Click…

Being grounded sucks. I think I'd prefer taking licks, since it's over with in a few seconds, and then I get on with whatever it was I wanted to do. But being grounded, I'm stuck really thinking about what I've done.

The problem with that parental theory is, I'm not thinking, Oh, I shouldn't have been at the party. I'm thinking, I shouldn't have taken that picture. But I shouldn't have passed it around at school either.

And that's probably not the right sentiment that David and Kathy want me to focus on, but it is still true. It was just stupid, and it was asking to be caught. So, was this my desperate cry for help? Cause if it is, it didn't work.

Worse than being grounded, everyone at school is pissed at me. No, I mean everyone. Even the chess club won't let me sit with them now, and those nerds weren't even at the party!

No, I've been labeled a snitch, the lowest form of pond scum in the high school food chain.

And the worst part is, my folks even took my books. So I can't slip away in some fantasy story to pass the time either.

If it weren't for Alice, I think I'd go crazy.

She's right on time too. But with the weather turning chilly, she sneaks into my room and I shut the window.

The only flaw with this plan is that Alice and I spend much less time talking when she's laying on my bed than when she's sitting on the roof. We have to be quiet in the house or risk getting caught, and our usual routine of reading from the same book is also out with all my books packed away for now.

Oh, thank God. She's brought cards tonight…oh, but Magic cards. Yeah, I can do this. It's better than nothing, which I've been doing a lot of lately.

As is typical, Alice wipes the walls with me and my deck. I quietly insist that her deck was stacked and mine had all the crap cards. So we swap decks, and she wipes the walls with me and the other deck too.

For Alice, this game has become a second addiction to compete with gymnastics. I get the gist of it, but she loves studying all of the cards, and she's got books on strategies, counter strategies, and artifacts tables. She plays by tournament rules, and she knows them by heart.

Frankly, it's a little scary to see her obsess like this. But I suppose I can't say anything, given my particular obsession.

After gloating with a whispered "Mwa ha ha," Alice puts the cards away in their boxes and then slips them into her purse. She sets it aside on the nightstand and scoots closer toward me. It's easy to guess what she wants just by her expression, so I lean over to kiss her.

Alice presses her body to mine, and her hand moves to my hip, pulling gently. She rolls on her back, and I roll with her. Even being fully clothed, this connection with her is enough to set my body on fire.

I'm not alone feeling this way. Alice pants underneath me, writhing to make more friction between our bodies. Her hands clamp over my hips, pulling me down and forward with urgent directness.

I'm intoxicated by her, drunk from her kisses and high from the scent of her body. But it seems my senses are also sharper in ways that wouldn't be possible with drugs.

For instance, I can hear the bed creaking with our every move, or the high wind whispering through the dying leaves outside. But there's a also weird click that I can't identify. I'm so into Alice that I ignore it. But I hear it again, and then again. It's at the window, whatever it is.

Leaning away from Alice, I look toward the window and catch the briefest glimpse of a receding shoulder clad in black clothing.

I'm off the bed like a shot, already at the window before Alice can whisper, "What's wrong?"

I open the window and lean outside, but I don't see anyone. I'm not convinced that I'm just seeing things, so I get out and move swiftly to the front of the house. At the end of the block, I see someone running under a streetlamp. They're wearing a black hoodie sweatshirt, black pants and black combat boots. From the frame, I can tell it's a woman. Some woman was on our roof, watching Alice and me.

But what really rattles me is the camera dangling from a strap around the woman's wrist.

It's the camera that makes me jump off the roof. I hit the ground and tumble to absorb my impact, and I'm running as soon as my feet are underneath me.

Suddenly, the wolf takes over, only too happy to give chase. I'm too scared to think rationally anyway, so I give myself over to my animal side.

My face tightens in a grin of absolute madness, like I'm thrilled to be hunting someone.

The woman ducks into the woods, into my woods.

The wolf thinks, That's perfect.

But my prey does something I can't. I'm still hundreds of yards away, so distance may be a bit tricky for me to guesstimate. But the woman leaps over the brick wall that surrounds the neighboring gated community, and that's at least ten feet.

Impossible, I think. But she sure isn't on the same side of the wall with me anymore, is she?

I stop at the wall, panting as I look up. Yep, it's ten feet and topped with barbed wire wrapped loosely in razor wire. Whoever lives here doesn't want company.

But that's beside the point. I saw that woman jump this like it was a track hurdle.