Second Nature by Ae Watson Page A

cocked an eyebrow as he
pulled a rock out and undid it, lifting a key from the plastic.
    “You snuck into Rachel’s
house?” I whispered at his back.
    “Yes.” He didn't offer
anything else, and I didn't want to know the rest. Ashton and Rachel had been
dating since elementary school, same as Sage and Vincent. Whatever he had been
doing in Rachel’s house that he needed to know where the secret hide-a-key was left, was none of my business.
    He slid the key in,
pulled the door, and jerked the key to the right with subtle shakes.
    “Tricky lock?” I couldn't
help but ask.
    “It isn’t what you
think.”
    “I’m sure it’s worse.”
    “It is.” He glanced back
over his shoulder. “Andrew’s mom wasn't the only one whose company I enjoyed.”
    “Jesus.” My jaw was on
the ground, mixed in amongst the red leaves.
    “I ended it at spring
break. Rachel was getting suspicious and acting weird. She tried
to—anyway. She tried to compete with her mom.” He shuddered and lifted a
finger to his lips as he turned the handle and opened the door.
    I followed him into the dark, scared my soul was getting tainted by just being near
him. The smell of laundry soap and heavy sadness greeted us as we snuck into
the house.
    “You realize that makes
them pedos, right? You were a child.”
    “I was seventeen, and I
pursued them.” He led the way, weaving us through the dark house.
    When we got to the main
floor via the staff staircase, I knew where we were. I turned and followed him
to the hallway on the right where Rachel’s massive suite was. It was over the
garage, with a large rooftop balcony overlooking the sea. The room was meant to
be the master suite, but she had demanded it be hers. She had to have the best
bedroom of us all.
    Here we didn't have to
worry about noise so much. Her parents slept on the other side of the house. He
opened the door, pausing in the moonlight when he stepped in. “I have never
been in Rachel’s room before.”
    I brushed past him. “I
have.” I headed straight for the curtains and started closing the blinds and
heavy drapes. When everything was closed I turned on the flashlight on my cell
phone.
    “The guard at the gate
will notice the light if you go in the bathroom or the toy room. There’s no
thick curtains in there.”
    He tapped on his
flashlight on his cell phone too, giving me a strange look. “Toy room?”
    I cracked a bitter grin.
“Rachel played with Barbies and toys far longer than the rest of us. She made
me play with her last summer. We were fifteen and she was still into them. She
wasn't what she made everyone think she was.” I turned and walked straight for
the bookcase with the secret door, something she had also demanded she have. I
killed the flashlight and pulled the bookcase back, stepping into the well lit
room. The ceiling was more like a conservatory’s and let in heaps of silver
moonlight.
    “Creepy,” he whispered
and slinked in after me.
    The room was round with a
domed ceiling made of windows. Along the walls were dollhouses, carriages,
resorts, and cars all set up for play. Each of the Barbies was positioned and
dressed in the finest of outfits. Some even matched the outfits Rachel had from
designers. Two blondes sat in a car, one brunette stood in the elevator, never
getting off. There were Barbies on horses and dolls in beds, tucked in sweetly
by their devoted owner.
    “This is insane.” He
dropped to his knees and lifted a male doll with the same color hair as his. “I
have that dinner jacket.” He turned back, giving me a worried look.
    “Oh I know you do. You
were always her secret wish. She was with Ashton because he was the right one,
but you were the one she loved.”
    “That’s disturbing.” He
pointed at the kitchen with the Barbies in maid uniforms. “If I lift the lid
off the pot in the kitchen am I going to find a bunny?”
    “You can’t tell me you
never noticed the way she threw herself at you, before her mom and you did