Autumn Unlocked (Summer Unplugged) (2 page)

Chapter 3

My phone vibrates at ten in the morning the next day. I'm sitting in U
.S. History while Mr. Harrison gives a lecture and this is the worst possible class for someone to decide to text me. Despite the fact that everyone on campus has a cell phone and uses them all day long on the sly, the school district still refuses to allow them on campus. The general rule is that all phones have to be turned off and in your backpack, not in your pocket or purse. Of course, no one listens to that rule and most teachers don't enforce it. My phone sits silently in my pocket, begging me to check it.

Because I have terrible luck, Mr. Harrison hates cell phones and will suspend any student caught with one. And if my luck wasn't terrible enough already, today he gives his lecture while walking in between the isles of desks, so despite
even my most sneaky efforts to check my phone without him noticing, I know there's no way I'll succeed.

Some kind of cell phone god must really like me, because five minutes before the bell rings, Mr. Harrison excuses himself to speak with another teacher just outside his classroom door. I pull out my phone and check the text, laughing when I notice several other students do the same thing with their phones.

My heart flutters just like it did on the first day I met him.

Jace: I have an hour until my next lesson. How's your day?

Me: A whole lot better now that you texted me
.


Jace
: I have a feeling it'll get better as the day goes on…

Me: Um…why do you say that
?



The door swings open and I almost jump out of my chair as the noise brings me back to reality and out of my Jace fantasies. My heart races as I try to shove my phone back into my pocket before Mr. Harrison sees me. I can't believe I let myself get so wrapped up in texting him that I forgot to look out for the door.

"Nice one," Shelly whispers under her breath from the seat next to me. She had also had her phone out, but must have been smart enough to get rid of it in
time. Luckily, the teacher doesn't see me, so as long as I wipe this guilty look off my face, I should be fine.

The next few minutes of class go by in a blur as I wait to feel the vibration telling me that
Jace replied to my question. I can't stop thinking about what he meant when he said my day will get better. The only way it could possibly get better is if Jace himself shows up after class and whisks me away on a romantic vacation—oh who am I kidding? I'd be happy if he took me anywhere but here.

Even though I know it's not going to happen, I can't help but feel a tiny bit sad when I walk out of Mr. Harrison's classroom and don't see
Jace in the hallway, waiting to surprise me. It's not like he'd even be allowed in the school since he's not a student or the parent of a student. But I can almost picture how cute he'd look standing against the white walls of the history hallway next to the Autumn Ball poster, hands in his pockets and that silly smirk on his face.

"
Bayleigh." The sound of my name catches me off-guard and I stop in the doorway, turning my head around to find the source of the voice. People shove past me to get to their next class and I feel a heavy hand come down on my shoulder. Trepidation builds in my stomach as I turn slowly around to find myself face to face with Mr. Harrison.

His eyebrows draw together and he frowns.
"There are no cell phones allowed in class. I find a hard time believing that you are ignorant of this rule."

"I, uh,
was just making sure it was turned off," I say, doing my best to sound sincere, but it comes out sounding like a question.

He gives me a less than sympathetic look and holds out his hand.

"No, please," I say, slapping my hand over my pocket to protect my phone.

He shakes his head. "Hand it over. You can get it back after you serve detention today."

My heart drops to my stomach and it takes everything I have not to cry. Not only do I have to give up my phone for the day, but I have to spend an extra hour after school in detention. Jace won't be able to get a hold of me and I have no way to tell him until after school. Reluctantly, I slide my hand into my pocket and hand him my phone while wearing the saddest face I can possibly make, hoping it will change his mind.

"See you in detention," he says.

Guess it didn't work.

I have to wait seven minutes and thirty-six seconds for the woman behind the desk in the office to get off the phone. I guess since it's an hour after the final bell rang and every student except for the delinquents in detention have gone home, the high school secretary finds nothing wrong with having  a
n exceedingly long personal conversation about how her husband has gained too much weight and she doesn't find him sexually attractive anymore.

I clear my throat for the third time since I walked in the office almost eight minute
s ago. She spins around in her chair that was facing the back wall, her face morphing into a startled expression once she realizes that I'm here. "What do you want?" she asks, her cheeks burning red. "How long have you been standing here?"

"I'm here to get my confiscated cell phone," I say, pointing to it where it sits on a shelf next to a few other phones. "And don't
worry, I didn't hear anything about your husband's weight gain."

She gives me a pointed look, then grabs my phone and slams it on the counter a little harder than necessary.
I grab it and practically dive out the office door and barrel down the hallway toward the parking lot.

It feels so great to have my phone again. I turn it on
as I start the short walk home and slide it into my pocket while I wait for it to boot up. I expect several missed texts to come through, but my phone only beeps once.

I have one message and it's from
Jace.

Jace
: You'll see
.


Disappointment creeps over me at the realization that he went the whole day without missing me enough to text me more, or leave me a voicemail or anything. I
hate
that he's so busy and I'm so…needy.

God, I need a life.

Mom's car isn't in the driveway when I get home, and even though I have to cook dinner on the days she works overtime, I'm grateful for it today. Now she won't know I had detention. The last thing I need is any strain with my mom after we've been getting along so well lately.

I'm staring at my phone screen wondering what to text back as I walk up to my front door.
In my distraction, I almost miss the beautiful vase of flowers sitting on the welcome mat. I bend down and take the card attached to them, my heart filling with happiness when I see that they're addressed to me.

With the world's goofiest smile on my face, I open the envelope and read the words written in beautiful calligraphy.

Turn around.

My eyebrows crinkle in confusion as I
turn over the card in my hand only to find it blank. What the heck does that even mean? It can't actually mean for me to turn around, here on the porch?

Feeling a bit silly,
I spin on my heel, turning to face the street.

And then I shriek with excitement as I see
Jace standing at the end of my driveway, hands in his pockets, and that freaking smirk on his face.

Chapter 4

"What are you doing here?" I manage to squeal as I throw my arms around his neck and hug him close to me. "It's not even Friday yet."

Jace hugs me back then pulls away to look at me. "I guess I learned my lesson in trying to surprise you. I thought you would have been home a long time ago."

"Sorry," I say as I pull him out of the driveway and walk up to the house.
Jace grabs the flowers while I dig around my purse for my house key.

"Why were you so late?" He nudges me with his elbow. "Did you have a date with your other boyfriend or something?"

"Right, like I could keep up with two boyfriends," I say with a roll of my eyes. "I had detention."

He stops short on the front porch.
"Detention? Babe…how did you do that?"

I poke him in the chest playfully and let us inside the house. "It's kind of your fault, you know. I was texting you and got caught with my phone."

He plops down on the couch with a heavy sigh and rests his head in his hands. "Bayleigh…" he says with this exhausted tone in his voice as though he's my freaking mother.

"What?" I snap. "You can't sit there and act all mad at me. I was just texting you. It's not like I streaked through the high school."

He shakes his head. "I'm not mad. I'm just frustrated. You finally got on peaceful terms with your mom and I don’t want you pissing her off again. I have plans for us. Plans that involve you
not
being grounded."

I snuggle in next to him on the couch and ignore the coldness that radiates off him when he's annoyed. "What kind of plans?"

He slides his hand down my leg, giving my knee a squeeze. "You'll just have to wait and see."

I groan. "I hate when you do this to me."

"Hate it all you want, but surprising you is one of my favorite things in the world."

I try to hold back my smile but it doesn't work. Everything he says and does is so freaking cute, I can't help but smile at him. I nuzzle my head into his neck as he wraps his arms around me and kisses the top of my head. The urge to kiss him overwhelms me, but I don't do it because we're in the living room. We never kiss in the living room, except for an occasional forehead kiss from
Jace when he's leaving. It's just too weird to show affection with my mom and brother around.

Speaking of… I glance out the front window to confirm that Mom's car still isn't home. She's never home this late and when she goes shopping, she usually brings me with her. Not that I'm complaining, because today is the perfect day for her to be gone—now she will never have to know about my detention.

"I'm gonna call my mom," I tell Jace as I get off the couch and look for my phone. "Maybe if she won't be home for a while, we can make out," I tell him with a wink.

He stretches out his arms and
locks them behind his head. "Sounds great to me."

Mom doesn't answer her phone so I send her a text asking when she'll be home. I play it off like I'm hungry and want dinner, and not like I'm dying for her to stay gone long enough for me to get some heavy make out action with
Jace.

My phone beeps a few minutes later.

Mom: Bentley is with Aunt Jamie. I'll be home after dark. There's food in the fridge.

I lift an eyebrow at her odd text. "Weird," I say as I turn my phone around to show
Jace the message. He skims through it and then wiggles his eyebrow at me. "Looks like it's just me and you tonight, my dear."

My smile
only lasts a second before it's replaced with a look of worry. "It's just so weird that Mom isn’t here and didn't tell me why. I hope she's not in the hospital or anything."

Jace
pulls me close to him. "You're worrying too much. I'm sure she's fine."

A while later, my cheeks are flushed and my lips are actually tired from all the kissing.
We take a small make out break and cuddle on the couch, flipping through channels on the TV. It's a little past nine at night and Mom still isn't home. It's way past my brother's bedtime so I wonder if he's going to spend the night at Aunt Jamie’s house.  I can't get over how weird all of this is, but I don't want to keep harping on it to Jace, because it's not as if he can do anything about the situation.

I'm sure Mom is fine, it just feels weird. She's never gone.

Jace grabs the remote and mutes the television. "You're being incredibly anxious about watching your phone," he says. "You don't need to be so worried about your mom. Is there anything else on your mind?"

With a sigh, I nod my head. He prods me for an answer.

"Well," I begin as I stare at my lap, tracing my finger down the front of his shirt. I can't meet his eyes because I don't want to see the annoyance on his face when I tell him what's bothering me.

"Well?"
Jace says.

"I just…you hardly texted me at all today.
We usually text a lot, and today you were barely there and you didn't even try calling or texting when I was late from school."

He takes a deep breath before answering.
"Bayleigh, I was busy all day. And then I was driving over here to see you and you hate when I text and drive."

I nod, agreeing with him. I don't know why I'm hurt by his lack of communication today; I guess I'm just overly clingy.

Jace continues, "Babe, you have nothing to worry about with me. And you have nothing to worry about with your mom. You have to stop freaking out all the time."

I pull back and cross my arms in front of my chest. "I do not freak out all the time!"

He lifts an eyebrow and stands up from the couch, grabbing his wallet and car keys off the coffee table. It takes everything I have not to beg him to stay longer.

"I'm
gonna go before you start freaking out about not freaking out."

I stand up with a heavy sigh and put my hands on my hips. "It's only nine-fifteen. You don't have to leave for fifteen more minutes and that's only if Mom comes home before then."

He checks his phone and puts it back in his pocket. "I know, but I need to go. I have to teach early lessons tomorrow."

I know I'm pouting but I don't exactly care right now. I follow him to the door and he kisses me on the cheek. "I'll see you Friday," he says, hooking his fingers into my jeans pockets and pulling me toward him for a hug. "Oh, and, Bay?" he asks with a hopeful look on his face.

"Yes?" I say.

"Don't piss off your mom before Friday. I have something very important to ask her and she needs to be in the best possible mood."