Johnny walked slowly upstairs, such as a condemned man might've ascended the scaffold on his way to the guillotine. He reached Jenni's door, hesitated then knocked. No answer. He knocked again. Still no response. He knocked louder. Perhaps she'd fallen asleep? He thought about leaving but decided on a quick peek. He turned the door handle and cautiously popped his head in.
Jenni was sauntering and shimmying around her bedroom wearing only her sweatshirt and a pair tight, pale-blue, cotton panties. Johnny remembered seeing them flash at him as he'd watched her run down the college steps today. She was dancing with her back to him and the sound coming through her headphones meant that Katy Perry was Roaring at a perilous volume. Johnny walked further into the room and looked around. His sister's bedroom was an oasis of organisation compared to his chaotic dump. His eyes came to rest on the discarded pair of pink yoga pants.
Jenni sashayed across the room with one hand on her hip and one finger wagging at him.
"Nah uh uh!" She sang as she took off her headphones, "Keep your evil eyes off my sweaty pants, big brother."
"I wasn't-"
"Yes you were, sneak-thief." Jenni turned off the music on her phone and placed her headphones carefully on her desk, curling the cable in just the right place to satisfy her need for order.
"So." She said eventually.
"So." He replied.
"Here you are."
"Here I am."
"I, ah, have a favour to ask."
"Here we go!"
"Whaddya mean 'Here we go'?"
"What is it you want? Money?"
"What are you talking about?"
"You've got the goods on me, you got me over a barrel. Now you can make me do whatever you want."
"You're speaking gibberish. What barrel?"
"I mean you can force me to... do... anything you want or threaten to tell-"
"Fuck off." Jenni's eyes blazed with fury. "Get the fuck out of my room."
"I-"
"I cannot believe you'd think me so low. I know we don't get along but you'd think I'd blackmail you?? You little rat-bastard!"
"I just assumed."
"That I'm a horrible bitch? You know, I didn't start any of this! I'm just trying to cope with a situation that you forced on me by being such a lecherous perv!" Jenni was almost crying. "Invading my privacy. Embarrassing me in front of, like, fucking everyone, And then fuckin' accusing me of... of..."
"I'm sorry." Johnny crossed the room and put his hands on her arms. "Truly I am."
"Fuck off." She couldn't look him in the eye.
"Okay. I know I caused all this, all this fucked-up-ness. How can I make it right? I want to make it right. Really I do."
"You can stay away from me. Forever." Jenni turned her back on him.
Johnny breathed hard. "I got mixed up, that's all. You see... this is... actually... one of my fantasies." Jenni looked into her mirror, watching him behind her.
"It's a standard sexual fantasy, I think," he continued, "You catch me... you know..."
"Wanking into my underwear."
"Yes. That. And force me to do your bidding. Make me do whatever you want."
There was a palpable silence.
"What do I force you to do?"
Johnny's eyes widened, he was NOT expecting that question. It was a revelation too far. "Things I could never, ever, ever describe to you."
"Nasty things?"
"Unspeakably."
Jenni was laughing; she wiped her eyes and blew her nose. "You really are a freak, you know that?"
"Guilty as charged." Johnny held his wrists together, imitating wearing handcuffs. "But, please, let me make it right. What did you want? Before I fucked it all up, again."
Jenni looked at him with reddened eyes and steeled herself.
Somewhere in Johnny's head, waaaaay back in the lizard-brain, there was a voice, dripping with menace, saying: 'You're not sorry at all. Look at the way her tits inflate when she breathes. Look at how her cute bubble-butt fills those dirty knickers. You're just pretending to be nice but you really want to tear those clothes off her and shutthefuckupSHUTTHEFUCKUP. Johnny was arguing with his brain when he realised Jenni was speaking. He wrestled back control of his mind and asked her to repeat what she'd said.
"I think, in you, I have someone I can ask questions, personal questions. Questions I couldn't ask anyone else."
"Absolutely."
"And you won't bullshit me?"
"Absolutely not."
"I mean, you have a lot of making up to do."