Her Sin. An original story by Sarah Smith. *work in progress*

Story and Characters copyright Sarah Smith 2009

Chapter 1, Part I

There was never a time in which she was without him, although she never knew that he had ever been there anyway. For all of her eighteen years of life, she’d been followed by him. He was behind her, in front of her, by her side, wherever he could accommodate himself to get a full view of what was happening. Many of the things she said and did reminded him of himself when he was young and living, and when his focus was diverted from her to distant memories of his past, he would think of the good times he had. But those memories were ages past, and his current task was to simply watch her; watch her until she died and then escort her with him back to Hell. Day and night he would watch her do her same routine, watch her when she sinned, watch her when she was virtuous, watch her wake in the morning, eat, go out, shower, sleep, endlessly watching until her death. But she would forever be oblivious of his company.

When he died, his own “watcher” had taken him safely to Hell, staying just behind him so that he did not stray and become stuck between realms. When he finally arrivedin Hell, he was punished, tortured, beaten, burned, starved, ripped apart and then put back together several times over, and after what felt like an eternity of performing meaningless tasks, he was privileged with the duty of becoming a Fate Watcher, like his Watcher who had taken him to Hell upon his death. The name “Fate Watcher” is given to any demon or angel charged with the duty of watching a person from the time their body has a soul until their death. Once the person has died, the Watcher escort’s their soul to either Hell or Heaven and then watches another person. Fate Watchers can not interfere in any way with their charges' life and they can not be detected by any living soul. All they can do is watch and wait.

Every soul that will ever exist resides in Heaven until the human form is conceived. The soul is then created and sent down to its new body as humans procreate. Until the child is old enough to consciously decide between right and wrong, it is watched by both an angel and a demon. Neither can influence the child’s life or decisions. Once the child has decided to either remain sinful or to pursue righteousness, one Fate Watcher leaves and the other is left in charge. As the child grows into adulthood, he or she can still choose to change to either good or evil, and the Fate Watcher that left will return and take the other’s place, but the ultimate decision of being sent to Heaven or Hell is determined by which Fate Watcher is present at the time of death, and thus the person's decision upon his or her fate at the end.

However, there are instances in which the dead soul, by its own choosing, strays from its Fate Watcher and gets stuck between the realms of Heaven, Hell, and the physical Earth. It stays on Earth in the form of a ghost, for whatever reasons, endlessly seeking its worldly memories and possessions for centuries after death.

Chapter 1, Part II

He had acquired the name Stone Angel while in Hell because, despite the agonizing pain he suffered through and the blood-curdling screams he emitted while suffering countless tortures, he remained stoic and emotionless. He was not afraid of the worst of punishments—he could be dealt that on any demon's whim—but instead acquired his nickname because of his quiet and emotionless disposition that he had in life. He typically did not speak unless first spoken to, and would answer no more than necessary to any question posed by anyone. During his brief life, it seemed like nothing could draw him to laugh or to cry. He had a cold heart towards everything. He took no interest in anyone but himself and in nothing but that which benefited him best, no matter the expense to others.

Of course, his entire life wasn't spent this way. He used to be a lively and energetic young boy, loving, kind, selfless, compassionate, courageous, all the things one would expect out of a typical ten year old boy. But the ravages of time plagued upon him at a young age. Death flew on swift wings to take away the love and companionship of a loving family in his life, and with no guidance and support of such a family, he quickly turned cold and selfish. He knew of no other way to deal with his pain and loss. So, for the short time he spent living, he lived for himself, by himself, to benefit himself, with no other cares in the world.

Now appointed the task of Fate Watcher in Hell, he was merely expected to watch the girl every waking moment of her life, from birth until death. If by chance he is replaced with her Heavenly Fate Watcher, he must wait in Hell on standby in case she changes her alliance back matters less virtuous.

Chapter 1, Part III

Like many young girls teetering on the verge of adulthood, Leah led a duplicitous life. With her family, she was a sweet and charming girl, polite and courteous, and never selfish. She did not get in trouble, and according to her parents, led a fairly uneventful life filled with summer church camps and vacations to the lake, Friday night cinema outings with her friends, and tournaments with her school tennis team. She seemed fairly typical at school with average grades ranging from the occasional C to the more frequent A, and occasionally had detention for acting out in class. Her parents believed it a phase she would outgrow when she enrolled in college the next fall.

With her friends, however, the ones who knew her true desires, she was a bitch. She was mouthy, rude, indecent, obnoxious, selfish, vulgar, and demanding. She spent her "fairly uneventful" weekends at anyone's house that was having a party, getting drunk, high, and strewn out on a rainbow of pills, and occasionally her weeknights for pleasing the menagerie of boyfriends she picked up at such parties. Unknown to her friends, however, was that she had also pleased a young man who was substituting one of her classes on a few instances. She may have been crude, but she was not without shame.

On this particular day, she was laying in bed having a pleasant dream of shopping and modeling when her mom threw open the door, flashed on the light, and bellowed, "Rise and shine, and give God the glory, glory! Rise and shine, and give God the glory, glory!" She woke up in a flash, startled by the sudden high pitch of her mother's voice, her heart pounding instantly. She jolted up in bed and glared at her mother.

"There's my beautiful early bird!" her mother cooed and smiled. "It's Sunday, and we're leaving for church in an hour and a half. You better hustle if you want breakfast before we leave!"

"Okay… Thanks mom…" she mumbled, eyes half open and heart still pounding. Her mother closed the door loudly as she left and continued to hum the catchy tune she had startled Leah awake with.

"Damnit. Damnit! She cursed as she flopped herself out of bed and stumbled to the bathroom. She stared at herself for a few moments, noticing the smudged mascara under her eyes, the imprints of the pillow case creases on the side of her face, and her wild half-falling out ponytail. "Fuck…" she mumbled as she turned away and began a hot shower. Once dressed and made up, she went into the kitchen to join her overly joyed mother and father, and was surprised by the presence of her aunt and cousin at the table as well.

"Good morning, Leah!" her aunt greeted.

"G'morning Aunt Jeenie and John." She said, forcing herself to be more peppy than what she really felt.

"Hope you don't mind us stopping by for breakfast. I thought it'd be nice if we all went to church together this morning."

"Don't mind at all." Leah replied.

"Good," her father said, "because we're going to lunch this afternoon too. Steak sound good?"

"Sounds awesome. Especially with green beans and mashed potatoes." She almost leaked sarcasm.

"You must have an appetite this morning," her mother responded, "How big of an omelet do you want?"

"Just two eggs and some toast is all. I'm…uh…saving my appetite for this afternoon!" Leah smiled wide to make her mom believe her.

"Well if you say so!" Her mom smiled warmly back.

Once finished with breakfast they all drove to church a little early to mingle before service started. Leah and John headed towards the youth group while their parents lagged behind in the chapel.

"So how's life?" John asked.

"Meh… could be better. Could be at home—ASLEEP." Leah retorted. John laughed in understanding.

"Yeah. Could be sleeping off my hangover instead of being here with these retards." He agreed.

"Shit, I didn't get home until four this morning. I barely got four hours of sleep when my mom came shouting into my room with her ridiculous song." She scowled and frowned.

"At least you GOT sleep. I've been awake since eleven yesterday."

"What time did you leave the party?"

"Uh…I left about three, but then I went to Jake's house to play Mutants and Masterminds. I didn't leave there till seven fifteen."

"Did your mom catch you? You barely had time to get home!"

"No dude, I snuck back in my bedroom window and stripped real fast. She came to wake me up as I was trying to close my window. She was like, 'Wow John, you're already up and enjoying the weather!' and I was like, 'Yeah…nice day…'

"Holy shit dude. You totally almost got busted!"

"Yeah, but it was worth it. I kicked Matt's ass at Jake's."

"Sweet." Leah smiled as they entered the classroom.

After church, the family went out for steak, as planned, and didn't leave until everyone was full of good food and the latest gossip. Leah and John gave each other knowing smiles as they parted, and each mother noticed and thought to herself that she had the most wonderful, polite child in the world.

It was about two thirty when Leah and her parents returned home to the phone already ringing. Leah ran in ahead of her parents to answer it.

"It's Shelby!" she shouted as her parents walked in. "Hello? Yeah! Nothing…just got home from eating. Yeah John was there. Hasn't slept since yesterday. Oh-my-gosh I know! Yeah…what time? Um… let me call you back in a sec. You too hon'. Bye." Leah held the phone to her chest and ran to her father. "Daddy? Shelby wants to know if I can come to her house for the night."

"The night? Tomorrow's Monday, school."

"Yeah, but we go to school at the same time! Please?" She made her face look as pitiful as possible and her voice as sweet as honey. Her father sighed, knowing his wife would chew him out later.

"I guess. So long as you go to sleep at a decent hour."

"Thank you daddy!" She embraced him tightly and let go smiling. She called Shelby back and relayed the news. "Hey, so I'll be there in about an hour, probably sooner. Yeah T-T-Y-L." She ran to her room and discarded her conservative church clothes to be replaced by ratty jeans and a tight black tank-top. She released her hair from its childish updo and let it fall sultrily around her shoulders and down her back. Quickly she packed her overnight bag and threw on a jacket and ran out of the house. She tossed her bag in her car and drove off as quickly as possible. Once on the road and out of sight of her house, she dialed Shelby's number on her cell phone. "Hey sweet-cheeks, I'm on my way. Yeah I'll meet you at Richard's. No, I told my dad I was staying the night at your house. Don’t get fucking pissy! He doesn't have your home or cell number! Fuck no I wouldn't give him that shit, I'd screw myself. Yeah I'll meet you there! Ok bye." She hung up and turned up the radio as she drove away.

Epic, I would expect none less from you. Interesting story, especially the back story on the watcher. It leaves a mysterious aura around the entire thing.

Well I'm out until Sunday night, heading back to Yukon

gracias. *spoiler* Stone Angel's background gets a little more intense and mysterious as the story progresses too.

Well that's something I like to hear Can't wait until you post more.

Chapter 2, Part I

Stone Angel watched disinterestedly as Leah performed her morning tasks before church, stood coldly as she followed the repetitious singing of her youth group, and sat solitarily in the middle of the dining table as food and beverage was passed through his otherworldly body. This was boring, but this was not torture day in and day out so it was tolerable. He knew the action would come later in the evening, it always did, and even though he watched emotionless everyday, the evenings and nights were his favorite parts of her life. It at least brought a rise of old memories from the depths of his mind.

In life, he was a very lively and spirited youth with dreams, hopes, faith, and high expectations of everyone and everything. Unlike Leah though, his life was guarded by his single mother and entertained by his younger sister and brother—his only family.
He was nine, in school and unaware of Death lurking in his mother's shadow. The day passed normally. He took the school bus home, as usual, and let himself in the apartment to wait for the later arrival of his siblings and mother. His sister was four and his brother was two, both in daycare, and his mother was at work. Later that evening his mother left to pick up her two younger children. On their way home traffic was congested but not slowed. A car behind them was weaving between other vehicles to get ahead faster. It passed them eventually and disappeared around a sharp S curve up a steep incline. She was aware of the old station wagon ahead of her, the diesel truck to her left, the car behind it in her blind spot, the car on her right and the SUV behind it, and the semi truck too close behind her blocking her view of anything else around it. One child began to cry. She turned the radio up to try to distract him. The other began to cry. She redirected her rearview mirror to look at them and try to entice them to hush. Suddenly, brake lights flashed in front of her, tires screeched, horns blew from somewhere ahead. She looked ahead to see that she was fast approaching the stopped station wagon in front of her. She stomped on her brakes, the semi truck kept speeding forward with too much momentum in its gargantuan size to stop. Eight people never made it home that night. The young man in the car weaving in and out of traffic was at the apex of the massive car pile-up, going home that evening with a dislocated shoulder.

The young boy, alone at home waiting for the arrival of his mother and siblings, was very hurt and confused that night as he lay down, teary eyed, wondering why they weren't there. The alarm didn't sound the next morning, the familiar cries of two young children were vanished, and his mother was not sitting on the side of his bead rubbing his back when he woke up.

He opened the front door and ran outside, searching the parking lot frantically for his mother's silver coupe. Exhausted from searching and crying, he threw himself on the grass in front of one of the apartment sections and cried harder, screamed, and beat his small fists on the ground.
He was finally helped by a kind neighbor who called the police because the boy could not find his mother. At the police station, he was shown pictures of the eight who did not go home the evening before, and positively identified his mother, brother and sister.

He lived in foster care until he was eighteen, was in and out of juvenile detention, and constantly ran away from whosever home he was in. When he made it out of juvenile detention the last time, he kept it that way. He limited his life alone to frequenting bars and strip clubs, working whatever job would get him a pack of cigarettes and a bottle of liquor for the night, and never living at the same place more than a year.

He missed life briefly now as he watched Leah and Shelby prepare themselves at Richard's house for partying tonight. The moment passed quickly, however, as Shelby took off her tight jeans and her excessive stomach fat dumped into her waistline and settled like jello around her hips. Repulsed, he diverted his eyes to the floor where he could see Leah's feet dancing around as she tried to pull up a skin tight pair of leather pants. He looked up to see her wiggling her butt as she tried to pull them up.

"Oh my gosh Shelby, my butt is too fucking big for these tight-ass pants…"

"Psh. At least you can get them pulled up THAT far. I would kill to be as small as you."

"I know." Leah retorted smugly. "I think I'm probably just going to have to wear that skirt. I can't get these damn things over my ass."

"Too bad. They're cute pants."

"Yeah." Leah opened the door a little. "Richard!" she shouted.

"What?" a muffled voice called back.

"Go get my other bag out of my trunk."

"Get it your fucking self"

"Fuck you! Please?" Leah peered out the door to hear him stomping up the hallway.

"Where the hell are your keys?" He asked her.

"Hang on a sec." Leah closed the door and rummaged through her makeup bag, pulling out her keys. "Here," she handed them to him through the small crack in the door. "It's the bag with handle for the rolly things."

"Rolly things?"

"Yeah, so you can roll the bag instead of carry it."

"Wheels, Leah. Wheels."

"Fuck you." She stood full figured in the slightly open door frame, wearing only her bra and panties, "I'll fucking spin your wheels and jerk your shaft if you don't get it for me."

"Fuck you Leah." He laughed and walked away
.
"You have such a charm that men can't seem to resist." Shelby said sarcastically.

"You're just jealous, bitch." Leah retorted.

"You're such a bitch." Shelby scowled.

Chapter 2, Part II

Leah, Shelby, Richard, and all their friends were thoroughly drunk at the club later that night. They all had furnished fake IDs to get in and were taking advantage of all the club had to offer. Eventually though, they tired of dancing and mingling and while Shelby was sitting down resting, Richard and Leah walked outside to have a cigarette, holding on to each other so as not to fall down. They made it across the street to Richard's parked car and got in to sit. Leah lit up first and handed Richard the lighter. She took a long drag and exhaled quickly as she leaned back in her seat. Richard took a drag and exhaled a bit more slowly.

"I'm fucking horny." He said. "I need to find some bitch who's in for a one-night stand."

"You're horny?" Leah smirked, "You're not the one who's had random guys grabbing your ass under your fucking skirt."

"Well you haven't had bitches rubbing your junk with their ass and grabbing it before they walk away."

"That sucks." Leah laughed and snorted drunkenly.

"Hell yeah it sucks. I want me some tight fuckin' pussy right now." He looked beyond Leah to a line of girls waiting to get into the club across the street.

"Let's fuck each other." Leah said.

"Why?" he gave her a drunk perplexed look, furrowing his eyebrows and taking another drag.

"'Cuz it's convenient. We know each other don't have any STDs." She took a drag and blew it sideways out the open door.

"That's true. No tellin' what any of them hoes on the street has." He reasoned it quickly in his mind and decided it was a good idea. "My place then."

"Your place fo'sho'!" She laughed and closed her door. Richard turned on the car and they left, forgetting Shelby was still inside.

Not realizing it on their way to Richard's, they were speeding and weaving along the somewhat congested highway. Vehicles were honking, flashing their lights, and generally trying to stay out of the way.

"You should get in the slow lane." Leah laughed as they sped along.

"Why the hell do I wanna be in the slow lane?"

"Because you drive like an old grampa!"

"No, THIS is how an old grampa drives!" Richard suddenly swerved across three lanes into the slow lane, cutting off several people and almost driving into another vehicle. With his foot firmly on the gas, he adjusted his seat to be as close as possible to the steering wheel and grabbed his sunglasses. He screwed up his face to imitate an old man squinting at the road and hunched over the steering wheel. "Where the hell's my lane!?" He imitated, "Why the hell are these young people driving so fast?" Leah laughed harder, eventually until tears rolled down the sides of her face. Richard was laughing too, and with his sunglasses on didn't notice that his right lane was merging into the one to his left. Suddenly they were off the road and on the grass, driving down a sharp slope into a ditch. The rough slope threw Richard against the steering wheel, knocking the breath out of him. Leah, with no seatbelt, was floundering in her seat trying to stay in one spot. She was screaming, and then suddenly there was silence and everything was black.

Nice.. Great read.

Thanks much! :3

Epic cliffhanger! It's just like omg wtf? What happened? Everything was so happy and fun then -BAM- the lights go out and I'm left waiting for the next part.

Nicely done. Very suspenseful.

XD thanks john. I didn't have a whole lot written after that, so I figured it'd be a good part to leave off while I wrote more story. I wanted to keep everyone in suspense for a while

hey guys, sorry I haven't posted in a while. Weekend was busy. Here's the next part!

Chapter 2, Part III

Stone Angel had been sitting in the back seat, staring stoically out the front window at the tail lights of whatever vehicle was in front of them, depending on where Richard swerved the car. He had remained emotionally unchanged as Richard did his old man imitation, and watched from above as the car went careening down the slope of the side of the highway. Richard was trapped between his seat and the steering wheel, and as the car rolled over, Leah was tossed out the open window to skid motionless across the grass. The car was honking as Richard's chest was pressed against the horn; he was unconscious. Leah's meek body was sprawled across the grass as she too was unconscious.

Without willing it, memories of his night home alone came rushing into Stone Angel's mind. The gruesome images of his mother and siblings flooded to the forefront of his memory as he recalled having to identify them in the photographs the police took mere minutes after they died. His chest heaved as he caught his breath from the long forgotten memories. His heart pounded. He had to save Leah, keep her from dying. There were people who loved her who couldn't wake up the next day and never see her come home again.

He interfered with the living. He picked her up under her arms and she instantly disappeared into his realm of being. Like lightening they disappeared from the side of the highway and reappeared in Leah's bedroom. He lifted her onto the bed and gently laid her down, carefully brushing off grass and dirt from her face. She inhaled sharply, as if she hadn't been breathing since the first moment she was thrown from the car. She exhaled heavily.

His moment of unexplained humanly panic was over and his demeanor quickly changed to its normal, stoic state. 'What the hell?’ he thought to himself, 'she could've died and I would've been through watching her pathetic life. Why did I save her? HOW could I have saved her? I'm not supposed to be able to mess with the living.'

"Correction to that thought, Stone Angel." A voice cracked behind him. He jumped a little and turned around to see another demon of higher status looking upon him and Leah.

"Satan send you?" Stone Angel asked.

"Of course, being as you just airlifted a mortal between dimensions AND realms when she was SUPPOSED to die." He glared at Stone Angel, "Any particular reason I shouldn't have your Watcher title revoked?"

"I don't know why I did it. It seemed like I wasn't in control of my own thoughts and that something possessed my body."

"Likely, I'm sure…" the demon skeptically responded, "Well, consider this a warning not to let it happen again. This happens more often than what you Watcher's realize, so the first time slides. However, if you choose to make a habit out of it and try it again, you'll go back to being tortured every day for another ten centuries." He warned and continued to glare at Stone Angel.

"It won't happen again. This pathetic mortal shouldn't be let to live much longer anyway."

"Sure." The demon brushed off Stone Angel's excuse. "Hopefully you won't have to see me later." He smirked and disappeared.

Stone Angel's ears rang as the demon left the earthly spiritual realm. At first it was slight and tolerable, but the ringing quickly grew louder and more painful. He clasped his hands over his ears in a futile attempt to make it cease. Instead, the ringing escalated until his ears were bleeding and he was shrieking in misery. The room seemed to spin around him and his body felt like it was being ripped apart atom by atom.

Chapter 2, Part IV

Leah awoke to the sound of a sudden cry of misery. Immediately her heart pounded and her body jolted where it lay in her bed. Her mind raced as she quickly recalled tumbling within the confines of the careening car. She rolled over, not realizing she was now on her own bed, and fell on the floor with a loud and heavy thud. Her head bounced off the thin carpet. She was overcome by nausea and dizziness. As she tried to look around in the dark, disoriented, she thought it was Richard who had just screamed out in pain. She managed to get herself on hands and knees, trying to feel out her surroundings. She heard another sudden shout.

“Richar—ackgh!!” Her call to Richard was cut off by the abrupt urge of her body to vomit. She heaved until everything in her stomach was expelled. In a dull flash of light that seemed to last for just a few seconds, she was able to look about her and realized that she was crouching on the floor between her bed and the wall, and that the yells were coming from the other side of her bed from someone unknown. She pulled herself up on the edge of her bed and turned on her bedside lamp, peering across the room to find the source of the distressed cries.

Stone Angel fell to his knees on the floor in pain, still holding his ears. He was crying out in anguish, unaware that he materializing into the physical realm and then dematerializing back into the spiritual realm. He felt pricks and tingles all over his skin as the ringing in his ears subsided. He panted trying to catch his breath from bellowing in pain.

Leah peered over the edge of her bed to see the male form blinking in and out of appearance. He was hunched over on the floor. In her blurred and dizzied vision she thought she was hallucinating. When he stopped blinking in and out, she stood up on wobbly knees and stumbled over towards him, still feeling the effects of being drunk. She stood about four feet away behind him, watching his body heave as he tried to catch his breath.

“Hey…” she whispered. There was no answer. She cleared her throat, “Hey!” she said louder. He turned slightly to look at her, his eyes misty and clouded grey. “Uh…” she muttered, trying to think of what to say now that she had his attention.

“Are you looking at me?” he asked.

“Yeah. Can’t imagine who else I would be looking at.” She sarcastically looked around the room. “Yeah, since there’s no one else here!”

“And you’re talking directly to me…” he pondered aloud, “but you’re not dead…”

“Dead? Fuck, I must be! The last thing I remember is being in the car with Richard plunging SOMEWHERE to my death.” She snickered at herself in her drunken daze and plopped on the floor roughly beside him. “So are you my knight in shining armor come to whisk me away to Heaven?” she smiled and giggled.

“You’re not dead.” His eyes darted from her to the floor, the floor to the window, the wall, the closed bedroom door, all around the room in a slight panic.

“Well fuck me I must be dreaming then!” she continued to giggle, oblivious of his sudden panic.

“You’re not dead! Jesus Christ what the hell happened to me? I’M supposed to be dead. You’re not supposed to know I’m here. YOU’RE supposed to be dead!” He stood up quickly and took two steps towards the door before stumbling into the bed in a sudden daze.

“What the fuck?” Leah mumbled to herself. She stood up and wobbled a bit in place, “Look man, I’m Leah, ok? This is all in my head ‘cause I got knocked the fuck out when Richard fucking drove off the goddamn road, so I’m either dead, in a coma, or just uncon-tshe-ush in some fucking hospital.” She squinted her eyes and concentrated on the word unconscious, pronouncing it slowly and still slurred. Stone Angel decided it was best to stay sitting on the bed rather than trying to walk across the room.

“You’re not dead, Leah. And I know who you are already. I rescued you from the car when it drove off the highway. I brought you here. You’re fully awake and CONSCIOUS of everything, albeit still drunk.” He stressed the word conscious to mock her slurred pronunciation.

“Seriously?”

“Yeah. Seriously.”

“Damn. You’re like…that one guy in the blue leotard…SUPERMAN! You must be the reincarnation of Superman!” she laughed hysterically at her joke, refusing to believe or even listen to what Stone Angel was saying. “So, Mr. Kent,” she sat down on the bed beside him and donned a serious, although somewhat comical, expression, “what kind of…” she yawned mid-sentence, “…story do you have for the Daily Planet today?” She smiled and giggled a little. Stone Angel looked at her dumfounded. She lay back on the bed and curled up, continuing her sarcasm, “Have you had any strange alien encounters lately?” She closed her eyes and laughed to herself, chuckling as she began to lightly snore.

“You bitch.” Stone Angel spat the words like poison. He grimaced and jerked a blanket out from under her, her only protest being a slight moan within a snore. “I’ll fix you tomorrow when you’re sober and more apt to believe the truth.” He opened the window curtain and lay down on the floor, staring out at the stars. He felt the full impact of his exhaustion all at once and closed his eyes. Within minutes he was asleep.

Just got around to reading the latest entries. Very nice additions I must say good job keep up the good work

Chapter 2, Part V

Shelby parted from Leah and Richard where they had been dancing and took a seat in the lounge. Being that she was larger and weighed more than Leah, she had to rest more frequently; she couldn’t sustain the energy needed to keep up with Leah’s fast dance pace.
She eyed Leah jealousy as she tried to catch her breath, watching all sorts of guys walk up and start dancing with her. She watched Leah touch them suggestively and flirtatiously, and watched as each guy responded with his own suggestive and flirtatious touch.
“Slut…” she mumbled to herself. She pulled out her cell phone and took a picture of Leah and some guy dirty dancing, planning to use it to sabotage Leah online later. She held her phone in her lap, grinning deviously as she planned on how to use it. When she looked up, she saw Leah leaning over in Richard’s ear. Richard felt his front pockets and pulled a pack of cigarettes out. Leah smiled and nodded her head, grabbing the pack from Richard. She danced her way to the exit door, lightly brushing her fingers across some guy’s chest and eyeing him lustily as she pushed the door open with her butt. Richard followed. “Of course she doesn’t ask ME if I want a cigarette too…” she mumbled, agitated. “That fucking bitch. Thinks she’s better than everyone and she can get whatever the fuck she wants.” Shelby fumed in rage. She took her phone back out and sent a mass message with the picture she’d just taken of Leah,

“Leah Price is such a slut. She’ll let ANY guy feel under her skirt!”

She sent the message to twenty-seven of the fifty contacts in her phone, including herself. When she received the message, she deleted the picture and the sent message, leaving only the one she’d received from herself. Once Leah and Richard returned inside, she’d run to Leah with the alarming news that someone who knew her had taken the picture at the club before disappearing and sending the mean message to God-knows-who-else. She grinned mischievously and held the phone tightly in her hand.

Twenty minutes passed and she had not seen them return. She got up and moved around the dance floor, thinking she simply had not seen them come back in. When she didn’t find them there, she meandered around the lounge. Still not spotting them, she went outside and looked around. Upon her exiting, she heard the bouncer say, “Damn, Big Mac ova’ there takes up as much space as you three fine ladies. Have fun girls.” He ushered in three tall, slender women before blocking the club entrance. Shelby was hurt. Her eyes burned, a lump formed in her throat, and she felt herself begin to sweat from the embarrassment. Trying to distract herself so that she didn’t cry on the sidewalk, she walked across the street and started searching for Richard’s car. She walked to where she knew it was parked, but was confused to see it replaced with a bright yellow sports car. “What the fuck you guys…” she mumbled. She called Leah’s number and didn’t get an answer so she tried Richard’s, but with no success.

Her face turned red in anger and she could feel herself begin to sweat again. She was glad when she felt the wind blow to cool her off. She turned around to face the club with angry vigor, a look of determination on her face to make Leah and Richard pay dearly for leaving her behind. “God,” she mumbled angrily, “if you ever do anything for me, I hope you hurt Richard and Leah so bad that they come begging for my forgiveness.” A silver SUV came driving down the road, slowing as it approached Shelby. The driver’s and rear windows were rolled down to reveal its occupants.

“Shelby!” A girl in the back seat shouted. Shelby looked up and smiled excitedly.

“Erica! Oh my gosh I’m so excited to see you! Hey guys!” she waved quickly.

“Hey, what are you doing out here alone?” the guy in the driver’s seat asked.

“You guys won’t believe this…” she walked up to the window, “My ride, LEAH, ditched me.”

“She’s such a douche bag. I don’t know why you hang out with her.” The driver replied.

“I don’t know either. Guess it just happens when I’m bored…” was Shelby’s excuse. “Can I ask you guys a favor?” she eyed the car pathetically, wanting nothing more than to go home and take her revenge out on Leah later.

“Get in the car, Shelby! We’ll take you home!” Erica opened her door and slid over so Shelby could get in.

“Thanks guys. I can’t tell you how glad I am that you guys came driving by. I REALLY didn’t want to call a taxi.”

“No problem. Where do you live?” The driver asked.

“Do you know Richard Goltry?”

“Oh, is he that guy with the old black Corvette?” Erica asked.

“Oh yeah! That guy who thinks he’s bad ass or something even though his car’s a piece of shit.” The driver responded.

“Uh…yeah. That guy.” Shelby confirmed. “Well…Leah just HAD to go to his house before we came here and she drug a bunch of my stuff in with her, so I have to go there first to get my things.”

“Where does he live? Oh man, this is awesome! I can totally teepee his place later! He’s a jackass, dude.” The driver got excited and grinned widely. Shelby laughed at the thought of Richard’s apartment decorated with toilet paper.

“Just get on the highway over here first. I’ll tell you where to go from there.” Shelby pointed to the highway entrance.

When they arrived at Richard’s apartment, Shelby noted that his car was not it’s designated space and no where else around his apartment block, even though the lot was mostly empty.

“Is he here?” the driver asked.

“I don’t think so…” Shelby replied. “Some one come with me to knock on his door.”

“I don’t want to go up there!” Erica said.

“Me neither,” said the girl next to Erica, “that shit’s creepy…” she eyed the pitch black narrow breezeway leading to the flight of stairs going up to Richard’s door.

“Josh?” Shelby asked the driver. He sat for a moment, debating with himself whether he really wanted to help her anymore.

“Damnit.” He conceded. “Ok, but I’m not staying more than a couple minutes. I still wanna teepee this place and I DON’T want him to recognize me later if he catches me.”

“Oh my god thank you Josh.” Shelby and Josh got out of the SUV and walked slowly down the breezeway, carefully up the stairs, and knocked timidly on the door. No answer. Shelby knocked again, harder. No answer. “Ok…do you have a knife?” she asked Josh.

“For what? You gonna shank me?”

“No.” she rolled her eyes. “So I can get in Richard’s place.”

“Break in, you mean?” he sighed heavily and gave her his pocket knife. She flipped the blade out and stuck it in the door jamb where the deadbolt was. After a few seconds of jiggling the knife around and sliding it back and forth a few times, the lock clicked back and the door cracked open. “You done that before?” Josh asked skeptically.

“Um…no! I saw Leah do it once!” she cautiously defended herself. She walked in first, turning on the living room light. She noticed that everything was untouched from when they had left earlier that evening. “No one’s been here since we left.” She said. Josh stayed in the entryway, closing the door securely behind him.

“Hurry up.” He said. She went and packed all of her things back in her backpack, not disturbing anything that wasn’t hers.

“Ok. Ready to go.” She said. Josh exited first. Shelby turned the deadbolt lock on the door out about half way and pulled the door until the lock stopped the door from closing. She lifted up on the door and pulled it back at the same time, sliding the half turned out deadbolt into its locked position in the door frame.

“You sure you haven’t done that before?” Josh prodded.

“I’m positive.” She confirmed. “I’ve just seen Leah do it a few times.” They walked hastily back to the SUV and got in.

When Shelby finally returned home, she made up a story to her friends about how she was supposed to use the back door to get inside. They believed her and drove away after she walked through the gate to the back yard. What she really did, however, was use the stack of logs against the side of the house to climb up onto the patio roof, go across the patio roof and enter her bedroom through the cracked open window. She undressed and went silently to bed knowing her parents thought she was staying the night at Leah’s.