I never knew my father. He ran off with his secretary shortly after I was born. My mother never remarried, so she raised my big brother and I on her own.
My older brother, Kevin, is something of a nerd. He's 24, but still lives at home with my mother and me. Always awkward. Not stupid, but not desperately smart either. He had 4 close friends in school. All 4 have the same lack of intellectual and social prowess. It's probably the main thing they have in common. But they formed a tight bond. When their time at school came to an end, they all got jobs shuffling paperwork at the same big insurance company. Like him, they are all 24 now, still doing the same jobs for the same company.
I'm 18, in my final year of St Margaret's girls school. I criticise my brother for being socially inept, but in truth I'm not much better. I've got a handful of friends, I'm painfully shy and have never had a boyfriend. In fact the only boys I know at all are my Brother's nerdy friends.
It all started one evening after school. I get home an hour before Kevin. I normally have a shower as soon as I get home. I'll take a change of clothes into the bathroom with me. So I can get dressed again in regular clothes in the safety of the locked bathroom.
That day was like any other. I got home, and went directly to the bathroom. I was in the shower maybe a little longer than normal. Maybe 15 minutes rather than 10.
I finally shut off the water and started my post shower ritual. I use the hair drier. Brush my long dark hair. Dry myself off with my towel then put on the change of clothes and go to my bedroom. But I quickly realised I had left my clothes in my bedroom.
I considered putting my school uniform back on. But it seemed silly for the short walk down the hall, in an empty house, to my bedroom. Instead, I wrapped the towel around my body, under my arm pits. I'm a small girl; just an inch over five foot. But the towel wasn't very big either, so it only covered 3 inches of thigh.
