Of Literature & Kisses (Forbidden Romance)

Chapter 5 - Thirty-Seven Pairs

I never came home with my brother Chad. I always preferred the long walks home to having to wait for him to finish football practice, and I knew that he often drove a couple of teammates home after their practice was done. Honest to God I would have preferred to walk under a torrential rainstorm then undergo even a handful of minutes in a confined space with the likes of Dean.

There was a total of two cars in our house, but my eldest brother owned one exclusively and the one I was supposed to share with Chad was very nearly just Chad's. I had no problem with that, choosing instead to walk alone at my own time and pace. Unfortunately, it had rained today at dismissal, and having noticed that I didn't bring my umbrella, Phoenix practically forced me to let her drive me home or to go with her to her house. I chose the latter, not wanting to bother her anymore even though she had offered a thousand times before.

When I made it home for the night it was nearly nine o'clock and the first thing I did was go to my bedroom to gather my clothes and head for the shower. My pajamas were easy to find. I went to the single drawer in my nightstand and reached my hand inside for a pair of panties, when my fingers thudded against solid wood. Confused, I looked into the drawer, only to find it completely empty. No bras, no underwear. Nothing.

I knew there was sure to be a clean pair in another one of my drawers, but that wasn't the problem. The problem was that my underwear was obviously gone.

Rolling my eyes to the heavens I went to Chad's room and opened the door after a few announcing thuds.

"Did you, in a strange attempt at being funny, empty out my underwear drawer, Chad?" I asked him, crossing my arms over my chest.

He made a face as though completely confused, and shook his head. "I don't want to be anywhere near your lady things."

Strangely enough, I believed him, but that created an even bigger problem.

"Has anyone else been here?" I questioned.

"Yeah, Dean, but he wasn't in your room."

Freezing cold ran through my body, and I shut the door without another word. Hours later, I laid in bed at midnight and couldn't bring myself to sleep. I kept imagining his hands, curving around the lace and cotton and feeling, laughing.

Just what had he done?

***

The next morning, I dressed myself in a mustard skirt and white long sleeve. I let my dark brown hair fall down my shoulders freely, and I looked at my face in the mirror. There were bags underneath my eyes, jutting out against my lighter skin from an obvious lack of rest. Even when I had slept I felt anxious, and I awoke twice before the alarm, falling asleep in restless fits. I tried my best to hide the imperfections with some makeup, but it came to a point where I shrugged my shoulders and walked away without another thought. I made it a point to grab my umbrella on the way out.

In my first period, which I shared with Phoenix, she looked at me closely, taking a second look.

"You seem upset."

"Well," I began, looking at the clock to see if I could squeeze in a few words before the start of class. "After I got home yesterday I went to my underwear drawer and it was empty. Not even one thing left. I knew Bran wouldn't do something so stupid, and that he was probably sleeping from having worked all day, so I thought Chad was pulling a prank on me and hiding them somewhere. But he wasn't lying when he told me he didn't know what had happened to them, I can tell when he's lying. And it turns out, Dean had been at the house while I was at your place."

Instantly her eyes narrowed. "Dean? He's not just petty because you rejected him last year but he's actually psychotic and a freaking creep. Cece-"