Totally Inappropriate *UNDER EDITING*

Chapter 2

'Family day' had, much to my surprise, actually been quite fun. Not taking Benjamin's many snide comments into consideration, it was nice to just sit there with other people and be comfortable enough to watch a movie in silence. The whole time, my mind screamed at me to get up, to leave the room and push myself away from the Rendenvilles before they kicked me to the curb like everybody else, but I couldn't do it. I liked the way it felt to sit between them while they bickered with each other; I liked how they didn't seem to find my presence a nuisance or a burden.

That night, I slept all through the night for the first time since... well, a long time. Not only did working nights screw up my schedule, I lived in a crappy apartment with equally crappy walls, so I could hear the rest of my flatmates as they went about their daily business. But between the silence of the Rendenville house, the calming sight of dark outside and my enormous bed? Sleep really wasn't so hard to come by. I had to force myself to leave the comforting depths of the quilts and pillows the next morning, already anticipating when the darkness would next engulf the sky, just so I could slip into a slumber again.

Still, it had to be done. Somehow, I managed to get up and take a shower, though that left me with the impossible task of choosing something to wear. All of a sudden, everything I owned was so wrong. I was starting a new school today and, much as I'd like to pretend otherwise, I wanted to make a good impression. So, just as I saw Benjamin walk past my door, I called out to him (this time making sure I had a towel wrapped around my body, as I was only in my underwear).

"What would you like to waste my time with now?" he sighed as he came into my room. Like yesterday, his eyes scanned my body, but it was more studious than ogling. Like I was some kind of problem he couldn't solve.

"Well, aren't you a charmer?" I grinned, unperturbed by his rudeness. You kind of became immune to it when you had men grabbing at you for three months. "Anyway, I need some help. I don't know what to wear."

"How the hell do I know what girls wear?" he raised his eyebrows, crossing his arms over his chest. With the movement, his muscles bunched up under his t-shirt, which was thin and had short sleeves. I didn't expect anything more, considering his weird hatred of clothing.

I rolled my eyes. "You live in this tiny-ass town, don't you? What do townies wear?"

Benjamin took one look at my now-stocked wardrobe and gave a doubtful scoff. "Not anything in here. I didn't know strippers had to dress slutty outside of work, too?"

I roughly shoved him towards the door. "Fuck off. I'm wearing what I want."

In the end, I tried to go for the most casual ensemble I could put together. Which ended up being a pair of shiny patent leather pants that stuck to me like glue and white boob tube, though that meant I couldn't wear a bra. Rendenville didn't have the same heat as where I was before, so I took a suede jacket, too.

When I came downstairs for breakfast, there was no tantalizing smell of fried foods this time. Simply, I found Benjamin eating a bowl of cereal at the counter. Lilith and Richard I assumed had to be at work, looking at the dirty dishes in the sink. Yesterday, they'd told me they owned a paintball place, a fact I still couldn't quite believe. Though, I guess they could do whatever the hell they wanted; they did own the town.

"That's what you went with? God, those pants don't look like you painted them on at all," Benjamin said dryly as I sat down beside him.

"What are you, my mother?" I retorted. Not my best comeback, but I was currently trying not to stare at his body. It almost looked as good in the t-shirt as it did shirtless. Almost.

We ate in silence during breakfast, something that only continued into the drive to school, making me wish I had my own car. I was worrying about my first day enough as it was, so I didn't need the tension increasing by sitting in an awkward silence for a good half hour. Unfortunately, Benjamin seemed determined to ruin my morning and quickly shot down any conversation I tried to engage him in. I wanted to make some kind of remark, maybe ask something along the lines of what had happened to him to make him such a sad creature, but something held me back. Like how that question could very well have an answer.