Learning to Knock
The pool house door open and closed quickly, two figures sneaking through the darkness of the night. Their giggling broke through the silence and their shuffling feet broke through the darkness in some odd sense.
They barely missed falling over onto the bed that Ryan hadn't made that morning, which caused them to giggle even more. A whispered shhh emanated from one of them, but neither knew which of them it had been.
"Are you sure Ryan won't be coming back?" she asked him softly, holding his hands so she didn't get separated from him.
"He's in the den using the computer, doing some project. He'll probably end up falling asleep on the couch or something," he whispered back.
"If he comes in here," she warned, letting her sentence end at that.
"He won't," he replied, letting go of one of her hands to turn a doorknob. "Here's the bathroom. You really need to get out of those clothes."
"I'm sure you'd like that," she smirked.
He grinned back at her, though neither of them could see it. "You know I would. Maybe I'll join you when I get back."
She playfully shoved him. "Just hurry up."
"I'll be right back," he promised, and hurried to the main house.
* * *
Marissa squinted as she entered the dark pool house, her amazing night vision coming into effect. She could see the crumpled sheets on Ryan's bed. Her heart almost stopped at the thought.
The sound of a shower caught her attention, and she noticed that the door of the bathroom was wide open. She guardedly stepped towards the small room. At the doorway, she stepped on something. Bending over to pick it up, she saw that it was a muddy blouse. At first, she thought that the pink top was one of Summer's, but realized that she had seen Anna wearing it once or twice.
The messed up bed. Anna's discarded clothes. The running shower. Ryan was cheating on her with Anna.
She turned to run out, but ran into a body on the way. Ryan. "Ryan, I can't…" But it wasn't Ryan. He didn't smell like Ryan. He was too tall to be Ryan. He was… Seth.
"Marissa?" Seth asked curiously.
"I thought… Ryan… Anna… but… you…" she breathed.
Seth turned on a lamp, hoping the slight light wouldn't be visible from his parents' bedroom window.
Seth's clothes were also covered with mud, and he was holding a stack of fresh clothes in his hands.
"What's going on?" Anna asked, coming from behind them, wrapped in a towel.
"Oh, God," Marissa said embarrassedly. She blushed and pushed her way past Seth and out of the pool house. She really did need to learn to start knocking. She walked in on some uncomfortable situations in that pool house.
"What was that all about?" Anna asked, an eyebrow raised.
"Don't ask me," Seth replied, shrugging. He handed her a pile of his clothes. "Hope these fit. Smallest I've got."
"They should work," Anna smiled, going back into the bathroom to change. When she came back out, she looked like she was wearing something out of her own wardrobe. "Perfect."
"Thanks again for digging around for bugs with me," Seth said, referring to the Biology project they were required to do, searching for bugs in the woods or dirt or wherever, then killing them to do a presentation on. "And sorry the sprinklers came on."
"What's life without a little mud?" Anna laughed. "No, really. It was fun. And I got some new bugs for my own project." She held up a plastic dish as if for proof.
Seth took Anna home. Still, neither had figured out what Marissa had been freaking out about. You'd think she had walked in on them going at it or something.
end