The Kissing Thief.

Needless to say, I was packing the next day. I had every Wednesday off, so I used it to my advantage. I woke up at seven, started rounding up my fragile belongings, and shoved them in a box I had stashed in my closet. I used old newspaper and flyers as makeshift bubble-wrap to secure the breakables. After I had placed all of my figurines, mugs, and pottery in the box, I shoved in a few stray stuffed animals, and taped up the sides quickly. This took about twenty minutes, so I slipped in to a long dress I had gotten at a summer fair and set off on my Vespa to the Wood’s residence.

Despite the well-known fact that both Val and Charlie would be gone to the shop already, I continued on my quest. I had nothing against Sam, nor Aaron, so why couldn’t I be a loving friend and pay a visit? The more I thought about my innocent intentions, the more tainted they seemed. I never really had a reason to go visit Sam or Aaron unless Charlie or Valerie was present. Or Sam’s other two daughters, Jessica and Angelica. I began to slow down. In order to avoid the morning traffic of New York City, I turned in to the nearest Seven-Eleven parking lot and went through the sliding doors.

At the counter sat a tall boy, maybe twenty or twenty-one years old looking dead-tired and rather zoned out. I smiled at him pleasantly, and headed toward the ’Slurpee’ machines.

“Do you need help finding anything?” The zombie-boy asked with a yawn.

“No, thanks.” I answered. He seemed relieved from my response, and went back to staring at nothing. I looked at the flavours, and debated on Very Berry, or my usual Diet Coke. Berry, or Coke? To go, or not to go. Should I just get coffee instead? Or tea? I thought. What would you say if you did go though? “Hi Ms. Wood, hi Aaron, I’m just here to drink all of your tea and, or coffee, and watch your big screen untilThe Dark Knight comes on Television at five.” Yeah right. So convincing.

Having decided on tea, I made my way toward the counter, and fished five bucks out of my bra. The boy laughed at me, and took my money. Behind him, there were a few empty boxes. I was about to ask about his intentions with the boxes, but I had one of those cliché moments, when the light bulb above your head flickers on, and you think you’ve just had an epiphany. I got my change back from the guy, and ran out of the store. Jumping on my Vespa with my tea, I sped toward the Wood residence with a new found excitement.

***

I walked in to the North wing, but stopped short at a very loud scream, followed by suppressed grunts and noises of things being pushed over and smashed. I ran toward the living room, but hid quickly behind the wall as soon as I saw what was going on. I pressed my body against the white wall-paper, and inhaled deeply. This was totally not what I was expecting.

Amongst the ashtrays and empty bottles of Corona, Aaron stood there, stark naked, thrusting the SHIT out of pregnant little Sam. Okay, scratch out the “little” part. She’s like a pregnant whale. All skin and bones, and then WHAM. Bun-in-the-oven and stretch marks galore. I’m pretty sure they didn’t notice me, due to the both of them either not looking at me or having their eyes closed completely.

I would be a damn fool and a liar if I told you that I wasn’t screaming inside. Not the “OH GOD THE HORROR!” screaming, but screaming as if I were busting up in to tiny pieces. And just when I thought my hankering for Aaron Johnson had subsided for the time being, I was wrong. It came back, and it was worse than ever.

Making my way toward Val’s elevator, I let a few pity tears fall down my cheeks, and made them stop when I thought I was going to sob. Yes, I pitied myself. Who doesn’t? Nobody, that’s who. I was very thankful that the elevator was really quiet, because I didn’t want to give away my presence.

I was contemplating on whether I was going to ruin their happy day by saying, “Hey there Sammy! I’m moving in, okay? Bye!” But I knew I wouldn’t be able to muster up that big of a smile. I sat in my tub, my copy of Percy Jackson and the Olympians; The lightning Thief open in my hands, even though I wasn’t really reading it. I got out of the empty bathtub, and strapped on my knitted socks. My dress was all askew from basically running in to the tub, so I straightened it out as best as I could.

“Perceus Jackson, I smite thee!” I shouted in a lousy, god-like voice, and tossed the book on my shelf. “Until later, anyway.” I added, before going downstairs, and in to the living room.

Everything was cleaned up and in it’s proper place. If I hadn’t just walked in on their sex-fest, I would have thought today was just an ordinary day. I stood in the middle of the living room, dumbfounded and seemingly alien to the setting I had practically grew up in. Footsteps sounded down the hall, but I didn’t bother to move.

“Hey Val, I thought you weren’t supposed to be home until around eight?” A happy British accent said from a few feet away from me. I put on a fake smile, and turned to meet Aaron’s inquiring gaze. “Joon? I didn’t know you were here!”

I smiled and looked at my feet. “Yeah, I got here this morning. I was wondering if you guys had any… uh…” So much for my epiphany this morning… I thought, mentally slapping myself.

“Any what, love?” He moved closer to me, raising his eyebrows.

“Boxes. I’m moving.” I stated. He frowned slightly, turning toward the foyer.

“Yeah. We have boxes. Where are you moving to?” Aaron asked.

“Don’t know yet.” I lied. Just then, Sam entered the room and put a protective arm around his shoulders. I took that as a dismissive notion, so I fled to the elevator and hid in my room once more.