Flawed Creatures

Wanna Have Fun -4-

CHAPTER FOUR

Turning from side to side while checking out her reflection through the mirror attached above her dresser, Ellie tried to decide if that was the outfit she wanted to wear to the party. She had already changed four times--two dresses, then a skirt outfit and now a pair of bell-bottom jeans. Content with the jeans now she just had to find the correct top. Ellie shook her head while watching her mirror twin do the same thing. This top wasn't it.

Arms folded over her upper body, she tugged the blouse over her head, which left her top half exposed except for a beige bra. That was how her brother found her when he burst through the door. Thankful she still held the top, Ellie pressed it to her chest as unapologetic eyes roamed her body. She wished he would tighten the straps of his robe since it was easy to tell he wore nothing but a pair of briefs that left little to the imagination.

"What do you want, Jeff?" she asked in a low voice. She could tell what he wanted based on the look in his eyes alone. There goes that nausea again. "We're getting ready for the party."

Confusion appeared. "We're?" Dark eyes swept the bedroom finding no one else until the door to Ellie's private bathroom opened revealing her best friend since the age of five. "Oh." Jeffrey reminded himself to smile. "Hi, Robyn. I didn't know you were here." A glance toward his robe and he swiftly secured it.

Robyn stood just outside of the bathroom with her arms folded and hoped her expression didn't reveal just how pissed off she was. "Well now you do." She forced a tight smile. "I have a tip for you, Jeff. Why don't you try knocking before you open the door to someone's private room?"

Alarmed, Ellie turned toward her friend and shook her head. "It's okay, Robbie."

"No, it isn't," Robyn responded without so much as a glance in her direction. Involved in a little staring contest with Jeffrey she would be damned if she was the first one to look away. "You knock and/or inquire if she's decent, then wait for an invitation before you turn that knob. My parents--especially my dad got into the habit of knocking when my age was still in the single digits." Robyn pointed toward Ellie without looking. "At seventeen and a half she's a young lady who deserves courtesy and privacy."

Jeffrey appeared dutifully chastised. "You're right. I'm sorry." He smiled at them both. "You ladies look really pretty."

Once they thanked him, Robyn pointed toward the door behind him. "If you don't mind, Jeff, we need to finish. Sure you noticed Ellie isn't wearing a shirt."

"Oh, sure." He nodded. "Sure." Apologizing again, he offered another smile and walked out, softly shutting the door in his wake.

Robyn waited three seconds and said, "Tomorrow you and I are taking a trip to a hardware store to buy a lock for your door. We can borrow my dad's tools to get the job done."

Ellie faintly smiled while tossing the top she no longer cared to wear on her bed. "You and I are going to do that? Just us?"

"Absofreakinglutely! We're a couple of groovy chicks who will figure out together how to install a locking doorknob."

Chuckling, Ellie moved toward the closet. "If you say so."

"I do say so." Occupying the side of the bed nearest the closet, Robyn bounced up and down on it a bit causing the mattress to squeak. "Ellie?"

Turned away from her, Ellie's shoulders tensed up. She recognized the topic was about to shift in a direction she didn't care to travel based on the gentle way her friend uttered her name. "Yes?" Although not paying attention to the clothes she slid hangers back and forth until instructed to come join Robyn on the bed. Doing so, she twiddled her thumbs while waiting for her friend to speak. A hand taking possession of hers, she felt a light squeeze.