Jenna sighed as she pulled into her driveway. It had not been a good day. Lethargy had hung over her like a swollen grey cloud, dampening her mood and hindering her efforts at work. Time had seemed to drag along, and the weather itself did nothing to help her spirits. The sun had taken refuge behind a mass of ominous clouds, and it seemed that a storm was on the verge of bursting forth the entire day.
She glanced up at the darkened sky through her windshield. Jenna usually did not mind a good thunderstorm, nor did she mind being shut inside her house on rainy days. It would usually serve as a good time for her to read a book and relax, or snuggle up on the couch with....
Jenna rubbed her eyes. She had lost a substantial amount of sleep the previous night. She had spent the day at work trying her best not to think of the events that had taken place. Still the thoughts and worries gnawed at the edges of her mind, and she hoped to have nothing more than a simple uneventful night, without stalkers or strange sexual impulses to distract her.
Climbing from her car, Jenna couldn't help but feel weary of her daily routine, and with the new routine she had followed the past few days. She went to work, ran errands, came home, and then cleaned or found some other chore to keep her busy until sleep found her. Of course, she had added the neighbors into that mundane set of events recently. As she heard the voices from the house next door, she knew today would be no different.
Jenna listened, realizing that the voices were definitely coming from outside the house beside her own, most likely from the back porch. An angry heat enveloped her skin and her lips became firm. Without thinking, Jenna stormed across her driveway and into the small grassy alley between her house and the one next door. The voices became louder as she approached, and just as she had suspected, she found the three brothers seated at the small patio table on their back deck.
It was Matt that spotted her first, and he turned a questioning look at his brother beside him. Blake craned his neck and saw Jenna, and a slow smile spread across his face.
"Hey there, showgirl!" He called. "How's it going?"
"Which one of you tried to break in last night?" Jenna demanded.
For several seconds, the brothers were dumbfounded. Matt turned a wary eye on his brother, though he remained silent. Jenna glanced at Danny, who sat hunched over and fidgeting in his chair, facing away from her. Finally, after his smile faded into a confused expression, Blake spoke up.
"W-what do you mean?" He asked.
"Don't play dumb with me guys, someone tried to get into my house last night!"
Jenna was surprised by her own blatant forwardness, but she was too upset to care.
"Jenna, whoa, hold on," Blake said, rising from his seat. "What are you talking about?"
"You're telling me you didn't notice the police at my house last night?" She said motioning toward her driveway. "None of you were out on the deck last night? None of you were watching me?"
Jenna noticed the look that Matt gave his brother. Blake leaned over the railing and bit his lip.
"Well... well yeah," Blake said nervously. His voice was a bit hushed, as though the fact embarrassed him. "I guess you saw me out here didn't you?"
Jenna shook her head. "You could have at least knocked before you tried to break in my damn back door."
She turned and began to walk away, feeling a knot begin to form in her throat. Jenna wasn't sure what had come over her, but as she tromped back toward the front of her house, she felt angry, scared, and frustrated all at once. Blake was calling her name, but Jenna did not stop. She heard his footsteps hurrying after her, and she tried to blink away the burn in her eyes before he appeared in front of her.
"Jenna, wait," he pleaded. "C'mon talk to me."
Jenna stopped walking, but she refused to turn her eyes to meet Blake's. She stared instead in the direction of her front door, feeling a swell of pain in her upper chest.
"Jenna, what happened last night?" Blake asked.
Jenna scoffed. "You're asking me?"
"I don't know what you're talking about. You said someone tried to break in?"
Jenna turned a glare on him. "You said yourself you were watching me, Blake."
He licked his lips and turned away. He rubbed the back of his neck and stared down at his feet.
"Uh... yeah, I was," he admitted.
Jenna's face flushed hot as she could feel herself blushing. In her anger, she hadn't thought of how shocking it was too actually have her suspicions confirmed. Of course she had always assumed that one of the brothers had been watching her, to hear Blake admit it embarrassed her more than she realized. She was talking to the person who had watched her strip down, lotion herself, and....
"Look, yes I... I was watching you," Blake said. "I... don't know, I couldn't resist...."
He paused for several seconds, apparently trying to gather himself and search for the correct words to say.
"Look, you said that someone had been watching you," Blake explained. "I don't know what came over me. I sat outside to see if any prowlers would come around or anything. That's... when I saw you."
Jenna's eyes found his, though something them made her glance away. She could feel herself growing warm with embarrassment.
"I thought it was harmless," Blake smiled. "I felt like a little boy again. Anyway, I came to my senses, if it makes you feel any better. I know I'm an asshole."
Jenna glanced up at him suddenly.
"Wait, what did you say?"
Blake gave her a weak smile, shrinking back a few steps in defeat.
"I know I shouldn't have been watching you," Blake said, "especially when you said someone's already-"
"Whoa, wait a minute," Jenna interrupted. "You said you came to your senses. What do you mean?"
Blake stared at her. "Well... I saw you take off your top... and when you started to take off your panties... I-I guess I felt guilty. I went inside."
Jenna felt her insides grow weak and numb. Her mouth hung slightly agape and her eyes wandered away from Blake's concerned expression as she stared off in thought. The image of the shadow at her window, as well as its frightening silhouette behind the curtain of her back door, flashed in her mind. Jenna had thought she had put a face to that figure, but now her mind raced to process the idea that it was not Blake.
"Jenna?"
She glanced up at Blake again.
"You didn't... see anything else?" She asked.
He shook his head, studying her with a measure of worry.
"Jenna, what happened? You said someone tried to break in?"
"What about your brothers?" She blurted. "Could it have been one of them?"
Blake balked for a second. "I-I don't know. I was pretty sure they were asleep when I went inside."
Jenna blinked, trying to erase the images from her mind. She remembered how frightened she had been when the hand had slapped her window.
"Hey, what happened?" Blake persisted. "Why did you say the police were out here?"
"I called them," Jenna said. "Someone was at my window last night, the same as the night before. I thought it was just you...."
She stopped short before she went into any detail of the things she had done. Again she blushed at the mere thought of it all.
"They tried to open my back door," she told him.
"Seriously?" Blake said.
Jenna shook her head in frustration. "Look, if it was one of your brothers, just keep them the hell away from my house okay?"
She turned and headed up the steps to her front door, leaving Blake bewildered behind her.
****
Jenna lifted the lid to her washing machine, and then reached down to open the door of her dryer. As she transferred her laundry from one machine to the other, she tried to keep her mind clear of any events from the previous nights, as well as her conversation with Blake. Though she did well not to think of the incidents, she could not rid herself of the feeling.
It was on her skin, the feeling of exposure and vulnerability. She had changed clothes, and was wearing her most comfortable pair of blue jeans and a plain, white, spaghetti strap top. Still, she felt somehow naked, as though the very walls within her own house were watching her. She had felt the exact sensation the night before, and she remembered how wonderful and sexy it had been.
Jenna only felt uncomfortable and fearful now. Though her skin felt smooth and warm, she imagined it sticky and contaminated. She had allowed prying eyes to invade her privacy, to bear witness to her in her most intimate form. She felt somehow infected or penetrated, and therefore ashamed.
She shut the door to the dryer, set the time, and started its cycle. As she walked out of her laundry room and into her kitchen, she realized that she had not eaten anything since she had been home from work. Jenna sighed when she glanced over at her stove. There had been a time when she enjoyed cooking, but those were memories she did not care to think of either.
Deciding that she was not hungry, she wondered what she should do next. Over the past year her home had become quiet and uneventful. She considered calling her friend Kelly and asking her over for a visit. Such as her mood was, however, she did not feel like entertaining a high spirit like Kelly. She wondered if she had become a bad friend. It seemed she was never up for keeping up with her wild friend anymore. Glancing at the clock on her stove and realizing it was half past seven o'clock, she headed into the living room. She hated that she settled with watching television every night, but there was a decent program soon to come on that she was content to watch. Jenna decided that anything would be preferable to dwelling on the disturbing occurrences of the past several days.
Just as she found her remote and switched on her television, there came a knock at the front door. At first she was startled, and placed a hand over her chest above her fluttering heart. Again the image of the shadow at her back door flashed in her mind. Jenna shook her head and walked to her front door. It was not often that she had visitors. She wondered if her mother had decided to pay her a surprise visit, or if Kelly had coincidentally shown up.
Jenna opened her door and immediately froze. Blake was standing on her front porch. He was dressed as casually as ever, wearing jeans that were slightly splattered with paint and grease and a grey shirt. His hair and shirt were wet, and looking past him, Jenna could see that it was raining harder. His soft but piercing bluish eyes studied her kindly.
"Hey," he said.
Jenna's eyes wandered down his slender frame.
"Hey," she replied softly in kind.
"Look, I think I've figured out what all of this is about," Blake began.
Jenna bit her lip and leaned on the edge of the door. She reflected on her earlier actions.
"I'm sorry for acting like that earlier," she said. "It's been kind of a bad day for me."
Something in the way his wet dirty blond hair glistened and how his small bright eyes glittered when he smiled excited Jenna.
