The Arrangement Anthology 2(5)

“I already did. No one’s here. Nothing’s out of place, but it feels wrong.” I bite the tip of my finger and glance at the door again to make sure it’s still locked.

“You’re just worked up. Don’t worry about anything. Go change in my room if you want.” I know she’s just saying it to be nice, but we’re both thinking the same thing. Someone was in here.

Glancing around again, I try to pinpoint what’s been touched, but nothing is obvious. After switching my phone to the other ear, I tell her, “Asia is doing someone in your room.”

Mel laughs. “Good for her. It took them long enough. Damn.” Her hand covers the phone again before she adds, “I gotta go, chica. I’ll see you at Black’s in a bit.” The line goes dead.

I toss my phone onto my bed and walk into the bathroom. My heart has resumed a normal pace and I’m starting to feel stupid for being so freaked out. The first time I stayed home alone I was 9 years old and I couldn’t calm down the entire time. Every noise was a threat. I finally grabbed our fat tabby cat and bunkered down at the top of the staircase with my little heart beating uber fast. I totally thought I was going to die. The cat on the other hand thought I was insane because I wouldn’t let him leave my side, but he didn’t know about my cat-in-the-face attack plan. It would have worked, too. A startled, orange, thirty-pound cat smacking into some dude’s head would have thrown him off balance long enough for me to jump out the bedroom window. Maybe I have too much imagination, but when I get freaked out, I can get a little bit weird. Like now.

Leaning into the shower stall, I turn on the water. After letting it flow over my hand for a few seconds, I adjust the temperature. Pulling off my shoes, I toss them on the floor and pad over to the closet to get my bathrobe, my little basket filled with soaps and hair care products, and the best razor in the world. Amber’s not here. This is nice. There’s no sign of Naked Guy and I can take my time. Sean and Gabe are looking out for me. There’s nothing to worry about, although I may need to consider the purchase of a new attack cat. Amber wouldn’t notice.

God, my life is a mess. Graduation can’t come fast enough. I’ll get my degree and finally get things rolling. I can picture myself there, in graduate school, and how my life will look after I make it through my degree. I think about those things, about the future that seems to be constantly crumbling as I slip out of my clothes and pull on my robe. My mood is turning to crap. I need to sniff the entire bottle of honeysuckle soap. Maybe mix it up with sweet pea and warm vanilla sugar. I’ll smell like a yummy fruit cocktail. They totally need to make cake scented body wash. I’d probably eat the bottle. Mmmm. Cake. Sighing, I set the basket of goodies on the ledge inside the stall, before pulling the door shut. The little room is like the inside of a cloud as steamy mist billows from the shower stall.

My gaze finally lifts to the mirror. Every thought falls out of my head as panic comes back, full force, choking me. Steam swirls in the humid air, fogging the glass, as letters slowly appear.

BE AFRAID





CHAPTER 5




I watch without blinking as words form in front of my eyes. For half a second I wonder if Amber is screwing with me, but there’s no way. She wouldn’t have written this. The edges of the letters start to drip down the glass. My body tenses as my arms start to shake. Before I can think, I react. My hand wipes away the words and condensation smears across the glass. Rivulets drip from the mirror and moisture clings to my hand.

I stand there, frozen for a second, and then bust out of the bathroom and run down the hallway. I bang on Asia’s door like a lunatic and I honestly have no idea what I’m going to say, because everything sounds nuts.

Asia peeks through the crack in the door. Her face is flushed and her hair is messy. “You have really bad timing.”

“This is going to sound crazy, but can you guys come down to my room?”

Asia gives me a really weird look and nearly closes the door in my face. I manage to get my fingers into the space between the door and the jamb before she closes it. “Ahhh! I didn’t mean it like that.”

She opens the door a little bit and looks really annoyed. “Talk fast, Avery.”

“Someone is messing with me and they only seem to do it when I’m alone. I need to get ready for work and my roommate is gone. Can you guys come and hang out in my room? You can stay there for the rest of the night.”

“We were going to stay here for the rest of the night.”

“Yeah, but Mel will be back around two o’clock. I’ll give you my room until morning.” I give her my best puppy dog face and clutch my hands together under my chin. Begging looks awesome on me.