“And you don’t really hang around people your own age?”
“…Yeah.”
“Then just ask him to go to the party. Your dad seems like a pretty chill guy for the most part. If anything, he’ll probably be happy that you even want to go.”
“But Blythe already said I have to be here for dinner.”
“You really are new to this, aren’t you?” He has the nerve to grin, like I’m somehow being silly. “Oh, my little Birdie. We’ve got a lot of work ahead of us if I have any hope of corrupting you into becoming a legitimate teenager.”
Before I can rebut, he hits the CALL button, and the phone starts ringing. Jase holds it out of my reach so I can’t hang it up, only bringing it backaftermy dad answers.
You’d think I’m about to rob a bank with the nerves flooding my system, which seems ridiculous, because all I’m doing is telling the truth. There’s a party tonight I want to go to, and since I supposedly hurt my ankle over two weeks ago, it wouldn’t be unprecedented for someone to see me back on my feet. I don’t want to mention that Blythe wants me here for dinner, but not doing so seems underhanded.
Jase rolls his eyes because, yeah, I apparentlywasn’tsupposed to add that.
Still, I hold my breath as I await the verdict…
Which comes all too easily. “That should be fine,” my dad says. “Just make sure you’re back home by ten.”
A good solid minute passes after the call has ended, but the phone seems stuck to my ear as I just sit there in shock.
He agreed.
My dadactuallyagreed!
Jase finally reaches over, takes the cell from my hand, and replaces it with the sticky note, all the while grinning at me. “Ready to live up to your own words?”
You are in charge of your own happiness.
The idea of loud music, of so many strangers, of a million different ways I could potentially embarrass myself… I’m admittedly scared.
But I also find myself smiling.
With Jase at my side, maybe this won’t be so bad.
He puts his arm over my shoulder, hauls me up next to him, and presses a kiss into my temple. We sit like that for a fewminutes, relishing the cool air from the vent as our breathing finally returns to normal. My eyes draw shut…
…until a sharpbang!echoes from what sounds like the foyer. Several seconds later, heels clack and stomp up the stairs.
Crap!
My bedroom door is still open; even if it wasn’t, there wouldn’t be enough time for Jase to climb out the window. Hell, he barely manages to scramble over to the closet, sliding inside and shutting the door behind himself not a second before my stepmom comes storming into view.
Rage pours off of her, but she doesn’t start yelling. Blythe slams my bedroom door shut so hard the hinges rattle, the silence only proving to unsettle me further. I climb up to my feet, instinctively recoiling as she stalks towards me. Not until I find myself pinned into the corner does she finally stop, her five inches in height over me suddenly feeling like feet.
The air is cleaved from my lungs and my knees nearly give out from sheer panic as she seizes hold of my jaw, forcing my body into the wall. Her thumb and fingers press into my skin so hard the bone beneath hurts, but I don’t dare move.
“I will only tell you this once,” she sneers, her voice so low I’m not even sure if Jase can hear her. “If you ever go over my head again, you will find your life around here won’t be so pleasant. The last I checked, Camp Zurich hasn’t yet started, and I’m sure they will be more than happy to make room for you again.”
I try to control the shaking ravaging my body, but she’s too close not to feel it.
“You will be at dinner tonight, and if your father asks, you changed your mind about going out,” she adds, her voice growing unnervingly polite, as easily as slipping on a mask. “I would hate having to waste calling in a favor to get you enrolled in St. Vincent’s for the fall.”
No.
She couldn’t actually do that…
Could she?
