’t stand it when girls cry!”

“I-I’m sorry, I didn’t m-mean t-to”

“Just leave already!” I shouted at her, shoving her back and slamming the door in her face. After a moment, I heard her stifle a sob and knock softly on the door. After I ignored it, it came again, a little more persistent this time. “What is it!?” I demanded, yanking the door open, just in time for Rebecca to throw herself at me, knocking me to the floor and wrapping her arms around me. I sat there dazedly for a moment.

“I-I just w-wanted to make y-you smile. I was s-so w-worried about you, and you d-don’t even c-care! I-I-I—” The rest was lost in another sob, as she buried her face in my chest. Sighing, I held her close to me, stroking her hair.

“Dammit,” I whispered. “Now I’m gonna cry!” The bastard tears started leaking down my cheeks, just as I had predicted. “It’s not that I don’t care about what you did. You know damn well, why I’m doing this.” Suddenly, Rebecca looked up at me, and softly kissed me on the lips. After a moment, I drew back very slowly. “No. Don’t kiss something like me.”

“Stop that! You can’t blame yourself forever!”

“No?” I asked darkly. “Well, I can sure as hell try!” I pushed her back softly. “Now go home. I tried getting up, and cried out in pain.

“Oh my God, I’m so sorry!” Rebecca jumped to her feet. “I forgot all abut your leg! Oh my— here, lemme help you up.” She grabbed my arm, and hauled me up, slinging one of my arms over her shoulders. This was about all that I could take. She helped me limp over to my bed, and helped me sit down. “Are you alright?”

“Eh. About as all right as I’ll ever am with you around.”

She started giggling. “Oh, Allan You’re really too much.” I grunted. “Now I can take advantage of your helplessness.” She sat on the bed, next to me, putting her arm back around me.”

“Get the fuck away from me,” I snapped at her. “Did you not hear what I’ve been saying the last couple of minutes?”

“No, I heard you, I just took a leaf outta your book and ignored you.” I had to chuckle at that. “Ha! Finally! I got my emotion. Now you can really have your sunglasses, with my consent.” She leaned her head on my shoulder, and snuggled closer to me. With a giant sigh, I smacked her upside the head, making her yelp. “Ouch! What was that for?”

“Get up! Go home and get some sleep. And leave me the hell alone!”

“But, I wanna stay here,” she complained, rubbing the back of her head. “I like it here.”

“Why?!”

“’Why?!’ Because it’s comfortable in your arms.”

“Get the hell outta here,” I told her, shoving her onto the floor. “Go home. Sleep. Stay there. Do not come back.”

“Allan,” she sighed. “Why do you have to be such an asshole?” She got up, rubbing her butt, and sat next to me again. “You’re not impetuous enough; not by half! Now shut up and grope me, like a normal guy,” she demanded, grabbing my hand and placing it lightly on her breast, and leaned in to kiss me. Hard. No pun intended.

I held as still as I possibly could as, contrary to last time I was in this kind of situation, my body was taken advantage of. She slipped her tongue past my teeth, probing my mouth as I panicked, not knowing what to do. Her hands were all over my body, softly running over everything, making me shudder. I tried weakly to push her off, but she just ignored my feeble attempt. Then I truly realized: Now I’m in the position that I put Denny in!

The sudden reversal of roles shocked me so much that I stiffened even more, if at all possible, making Rebecca pause in her molestation. “Dammit, Allan, this is no fun if you don’t cooperate! Now squeeze!!” I squeezed automatically, realizing that her breast was still in my hand. Then she grabbed my hair, yanking my head back, so that I had to look her straight in the eye. “Allan,” she began softly, but firmly. “You wont rape me. I know you, Allan. You will not hurt me, no matter what you think. Not that you can rape the willing anyhow. Now kiss me!” Her eyes held me captive, so that I could do nothing other than to obey her command. So, I kissed her.

For some reason, I suddenly remembered a line from the song Field of Dreams, by Evanescence:

Oh where, where has my heart gone? Trapped in the eyes of a stranger! It felt like my heart was trapped inside the eyes of a stranger too…

Her hands pulled my face closer to her own, shoving her tongue further into my mouth, then guiding my hands around to her back. I pulled her closer. She responded to me with a moan that sounded suspiciously like a muffled finally. Then I put my own tongue into the fray. Somehow, Rebecca managed to smile while kissing me. Rebecca began running her hands over my chest, and I reached down, gripping her buttocks.

Then Rebecca reached down to undo the button on my pants. “No,” I broke off, gasping. “No.”

She sighed. “Too soon? I thought so, but, what the hell; I thought Id give it a try anyway No harm trying, eh? You know what I mean, right? Allan? Are you even listening to me? All—”

“Yes, thank you. I do, in fact know what you mean. Now shut the hell up.” She smirked. I smacked her again. “Stop your babbling.”

“Sure, Cookie-Boy,” she laughed, snuggling back up to my chest. “If you want…” There was a moment of silence. Then: “How often do you think of her?”

“Not often enough,” I replied softly. “Not by half…”

She reached up and stroked my cheek. “I’m sorry. I really am.”

“I know you are,” I said, nodding. “And that’s exactly why I don’t understand it.”

“Do you want me to explain it to you?” Rebecca asked eagerly. “I can tell you; I really can! I—” I forestalled whatever it was she was about to say by pressing a finger against her lips. The lips that looked so inviting. So soft; so kissable

Shaking my head to clear it of unwanted (WANTED!) thoughts. “No,” I sighed to her. “No I don’t.” She just shook her head and smiled at me, as if she knew exactly what I was thinking. Then she leaned in for another kiss

*****

Then next day came only too soon. Yawning, I sat up and stretched, feeling the absence of Rebecca’s warm body. “Rbecca? You here?” Silence. “No. Finally!” I flopped back down, closing my eyes. I sighed. “She’s gone,” I said a little sadly.

“You’re not rid of me yet, Cookie-Boy. Not by a long-shot!” She walked back into my room, and stretched in a yawn, turning in place to make sure I got a good view at every angle.

“So I see. Mmm. Well, now that I’ve seen it, it can leave.”

“That’s nice. So, I’m a hooker now, am I? No, not even that. Since you’re not even paying me for my services, I’m just a slut. Am I your slut now? Am I? Hm? Am I?”

“…Uh.” I looked blankly at her. “Do you actually want me to answer that?”

“Umm. Nooo. No I don’t. I am your slut. You’d say no.” I had nothing to say to that. “Your silence is very reassuring.”

“Okay, Cid. I’ve gotta go take a piss, now.” I limped out the door, and left her in my room, laughing. As I was in the bathroom, I wondered what I was gonna do about her. After flushing, I turned toward the sink. Only to find Rebecca standing there in the doorway, looking at me. “What the hell’re you doin?”

“Oh, nuthin’ Just scoping out what I’ve got to work with. Didn’t get that good of a look, though. Do it over, so that I can watch!” She tilted her head to the side as yet again, I said nothing. I was getting really good at this. Then I started to wash my hands. “Still too early?”

As I brushed past her, she grabbed the front of my shirt, pulled me close to her, and kissed me. When she was done, I pulled back. “If that’s all you’re gonna do, then I guess that you really are my slut.”

“Oh, Allan,” she replied, looking as if I’d just told her she was the most beautiful girl in the world. “I thought you’d never say that! Oh, I’m so happy!”

I just stared at her hugely smiling face. “You. Are. A. Freak.”

“Oh, Allan,” she gasped, hiding her face in her hands. “Don’t make me blush.” Not deeming this worth my response, I walked out of the bathroom and closed the door. I entered my room, and put on a pair of pants, belting them on, and a shirt, then walked to the doorway. I paused. Wasn’t I wearing pants when I went to sleep? I asked myself. Did Rebecca…? Y’know, I’m not sure I wanna know. So, I continued downstairs. Which was empty. Where is everyone? I asked myself. I checked my parents’ room. Nothing I checked Penny’s room. Nothing. I checked the garage. Also nothing. Odd.

So, having nothing else to do (that could actually be done), I went to the kitchen and got out the pancake mix. Fifteen minutes later, Rebecca came strolling down the stairs, into the kitchen. “There you are! I’d wondered where you’d gotten off to— Ooooh! Pancakes? I love pancakes!” She ran over and threw her arms around me. “Thank you, Allan!” I continued cooking, like nothing had happened. “What is it, Allan? Why won’t you talk to me?”

I sighed. “Because you talk enough for the both of us. Plus the fact that it’s, what? Eight in the morning? I glanced at the clock. “I’m sorry, seven forty-five. I usually don’t talk this early. In fact, I usually don’t function this early. Understand?” She just stared at me for a moment. Then:

“You’re way too gloomy. Be happier.” She reached up and pulled my face into a smile. “See? You’re much cuter this way.” She stretched up onto her toes and kissed me on the cheek. “Now, when are the pancakes gonna be done?”

I closed my eyes, and silently begged for the patience not to strangle her right then and there. “…There’re some in the oven, already. By the way,” I began, “Do you happen to know where my parents went?”

“Oh, fine. They went to visit your grandmother for a couple of days. And guess what?” She didn’t give me a chance to answer, although I wasn’t going to, anyway. “They told me that they thought I should stay here, with you! All weekend long!”

“Oh, God. What more do you want of me!? Why would you do this to me?”

“Actually, your mother told me to leave first thing, but I just ignored her. I think she was afraid that you’d do something to me. Although you did show a bit of skin, which was very nice! I felt all like— Hey, Goddamn, this is my Jam!— when I saw your body. Y’know?”

Shaking my head, I answered, “No. No, I don’t. And by the way,” I added. “It’s ‘Oh, hot damn.’ Not Hey goddam. Understand? Good. Now be a good girl, and eat your pancakes quietly. Then, just as quietly, you can go home. And not come back.”

“Where’s the syrup? I can’t find it.”

“…You’re not listening to me, are you?”

“No, not really. Now where’s the syrup? In here? Ah, never mind. I found it. Got any milk? Where’re the cups? Never mind, again. I found those, too.”

“Just put some music on, would ya?” After a minute of silence, I thought about what I’d just done. Music came on just as I began to turn around. A strong bass guitar and drums. Then the singing started:

Listen as the wind blows from across the great divide. Voices trapped in yearning, memories trapped in time. The night is my companion, and solitude my guide…

Not too bad, so far… I thought to myself. Then I heard the chorus, and I understood.

…To hold you down, kiss you so hard. I'll take your breath away. And after I'd wipe away the tears. Just close your eyes dear!

“How sneaky. How could I ever notice your oh, so obvious seduction? Hm. I shoulda known that you’d play Evans Blue.” She just smiled innocently. “Don’t gimme that shit! You know exactly what I’m talking about. Think you’re sneaky, eh? Well, you ain’t foolin’ me.” And I continued making the pancakes.

After a minute, “Not working? Hmmmm… Evan’s Blue is infallible! Grow a pair and kiss me on your own, already!”

I finally snapped. Spinning around, I grabbed her by the throat and slammed her back against the fridge, making the glass in her hand drop onto the floor, and shatter. “Stop it, already! Just fuckin’ STOP IT! I can’t fuckin’ stand your mindless babbling, so just get the fuck out! Just GET OUT!” I jerked her around and—

—and I was lost in her wide, frightened, bright gray eyes. Suddenly, all my anger drained away, leaving me feeling enervated. My hand released her throat, and reached up to gently stroke her cheek. “I’m sorry, Rebecca…” I whispered, mournfully. “I-I just—” My head sagged down and my knees buckled, making me fall to the floor.

After a moment, Rebecca also dropped to her knees, and I felt her arms encircling my head as she whispered to me, “It’s alright, Allan. It’s alright…” She began rocking me back and forth, ever so slightly. “It’s alright. I made you do this; it’s not your fault. I pushed you a bit too far, what with your leg, and everything…” She started stroking my hair. “It’s not—”

“But it is my fault,” I exclaimed. “It is! I shouldn’t be losing control like this! I’m gonna—” do something that I’m gonna regret! “You’ve gotta get away from me!”

Rebecca snorted. “Nice bravado! With someone else, it might actually’ve worked!” She brought me close, and kissed the end of my nose. “Don’t worry. Be happy!” She laughed at my sigh. “See? Isn’t that better?” Ignoring her words, I wrapped my arms around her, and hugged her close. “Awwwwww… How sweet. You can show emotion on your own!”

“You’re ruining the moment. Now shut up. This is what you wanted, isn’t it?” I smiled wryly, since, deep down, this is what I wanted, too. I felt her arms tighten around me. Then I slowly let go of her, and pushed her away. I stood up, and looked down at her. Neither of us said anything, for once (on her part). Just then, the phone rang. By the chorus of Saliva’s [Untitled Bonus Track], we could tell that it was my phone. I sighed. Would you get it for me? Rebecca jumped up and ran for the stairs.

…Drugs, and Rock N’ Roll; you’re never too young; you’re never too— The song was cut off, as Rebecca picked it up. I heard her voice drift down from my room: “Hello, Allan’s phone, his Girlfriend speaking.” When will it ever stop? “Yeah, Allan’s here. Who’s this?”

“Just bring the fuckin phone down,” I called out.

“Dennise? Dennise who?”

“Rebecca! Get your ass down here with my phone,” I yelled at here, while starting to climb up the stairs.

“Bless you. Oh, that’s your last name? I’m sorry. Oh! You’re the Dennise that Allan…” She was silent for a minute. “Oooohhhhh… Just a sec. Oh, Allllaaaaan! You’ll never guess who’s on the phone!” By this time, I was at the top of the starts, and limping over to my bedroom door. “Dennise is callin’ you! What’s that? Yeah. Uh-huh. Of course I’m his girlfriend! Why do you ask?” I pushed the door open, to Rebecca standing there, my phone up to her ear. “Yeah, he’s right here. Here ya go, Allan.”

I snatched the phone out of her hand, and put it up to my ear. “Denny? That you?”

“Yeah, it’s me Allan, who was that girl?”

“Oh, that was just my neighbor, Rebecca.” Looking at the person in question, I pointed at her, then ran my finger across my throat.

“Is… Is she really your girlfriend?” she asked, tentatively.

“No,” I answered back, glaring at Rebecca. “Pay her no mind. She just likes to babble about odd things.”

“Oh. Allan, are you all right? You sound funny.”

“Yeah, I’m alright.”

“Allan,” Rebecca began loudly, “Aren’t you gonna tell her about your leg?”

“What about your leg, Allan? Are you hurt?”

After covering up the speaker on my phone, I said, “I’m gonna fuckin kill you! I wasn’t gonna tell her!” Into the phone, I said, “Oh, yeah, I took a little fall offa my bike.”

“WHAT!? Oh my God, are you OKAY?” she demanded.

“Yeah, I’m okay,” I laughed back to her. “I’m always okay… You know that! Right?”

“Yes, of course. I know that. You’ll never get hurt. Never!” I smiled at the conviction in her voice. Always so sure of me, I thought to myself. Always confident in my abilities. I shook my head in disbelief. “Did you mean… Umm… Allan? D-did you mean w-what you said the other day…?”

My face softened. “Yeah, Denny. I did.”

She sniffed. “Then she is your girlfriend… You did forget about me”

“No,” I said quickly. “Never! I could never forget you”

“But you said—”

“I know what I said. And I didn’t mean to forget about me completely. I meant to move on. You can’t keep on dwelling on only me! When you do that, you close all other options that otherwise might be open to you.”

“You should listen to your own advice,” Rebecca murmured into my left ear, making me freeze. “You hypocrite”

Meanwhile, in my other ear, Dennise was starting to cry. “But I cant! I still love you! Please? Why can’t I love you? Why!?” She started sobbing.

“I took a deep breath, and answered her, “Because I-I’m no good for you, I whispered. I’ll just hurt you again.”

“No you wont!” She cried back into the phone. “You wont. I know you wont! You can’t. Not with me.”

“And yet I did… You remember that. Probably more vividly than I do, myself”

“I don’t care! You can never hurt me again.”

“But that’s just the thing. I think I will. I’m sorry. I really am. More than I could ever say. But it just won’t work…”

“But I trust you! I do!”

“You may trust me. But I don’t. So, with that said, I can never be with you.” I heard her sniff once. “Its time for you to let go, Dennise. Bye, Babe”

“G-goodbye, Allan… I still love you. Forever.” And then the line went blank. I collapsed back onto my bed, drained.

Before Rebecca could sit down beside me, I said softly, “Please I just need to be alone for a while”

“Okay, Allan. Okay.” After she shut the door to my room, I curled up into a ball. But this time, I didn’t weep. It felt as if there were no more tears left inside of me.

*****

When I came back downstairs, the broken glass had been cleaned up, and Rebecca was sitting at the table, eating her pancake and drinking a glass of milk. I stood there for a minute, watching her eat. She looked rather carefree, sitting there as she hummed tunelessly to herself. I tilted my head, studying her.

Maybe I am a hypocrite, I thought to myself, for I didn’t like people watching while I eat. Yet here I was, watching her eat. Yet, I didn’t stop watching. Well, not so much I didn’t, it was more that I couldn’t. It was a strange feeling; one that I’d never had.

Then suddenly, as if sensing my presence, Rebecca looked over and, seeing my scrutiny, colored. “W=what’re you looking at?” She stuttered at me. “Do I have something on my face?” I just blinked at her, tilting my head the opposite way. I noticed that she had some strange word on the front of her shirt: Dakishimeru; underneath it was the word BoA. “Allan? Are you alright?” She sounded a little worried now. I tilted my head the other way, yet again. She just looked so cute.

At last, I blinked, and the spell was broken. I averted my eyes, and stumped over to grab a plate of pancakes for myself. I sat down at the table, and poured a bit of syrup on my Jharghs’, as she’d put it, then began to eat.

“Allan? You’re starting to scare me…” I cocked an eyebrow at her. “Are you okay?”

I smirked. “Mmm,” was the only thing I said. It was actually pretty damn fun freaking her out like this.

Rebecca’s lips began to tremble. “A-Allan? P-please talk to me.”

“And what is it that you wanted me to say?”

Rebecca sighed. “Thank God you started talking Mmm. Good. Now I’m happy!” She giggled girlishly.

“Umm? Okay?” I shook my head. “What the Hell was that all about?”

“Well, you know, I could ask the same exact thing… Why weren’t you talking to me?”

“I’d lost my patience with you. So, what was with what you just said?”

“Hmmm No, no. That doesn’t work. In fact, that sounds vaguely bullshitty. So, you’ll hafta come up with something batter than that pitiful excuse for… Well, for an excuse! Hah!” I growled, making her laugh, delightedly. “There you go! That’s the kind of kinky stuff that I like!”

“Ugh. I think I’m gonna be sick.” I gotta kick ‘er out! “Could you not be so weird, please?”

“You think I’m weird? Really?”

“Uhh, yeah. I really do. Kinda creepy, in fact.”

“Awww… That’s— Oh, Allan! You’re getting so much nicer! You usually would have said ‘fucked up’. You’ve progressed so much!”

“Oh. My. Gawd. You’re my psychiatrist. Yay.”

“O-M-G. Is that an emoti-word?”

I just stared at her. “Do I really wanna know?” I cut her off, before she could open her mouth to respond. “No, I don’t think that I do, actually.”

“It’s a word that shows emotion, silly! Even you should know that! Silly.”

“One, no; two, no. Three, you’re beginning to repeat yourself. And four, Hell no!” I grimaced. “Ugh. This is not the way I’d hoped to spend my weekend.”

“Really? Its not? Well I like it. Ehe.”

“What. The Hell. Was that?”

“What the Hell was what?”

“That uh-he crap!”

“Oh. That’s my laugh, Love.”

I froze. “No,” I said softly. “Don’t call me Love.”

“Oh, sorry, Darling.”

“Are you purposely trying to piss off,” I asked, trembling with barely constrained fury. My hands curled into fists.

“What am I doing?” she asked, guilelessly. “Is something wrong?”

“I’m going to kill you. You know that, right?”

She smirked. “Oh, really?” She asked, calling my bluff, while she walked purposely toward me, and pushed her body up against mine. Where it shaped itself to my side. And felt so very right!

I narrowed my eyes, as I stepped away from her heavenly body. Damn! I thought. Now she’s got me thinking in those terms again. I sighed, defeated.

“Well, let me tell you a little secret. You can’t hurt me. Ever.”

“Oh? And why is that? Are you superwoman? Are you Invulnerable to pain?”

“Mmm. No. You can’t hurt me because I am…” She let that trail away.

“Because you are…?”

“Hmph. You think that I’m gonna tell you? Just like that?” I nodded impatiently. “Yes, well You’re sadly mistaken, Dear,” she said, emphasizing the dear. “You’re gonna hafta earn it.”

“And how, pray tell, do I earn it?” I asked, with a strong idea in the back of my mind. Damn her! The curiosity was already killing me. “What morbid things do you have to slowly kill me with, now?”

“Hmm,” she said, laying her hand on my arm. Her feather light touch made me shudder deliciously. She smirked. “I think that that touch just told you everything that you’ll need to know.”

“That,” I sighed, “is exactly what I was afraid of.”

“Mmm. Well, maybe you should be,” she said, licking her lips. “Maybe you should be very, very, very sc—” The doorbell ringing interrupted her.

“Who?”

“No fuckin’ clue.”

Rebecca waited. “Well, aren’t you gonna answer the door?”

I shook my head. “No.”

“Well. That’s not very nice!”

“Mmm. Acute observation. Yes. Very good.” I paused for a moment. The bell rang again. “Well, that’s ni— Where are you going?

To get the door, of course.”

“No! I don’t wanna talk to them.”

“I see. Too bad.” She walked around the corner, while the bell rang again. Then I heard he door open. “Hello? Oh, hi Abbey. What’re you doin’ here?”