Page 55 of The Man Next Door
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We were hanging in Izzie’s room, and I was a ball of nerves. Izzie was flipping through aSeventeenmagazine and didn’t notice me losing my mind. I bit my lip, wondering how I could get her out of the room. She looked pretty comfortable, stretched out on her bed.
“You think you could get me something to drink?” I asked.
She studied a fashion spread closely. “Uh… you can get it yourself. You practically live here, Abby.”
I growled silently. “Pretty please…” I pleaded, and right on the spot, knowing Izzie as well as I did, I decided to turn the whole thing into a game. “You can get me anything you want, and you can blindfold me,” I suggested. “And I have to guess what I’m drinking.”
She bolted up, very excited. “That sounds like fun.” She bounced off the bed and reached for the collection of scarves and belts hanging on her wall. She pulled out a long blue scarf, and eagerly wrapped it around my eyes. I couldn’t help but smile. Her excitement was contagious. My heart pounded enthusiastically in anticipation of what I was about to do. Unlike Izzie, I’d never stolen before.
“Don’t move an inch,” she said. “I’ll be right back.”
I didn’t waste a second. I peeked to see if she was really gone and did not hesitate. I slid open the top drawer of her dresser… very quietly. I rummaged through the mess of underwear, searching for the elusive black lace panties I knew she owned. She had shown them to me. I had been surprised, even envious at the time. I didn’t own such underwear, and the sight of them aroused me.
My breath hitched when I found them. I quickly tucked them in the pocket of my jeans. I sat back on the bed, and adjusted my blindfold. I waited for her impatiently, my heart pounding like a jackhammer.
“Okay, I’m back,” she cheered, and handed me a glass. I took it carefully and brought it to my lips. I felt bad about stealing the undies, but I knew for a fact that she had stolen them herself from Marshalls. I chalked it up to karma.
I sipped the concoction she’d made and winced. “What is this? Pickle juice?”
She laughed. “Yeah… pickle juice mixed with peach juice, and a dash of lime juice.”
Strangely enough, it wasn’t all bad. I pulled off the blindfold and took another sip. “It’s not horrible, actually.”
She stole the glass from my hands. “Let me try it.”
She scrunched her nose as she ventured a taste, and shook her head in disgust.
“What? You’re the one who made it.”
“It’s disgusting.”
I checked my watch, and feigned concern. “I need to go. It’s almost six, and I need to make dinner.”
She shook her head. “I can’t believe they make you cook every night.”
“It’s okay. I don’t care. I actually like cooking.”
I stood up to leave, her panties burning a hole in my pocket.
“Okay, bye.” I waved as I turned to leave. She eyed me with curiosity, as if she could tell I was up to something.
My pulse raced as I ran all the way home. When I got back, my dad and brothers still hadn’t returned. I took the opportunity to quickly run to my dad’s closet. It was small, and held nothing but a single suit jacket, dress pants, two button shirts, three ties, and a nice pair of shoes. On the other side, was my mother’s stuff, stuff I’d told my dad I wanted to keep, at the tender age of nine. Her wedding gown, two pretty dresses, a red suede jacket, a tall pair of black boots, a pair of blue heels, and a small box of jewelry.
I searched through the box and fished out a pretty gold necklace. I grabbed the red jacket and the tall black boots.
I hurried to my room and closed the door. I pulled Izzie’s panties out of my jeans pocket, stripped down, and slipped them on. Surprisingly, they were a perfect fit. I pulled out my ponytail and tousled my hair. I dabbed on some red lipstick, eye shadow and mascara. I never wore much makeup, but desperate times called for desperate measures.
I shrugged into the red jacket, which fit relatively well, but the sleeves were slightly too long. I slipped on the high heeled boots, and again they were slightly too big, but they would certainly do the trick. My heart pounded against my ribcage as I stole one last look at myself. I I had to hurry and leave before the boys got back. If Dad saw me all dolled up in Mom’s jacket, he would be very suspicious, with reason.
I dashed to the back door and stepped out, wobbly on my heels. My heart was pounding as I made the trek to Gavin’s place, a route I hadn’t walked in a while. I banged on his back door, trembling. I closed my eyes and drew a long breath in an attempt to calm myself down.
Magnum barked, and I wondered if he was alone. Was Gavin still there?
Following what seemed like an eternity, he finally opened the door. His eyes were wide with surprise, and he stood motionless and speechless for a long beat. “Abigail…”
“Can I come in?”
