Summer Unplugged (5 page)

Chapter 12

With sore muscles from my stupid run earlier, I crash on the couch and thank god the local TV station is playing a marathon of a show I actually enjoy. Soap operas and court TV shows get really old after a while.

Even after a hot shower and three hours of television, I can't get Ian off my mind. I feel like an idiot because I knew we weren't officially dating. He had made that perfectly clear. But he didn't have to lead me on like that if he was just going to drop me for some skank he met at a party.

I can't believe I sent him that cell phone picture of myself. A cold chill runs down my spine. What if he sent it to other people? I don't want the guys at my school seeing that. Ugh, I am so stupid. Suddenly, getting back home for the first day of school doesn't sound so great anymore.

The marathon ends at midnight, and I finally drag myself from the couch to my room upstairs. A moving orange glow catches my eye from the window. I head to the balcony and peer out of it, finding a bonfire in Jace's back yard, Jace sitting in front of it in a lawn chair. He's staring into the fire, his eyes somewhere far away.

I don't know his story, but it sure seems a lot worse than mine. Sure, I'm stuck here with no friends and nothing to do, but my life is boring. He is a
somebody
where he's from. He's in magazines. And now he looks like the loneliest person on earth.

I lean against the balcony railing, watching him under the moonlight. Even the back of his head is sexy. What is wrong with me? I can't start liking someone immediately after getting over someone else. And yet, it happens.

As if he can read my mind, I watch in horror as Jace's head turns toward me, his eyes squinting to see in the dark. I press my back against the outside of the house, not knowing if he can see me in the darkness.

"You out there?" he calls out in my direction.

Embarrassment floods through me. How did he know I was standing here? Does he think I'm spying on him? I take a step forward, leaning over the balcony railing. "Yes," I say. "I just walked out…I wasn't here long or anything."

He motions toward the fire. "Come on down. I could use the company."

I sneak out of the house, which doesn't require much work because my grandparents sleep like the rocks, and I cross the grass into Jace's yard. I sit in an empty chair next to him and he nods a hello. Classic rock music plays from an Ipad in his lap.

"This bonfire could use some marshmallows," I say after an awkward amount of silence has gone by.

He smiles, taking out his cell phone from his pocket. "I'll remember that for next time." I watch his eyebrows draw together as he reads a text on his phone and then types out a reply.

More awkward silent minutes pass, and I start to wonder why he bothered inviting me over if he didn't want to talk. All he's doing is texting. He didn't text at all when we watched a movie together. "You okay?" I ask. "You're being super quiet."

He shrugs. "I'm fine. I'm just…I don't know."

I lean forward in my chair. "You might as well let it out. It's not like you have anyone else to talk to." I glance at the phone in his hand. "Well, anyone who's physically here."

He turns toward me, studying my face. The muscles in his jaw flex. He slides the phone back in his pocket. "I'm not gonna babble on like some kind of child," he says, taking a stick and poking at the fire. "But, if you have to know, I guess you could just say I've totally ruined my life. I'm stuck. I don’t know where to go from here."

"You're eighteen," I say. "Your life isn't over yet. Just like how I know my life isn't technically over, but it sure feels like it."

He drops the stick and leans back in his chair. "What's so bad about your life?" he asks in a condescending tone.

"Well for starters I'm stuck here all summer. Do I even need to go on?"

He snorts. "Please do."

I suck in a deep breath and let it out slowly. "I'm stuck here all summer without my friends, I'm grounded from everything including my phone which is killing me, and my sort of boyfriend just officially became my not-boyfriend."

He lifts an eyebrow. "Sort of boyfriend? How is that a thing? Did he ask you to be his sort of girlfriend?"

I shake my head. "Screw you. I don't want to talk about it."

His phone beeps again, but he ignores it. "How did you get grounded?"

I cross my arms and stare into the fire. "I don't want to talk about that either."

"Okay I'll go." Jace pops the knuckles on his left hand and then his right. "I just lost a two million dollar contract over a fucking girl."

My mouth falls open. He continues. "I had just signed to ride with a factory sponsorship when I lost it all because I got thrown in jail. My agent says there's no way in hell they will give me the contract again now that I'm out. Apparently motocross is a family sport and they don't think my bad attitude fits in with the family vibe."

I picture the magazine article in the gas station. I knew he was a big deal if he's in magazines, but I had no idea he was a
two million dollar
big deal. "Wait," I say. "How does a girl play into this?"

"I was in jail for four months on an assault charge," he says somberly, ignoring a phone beep once again.

My heart races as I try to ask the question I'm thinking but no words come out of my mouth. Jace doesn't seem like he's a violent person…but what if he is? "Did you…" I start, unable to make myself finish the sentence.
Beat up your girlfriend?

With a sigh, Jace takes out his phone again and skims through all the messages he ignored. My heart aches, wishing I had my own phone back. I have no idea how people survived before phones existed.

"He was a guy I raced with, and he pissed me off. He got what he deserved."

"Did you hurt him?"

He stares at me, unwilling to answer. "Oh my god," I say. "What'd you do to him?"

He waves his hand through the air. "He was fine. I just taught him a lesson." He throws his head back and stares at the night sky. A laugh escapes him. "At least I thought I taught him a lesson. He may have fucked my girlfriend but in the end, I'm the one who got fucked."

"I'm sorry," I say, feeling like I'm intruding on his very private emotions. I shouldn't have asked him to talk. He lifts his hands and covers his face, dragging them slowly through his hair. If I didn't know better, I'd think he was holding back tears. "She never should have done that to you."

I rack my mind for something comforting to say. He looks at me. "No, she shouldn't. But
he
knew what he was doing. I was his competition, and he got rid of me." He shrugs his shoulders in defeat. "Smart guy."

I kick at the small bits of firewood near my feet. "So when you got out of jail you banished yourself to Salt Gap, Texas?"

Jace nods. "I've officially owned the place ever since I turned eighteen. I never came out to see it because I was too busy. I never understood why a man I'd never met would leave me everything he owned…but maybe he knew I'd need it someday."

He grabs his Ipad off the plastic table next to him and searches for a new song to play. "I'm sick of this playlist. I think it's time for some online radio, eh?"

My heart skips a beat. "You have WiFi on that thing?"

He nods, his eyes going wide a second later. "Why are you giving me that look?" he asks.

I lean forward in my chair, clasping my hands together in front of my chest. "Do you think…maybe I could… um...?" He rolls his eyes, probably guessing what I'm going to say. "Could I check my Facebook? Please, just real fast?"

He pulls the Ipad toward his chest and gives me a condescending glare. "Do you think your mother would approve of that?"

"Come on, Jace, pleeease?" I make my best puppy dog face. He laughs and tosses the Ipad to me. I catch it and pull up the Facebook app before he can change his mind. The pretty icon at the top of the screen shows me that I have one new message, hopefully a detailed list from Becca of everything I've missed back at home. I touch it and my heart falls to my stomach.

It's from Ian.

Hey Beautiful. I got your note at work. Your mom the world's biggest bitch, but it's probably a good thing that you aren't here…some stupid shit is going on. I'm not going to get into details because it will probably be over by the time you read this. I know you're grounded, but something tells me you'll find a way to sneak online. Give me a shout when you're back in town. I miss that cute face of yours.

My face flushes red and I glance up, hoping Jace isn't watching me, but he isn't even in his chair. He must have gone in the house while I read Ian's message. I start typing a reply, but then I think better of it. Guys don't want to hear girls whine and complain all the time. I'll play it cool. I mean, I'm supposed to hate him now, right? So why does his stupid message give me butterflies?

I erase my original reply and type something short and cute instead.

Having a blast in Salt Gap, Texas. LOL. See ya.

Warm breath touches my neck and I jump, almost throwing the Ipad in the air. "Dammit, Jace you scared me!" I swat at him with my free hand. He laughs. I've been standing here a while, but you were so damn immersed in writing to your boy toy that you didn't notice."

A lump forms in my throat. "He's not my boy toy," I murmur under my breath.

Jace falls back into his chair with a sigh. "Whatever you say, Bayleigh. You should forget that dude. You're better than him."

I narrow my eyes at him. "You should forget that girl, then." He starts to object but I cut him off with a wave of my hand. "You've been texting her all night. So, maybe you shouldn't be the one lecturing."

He holds up his hands in surrender. "You're right," he says matter of factly. "I won't text her again. It's not worth it. All we're doing is reminding each other how much we don't get along."

We share a triumphant smile, both of us happy with our new decision. "I'm glad you're here," he says, handing me an unopened can of soda. "I came here to take my mind off things but it's hard when I'm all alone."

"Glad I could be of service," I say with a wink. Oh gosh. A wink? What is wrong with me?

A chat window pops up in the middle of the screen. It isn't from Facebook—it's from a messages app under Jace's account.

The username is Loren and the avatar is of a beautiful strawberry blonde girl with sun kissed skin. The message says, "I'll do whatever it takes to win you back."

I glance over at Jace, the beautiful boy who lives next door to me for the summer. His eyes are closed, his neck resting on the back of the chair as he faces the stars. He looks serene, happy. Not stressed out like he was earlier.

I delete the message.

Chapter 13

I may or may not spend the entire day peeking through my balcony window, hoping to see Jace outside, wearing those funny-looking dirt bike pants. And I may or may not jump at every single noise, every car passing by, and every grunt of disapproval my grandfather makes at the off chance that it's really the sound of Jace's dirt bike starting up.

I can't exactly call him because I don't have a phone and even if I did, I don't have his number. It's funny that he's so ridiculously close to me, yet so far away. I wonder if Grandma has a carrier pigeon I could send.

Grandma drinks a cup of coffee in the living room, a roll of yarn bobbing along the floor as she crochets. I plop down next to her and watch as her knobby fingers work the metal hook through the yarn, growing her creation more with each stitch.

"That's really cool," I say after a few minutes. Our house is filled with Grandma's throw blankets and doilies, but I've never put any thought into how they're made. She flexes her fingers, wincing from the arthritis and continues crocheting. It's a labor of love, no doubt.

"I could teach you," she says, continuing to loop and hook the yarn while she looks at me.

"I don't know, that looks really hard." Maybe something hard is what I need right now, to take my mind off the boredom.

Grandma shakes her head. "It only looks hard. I could have you making granny squares in ten minutes."

"Granny squares?" I laugh. "That sounds lame. Do you have any teenager squares you could teach me?"

Grandma playfully slaps me in the arm and then hands me a pink metal hook and a ball of multicolored yarn.

It took way longer than ten minutes, but I finally got the hang of this granny square thing. It's essentially the same few stitches over and over, and the yarn I'm using cycles between pinks, purples and blues that look pretty on the finished piece. Technically, the squares are supposed to be a few inches wide and then you make a bunch of them and stich them together to make a blanket. But I opt to just keep going around and around, making my square as big as it can be.

A few hours and several soap operas later, I have a mini lap blanket and my mind is completely off thinking about Jace.

Well, you know…mostly.

The doorbell rings, a loud
ding dong
that thunders throughout the whole house, making me jump. Grandma pats my leg as if to comfort me, and gets up to see who's at the door. It's probably one of their old people friends, so I keep working on my crochet. I'm embarrassed to admit that I'm loving making this blanket. It's cool to see something productive come out of my time that would otherwise be wasted.

"Oh, hello." Grandma's startled voice makes me look up. I can't see who's on the other side of the door. What if it's a robber or a scam artist or someone who preys on elderly people? I pull the yarn off my dull crochet hook, gripping it tightly in my hand as I stand, my heart racing. I'm not equipped to fight off an intruder, but neither is Grandma. She closes the door and calls for my Grandpa. She looks concerned, but she doesn't lock the door.

"Who is it?" I whisper. She waves a hand for me to sit down. Grandpa emerges from the kitchen holding a steaming cup of coffee.

"There's someone here to see you," Grandma says, nodding toward the door.

Grandpa pulls open the door with a friendly smile on his face. I can't see who's on the other side.

"Good afternoon, sir."

Grandpa's smile fades into a hard glare. I still can't see who the visitor is, but my stomach twists into knots as I recognize the voice. Jace must have a death wish.

Grandpa slips through the front door and closes it behind him, leaving him and Jace on the front porch. I notice Grandma peering at me over the top of her glasses and she walks back to the couch and sits down. I let out a casual sigh and pretend I'm not at all freaking out about why Jace is here. Whatever the reason, it can't possibly be good.