❝𝗝𝗲𝗻𝗹𝗶𝘀𝗮 𝗦𝗺𝘂𝘁 𝗕𝗼𝗼𝗸❞

Trouble

JENNIE

A square of light shows from the window next door.

Lisa's room.

It's eleven P.M. on a Monday night in July, I'm camped out at my parents' house licking my wounds from my broken engagement, and instead of pulling down my shade like a well-behaved neighbor with a healthy respect for privacy, I'm leaving it up and sitting in the dark.

Because framed in that square of light is the sculpted chest of a girl.

A girl I used to babysit, back when being five years older than her meant knowledge and authority. At least in theory.

Now she's a lady. And it's her choice to flaunt her abs through the open window. But she doesn't know I'm sitting here watching.

As a kid, Lisa was hell on wheels. Every time I babysat, her parents would thank me profusely for being the only sitter who could stand her and her brothers. It helped that they paid profusely, too.

Lisa was the ringleader, the mastermind. Smart, but a rabble-rouser. There was the chemistry experiment that almost blew up the kitchen, the illegal fireworks she snuck into the backyard and charged the neighborhood kids a fortune to watch her set off. An experiential learner, her mom would say, exhausted.

I wondered about her now and then, when I went away to college. The hell-raiser teetering between success and destruction. I had a soft spot for Lisa, and I kept my fingers crossed for success.

Now I'm twenty-six, back home, and spying. My love life is in shambles, and right now, I don't care if this is wrong. She's standing directly in front of the window, turned slightly to one side. She unbuckles her belt. My window's closed, but I hear the clink.

When she opens her fly and removed her bra, I squeeze my legs together. The tattoo on her shoulder catches the light.

Early this morning, the sound of wheels on asphalt woke me. I crept to the window facing the street and saw Lisa taking her family's trash and recycling bins to the curb. It was cool out, the summer heat not yet in bloom, but she was with just a sport bra, her nipples pebbled and her pajama bottoms riding low on her hips. I hadn't realized she was home from college.

I haven't been home much myself the past few years. Busy with grad school and Eunwoo, who just tossed me aside like a crumpled tissue. Better to end this now than after the wedding, Jennie.

So I missed seeing Lisa transition from a little girl to woman.

And in the quiet morning light, she was magnificent. It took my breath away. Lean and beautiful, her short black hair glinting in the first rays of sun that cast purple shadows over the street. Her jaw was sharp, her cheekbones defined. A tattoo swirled over her shoulder. She was full of energy and life and God, I wanted those right now.

Without thinking, I ran outside barefoot, got our bins from the garage, and dragged them next to Nick's at the curb.

"Hi Lili," I said breathlessly, like a seventh grader with a crush. "It's been awhile."

Her face broke into a grown-up version of her trademark mischievous grin. "Hey, Jen. Too long."

She took me in as I stood in front of her. Braless, in my tight white tank top and little polka-dotted shorts. Her eyes drank in my face and lingered on my breasts, my thighs. When I glanced down, my nipples, pinkish and puckered, poked insistently through the sheer white fabric.

"I guess it's pajama day," I joked, but my laugh caught in my throat.

"Then every day should be pajama day."