The Family

"You think she's home? Angie said she should be." A woman questioned from behind the door.

"I hope so. Hate to have driven all this way for nothing. Maybe we should have called..." The man replied, slight regret in his voice.

"Nah. She's probably lounging around in her pajamas. She'll be happy so long as we got food." A younger man comforted.

"Well? Open the door. I want to see her face when she sees us." Another, slightly deeper female voice said.

Tiffany's heart skipped a beat, as she recognized those voices. "My parents! Jacob! Kim!" She thought to herself, as she determined the people about to enter where the group she feared entering the most. "My family is here! If they find out I was hanging out naked, I'll die of embarrassment!" Just as she rounded the corner into the hallway and out of sight of the front door, the door suddenly opened, and all four of her immediate family burst into the room. Tiffany's mom was wearing a large, red sweater over blue jeans. Her curly brown hair came down to her shoulders, and she took a deep breath as she felt the warmth of the house wash like a wave over her. Her dad was dressed in a sports jersey and tan slacks, breathing into his hands to warm his face as he stepped in from behind. Then came her younger brother Jacob, who was dressed in a red jacket and sweatpants, and playing something on his phone. And lastly, Tiffany's black-haired, older sister Kim cautiously entered the room, taking her heels off as she entered.

Tiffany took the chance, and ducked into the first room she could find: her bedroom. After locking the door, she heard people calling out from the living room.

"Tiff? You here? We thought we would surprise you and bring some dinner." Tiffany's dad called out, as footsteps from down the hall approached her door. The handle jiggled slightly, and Tiffany's mom called through the door. "Tiff? You in here?"

Tiffany realized she could not pretend she was not home, so she quickly answered with a "Yeah, just a second and I'll be done changing." She lied. Tiffany quickly set to work scrounging her bedroom for something decent to wear. She had been thorough in grabbing all clothes she deemed questionable or dirty, but as she searched through her dresser and only found several pairs of socks, shoes, belts, and not a single article of clothing that classified as a top or bottoms. She found only her two pillows, and not even her pillow cases. "Did I really grab all my clothes?" Tiffany thought, tears welling up in her eyes.

The reason Tiffany dreaded being seen naked by her family more than any other audience or group, was because of an incident that happened a few months after turning 18. She'd been extremely rebellious. Going to parties, smoking, drinking, sneaking out, and all sorts of things many others at her high school did. Finally, her parents snapped. They knew she had picked up the habit of sleeping naked, so they stole all her clothes, and woke her up the next morning by yanking her sheets off the bed. They promptly told her she was being 'kicked out', and that they were taking back everything (including her clothes). Then, she was pushed outside on the pool deck, where she was locked outside completely naked while her parents prepared a large grill out. They then held a party with many of the extended family in presence. While she'd corrected her behavior and her grades improved drastically after the stunt, her parents had unwittingly created a woman who was now deathly afraid of being seen naked by anyone she knew. She associated it with punishment, and thus any time she was caught naked by someone in the future she became deeply embarrassed and traumatized into indifference at the world around her. Only recently, after being seen naked countless times, had that attitude started shifting.

"Why does this always happen..." Tiffany thought to herself, as a tear fell to the ground below. She looked down at the last thing on her body. The necklace. "This stupid thing is cursed. Ever since I got it, everyone's been pranking me, stealing my clothes, or not bothering to help when I lose them." She said, reaching her hand to grab the chain. She started making the motion to remove it, only to feel her arms lock up as she tried taking it off. As soon as she pulled back, her arms went free again, but every time she tried taking it off, her arms again locked in place.

"What the hell..." Tiffany said aloud, raising an eyebrow.