So here I am, in the cold, with a dress that only barely covers my panties and no coat, ringing the door bell of a darkened house that I have never been to before. I feel like there is a stone in my tummy: It was a largish rock on the way over but now it is a full sized house brick because there is more than one car in the drive. In fact there are at least six cars parked in the drive and that is bad news, that is very, very bad news. I almost throw up, I almost turn and run. I tell myself I am going to run; I am going to run back to my car, drive to the police station in Brookville and turn myself in. But I don't even start to turn. I pause for maybe 3 seconds, look back at the black path I came along, shrug to myself and grimly reach up to the button.
The cars in the drive are big and expensive. Even in the darkness, with just the light over the front door of the house to see by, I can see that they are sparkling and clean, well cared for. I myself don't feel so sparkling and clean right now. In fact I feel the opposite of clean and there is nothing sparkling about me. I pull the hem of the cheap dress as far down my thighs as I can - not very far. If I don't keep pulling it down the dress rides up showing my panties. When I was walking the mile from the wood where I was told to park my car I had to keep tugging the hem down every few steps to keep myself covered.
Without a coat I kept my arms wrapped around myself to try and stay a little warm while I walked, it was a constant compromise between having the dress riding up or losing even the little bit of heat I managed to retain by hugging myself. Even though there was no one around and even though the unfamiliar heels made me stumble every time I reached down, I kept doing it and endured the little extra cold.