Demonspawn by Glenn Bullion

before deciding I'd be
first at Cindy's place for a change. I got dressed and walked the
three feet separating our front doors. I was greeted by music
playing in the living room. I could hear her shower at the end of
the hall.
    “Hey Cindy!” I called. “I'm in here.”
    I stole a soda from her fridge. I walked
around her apartment, studying her decorating skills. She had
pictures everywhere. Most were of her, Alicia, and myself. She also
had pictures of her parents and her grandma. I hadn't seen her
grandma in a few months. I smiled as I looked at the picture taken
just last year of Cindy, Grandma, and me. We were posing in front
of a roller coaster at the Kings Dominion amusement park. Cindy was
giving me bunny ears as I flexed an arm in front of her. Grandma
was playfully pulling on Cindy's arm, as if wanting to go back on
the roller coaster. That was a fun time.
    “Alex!”
    I jumped. The voice was five feet away. I
looked up to see Cindy, completely naked. Her body had a sexy sheen
from the shower water. My mind barely had a second to process what
I was seeing before I closed my eyes and threw an arm over my
face.
    “Jesus, Cindy!”
    “What the fuck, Alex,” she said. I heard her
storming down the hallway. “Why didn't you say you were here?”
    “I did! I screamed at the top of my lungs! I
said, 'Cindy, I'm in your apartment. Please do not come out of the
bathroom without any clothes on.'”
    “Bullshit.”
    “Seriously, Cindy. I yelled out when I first
came in.”
    She was talking from her bedroom now.
    “Well, I didn't hear you.”
    “I did, I swear. I've seen enough naked women
in my lifetime. No need to add you to the list.”
    She was quiet for a moment. I was trying to
figure out if she really was mad at me. Hell, I'd done worse by
accident over the years, like the time I ran over her foot with her
car.
    She stepped out of her bedroom, dressed this
time. Shorts and a tee-shirt. She walked by without even looking at
me.
    Yikes.
    Before I could defend myself there was a
knock at the door.
    “Come in.”
    It was Dave. Tina was a step behind.
    “Hey guys,” he said. He saw the scowl on
Cindy's face. “Uh, we interrupting something?”
    “No,” she said, then motioned for them to
come in.
    Dave looked at me. “Dude, why the hell didn't
you say Julie broke up with you last weekend? Man, I feel like an
ass now.”
    I waved him off. “Don't worry about it. I'm
good now.”
    Tina pointed at me. “Her mistake, Alex.”
    “Thanks, Tina.”
    Jenny showed up not too long after they did.
Dave and Jenny fought over what to watch on TV. Everyone just
talked about their work week, what was happening in their lives.
Cindy barely looked at me. I decided to steer clear of her for a
while.
    We had our share of fights over the years,
like all friends do. Some were dumb, and some not so dumb. She
didn't agree with me dating Marie, a bartender I met while we were
out one night. Turned out she was right about that one. I gave her
a hard time when she lent her last boyfriend Roy three hundred
bucks to “fix his car”. Turns out I was wrong. He paid her back.
But I still insist he was on drugs.
    Now apparently we were fighting because I saw
her naked for half a second.
    Everyone was vegging out. They raided her
fridge a little and were fighting about what movie to watch when
Dave had an idea that would change my life.
    “Hey, you guys want to get out of here? I
know this great place we could hang out at.”
    “Where?” Jenny asked.
    “It's a cabin in the woods. Awesome place.
Right by a lake. I left a grill there from when I was there last
time. We could cook some food. No one ever goes there.”
    Jenny shrugged. “I'm up for it.”
    Everyone looked at Cindy. “Sure.”
    My turn. I saw this as a chance to go home,
get away from Cindy's evil stare. But when I looked at her the evil
look was gone. She looked better, although she still wasn't
smiling.
    “I'll tag along.”
    “Sweet,” Dave jumped up. “We