Serenity sighed. “I must have just imagined it. It looks fine.”
“Oh, good.” I went back to working on breakfast, measuring out the ingredients to make the pancake batter. “Hey, does Gabriella eat dairy?”
Serenity nodded. “She’s not vegan. She just generally doesn’t eat meat. At least, not normally.”
“R-Right. Thanks,” I agreed.
After a long minute, Serenity abruptly closed the gap between us, hissing under her breath. “Okay, seriously Kai, if I find out you and her…especially in this house…”
I quickly shook my head while leaning away, trying to physically rid myself of the thoughts popping into my head. “Of course, of course.”
She then snapped at me again. “And if you do, you better use protection!”
I jumped away from her in shock, rapidly shaking my head. ‘Don’t turn white, don’t turn white, don’t turn white!’
The skin along my spine was definitely dark gray now, but I was pretty confident I’d managed to keep my hair a normal color. I could usually do that — control where it happened, if I concentrated. It was one of the only reasons I hadn’t been found out yet, especially in school where some of the girls wore thongs, or otherwise provided undesired stimulation. Of course, my biggest defense was to just make sure I didn’t look, as well as making sure I masturbated at least once a day at home.
“Everything alright in here?” a voice suddenly asked from the kitchen entrance.
We both turned to look at Gabriella, although I immediately had to look away when I focused on the shiny purple silk pulled tight over her heavy breasts. Serenity immediately crossed her arms, causing Gabriella to lower her gaze, feeling a scolding coming on. It was suddenly as if she was a kid, and my sister was the adult.
However, instead of yelling at her, my sister just sighed. “How’d you sleep?” she asked, sounding only slightly annoyed. I quickly went back to working on breakfast.
Gabriella hesitated briefly before responding. “Umm, really good, considering.”
Serenity sighed again and unfolded her arms. “I assume you’re staying here today too.”
“Too?” Gabriella repeated in confusion, but then realized what my sister was implying, with me seeing her glance in my direction from the corner of my eye. “Oh, I mean, my cars not here…” She paused. “And obviously I’m not going to work today after what happened last night.” She hesitated. “So, is that alright? If I camp out here?”
My sister took a deep breath, and then walked over to the fridge. Opening it, she pulled out a yogurt and turned to walk out of the kitchen. “I’m going to run late if I wait for the pancakes, so I’m just going to stop for some coffee and eat at work. I’ll see you two later.” She then stopped when she reached Gabriella, whispering to her. “You’re still my friend, but that’s my little brother. Don’t forget I’m a cop, and he’s still in high school. So, no funny business, alright?”
I heard Gabriella gulp in embarrassment and nod, before Serenity headed out the door. Once my sister’s car pulled away, Gabriella slowly walked up to me as I began scooping batter onto the skillet.
“Well,” she said emphatically. “That wasn’t so bad.”
Sighing, I nodded. “She wouldn’t really arrest you,” I reassured her. “She’s just torn between being my sister and acting like my mom. It’s been rough playing both roles for her.”
“Oh, I know she wouldn’t arrest me,” Gabriella agreed. “And she can’t anyway. I looked it up after we first met. Even if you were still a minor, I can take advantage of you all I want as long as you’re consenting. It’s called the Romeo and Juliet law, or something like that.” She giggled when my hair flashed white, shifting in an instant. “Okay, I have to admit. That’s really satisfying seeing the effect my words have on you.”
I groaned in response. “Please don’t tease me like that. What if she comes back?”
Gabriella suddenly leaned closer. “But I wasn’t teasing. I get you all to myself for the rest of the day.”
I shivered in response, feeling the sides of my face begin to gray. Scoffing at her, I retorted. “Jeez, I thought you were shy!”
She leaned away, blinking at me. “Well, I am a little shy with strangers. But I warm up with people I like. That’s actually why I got a cosmetology license — guaranteed to only have to work with one or two people at the same time. And the pay’s decent with the tips I get. I could never be a waitress — talking to more than two or three people at once is kind of scary. Oh!” Gabriella quickly looked at me apologetically. “I’m sorry. I’ll be right back. I need to grab my phone and call work to let them know I won’t be coming in. Although, I wouldn’t be surprised if they already know.”
I hadn’t even thought about that — the fact that people would know. She probably was on the news after what happened.
As soon as she went upstairs, I dashed to the window to look outside, just to double-check there weren’t news crews by the road or something crazy like that. I sure hoped the news stations didn’t find out she was staying here, or otherwise we might get bombarded with attempts for an interview.
Gabriella was only gone for a few seconds, before she quickly came rushing down the stairs with her phone in hand. It was evident she didn’t want to spend any time away from me, even just to make a phone call.
When she called her boss, I found out they hadn’t been expecting her to come in, considering that’s where she’d been kidnapped at the start of her shift. Her car was still there in the parking lot, not to mention the police had been there earlier yesterday, so her boss was at least aware she was missing.
As Gabriella explained the gist of what happened, it sounded like her boss pulled the news up on the internet — not necessarily because the woman didn’t believe that she’d gone missing due to a serial killer, but just because it was one of those things you had to see for yourself.
“Oh my god,” the woman said. “You can take off as much time as you need, sweetie. I’m so sorry. I’m glad to hear you’re safe though.”
“Thanks, Darla,” Gabriella replied. “I think I just need a couple of days is all. It was pretty…horrible.”
“Do you need me to bring you anything?” her boss asked seriously.
Gabriella shook her head, causing me to grin at her for giving nonverbal cues again, as if the person on the other end could see it. She stuck her tongue out at me, giving me the unexpected urge to suck on it, before replying verbally.
“No, I’m alright. I’m staying with a couple friends. They’re taking good care of me.” She gave me a meaningful look that made my face flush, prompting me to get back to the sizzling pancakes I had on the skillet.
“Alright, dear. If you need anything, don’t hesitate to ask.”
Gabriella thanked her and then hung up, immediately explaining her relationship with her boss. “She’s really nice. I used to do people’s hair, but now I work at a nail salon — the environment is a lot different and my boss is much more friendly and relaxed.”
“Cool,” I replied simply, still feeling awkward about her look when she said we were taking good care of her. I then glanced at her when I noticed that she was slowly approaching me in a provocative manner, almost like a cat about to pounce. “Umm, have a seat please. Your breakfast is ready.”