Totally Inappropriate *UNDER EDITING*

Chapter 11

I had another of my dreams about Benjamin that night. For the first time, he wasn't pleasuring me, this time I being the one to make him feel above the clouds. When I'd come into his room- in the dream, that is- he'd looked somewhat nervous, like he knew what I was going to do. And when I did make my intentions clear, he attempted to usher me out, his voice growing weaker and weaker as the lust in his eyes grew. He was still scared to let me in, but I persisted, hellbent on being the one to make him feel good, even if it was only for little while. Pretty soon, he stopped fighting me, moans leaving his lips as his hands tangled in my hair and he caved in to my touch. I only wished he was such putty in my hands in reality.

The dream had put me in an odd mood, so that I wasn't quite sure whether I was feeling uplifted or melancholy. When my bedroom telephone rang, however, my spirits were unquestionably dragged down by the voices on the other end. It was my aunt Sarah and my aunt Claire on speaker phone. My device didn't even have that ability.

"So, how are you finding it there?" Sarah asked, oozing friendliness. I didn't think it was false, per se, just misplaced. She was so naive of how her lack of caring and compassion had made me feel that she thought she could just ring me up any damn time she wanted.

"Good," I answered, hiding my disappointment with her easily. She had been my first guardian, so I was more than used to this by the time she kicked me out at age thirteen, sick of my troublemaking and language difficulties. Nobody had known I had dyslexia until the age of fifteen, something I tried to hide as best I could, and when it was revealed, she'd been annoyed at me for my discretion rather than sympathetic for my troubles. Bitch. "How are you guys?"

"Oh, we're fine," replied Claire for the both of them. I could tell by the slight tightness in her voice that she was still very much annoyed with me for running away, despite the many times she'd told me all was forgiven over the phone since I'd been here. Forgiven, my ass. "We just want to see you. We thought maybe we should have dinner."

"Oh, Sveta, you could cook us dinner! Then we could see your new house." I knew this was the real reason they'd called- so they could snoop on me.

I rolled my eyes. I really did despise my family sometimes, and it wasn't even in that secretly-indulgent way. I could live without them, and one day I would. Simple as that.

"Fine," I sighed, not even trying to be polite anymore. "I'll ask Lilith and Richard if you can come over this evening. That okay?"

"This is so exciting!" Claire said as a way of confirmation.

All I felt was dread. I'd finally managed to escape them and now they were intruding on my new life as well. I didn't even know why when they clearly despised me so much.

Their presence was also unwelcome because it got me thinking about my parents. These weeks, I'd barely thought about them at all now, but now... well, this was like one huge reminder that the reason for need for guardians at all was because they were dead. I'd only known them for the first four years of my life until that fateful car crash, so while I didn't exactly miss them, I still grew sad at the fact that I didn't have parents around. Lilith and Richard were nice- great, actually- but they weren't my real parents. They never would be.

They agreed to let my family members come round, of course, though my uncle and his wife and children would not be coming. Claire wasn't bringing her family, either, and Sarah didn't have one because she was still one of those career types that flinched at the mention of commitment.  So it would just be my aunts, my guardians, Benjamin and I.

"Actually, we have to head out today," said Lilith apologetically, interrupting me mid-flow as I muttered about groceries. She and Richard were already lingering by the doorway, coats in hand. I felt kind of betrayed- irrationally so, yes, but it was like they were leaving me to face the devils by myself. Which they kind of where. "We always restock on a Saturday and the paint place is a few hours' drive away. They don't deliver."