Peeping Tom

Camera holds on a quiet little house in a cluster of units. Something shifts behind a window when a sedan pulls in. Dad and his 18-year-old daughter are moving boxes into the place next door. From the neighbor’s view inside, she jogs back for one last bag, glances around, then stops and stares straight at his window before heading indoors. Weeks later his living room’s a mess of notes and polaroids he’s taken of her. He’s jerking off to the pictures when he hears the car door slam again. He rushes to the glass just in time to watch Dad hug her and drive away. She makes a quick call, then slips back inside. An hour later another car shows up. He wipes his mouth, bolts to the window, and sees some boy step out. She grabs the kid’s hand, pulls him in, and the neighbor licks his lips while he jots the time down. He creeps around back and films through the screen door while she strips for the boy—slow and teasing—then drops to her knees and crawls across the floor. Days later he’s replaying the clip on his phone, deciding watching isn’t enough. He writes a fake note from the boyfriend, leaves it on her step, knocks, and ducks back inside. She finds the note, knocks on his door, and he lets her in with a smile, swearing the boyfriend’s on his way. The lock clicks behind her. They sit in awkward silence until she tries to leave. He panics, plays the recording. Her face goes white. ‘My dad can’t see this,’ she whispers, explaining she’s barely 18 and about to move out. He offers a deal: she does every move from the video with him and the file disappears. She hates it but agrees. She strips again, repeats the crawl, sucks him the way she did the boyfriend, lets him fuck her on the couch while he orders her to copy each tongue trick, each moan, each look from the clip. When he’s done he deletes the video in front of her. She storms out, shooting him one last glare over her shoulder. Door shut, he leans back, breathing deep. In the corner a laptop’s been filming the whole thing. He steps over, gives the lens a smirk, and hits stop.