Enclosed part 9 (short story)

So I was gliding down the hallway of this large suburban house, feeling as awkward as I knew to be humanly possible. A middle-aged mother with dyed red hair, way too much make-up, and a fuzzy pink robe walked in front of me, leading me to the bathroom. I had a feeling that the only reason she let me into her picture-perfect suburban dream home was because she thought I was homeless. Even the scary plastic-smile people have pity, I guess. "Here it is," she said, stopping in front of one of the doors. "Thanks," I said as I turned the knob on the door and stepped in. The woman yawned and walked down the hallway to her bedroom without another word. Hm. Maybe she didn't think I was a hobo after all. I closed the bathroom door and looked around, my face flushed with fear though I knew that whatever I took would most likely not be missed. On the far end of the sink, near the outer wall, was a little glass fish bowl. It was perfect. I walked over and took one of the little light blue flat marbles out of the decorative little bowl. I pocketed it, flushed the toilet for effect, turned the sink on and then off again for safety precautions, and then hurried out of the daisy-scented house, my shoes booming loudly on the marble floor of the entryway. I slammed the front door and ran down to the bottom of the driveway where Mitch stood, leaning against a lamp post and grinning at me. I giggled and pulled the flat marble out of the back pocket of my jeans. He laughed and took it from me, holding it between the length of his fingers. It glinted in the moonlight. I looked up in his face and saw that his eyes, too, were glinting. He caught me staring and looked down at me, smiling. Even without his hair, he was the most gorgeous guy in our town, at least. Maybe even in the whole area. There was no doubting Mitch's looks. "Ok," he said with his sly grin, "one down. About...fourteen to go." I groaned and walked in front of him to the next house on that side of the street. We had flipped a coin and I had lost, so he got to truth or dare me first. I chose dare, worrying what he might ask for truth. Mitch, being the insane boy that he is, dared me to ask to use the bathroom on every single house on his block, and if that weren't annoying enough, (especially considering that it was about ten thirty PM and all the people on Mitch's street went to bed at, say, seven thirty? Eight, at most,) he also told me that in every house that I was allowed in, I had to take something from the bathroom. Not exactly a criminal act considering I could technically take a square of toilet paper and it would have to count, but it was still weird for me. I was never the type to do anything like this. I mean, I wouldn't say I was shy or anything, but I was definitely never a rebel. Not that the dare was that rebellious. It just felt like it to me.

© 2010