(bxb)in love with him

No swearing in the house.” I pause on the top stair and listen to Catherine’s voice coming from the guest room—the one across the corridor from mine. “It comes without saying, but no drugs or alcohol in the house—or outside of it, for that matter,” she says. “Don’t take your food upstairs, please. We’ve had problems with mice before, and I wouldn’t want that to return.” I make a few steps on the worn out blue carpet, stop in front of the open door and glance inside. Catherine is smoothing wrinkles on the bed cover, while Raven stands with his back to me, his bag on the floor at his feet. “Also, no sleepovers,” she says. “Too bad,” he says. “I like sleepovers.” She leaves the bed alone and straightens up, giving him a hesitant look. “See, Raven...since I’m responsible for you now, I can’t allow any kind of promiscuous behavior, particularly given your...well... history. Hence, no sleepovers.

I cross the dark room, catch the curtain fluttering in the wind and look out of the window. There’s a thick oak tree growing right in front of the house, its branches so close to the walls that they have to be trimmed every spring. I look down and, through the maze of leaves, I see a slim figure in a dark hoodie let go of the lowest branch and jump to the ground with a muffled thump.Raven.My first instinct is to call out for him, but I hold my tongue. If he went to such lengths to sneak out, it’s unlikely he’ll just come back when called. Also, it could wake Catherine up, and I don’t want to upset her. She relies on me. I can handle this.I turn around and hurry back to my room. I move around it like a tornado, grabbing and pulling on my pants, shirt, shoes, tying my shoelaces. Then I tiptoe to the stairs and go down as quiet as I can. There, I grab my keys and head for the exit.Once on the street, I breath in

When I come home from school, I can tell that Raven is already there. His school bag is on the floor by the entrance and his shoes are lying next to the shoe rack. Apart from that, music is blaring upstairs.My annoyance rising, I glance into the kitchen. The sink is full of dirty dishes from the last night and today. He’s been living with us for three days already, and he hasn’t washed them once, despite picking it as his chore. Either Catherine will have to do it again, or I will, to save her the trouble.No freaking way.I go up the stairs. His door is closed, but he’s not allowed to lock it, so I push it and stride in, and then freeze, the volume of music so powerful it almost pushes me back.Raven is sitting by his desk—his profile to me, his feet on the table, his books and papers in disarray, his clothes on the bed. He has begun plastering posters of what appears to be his favorite band, “Fake Drug&rd

    I like this dream. It’s one of those rare ones when you know that you’re dreaming, so you can pretty much do what you want. Given that Sandra is in it with me, it’s clear what I wantShe’s sitting on my bed, smiling invitingly, dressed in a black lingerie that I have never seen her wear in real life. I wrap my hands around her and help her on top of me so that her butt is rubbing against my erection. My hands roam over her body, squeezing and groping, helping her out of her barely existing lingerie. Her smile gets wider as her fingers wrap around my cock, forcing a moan from me. I hope I don’t wake up before we do it. It’s been a while. Having sex in a dream is better than no sex at all.And yet the fabric of the dream gets thinner, perhaps chased away by my moan, and even though my hands still feel her hot skin, I also become aware of the ticking of the alarm clock next to my bed and a car honkin

       perhaps all the evidence is hidden under his excessive make up.“Morning, sweetie,” says Catherine, pecking me on the cheek. “Did you make a sandwich for Raven, too?”“He’s not a baby,” I mutter. “He can do it himself.”“Yes, but a bit of thoughtfulness could go a long way,” she says before disappearing into the kitchen. Raven pauses to give me a smug grin.“Morning, sweetie,” he says quietly so that Catherine wouldn’t hear. “Have fun at school,” he adds, louder. “I’m, sadly, suspended.”“Yes, and I hope you’ll use it to prepare for that math test,” Catherine says from the kitchen.“Sure, I will.” He turns away from me and goes into the kitchen. “One of my friends has agreed to come and help me to study, if you don’t mind,&rdquo