People were talking and laughing as the music rang out so loudly that it made my ears hurt, but I shrugged it all off anyway. I never imagined my life could get any better than this. I was at the peak of my life, a junior in high school with nothing to worry about and nothing to keep me from smiling.

My life consisted of nothing more than the simple things, things that I wouldn’t trade for the world. I liked that my life hadn’t been anything like the drama you usually see in high school or those you watched on television. Nothing bad really ever happened to me. I’ve never broken a bone or had surgery, and I don’t get sick very often. Though, like every other person on the planet, I hadn’t been completely without troubles. Both my mother and grandmother died together in a car accident when I was younger. It took a while to cope, but eventually my life reverted back to normal. The days slowly became as carefree as they once were, a little emptier, but basically, to me, my life was just perfect.

I sat with my friends, Nina and Ciera, laughing at my uncle’s pitiful attempt to keep up with the quick-paced tempo as he danced with my aunt Tracy. My friends, however similar they seemed, were complete opposites of each other. Nina was very quiet, and only talked to us, but despite this, she had a biting sarcasm that could wound the toughest of grizzlies. Nevertheless, her observant attitude made up everything she is today and still contributes greatly to her artistic ways.

Ciera on the other hand is very loud and, well, boy crazy. If I could remember correctly she has never once been single since the day I met her in the fourth grade, and I swear she was as much of a fashion freak back then as she is today.

I’m the medium of the two. I like to shop, but I’m not willing to shape my life around it. I’m quiet only sometimes, but very shy. I have always found trouble speaking my mind, or saying anything that might hurt someone’s feelings. I guess I’m an overall softy when it comes to a lot of things.

As I sat there a smile spread wide across my face, I was totally oblivious to all other things in my life, good or bad. All because today was my day.

This was the day I had been waiting for since my sixteenth birthday, and trust me, it was worth it.

Although the party wasn’t all that big, my father had went all out, inviting practically my entire family, all of my friends and his friends, who were mostly all employees of his company. There was every type of food you could think of, each cooked in different ways so that there would be a variety for everyone. A DJ was hired for the daytime, and one for at night when we moved the party into the basement. I couldn’t ask for more and I was extremely grateful for everything my father had given me.

“Adrianna?”

I glanced up at the sound of someone calling my name, only to see Dwight, a friend of mine, smiling at me. “Dwight! Hey. What’s up?”

“Oh, um nothing really. I was just wondering if you wanted to dance with me.” he said nervously shuffling his feet and messing with one of the violet napkins on the table.

“Um…sure.” I replied and stood up. “First just let me run upstairs and change my shoes.” Although the stylish heels Ciera picked out for me were beautiful, they were a huge pain. I wasn’t about to risk blisters for fashion.

“Yea, ok.” he said sitting next to Nina, who glanced at him then swiftly moved to a safe location by herself.

I smiled trying to hold back a giggle and walked as fast as possible in my perilous heels into the house. I ignored my brother Shawn and his new girlfriend in the kitchen making out, and dashed up the stairs.

My room was at the very end of the hall, which was something that I was totally fine with. It was larger than my other siblings’ rooms, well too me, and it was decorated totally by me. The walls were lavender, with basically everything else in the room matching it. I had a flat screen TV hanging on the wall and a twin sized bed, covered in various teddy bears that were organized by height, to watch it from.

I walk to my closet, and search for some flat shoes that still matched my outfit. I found a pair of black Chinese slippers and slipped them on, admiring the little gold beads threaded along the side.

I turned around to rejoin the party when I almost had a heart attack.

Leaning in the doorway to my room, was this man staring straight at me. It took me by surprise at first, of course, and all I could do is stand there and try to calm my heart’s rapid palpitations.

As I stared at him, I took in his appearance. He was dressed impeccably well in business/casual style. I swear even if you were to search every inch of him with a magnifying glass you would not find one wrinkle or speck of dirt. He had icy blue eyes all equipped with a dead stare that made me cower a bit. His hair was fashioned into short, dark brown spikes, and his skin was smooth with a slight tan. Even though he was dressed, I could tell that he worked out, because I could see the outline of the muscles in his arms folded across his chest. He was overall very attractive, but that didn’t distract me from his obvious intrusion on my privacy.

“It’s not polite to stare Adrianna.” he said calmly, before standing completely up and walking into my room. He gave my room a once over and his eyes landed back onto me.

“Who are you and what are you doing in my room?” I asked, my brows furrowed in confusion.

I watched him walk, no stroll, across the floor towards my dresser, his head held up high. His legs moved gracefully, his posture completely upright, until it looked as if he were gliding instead of walking.

He stopped, his eyes fixed on a photo of my friends. It was a simple picture, Ciera, Nina and I all huddled together on the floor of my living room. We had been in the middle of a slumber party when my father showed up with the camera. We had been so silly back then and still were, but now this guy was eyeing it like my memories were nothing but dirt on his jacket. He slowly picked the frame up, as a look that I couldn’t quite identify flashed onto his face.

“Uh…can I help you?” I asked.

“Are these your friends?” he countered, clearly avoiding my question.

“Yea!” I nearly yelled, but refrained. “Now can you leave now?”

He sat the picture down on the dresser and glanced at my bed, picking a magenta teddy bear up. He focused his eyes on the colored fur, running his fingers over the face before throwing it down in disgust. I continued to stare at him, brows furrowed, my mind wandering through every explanation I could think of as to why this strange man was arbitrarily touching my things! They weren’t his, so why did he care if I liked them or not?

He traced a pattern into my sheets and looked up once again.

Before I could say anything, he put a finger to his lips and began approaching me until I was backed into my closet door, his chest pressed firmly against mine, his lips only a few centimeters away from mines. I was left breathless as his glance glazed over, eyes darkened by some unknown thought. My mind raced to piece my words together, but I only let out a small gasp, hardly audible to anyone.

“Shouldn’t you be at your party downstairs?”

“I…I…” I stuttered as I watched his eyes flow across my body slowly before they returned back to my own.

He stepped back suddenly, and with a wink, left my room.

I stood there for a second, baffled beyond reason as to what just happened. I decided to shake it off and make my way back downstairs before someone came up to get me. They couldn’t have a birthday party without the guest of honor, could they?

The rest of the night went past in a heartbeat; once I stopped searching for someone who I was beginning to believe was just a figment of my imagination, that is.

By 8:00, the party moved down to the basement as planned. Half the block along with lots of people I didn’t know filled the basement to its limit until it was hard to do anything with out bumping into someone. It was getting a little ridiculous when I couldn’t even move a foot an inch to the right without tripping someone up, but that’s the price you pay for a good time.

Even though there was an air conditioner and a fan in the corner, it was very hot because of the capacity in such a closed in place, and I quickly became thirsty, so I went back outside to get a drink. I made my way over to the table where the slowly diminishing food was placed and reached to the bottom of the cooler for a cold sprite. Before I could return to the party, soda in hand, I heard my father’s voice calling me from across the yard.

I looked up, flipped the tab on the can open, and walked across the yard to him.

“Adrianna, I want you to meet someone.”

He led me to another table where a bunch of adults were in a debate over politics.

“Davarion, here she is,” my father called, holding out a hand to the back a man’s head.

The man before us turned around, and I froze. The same guy who decided to just walk into my room on his own free will stood up before me, and with a smile looked at me. What was it about his eyes, that smile, that made my very core freeze over?

“Davarion this is the birthday girl. Adrianna this is one of my best employees Davarion Adams.” he said in a gleeful tone, but I couldn’t peel my stare away from the man.

“You can call me D. It’s nice to finally meet you. I’ve heard so much about you.” Davarion said holding his hand out.

I glanced at it for a second, before I shook his hand for a brief second and then withdrew my own. Perhaps my actions were a little harsh, but could you blame me?

“Yea…it’s nice to meet you too. Uh, daddy, I’m going back to the party,” I said and quickly walked away before he could call me back.

I heard him say, “Oh, she’s just a little shy.” making me shuttered before I walked down the steps back into the basement. I couldn’t help but thank the sweltering temperature for slowly thawing out my insides as I marched down into the warm cellar, glad for a change in atmosphere.

The party raged on full force, but I was still a little preoccupied with the beginning of the day. I had never before in my life seen a person act as strangely as Davarion had. It just wasn’t something you ran into everyday and I couldn’t place why he made everything seem so dismal. Whatever the reason for his actions, I couldn’t let it bring me down. He was merely an employee of my father; therefore, he wasn’t such a threat- not if my dad had anything to say about it.

So, through the rest of the party, I focused on the sheer exhilaration of being seventeen and knowing that only one year away, I would be eighteen. Legal and ready to do everything I’d always wanted to do.

The party eventually ended, leaving the basement in shambles. I crushed through piles of paper cups and plastic plates while dodging the haphazardly spilled beverages on the floor. The last sounds of the footsteps upstairs were walking out the door when I decided to leave the cleaning until tomorrow.

It had been a long day and all that close contact with people made me want to take a shower as soon as possible.

My room was dark as I walked in. Opening one of the drawers, I pulled out a cerulean shirt and some pajama pants and left to take a shower. I nearly made it out the door when I saw that my closet door was open. It usually was like that when my dad put away some of my nicer laundry. He had always done and even now, when I was seventeen, he still believed me to be his little girl. Oh, well. I suppose he’d never change.

I reached over, closing the door securely before making my way to the bathroom.

I showered quickly; making sure my hair was clean thoroughly before I shut the water off, dried my body and slipped into my clothes.

It wasn’t until I began brushing my teeth that I felt the real exhaustion of the day take effect. So, after saying goodnight to my father, I flung myself into the covers of my bed and settled into the warmth of my sheets. The pillow, conformed exactly to the shape of my face, was comforting as I slowly drifted to sleep.

Thoughts of the day played over and over again in my head. All the smiling faces of my family and friends left a loving impression in my heart as my eyes began to shut to the familiar sounds of leaves blowing gently in the breeze.

The silence was peaceful, not even a minute noise broke through the still until I heard a low creak flood my senses. My eyes instantly opened, focusing on the far lavender wall decorated with childhood pictures.

I had always been jumpy when I was a little girl, but I could have sworn that this noise wasn’t normal. I could feel it in my gut. My thoughts were answered when the sound of deep breathing emanated from the corner of my room.

The breaths were deep and rapid as they issued throughout my room. I could have died right then and there. This was something from a horror movie or the X-Files. Not my room. Not my life! There couldn’t have been someone there…but who in the world would think this funny? Who would have such a twisted humor?

My body laid flat against the bed as I moved my head toward the noise.

There, from out of the dark, I could make out the slight crack of my closet door. The heavy oak panel shifted outward as a hiss emerged from the shadows.

“Hello, Adrianna.”

And that’s when my heart stopped.

A/N: So uh, yea...sorry we had to do that to you...get used to it. I hope by now you've realized that adrianna is going to be kind of naive...get used to that too...um...yea so please review and stuff...we would greatly appreciate it