Burning Down the House

by Allie Gail

  “If you’re really concerned about it, why don’t you say something to your dad?”

  “Are you kidding? My dad thinks he can do no wrong. He’s got him completely scammed - it’s sickening.”

  “Oh, come on now…your dad’s not that gullible. If he thinks Rob’s okay, then maybe there really is nothing to worry about. Maybe we’re just being paranoid.”

  “I’d rather be paranoid than turned into toast.” I glanced up when I heard the key in the lock. “Lemme call you back later. The Westons just got home.”

  “Okay.”

  I pulled myself up off the floor just as they walked in. They were both dressed to the nines for their evening out and looked very classy. I think the Westons are one of the most attractive couples I’ve ever seen. I swear they’re like life-size Barbie and Ken dolls with a cute little Disney princess for a daughter. There’s a portrait of the three of them hanging on the wall and it looks like it should be plastered on a billboard - the ideal American family advertising a car dealership or something.

  “Have any trouble?” Mrs. Weston always asks me that, and I never fail to provide the same answer. Even when Peyton misbehaves, which is rare, I never snitch on her. We have an understanding.

  “None at all. She was an angel, like always.”

  “We appreciate you coming on such short notice.” Mr. Weston pulled some bills out of his wallet and handed them to me. “I know you probably had more exciting things to do on a Saturday night. Besides calculus, of course.” He winked conspiratorially with a flash of his dimpled grin. It’s no wonder he’s a favorite among the female students.

  “Not really.” I admitted, accepting the money. “Thank you.”

  “No problem, Sara. Thanks again.”

  “Anytime.”

  I tried not to make any noise coming in since it was close to midnight and my dad could be asleep. He keeps erratic hours - I can never tell when he’s going to be up. With his profession, he tends to just grab sleep when he can, no matter the hour. I don’t know how he does it.

  The interior of the house was dark and quiet so I turned off the porch light and locked up, figuring everyone was in bed. For some reason I can’t explain, when I reached the hallway I paused by Rob’s door. There was a faint sound of running water so apparently he was still up. Kind of a weird time to be taking a shower. My hand automatically reached for the doorknob as if it had a mind of its own. Turning it slowly, I opened the door just a crack, compelled to find out what he was up to.

  His bedroom was dark but the door to the bathroom was wide open and the light was on in there. Okay, so he was just taking a shower. Nothing ominous about that. Maybe he just got home.

  Right as I was about to close the door, the splashing sound abruptly ceased as he turned off the faucet. Then came the distinct click as the shower door opened. I knew it was time to leave but for some perverse reason I convinced myself it would be a great idea to stick around for just a little longer. The possibility of catching a glimpse of him au naturel was an irresistible temptation. So I stood there in the dark hallway like some surreptitious voyeur, even though I knew it was an inexcusable invasion of his privacy.

  I couldn’t believe I was spying on him like this. It was wrong. It was pathetic. I should leave.

  Then I saw him. Emerging from the shower, he stood in front of the bathroom sink with a towel over his head, using both hands to rub the excess dampness from his hair. And that was the only part of him that was covered up. I saw it all, and nothing in the world could have persuaded me to tear my eyes away from the spectacular view. The detonation of a block of TNT in the background wouldn’t have been enough to distract me.

  He was more exquisite than I’d ever imagined. An earthbound Adonis. He was chiseled perfection.

  I don’t know how long it was before I suddenly became aware that his arms had grown still and the towel on his head was no longer moving. And when I reluctantly pulled my eyes upward I realized to my horror that he could see my reflection in the mirror above the sink. He was watching me…watching him.

  For the second time that week, I saw him smile.

  With my heart pounding wildly against my chest, I scurried down the hallway and into my room like a cat with its tail on fire. I couldn’t believe the supreme idiocy of what I’d just done. Caught in the act of leering at his naked body - how was I ever going to live this down? Now he probably thought I was some kind of sex-starved degenerate. And at this point, I wasn’t so sure it was an entirely inaccurate assumption. A peeping Thomasina, very classy - what the hell was I thinking?

  It was a good thing the next day was Sunday because I didn’t get much sleep that night. Every time I closed my eyes I saw him. All of him. And the sandman couldn’t find his way to me through that image. He was probably enamored by the sight, too.

  When I finally did sleep, I had the most beautiful dreams.

  I hid out in my room for as long as possible the next day, trying to delay the inevitable moment when I’d have to face him. It wasn’t an event I was looking forward to. Rob was such an anomaly, it was impossible to predict how he was going to react. Maybe he wasn’t the wisecracking type, but let’s face it, this was a golden opportunity that would be hard for anyone to pass up. All I could do was keep my fingers crossed that he’d take the high road and not decide to completely humiliate me.

  The enticing aroma of sizzling bacon finally lured me into the kitchen. I expected to see Dad standing over the stove, but to my surprise he was seated at the table with the Sunday paper. Rob was the one cooking breakfast, even though it was close to noon. He must have slept in as well.

  “Look who’s up,” Dad cheerfully announced. “Have a good sleep?”

  “Mm-hm. I guess I was tired. Peyton wore me out last night.”

  He chuckled. “You were a handful at that age too, just so you know.”

  “I didn’t mean she was bad, just…bouncing off the walls. She wanted to play hide and seek the whole time.” I reached in the pantry for a box of Honey Smacks, then emptied some into a bowl.

  “Bacon and eggs?” Rob offered, glancing sidelong at me. Seeing nothing out of the ordinary in his expression, I let myself relax.

  “No, thanks. I don’t really like eggs.” Opening the fridge, I retrieved the milk and poured some over my cereal before sitting down at the table with my father. “What’s new in the world today?”

  “Nothing particularly riveting.” He refolded the paper and laid it on the table. “Rachel and I are going hiking this afternoon at Rocky Gap. Anyone want to join us?”

  Rachel’s just one of the women he occasionally dates. Ever since the divorce, my dad hasn’t been very big on commitment. He seems to prefer unlimited freedom. As long as he’s happy, it doesn’t bother me. “I don’t think so. Three’s a crowd. Anyway, I should try and get some studying done. I put it off yesterday.”

  Rob sat down with his plateful of bacon, eggs and toast. “I’m going over to Doug’s later.”

  “Suit yourselves.” Dad stood up and shuffled away, stretching lazily. “Well, I better go get ready. Told Rachel I’d pick her up at one.”

  Alone in the kitchen with Rob, I tried to avoid looking at him. But it’s really not that easy to sit across the table from someone and not make eye contact, so eventually I inadvertently glanced up at him. I was flustered to find that he was staring directly at me while crunching on his bacon. He wasn’t smiling, but there was a distinct suggestion of mild amusement in his eyes.

  “Get a good look, perv?” he asked softly.

  I could feel the heat rush to my face. Great. He wasn’t going to let this slide after all.

  “It’s not like there was all that much there to look at,” I retaliated. Talk about a monumental lie. There was plenty to see. And I do mean plenty.

  Pushing his plate aside, he crossed both arms on the table and leaned forward on them. For a while he didn’t say anything, just continued to watch me until I felt ready to search for a rock to crawl unde
r.

  “What?” I finally snapped, unnerved.

  “So.”

  “So, what?”

  “Did you like what you saw?”

  I couldn’t believe what I was hearing. This was definitely a whole new side of him I’d never seen before. Well, if you didn’t count the one from last night. Instead of attempting to come up with a clever retort I just sat there with my mute mouth partway open. Because there was simply no safe way to answer that question.

  “What’s the matter? Cat got your tongue?” He was almost whispering now, and I found it impossible to pull my eyes away from his hypnotic gaze. Still, I said nothing.

  His mouth twisted into a triumphant smirk. “All right then. Have it your way. We’ll just keep this our little secret. But I think there’s one thing you should keep in mind.”

  “Yeah?” I finally managed to reply.

  “Turnabout’s fair play.” He stood up and walked over to the sink with his empty plate. “Remember that.”

  The cryptic threat served to jolt me out of my trance. “What do you mean by that?”

  “Think about it.” He rinsed off the plate and stuck it in the dishwasher, then turned to leave.

  “Wait a minute! What did you mean by that?”

  I got no response. And maybe it was as much as I deserved. I knew one thing though. From that moment forward, I was going to make it a point to mind my own business.

  6

  I forgot about Rob’s warning as the weeks slowly blended into a predictable pattern of classes, homework and extracurricular activities. Our theatre class had voted on a December production of The Crucible but we were promptly overruled by Mr. Clarke, who insisted on Romeo and Juliet instead. Ugh, how very original. Having landed the demanding role of Juliet opposite Riley Murphy’s Romeo, I had pages and pages of Shakespearean dialogue to begin memorizing.

  Dana dragged me to the first game of the season, and we watched as the Hillcrest Hornets effortlessly slaughtered the opposing team. We also watched Slutty Staci bouncing her D-cups up and down the sidelines. I had to admit, she was the most energetic cheerleader out there. It was a wonder she didn’t give herself a black eye with those knockers though.

  Soon after that I came down with a head cold that lingered for about a week, so I had a valid excuse to skip the next game. Dad had that weekend off though, and he and Trudy (another name from his little black book) went to see Rob play. We won that one, too.

  Mom called once in a while, but mostly we just emailed back and forth. Home from her honeymoon in Europe, she seemed to be adjusting to my absence admirably well. Of course, most of that was probably due to Stanley’s presence. No doubt they were enjoying their time alone together.

  As for the situation at home, it was a little surreal. Rob seemed to go out of his way to avoid me. I know it sounds like a cheesy cliché, but we really were like two ships passing in the night. Each was aware of the other, but there was no contact, no communication. We spoke only when necessary. I won’t say I didn’t make a few conversational attempts, but he was totally unreceptive and after a while I gave up. For whatever reason, he appeared to want nothing to do with me.

  It crossed my mind that the peeping tom incident might have had something to do with it, but I wasn’t convinced. He didn’t seem embarrassed by it. Still, I never told anyone about that, not even Dana. I held the secret close to me, a delicious memory that I pulled out and revisited every night after I crawled into bed. It was a pleasant vision to fall asleep with. To share it with anyone would have tarnished it somehow.

  And the days melted one into the other, average and uneventful, until quite suddenly things took an unexpected turn.

  It was after school on a Thursday, while Dana and I were working on the parade float, that Riley Murphy approached me about homecoming.

  My fingers and clothes were stained with blue and gold spray paint and I still had physics homework to look forward to, so I was trying to persuade Dana to call it a day. Unfortunately for me, she was a nominee on the ballot for homecoming queen and wanted to be as involved as possible in order to improve her odds. And of course, being the dutiful best friend, I wanted to help her out in any way I could. Even if it meant spending my afternoon spray painting a ginormous papier-mâché hornet.

  “Looking good!” Riley gave his approval as he appeared around the corner of the flatbed trailer. He looked up at me and laughed. “You have blue paint on the end of your nose.”

  I rubbed it, but I don’t think it came off. “You guys done with practice already?”

  “Uh-huh. I was just about to head home.” He leaned against the edge of the trailer. “How come I didn’t see your name on the ballot?”

  “Me? What, are you kidding?” I walked to the edge and sat down with my legs dangling over the side.

  “Here, let me help you.” He reached up and I used his shoulders to balance on as I hopped down. “Were you planning on going to the homecoming dance?”

  “Hadn’t thought much about it,” I admitted. There was so much other stuff going on, a lame school dance wasn’t exactly top priority. His hands were still around my waist and I backed up a step to extricate myself from his hold.

  “Well…would you like to? You know, with me?”

  Caught off guard by his question, I stumbled for an answer. What was he asking me for? Surely he’d rather take one of the members of the court. He was the star quarterback, after all. “Oh. Um…homecoming. That’s next weekend, right?”

  He laughed good-naturedly at my hedging. Of course I knew when it was - I’d have to be living with my head buried in the sand not to. “Yes, it’s next weekend. So how about it? Sorry, I know it’s kinda last minute.”

  Well, why not? It could be fun. “Okay, sure. Yeah. I’d love to go.”

  “Awesome! Why don’t you give me your number and I’ll call you later so we can work out the details.”

  “All right.” I rattled it off to him and watched as he added it to his contacts list. From the corner of my eye I saw Dana on the float, grinning down at me.

  “So you need a ride home or anything?” Riley looked up from his phone.

  “Oh…no, thanks. I’ve got my car.”

  “Okay. Well…I will give you a call later then.”

  “All right. Talk to you later.”

  With a wave, he turned and walked away. Dana jumped down from the trailer, pausing to wipe her hands on her jeans. “What was that about?”

  I shrugged, still bemused. “He just asked me if I wanted to go to the homecoming dance with him.”

  She looked surprised by this news. “He did? Oh, you suck! I’m jealous.”

  “Well, what are you going to do about halftime coronation? You still don’t have an escort. Time’s running out, you know.”

  “I know, I just…” She gave a frustrated sigh. “I wanted to ask Trent, but I know he’s probably escorting Staci. I can’t even think of anyone else I’d want to do it.”

  “What about Doug? He’s nice.”

  “Meh. I guess.”

  “You know what your problem is? You’re too picky.”

  “I’m not picky. I’m just…selective.”

  That was an understatement. I knew she’d already declined two invitations to the dance. I knew why too, even if she wouldn’t admit it. She was still holding out hope that Trent would come to his senses.

  “Big difference.” I fished in my pocket for my keys. “I’m gonna go on home, okay? I still have homework to do.”

  “Okay. I think I’ll stick around a little longer.”

  “See you tomorrow then.” Twirling the keychain around my finger, I headed for the parking lot while thinking about homecoming. The dance was supposed to be semiformal, so I’d need to look for a dress this weekend. I could probably get Dana to help me pick something out. She had a good eye for fashion. I’d seen her coronation gown - it was a gorgeous royal blue with lots of sparkly sequins. It was going to look stunning on her.

  I couldn’t belie
ve it when I drove up and saw Trent’s truck parked in our driveway. Talk about providence - this was almost too good to be true! I’d already come to the decision that if Dana wasn’t going to put herself out there, then I’d just have to do it for her. Now seemed like the perfect opportunity.

  “Hey, sex kitten!” Trent greeted me as soon as I walked in. I noticed he had a bottle of Blue Moon in one hand. As a matter of fact, they all did. When the cat’s away… “We were just about to order some pizza. What you want, baby? I’m buying.”

  Actually, pizza did sound good. “Doesn’t matter. I’ll eat whatever you order.” I ignored Rob’s almost imperceptible frown. I didn’t care if he didn’t want me hanging out with them - I had a mission.

  “You have something on your nose,” Doug informed me.

  “I know - it’s paint.” I rubbed my nose self-consciously. Okay, the stupid paint had to go. Leaving the three boys to call in their order, I went in the bathroom to scrub my face. Luckily the stuff washed off with soap. After changing into lounge pants and a t-shirt, I rejoined them.

  “Come sit with us, sweet thing.” Trent patted the spot beside him and I settled on the sofa between him and Doug, pulling my legs up to cross them. Rob was in the recliner, sprawled out in his favorite position with one leg thrown over the side, channel-surfing. Damn, but he looked cute.

  “Wait, turn it back - was that the Playboy channel?” Doug perked up, his interest captured by a brief flash of nudity.

  “No. We don’t get the Playboy channel, dipshit.”

  “Turn it back, man!”

  Rob changed the channel with a sigh. “It’s Black Swan.”

  Trent grabbed the end of one of my socks and shook my foot playfully. “Is that what you girls get up to in ballet class?”

  “Yep. That’s exactly what we do.” I kept a straight face, playing along.

  “Well, hell - slap some tights on me then! Where do I sign up?”

  “We could use someone to play Herr Drosselmeyer.”

  “Harry who?”