The Perfect Girl

“Shh! You’re going to wake the princess up, you fatso!”

I silently giggled into my sleeve as I quietly tailed Jase and Duke to my kitchen. As promised, both boys stayed the night as my house and we watched scary movie after scary movie in my room with the blinds shut and all lights off until everyone in the house was asleep. We’d only watched four scary movies before Jase hid beneath the sheets and refused to come out. At first it was funny, but then he kept touching our asses until we turned off the scary movies. Luckily, by then it was already midnight which called for the classic midnight snack. So there we were, taking five minutes down every step all the while making more noise from laughing and shushing each other than if we just ran down altogether.

“Shut up, faggot. You’re making more noise than me!” Duke argued in a hushed tone, pushing Jase forward.

Jase tumbled forward, stumbling down the remaining steps before crashing onto his rear end at the foot of the staircase. He blew his hair from his face and glared at Duke with an angry expression as Duke flicked him off. Crouching, Duke pulled a spring and jumped the remaining five steps and stuck the landing right over Jase.

“And he sticks the landing!” I cheered and Duke winked before striking the muscle man pose and kissing his biceps. Jase rolled his eyes, standing up and leaning against the wall by the stairs.

“Hey, Duke! Catch me!” I grinned as I took five steps up to heighten the jump. Looking back at Duke, he gave me a quick thumbs up as a ready and I licked my lips once and hurled myself at him. “Bombs away!”

Landing with a thud into his chest, I quickly wrapped my legs around his waist as he held me up. I raised both of my arms up and silently mouthed an excited ‘Yeah!’ to them before letting go and falling off of Duke’s hold.

“You guys act like you’re going out,” Jase muttered and I raised an eyebrow at him.

“You act more like his boyfriend than I do as his girlfriend!” I said defensively and he chuckled.

“Who wants that fatso?” He joked and hooked arms with me. “Come on, Kylie! Let’s get us some thunder thighs!”

I chuckled as I followed him to the kitchen and watched him rip open the fridge, pulling out every type of ready-made food he could find. Soon the counter was filled of random foods and Duke was fixing himself a sandwich while Jase was curled up on the couch watching late night soap operas on mute with a half gallon of ice cream. I rolled my eyes as I sat down across from Duke and grabbed a box of Pringles.

“So, ready to tell me what’s going on with Jake and that Will guy?” He questioned, placing a piece of cheese onto his four inch high sandwich.

I shrugged, stuffing a chip into my mouth whole. “Jake’s just been acting weird ever since the party.”

Duke stopped moving and moved his eyes to look at me, “Party?”

“Mmhm, we went to the party last night. I think it was Quincy Jenkins who threw it?” I nodded, putting another chip into my mouth.

Duke nodded- the first movement even since I’d mentioned the party. He put the last piece of bread on top before cutting it in half and stuffing one half into his mouth. Bending over, he leaned onto his elbows and gave me a look as he swallowed, “Anything significant happen at Jenkins’ party?”

I blinked and looked down, squirming and stuffing two chips into my mouth this time. I didn’t want to say I didn’t remember anything, according to the way Jake had reacted, nothing good happened at the party and I didn’t want to find out the bad things that did occur. Duke looked at me, waiting for response and I sighed. “I honestly do not remember anything that happened at the party.”

Duke nodded, “Nothing at all?”

I shook my head, “No-thing.”

Suddenly the TV was off and Jase was returning to the kitchen, the ice cream box in his hand. “I cannot believe Hannah was such a slut to Daniel! How could she be pregnant with Greg’s kid? Such a whore,” He complained before pausing and looking at our faces. Acknowledging the serious atmosphere, he sighed, “So, what did I miss?”

I glanced at Duke and shrugged, “I was just-“

“We were just planning on a quick trip to Jake’s house,” Duke cut in and my head snapped towards him with wide eyes.

“We’re what?”

“You heard me,” Duke grinned, stuffing the rest of his sandwich into his mouth and ordering Jase and me to start cleaning.

I stuffed one last chip into my mouth and shook my head, “What am I getting myself into?”

“Is this really necessary?” I groaned as I held up the black clothes that Jase demanded we wear for the sake of the plan.

“Yes!” Jase grinned, taking his shirt off and replacing it with the black long sleeved shirt we’d taken from Danny’s room. The shirt drowned him as its size was big enough for Duke.

Duke sighed and gave me a look, “Just put on the damn clothes so he’ll stop whining.”

I rolled my eyes but proceeded to lift the hem of my shirt before Jase stopped me.

“Kylie, are you stupid? You’re wearing a black shirt,” Jase scolded and pulled the shirt back down. I sighed, agitated, before taking the pair of black, skinny jeans from the bed. At first I just looked at it, and then I started to try and stretch it. And when I couldn’t stretch it, I looked at Jase.

“I couldn’t fit into these even if I didn’t eat for a month,” I grumbled and Jase turned and glared at me.

I sighed before taking my boxer shorts off and bending over to try and yank the jeans on. I whipped the pair of jeans to open the legs and slid my right leg into the right leg sleeve. Sticking my left as well, I began to pull the pant leg through, bunching it at my ankles. Holding the waist line, I tugged it up, unable to pull the cloth past my calves.

I grunted as I continued to drag the denim upwards, feeling my calves sink into my bones. Biting into my cheek, I gripped the pants, pulling the piece of clothing upward as I felt my legs throb. I was right, it was just too tight.

“Dude, Ky, your legs are turning purple!”

I forced myself to look at Jase and scowled at him. I let go of the denim and looked at my bare thighs and upper calves to see my throbbing flesh tinted a cross between purple and blue. Groaning, I looked back up, “Jase…”

He scrambled towards me and crouched down, taking hold of the jeans, yanking them up as hard as he could.

“Holy fuck!” I screamed, the throbbing pain slicing its way up my leg. “Stop! Stop! Good God, that hurts!”

“Duke, come here! Can you pull these up?” Jase called, gesturing Duke over.

Sighing, Duke stumbled over and bent over, looking at the jeans that were stopping the pulse in my legs. They were still stuck around beneath the largest part of my calves. “I think I can pull them up to her knees?”

He placed his hands onto the waist line as I tightened my eyes, waiting for the pain. He patted the outer of my left leg before yanking them all the way up, past my calves and ending right past my knees. A high scream past my lips as he yanked them as I felt my legs pressured in. Right then, I lost feel of my own two feet.

“This baby’s not getting any higher than this,” He grunted, as he attempted to pull them higher. “Say, Jase, where did you get these?”

My attention turned straight to Jase as I wondered just as Duke, “Yeah, where did you get these?”

“Farrah’s room. All your jeans are blue and gray,” He stated and I widened my eyes at him.

“Farrah’s a fucking 00, Jase! I’m a three!” I grumbled, and bent over, trying to pull them off. “I can’t even feel below my knees!”

I hopped to my bed and sat down; trying to yank the jeans off this time, but it wouldn’t go down past my calves. I tried to dig my fingers into the pant leg, but it wouldn’t even stretch outward at all. I looked up frantically at the boys as I urgently pulled and pulled.

“It’s not coming off! Oh my God, Duke, help me!” I cried, glaring at the pants that were holding on to me as if glued to my skin. “Holy hell, holy hell, I’m going to lose my legs because of freaking jeans!”

Duke laughed as he pulled the waistline down and stood, trying to yank them off, but instead, he pulled me straight off the bed. Tumbling to the carpet, I squealed as he continued to yank only giving me a carpet burn onto the bottom of my back.

“Oh crap!” I grunted, touching the end of my back, a distressed expression flat on my face. Biting onto my bottom lip, I grabbed onto the leg underneath my bed, ready for another tug.

“Ready?” Duke called and I nodded.

“As ready as I’ll ever be,” I mumbled, gripping onto the metal leg as if my life depended on it. A sudden tug yanked my legs from its sockets for a split moment before I felt my legs breathe. I rolled onto my back and sat back up; examining the sufferings my legs had gone through. A sheering pain ached its way up my legs as they finally came back to their original form. The color in my legs slowly came back to its usual pale color as I whipped my arms into the air in joy.

“I’m free!” I cheered, patting my legs with pure joy. “I have legs!”

“Yeah, great, now put some pants on! ” Jase fake cheered, chucking my boxer shorts at me. I quickly caught them as I stood up and slipped the loose pants on, patting them at their end at mid-thigh.

“Now this is nice,” I grinned, pulling the hem of the loose shirt down a bit.

Duke rolled his eyes before walking to my window and unlocking the snatches. He opened the window and lifted the screen and pulled it inside, throwing it to the floor by my bed. I tilted my head to my left as I watched him lift one leg out and turn until he was sitting with both legs outside. He stood up and bent over with a grin on his face, “Come on out.”

Jase and I stayed in my room for a moment before I tilted my head back to its original angle, “…Want to go out the front door instead?”

I glanced at Jase who looked at me right back before he nodded, “…Lead the way!”

I grinned, grabbing his hand and pulling him out of my room and down the hall before reaching the steps. As we went down the stairs, I looked back at Jase with, “I wonder why he went out the window…”

He chuckled as we arrived at the front door and I unlocked it before we sauntered outside and towards the left side of my house, the side my room was on.

“Say, Kylie? I don’t see any trees,” Jase wondered as we stood, staring up at the side of my house.

I followed his gaze before seeing Duke in a crouch on the side ledge, rubbing his hands together and licking his lips. His eyebrows creased together as he leapt off the side of my house. My jaw nearly fell to the ground as I watched him tumble to the grounded and land on his side. He curled into a ball, groaning in obvious pain as I stared at him wide-eyed. What a fucking psycho.

Jase and I exchanged bewildered looks before looking back at Duke and glancing back at each other. I gulped as Jase blinked rapidly before we looked back at Duke who was grunting from pain and back at each others’ shocked expressions and burst out laughing, holding onto each other as support.

“What a freaking dumbass!” Jase hollered, pointing at our best friend who was glaring daggers into our sides.

“I know! I mean what idiot,” I emphasized, choking on my spit due to laughter, “jumps off the side of someone’s house!?”

“What idiot leaves the house from the damn window?!” Jase pointed out, draping his arm around my shoulders.

“What dumbasses laugh at their broken best friend?”

Jase laughed some more, “Righ-“he paused, looked at me as I cut short from laughing as well as we looked back at Duke.

“Duke, sweetie, you jumped off the side of my house. That’s plain stupid,” I concluded, nodding at him before pulling Jase towards him. I reached my hand out for assistance and nudged Jase to do the same. “Come on, either we go back inside or we do what you wanted to do.”

Duke pouted but he grabbed both of our hands and yanked himself up before taking both of our necks into the crooks of his arms and pulling us to the other side of my house, the side Jake lived on. As we arrived, I stood close to my house, looking around blindly as Duke either contemplated what we were going to do or he was looking around pointlessly as well.

The street lights were flickering with the same buzzing sound that each one did every night as if a thousand bees were lodged right inside those metal walls. The street lamp two doors down flickered twice before shutting off and almost immediately you noticed the road darken just a bit. I shuddered as I realized I couldn’t see more than those lights all the way down the street and maybe, just maybe, there could be some freak just planning to attack us. I inched closer to Duke before noticing how much of a wimp I was being and moved back to where I originally was.

The grass we were standing on was wet from the mildew and the air had a chill to it, just like it was supposed to on a November night in South Haven, Michigan. I crossed my arms, tucking them into my armpits and crossed my legs due to being cold and out of the three of us, I was the one most revealing.

“Hurry up, I’m freezing,” I urged and Duke glanced at me before pulling me forward and opening his jacket up and holding me close to him. His body heat wrapped me in comfort and my legs were the only part of me shaking. “Thanks.”

“This is sickening,” Jase spat and I stared at him in confusion. He continued, “You guys are acting all cute and corny and I think I’m going to throw up!”

I laughed at him before pulling away from Duke’s warmth. I slapped Jase upside the head and he glared at me as he rubbed his injury, “You’re so stupid. That was like a brotherly action.”

Jase scoffed but looked away nonetheless. I rolled my eyes before turning back to Duke who was looking at us with a disappointed expression.

“I’m ashamed to call you guys my friends.”

I glared at him before crossing my arms, “Whatever. So are we going into Jake’s house or are we going back to my place?”

Duke nodded and gestured me forward. I stumbled toward him until he placed his hands onto my shoulders and moved me towards the large, leafless tree standing by the house. I uncrossed my arms and shook him off of me before turning around to question his actions.

I opened my mouth to speak right when he cut in, “You’re going to climb this tree, and scale the side of the house until you reach the third window, not the fourth. The third and fourth both have blinds instead of curtains so you have to be careful counting the windows. The third room is the guest room, so there won’t be anyone to catch us going in and thinking we’re thieves or something.”

"Why can't we just go through the front door?" I asked, nodding as I turned back around and stared at the tree. I looked up at the trunk and moved my head upward as I realized the lowest branch was eight feet too high from my reach. My eyes widened and I whipped around and stared at Duke bewildered. “Yeah, I don’t think so…”

“Just be quiet and listen to me, okay?” Duke ordered and I pouted but shut my mouth anyway. “Oh, and use this to get the window open. Jake’s house uses bottom slides, not the upper locks,” He said, handing me a crow bar. I nodded again, slipping the metal weapon into the front of my pants, so the bent part hooked onto the edge of the bottoms.

I watched as Duke appointed me to get on Jase’s shoulders and I listened as Jase made a big fuss, yelling and stomping before giving in eventually. I stared at Jase’s crouched body and the shoulders that were waiting for me. I gulped and shook my head.

“I’ll break him!” I argued and Duke gave me the meanest look I’ve ever seen appear on his face.

I winced and hesitantly inched forward, swinging my legs around Jase’s head. Jase raised his hands for mine and I immediately grabbed them, holding them with as much strength as I could. Jase slowly stood up and I felt myself rise higher and higher before he stopped. I glanced down and felt my heart beat exhilarate. At that moment, I was so glad I wasn’t tall. Being so high up felt like total hell.

“Now, Jase, get on my shoulders.”

My eyes immediately widened and I opened my mouth for protest, “No! No! I’m going to die, oh my, god!”

Duke turned and gave me the same dirty look he’d given me before and I snapped shut, squeezing my eyes tight as I felt Jase move unsteadily. He slowly lowered us before I felt him release my hands. Frantically, I grabbed onto his hair, pulling it from his scalp. He let out a welp and I released, instead, I firmly held onto the sides of his head. By then, the branch was no more than an arm reach away and I quickly replaced my hold from Jase’s head to the much sturdier branch. Looping my arms around it, I whipped my legs from Jase’s torso, kicking him in the process.

“Shit, sorry!” I apologized as I hugged the branch like a koala bear and inched my way to the center.

I heard Jase cuss at me but I didn’t pay any mind to him. I was much more worried about my life being in danger. If I fell, I’d die. I knew I wouldn’t literally die, I’d probably just break an arm but the fear and paranoia was enough to send me whirling my way to the center of the tree and towards the other side to the safety of the house.

I was at the center of the tree, right above its trunk as I stood, keeping steady from the branches around. I carefully, lifted myself until I was on one of the higher branches. I stood again, keeping a tight hold on the other branches, and lifted myself up once again so I could be on the branch that was leveled to the side ledge of the house. I sat myself on it, each leg on both sides and scooted my way to the end and reached my leg out to get a touch to the sturdy house.

Holding onto the branch above me, I slowly raised myself to a standing position on the end of the branch. With a quick jump, I landed on the slanted side of the house on my stomach, holding onto a window ledge to be kept from sliding off.

“Fuck that hurt,” I murmured and pulled myself up, moving my legs upward to assist in climbing onto the ledge.

As I finally came to my feet, I tried to recall Duke’s orders. I shut my eyes as I forced myself to remember.

“…scale the side of the house until you reach the third window…” Was it the third? Or was it the fourth? I frowned as a crinkle appeared between my brows.

“What else did he say?” I whispered to myself and continued trying to remember his orders.

“…blinds instead of curtains...”

“Right! Blinds!” I reminded myself and leaned over to my left to see whether it was the third or fourth room that had blinds. “One, two, three, four…”

I stared at the last two windows as I examined for any blinds. The fourth had curtains, and the third and second had blinds. I nodded, and let go of the window ledge, inching myself to the third window. As I passed the second room, I paused as I felt funny. I felt as though I was forgetting something important. Frowning again, I sighed and moved to the third window.

Crouching, I grabbed the crowbar, moved the hook to the bottom of the window and slammed the bar down. There was a loud crack sound as it flung open two inches. I winced from the pain in my hands and looked to find red bar lines on my palms. I flexed my hands before tossing the crowbar to the side and continuing to open the window. I yanked it open and moved a leg in, expecting something stable to stand on, instead I moved onto air and tumbled in, landing on my back with a loud thump. The blinds had sliced the side of my face and I felt the sting hit instantly as I cringed due to the pain.

“Fuck!” I yelled in unison with somebody in the room. I froze as I turned to see the silhouette of a boy with messy hair sitting on his bed. I swallowed. It was either Jay or Jake.

“Who the hell are you?” He yelled, getting out of his bed, standing on the other side, far away from me, grabbing a baseball bat from its place against the wall.

I opened my mouth but nothing came out as I stared at the baseball bat and my weaponless hands. I quickly stood and raised both hands in surrender as I tried to figure out who the hell the person was. My eyes focused on the bat and it hit me.

“I used to want to be in the major league.”

I widened my eyes as I realized where I was. I wanted to say something, I did, but the shock froze me. I just stared at his defensive figure as I stood here, helplessly with my hands up.

How did this happen? How did I end up in Jake Rivers’ room in the middle of the night?