Groaning, Anna buried her face into her soft pillow, avoiding the bright sunlight slipping through the window blinds of her room. She pressed her chest and stomach against the bed and felt so naked, so bare, underneath the white sheets covering her.
She lifted her head and looked beneath the covers to see that she was, indeed, stark naked. Her eyes widened as heat quickly aroused her face and body, remembering the erotic memories of last night. The feelings. The sensations. Everything flashed back in her mind. It was so over the edge that she didn’t even know what to believe anymore.
Was she only creating erotic dreams in her head? Was her heart making such steamy memories to treasure? She shook her head and almost cursed once she saw her ripped shirt and underwear resting beneath her. What was she supposed to tell her Grandmother once she would see these ripped fabrics? Cats don’t eat clothes, do they?
She sat up on the bed and looked around her room, expecting to find something amiss. And she did. Her flower vase was shattered into broken glasses down the floor near her window. She remembered putting it there last night, deciding to put some evidence in case the shadow decided to come again.
Now the broken pieces of the vase were before her standing as proof. Mortified, she closed her eyes, bringing her legs close to her chest as she snuggled to the duvet covering her. She covered her face with her hands, inhaling and exhaling deep frustrated breaths.
The shadow was hunting her dreams, she thought. Or had she been sleep walking throughout the night? There must be something wrong about herself. She felt like she was a part of a horror movie in which the victim would always get the tragic ending. Even shadows are terrifying creatures and predators. She shivered at the thought and felt fear crawling up her spine.
Sighing a shaky breath, she stood up on the floor and dragged the white sheets with her as she went into the bathroom. There, she found newborn love bites painted upon her neck and shoulders. Her whole body flushed at the sight of her nudity. She decided to cleanse herself throughout. After that, she went to dress herself in a black hoodie dress paired with black ankle boots.
Many would say she dressed the same. But no one could ever really explain her love with hoodie dresses and boots. Hell, neither could she. And still, she decided that hoodie dresses and ankle boots were part of her. Perhaps because she felt freedom with it. Not just that but also she could always hide her face with a hood.
For somehow, she liked that. It was her style, her façade. She liked being the mysterious girl of the town. And she knew curiosity would always be there to come and hunt her.
By the time she was done preparing herself, she came out her room and walked downstairs to the kitchen. As always, she came to smell the delicious scent of breakfast wandering everywhere. She stepped inside the kitchen and almost jumped back when she saw Jake over the counter helping Lola with breakfast.
“Jake?”
Jake lifted his head and a smirk quickly slipped on his lips once he saw her. “Morning, Sunshine.”
She frowned at his new nickname and walked over the counter. “Sunshine?”
He chuckled. “I guess you don’t know what you really look like in the morning,” he said, looking at her up and down. He was actually shamelessly checking her out! “God, you look hot. Have you seen yourself?” he asked, wiggling his eyebrows with a smirk displaying on his face.
Deciding to ignore him, she asked instead, “How did you even know where I live? And how did you manage to fool my Grandmother to let you in?”
“She ain’t no fool. She knows me.”
She looked at her Grandmother in disbelief.
“Jackson Anderson is a good boy, Sweetheart,” said her Grandmother who was still preparing the foods on the kitchen counter. “He’s a good friend of the family.”
Jake smirked knowingly at her and winked.
“Now, eat,” said Lola. “Too much ahead of you today at School, young people.”
With that, Lola walked out of the room, leaving them. Anna sighed and walked near the counter to eat her breakfast and so did Jake.
“Where’s John? And Ben? And Bea?” she asked, realizing she hadn’t seen them since yesterday when they ditched her.
Jake smiled to himself as if remembering a memory so funny. “Hangover,” he answered, “and wasted.. so wasted.”
She frowned. “Why? What happened?”
“There’s a party downtown in Harry’s house last night. He invited his mates. Everyone was wasted.”
“You didn’t go?”
“No,” he snorted, grinning. “It was their celebration for losing over the Senior team in yesterday’s football practice. Can’t really blame them. So why would I be there? That would be awkward.”
“What about John?”
“John got laid last night at the party. He was with his Girlfriend.”
“Oh.”
“Why you ask?”
“Well, they kind of left me yesterday.”
“What?”
“They left me. And I have no ride home. Zach saw me waiting in the parking lot and he gave me–”
“Who?” he interrupted.
She flushed slightly. “Zachary Harrison.”
“He gave you a ride home?” Jake growled.
She jumped back slightly at the strength of his voice and looked at him questioningly. Why was he sounding angry? she thought.
“He gave me a ride home when he saw me alone at the parking lot,” she explained. “Why are you angry?”
Jake sighed. “Look, I just–I don’t want you getting hurt. Zach isn’t just any guy, OK? He’s dangerous. Don’t go near him. One mistake and you’re dead. Don’t let him touch you in any way.”
She frowned. Yesterday, Zachary seemed like a very nice guy to her. He even gave her her lost phone and gave her a ride home. What more could there be to him than how he acted with her yesterday?
“But why?” she asked, confused.
“He got power on the land. Just don’t let him fool around with you. He has enough girls to play with.”
“Girls?”
“Yeah,” he said. “All over him.”
She felt a sharp pain in her heart but she ignored it. “You’re an idiot if you think I’ll fall for him,” she muttered, more to herself than to him.
He scoffed. “If you think of me as an idiot, think of him as an.. imbecile.”
She rolled her eyes and scoffed. “It’s the same thing.”
Jake frowned. “It is?”
She laughed. “Do you even read Dictionaries?”
He tilted his head as if thinking deeply. “Yeah, I think so.”
She laughed, the sound of her bright voice echoing in the room, and he smiled, watching her face.