Twisted

Samuel Becker opened his locker and switched his books out with the ones he would be taking home for homework. Suddenly everything went black. Feeling hands covering his eyes, he smiled. He turned to face Becky Manor, his girlfriend of three years. She was beaming at him. His heart flipped like it always does when he sees her. She gave him a quick hug.

Sam loved how her light brown hair flowed past her shoulders, catching the sunlight from the windows above the row of lockers behind him. She wore a red shirt and faded jeans today, both were fitting snugly against her curves in all the right ways. She was about five or six inches shorter than Sam so she fit perfectly against him when his arms were around her.

"How much homework do you have?" She asked him. He sighed, frowning.

"Not too much, I guess. I think I can get it done in time for our date tonight. I still wish you could come over for some tutoring," Sam leaned down and gave Becky a peck on her lips.

"Yeah, for tutoring," she responds sarcastically. She loved this boy. He was muscular due to being on the wrestling team. He had wavy dark brown hair and a perpetual tan. He stood at about five foot, ten inches tall. "You know as well as I do that there would be no tutoring. Besides, I have swimming practice. We have a meet coming up."

Sam hugged her and watched her walk away toward the swimming pool in the back of the school. He loved watching her hips move as she walked.

-----

Sam followed his friend into the house. Peter Snow's family recently rented the small yellow house on 42nd Street. It was only a two bedroom home with one bathroom, with white shutters and honest to goodness flower boxes on the window sills. Sam and Pete have been friends since first grade.

Sam laid his backpack on the striped armchair that was sitting next to the door. The room they walked into had yellow floral wall paper and an egg-nog yellow accent wall. The furniture had striped yellow and white upholstery, one couch and two armchairs. A small fireplace with a television above took up half of one wall.

“Want a soda?” Pete walked into his kitchen to grab two cans of soda from the refrigerator. He tossed one to Sam before sitting down on the plush couch. Pete was on the basketball team at the school and was a tall lanky kid. He had dirty blond hair cut short to his head and wore glasses.

“Thanks,” Sam sat on the floor in front of the armchair. He opened the can and took a long drink from it.

“What time did Becky say she’d meet you?” Pete swallowed some of his pop.

“I’m supposed to meet her at the Pizza Joint at four o’clock. She said she might be running late since she has swimming practice,” Sam moved to the armchair after setting his backpack on the floor. “What are you doing later?”

“Oh, studying, as usual. That’s all I do. Between basketball practice and schoolwork, I barely have time to relax.” Pete took another swig from his soda. He was right, Sam rarely saw him anymore.

Sam glanced at the clock hanging on the wall above Pete. Three o’clock. He reached down into his backpack and pulled his history textbook out. He had a little bit of time to kill before having to leave. The Pizza Joint isn’t very far, he thought. He turned to the marked page and glanced through the paragraphs. He hated history. Why did he have to learn it? He heard Pete turn the television on to some game show. He couldn’t grasp what the text was. He kept thinking about Becky. They were supposed to go to the movies after pizza. Sam closed the book and placed it back in the backpack. He decided to relax and watch television for half an hour.

-----

Becky hurried home and ran up the stairs. She knew no one was home. Her mother was at work and her father didn’t live there. Her parents got divorced two years prior. She still saw her father often.

She went into her room and threw her backpack on the queen-sized bed. She walked over to the closet and started looking through her clothes. I’ve got to find something cute, she thought. She took three different shirts and laid them on her bed. She didn’t know which one to wear. Sam hasn’t seen me wear the pink blouse before, she thought as she picked it up. After stripping down to her underwear, she glanced in the mirror while sliding the blouse on over her head. Should I wear pants, or a skirt? Hm, the skirt. After grabbing the skirt from her dresser drawer, she slid that on and glanced in the mirror again. She tucked the blouse in and pulled a little bit of it out over the top of the skirt. There, she thought. I look good. Glancing at the clock beside her bed, she started to panic. She was glad she took a shower after swimming practice because she was running late. After running her brush through her hair, she put it up with a hairpin. When she was satisfied, she left the room and went downstairs. She went to the kitchen and opened the fridge to grab a bottle of water out and took a sip. As she was doing a mental checklist of the things she needed; her purse, cell phone, and a few dollars, the doorbell rang. Who can that be? Becky walked back to the door and glanced through the window. A short man in a brown uniform stood there. She opened the door.

“Rebecca Manor?” He said in a low voice.

“That’s me,” she saw a package in his hand. After signing her name and taking the package, she thanked him and closed the door. How sweet, she thought. Sam must have bought me something. She walked to the dining table. Laying the package down, she picked the card up from the box.

FOR YOU

She smiled and opened the box. Inside laid a black decaying rose.