I Spun the Bottle

I Spun the Bottle: Chapter Twenty

I Spun the Bottle: Chapter Twenty

Song for this chapter: “Everybody Talks” by Neon Trees

          Deep breath, Lyn. It’s just a door. Just press the darn button already! I mentally commanded myself to reach my hand forward and press the tiny button next to the dark, wooden door. My body ignored the order from my brain. I had been standing there for about five minutes staring idiotically at the door.

          I couldn’t do this! I didn’t know what I was doing here. It made no sense to me. Why wouldn’t I have just told Penny the truth? And why was it suddenly becoming really easy to lie? Shifting my weight from one foot to the other, I thought about what I should do.

          You could go home. A small, but very convincing voice echoed inside me. I could. I mean, it’s not like Penny or Cam would know if I left. Even as I weighed the positives over the negatives, I knew that I wasn’t going to do that to them. I may have lied to them, but I was going to at least do this.

          I took one more deep breath before reaching out to the doorbell, this time my arm moved. But before I could actually press the doorbell the wooden door clicked. My heart jumped from the sudden movement.

          The door opened and behind it revealed a little girl, probably around the age of six or seven. Her dark green eyes were wide with curiosity as she stared at me. Long strands of dark brunette hair covered her shoulders and traveled down her petite body, reaching down to her mid-back. She was wearing a light pink dress that had a white floral pattern covering it.

          When she opened her mouth to speak, I noticed that one of her front teeth was missing. “Who’re you?”

          I smiled and bent down a little so I was at her height. “I’m Lyn. Umm, didn’t your parents ever tell you it’s not smart for a little girl to open a door to strangers?”

          “Ya, but my big brother’s sick and I’m protecting him,” she replied defensively. I could see a pout forming on her thin lips.

          “I see,” I said, not wanting to hurt her feelings. “What’s your name?”

          A twinkle seemed to light in her eyes as I asked the question. “Hali, spelled with a I. H-A-L-I, that’s how you spell it.”

          I grinned at her, she was so adorable. Jace had never told me that he had a little sister before. Suddenly I realized that I honestly didn’t know much about Jace in general. I should probably fix that dilemma.

          “That’s a cute name. Hali, do you know if you’re brother is awake?” I questioned her, taking a cursory glimpse into the house.

          “Why? Are you my big brother’s girlfriend?” she inquired with a tone I couldn’t quite decipher. It sounded somewhere between bored and curious at the same time.

          Even though it was a little girl that asked me, I couldn’t help the warm feeling from spreading across my cheeks. My voice sounded sturdier than I felt. “No, I’m not his girlfriend. I’m just here to deliver some homework that’s all.”

          “Really?”

          “Really,” I assured her, tightening the corners of my lips into a smile.

          “He’s awake. You can come in.” She stepped aside, widening the door as she did so.

          I stepped into the house, taking a peek around the place. The first and most obvious thing I noticed was a model mannequin, ones that you would see at the mall. I soon realized that there wasn’t just one mannequin, but about half a dozen, scattered around the living room. All of them wore different outfits. The one in front of me had a dress on similar to Hali’s.