Luke walked casually around to his neighbour's house like he'd done a dozen time before, either to borrow something or to collect something that his mother had borrowed. This time he was going to collect their house key from Tessa who'd been given the spare set in case there were any emergencies.
Though she'd been there a little less than a year, Tessa had quickly become close friends with Luke's mother; even enough to trust her with the keys. They were about the same age and had a lot in common. Music was where their tastes were almost direct opposites, but it gave them much glee to tease each other.
The shortest way between the house was around the back of the block of houses, through a bunch of wooden gates that were as tall as he was. The plants that grew in whatever piece of ground that hadn't been covered with concrete slabs. They barely got enough light and looked discoloured and twisted and it gave him the creeps if he stayed there too long.
The gates made little noise as they opened, Luke had been asked to oil them just before they'd gone on holiday, he'd done their gate and thought he might as well oil Tessa's too. Luke was back home by himself, he'd come a couple of days early to get ready to
go back to college. He walked up the path, looking at every small thing. Looking at all the windows and any clutter laying around. Tessa's garden wasn't fancy, but it was tidy much.
As he approached the door, he squinted his eyes from the glare bouncing off of the window of the door. Luke knocked gently and spoke.
'Hello!'
There was no reply.
'Tessa?' he spoke a little louder.
Still no reply.
Cautiously he tried the door handle and found it to be open, he peered his head inside, 'Tessa,' he said again.
There was still no reply, but the signs seemed to show that Tessa was here. Her car was here, and she always locked the doors if she was out.
Luke walked into the narrow galley kitchen which was at the back of the house. He wasn't sure if he should move quietly as not to disturb her or make some noise to announce his presence. As he kept looking around, it was only moments before he spotted his own set of house keys laying on the worktop. When he picked them up, he felt the warmth coming from the electric kettle. He brushed the back of his hand over it to make sure that the heat wasn't he imagination. It was still warm so she had to be here somewhere.
'Hello,' he spoke softly again.
But there was still no answer.
His curiosity was tingling, and he wanted to make sure that everything was okay considering this was almost 4 in the afternoon. As he continued to look through the house, he still couldn't see her. But her favourite jacket was here, and her bag, and her house keys.
Luke placed his shoes at the door, the downstairs was all laminate flooring and the upstairs was all carpet, the same as in his house. Slowly he made his way up the stairs, his sock feet made his footsteps doubly silent on the thick, cream coloured, shag pile carpet.
Angling his head back a little, he peered between the narrow opening between the door and the frame to find Tessa sitting up on her bed. The first thing he noticed was her almost jet black hair against the contrast of everything else in that room which was light. It took another second or so to realise that the rest of her body was totally n.a.k.e.d. He moved his gaze to try and focus better and be sure of what he was seeing. Although a feeling in his gut tried to tell him that he should respect her modesty and slip away, another stirring in his body coaxed him to stay.
