As she headed out the door, she watched a small group of teenagers standing outside her neighbours' house. When the first rolls of toilet paper started flying, a young man came outside to confront them, but they ran away as soon as he emerged. Bruce was her neighbours' son, quite big and strong, and she guessed he'd come home from college to protect his parents' property while they were out at some party. Part of her wanted to help him chase the delinquents away, but she had no intention of running in heels. Besides, if she had to admit the truth, she'd done far worse than throwing toilet paper when she was their age.
Several hours later, Estelle made her way back home. There had been a lot of booze at the party, so she was walking quite unsteadily, but she'd refused the host's offer to call her a taxi – she'd walked there, and she was going to walk home, no matter how her legs felt in these heels.
As she passed the neighbours' house, her gaze rested on the pumpkins on the porch. Not really a thing in this country when she was young, she reflected. She'd heard about American teenagers kicking them to pieces when out pranking, and she grinned at the thought. It seemed so fun! The memories of her own misdeeds as a youngster came back to her.
Before she knew what she was doing, she was heading up the stairs towards the closest pumpkin. She lifted her foot, driving the heel of her expensive shoe into the eye of the pumpkin. It made a quite satisfying "squelch" as she kicked it repeatedly, and she started to giggle from joy and drunkenness.
Suddenly, a firm hand closed around her wrist. She squealed, turning around to see a very tall, very strong, and very angry young man. "What the hell do you think you're doing?" Bruce snarled.
"I'm sorry!" Estelle squeaked. "It was an accident!" She trembled under his angry gaze. She'd known Bruce since he was a little boy, and she had never considered him a particularly scary person – until right now.
"An accident?" he scoffed. "You mean that you ACCIDENTALLY walked up those steps and –" He stopped, staring at her. "Wait a second. I know you, don't I?"
"I don't think so," Estelle mumbled, shivering as she tried to avoid his gaze. Being caught playing childish pranks was embarrassing, but being recognized as his parents' neighbour would make the humiliation complete.
He continued to stare at her, before nodding his head. "You're one of Briana's friends, aren't you?"
Briana was Bruce's younger sister, still in high school. Estelle was quite surprised at being mistaken for a teenager by a college student, and was about to correct him, but managed to stop herself. If he thought that she was one of Briana's friends, he was less likely to suddenly realize who she really was. Instead, she nodded.
"What's your name?" he demanded.
"Ashlee," Estelle whispered. It sounded like something the young people today would be called.
"Right. Well, Ashlee, you're coming with me so that I can phone the police."
"The police!? Why?" Estelle stared at him in horror.
"Ashlee, you're on my prop- well, my parents' property. Committing vandalism," he scolded. "I'm also going to call your parents. They need to know what you're up to."
Estelle bit her lip. She tried to think of a way out of this mess that didn't involve telling him who she actually was. "Isn't there another way? I'll never do this again, I promise!" She looked at him with her best puppy-dog eyes. "Please don't call the police – or my parents!"
For a few seconds, he stared into her tearful eyes. Then, he sighed, seemingly coming to a decision. "Very well. If that's what you want, I think I can punish you myself."