“You too!” she lies.
I laugh. “Don’t worry, I’m about to change.”
I strip off my clothes, sweaty from skating around the park with the dogs. Even though we’re well into October and the sky was cloudy, it was close to eighty degrees, muggy and humid.
I consider rinsing off in the shower, but I don’t really have time. Instead, I pull a black mini dress out of the closet, along with pair of suede boots.
The glint of silver on my chest catches my eye. I pause for a moment in the middle of the room, looking down at my own naked body.
I never removed the piercings.
Maybe I should, because every time I see them, I remember the blinding, burning pain as that psychopath shoved a needle through my nipple.
But it also reminds me that I ran down that fucking mountain, naked and half dead. I survived. In a sense, I stole these silver rings from him, because he thought they’d adorn my corpse.
Shimmying into the dress, I look around for some clean underwear. It’s been two weeks since I hauled my clothes down to the laundromat, and I’m in short supply. Desperate and late, I snatch up the panties off the floor, pulling them on.
“What the fuck,” I mutter, as wetness presses against my pussy lips.
Hooking my thumbs on either side of the briefs, I lower them to knee level.
I examine the crotch of the underwear, trying to figure out if I got my period without noticing. It’s hard to tell on the black material.
Stepping out of the panties, I rub my thumb across the strip of cotton sewn into the crotch. It feels distinctly slippery. Raising my fingers to my face, I smell a faint bleachy scent.
I drop the panties on the floor, heart racing.
I know what cum smells like.
Don’t be ridiculous, I tell myself. You’ve lived in this house for two years. Nobody comes up here.
Three of my roommates are male, but two of them are gay and the third, Peter, is engaged to my other roommate Carrie. He’s the only one of us who’s not an artist, which means he’s the only person who pays his rent on time. He works at Adobe, and he’s so shy and soft-spoken that we’ve probably only spoken twelve words over the last two years.
Of course, the rest of my roommates have friends over constantly. It’s possible some asshole could have come up here and poked around my stuff.
I sweep the room, wondering if I would notice if anything had been moved.
My copy of Dracula is still right next to the bed, open to the same spot as before.
Other than that . . . how the fuck would I know if someone had been in here?
My heart hammers against my sternum, my hands trembling as I set Dracula down once more.
You’re being paranoid. So your underwear was wet. It’s probably just . . . you know, discharge or some shit.
I don’t want to be this person. Jumping at shadows and thinking everybody is out to get me.
I can’t live like this, terrified and paranoid.
I take several deep breaths, trying to slow my racing heart. I look at my new phone, bought with a credit card.
7:14. I’m really fucking late.
Snatching up my purse once more, I leave the underwear on the floor and hurry out of the room commando. No underwear is probably better than dirty underwear anyway.
Josh is irritated it took me so long to arrive.
“I’ve been sitting here twenty minutes with this drink!” he says. “The waitress is pissed.”
Our waitress is leaning up against a pillar, flirting with the busboy.
Josh often transfers his own feelings onto other people. Especially me.
“You like the caprese salad, right?” he says, scanning the menu.
“Not particularly.”
He’s not listening, eager to put the order in as soon as he can catch the server’s eye.
“We’ll have the caprese and the pork belly to start,” he says.
I don’t argue, because Josh will be the one paying for the meal. I’m still a broke bitch.
Relaxing a little, Josh slings his arm across the back of my chair.
He’s 5’10, dark-haired, with a tasteful amount of scruff on his face. He’s got classic Polish features, something I’ve always liked, and he reads and watches an immense amount of documentaries, so we’re never forced to sit in silence.
“How’s Bruno doing?” he asks.
Josh likes animals, probably even more than me. He sometimes joins me at the park when I’m walking the dogs. He takes his shirt off and jogs beside us. Any time it’s socially acceptable to take his shirt off, he will.
“Bruno’s good. I fucking hate his owner, though. Buys him the shittiest food. Keeps him locked in that apartment all day.”