2. Stalker

"Boy, this heat is killing me!" She complained over the phone to her best friend Lucy as she pranced around her room in her bra and panties, feeling the cool air blowing over her damp skin from her air conditioner as she had turned it on full blast ever since she had gotten back from shopping.

It was already the middle of August yet the summer heat outside refused to yield. The temperatures were constantly getting high throughout the day, making even the shortest stroll outside seem like a walk in hell.

"Oh my god, are you kidding me? I tried to wash my car today like those hot chicks in movies and I almost fucking fainted on the sidewalk!" Lucy rambled from the other end of the line, making her let out a hearty laugh.

"Hoe, don't laugh, I thought I was gonna fucking die! For real!" Her friend scolded her with a hint of barely covered mirth.

"Okay, okay," she smothered another stupid laugh, lightly shaking her head.

"Why would you do that though? Wait, don't tell me that you spent all your allowance money on that korean crap again!" She muttered with an eye-roll as she threw herself over the bed, absently staring at the ceiling. It was well known that Lucy's unhealthy obsession with make-up and skincare products tended to get out of hand from time to time. She would spend hundreds of dollars buying all that useless crap she seemed to love way too much for her own sanity, inevitably burning through that monthly allowance her parents usually deposited her until she'd barely have anything left for food, let alone gas or any other essentials.

"Neah. Not this time. It was Austin's idea, actually," Austin was Lucy's boyfriend. Her completely uninhibited and sexually playful boyfriend. Lydia didn't like him that much, seeing as he tended to act a little too "friendly" at times  with her and other girls from the school. But since Lucy seemed to adore him -lewd behavior or not- she'd learned to accept him as he was.

"Oh..." she absently mumbled, expressing a grimace as soon as her palm touched her belly, feeling all that sticky sweat covering her skin.

"Yeah, you know how he likes to watch me do stuff so we got into this hot game where I had to wash his car dressed as a cheerleader while he watched me from the inside,"

"Uh-huh,"

"And guess what. It got way too hot. Like literally way too hot. Everything was practically on fire, man! I tried to cool it with water but the hood was already so hot, everything was fucking hot and the air was so hot I could barely fucking breathe! I swear! I got freaking burns on my knees and palms now!"

"Holy shit!" She paused to let out a high-pitched giggle at the sound of all that.

"I swear you guys are so fucking weird sometimes," She commented whilst turning to lay on her side, barely even hearing what her friend was saying from the other end of the line as she felt how incredibly damp her bra and panties felt, so disgustingly clinging against her skin.

"Yeah whatever, Lydia,"

"Oh my god I'm sweating like a pig, I need a shower like, so badly!" She moaned in complaint, raising herself up into a sitting position.

"Yeah, just hang up on me again you little bitch,"

She let out a laugh in response, lightly shaking her head.

"Bye Lucyyyy!" She then yelled over the phone, swiftly ending the call. She threw the smart device somewhere on the bed before she got up and worked fast to discard her bra and panties. Her skin was itching so badly, now that all that sticky sweat was starting to dry.

"Whew..." She breathed in relief, loving that freeing sensation as she stood completely bare. And with few quick steps she rushed to her en-suite, desperately longing for a nice and warm shower.

She reached for the tap and turned on the water, waiting for a few seconds for it to warm up before she stepped into the spacious glass-made cubicle.

She blew out a relaxing sigh as soon as those warm droplets pelted down her skin, taking but a moment to enjoy that feeling before she proceeded to lather and rinse from head to toe.

She didn't waste too much time in there as she was actually starting to feel a little bit hungry from all that running around the aisles back at the market. So she turned off the water and stepped outside, revelling into the cool and refreshing sensation of clean water peppering her skin.

Grabbing a random towel from a rack she wrapped it around her body and stepped out into her room, not even minding the droplets of cool water dripping from her bob-styled hair all over her bare shoulders. It felt so nice. She kinda felt like remaining undressed for just a little bit longer, the thought of putting on clothes again not really appealing as all she could think about was that icky sensation of them clinging to her skin all over again. This heat was just unbearable. She was getting really sick of it.

I can't wait for it to be over... She casually thought, her footsteps carrying her towards the glass-built wall that separated her room from the blazing heat outside. It was the middle of the day. She was all alone in her home since her parents were still at work. Their fancy neighbourhood mostly composed out of glass-styled houses similar to hers appeared so deserted. It always was like this during the day. She was used to it. They were all probably gone off to work or whoever knows where.

All except one, apparently.

Her breath suddenly stopped within her throat as her gaze trailed to the house next door, first noticing that palm firmly pressed against the glass-built wall opposite to hers. Before the dark silhouette followed. The glass was partially tinted but she could still see it. The outline of a male body.

There was somebody in there. Watching her. Probably watching from hell-knows how long.

Her blood run cold.

And before she could even blink a second time the silhouette had already disappeared, effectively startling the life out of her.

"No," she whimpered, her limbs shaking as she turned around and did the first thing that crossed through her mind. Grab her phone.

Stumbling away from the bed, her panicked gaze darted back to the window as she speed-dialed her mother, her lips escaping another frightened whimper as she watched an unknown male exit her neighbour's house, heading straight towards theirs.

"Mom? Mommy please come home!" She cried like a scared little child as soon as her mom answered, watching with wide and teary eyes as the scary stranger crossed the strip of neatly trimmed grass separating their houses. Probably heading straight towards their front entrance. Which by the way was unlocked, as she always left it.

"Honey what's wrong? Are you crying?"

"Mom there's a weird guy next door and he's been watching me walk naked around the house and now he saw that I saw him and now he's coming right over! Mom please I'm scared! Please hurry!"

Her mom didn't get to say anything in reply as the line suddenly went dead.