I realized that I don't really have a plan for this book. I'm just writing as I go along, so don't know when I'm going to end it. But, I've noticed in my previous stories that I usually end my books when they hit around thirty chapters; just a warning!

Anyways, my Tumblr is @vanessaahx3

and Instagram is @vanbuns

Happy reading, everyone! :)

Chapter 17

                When I entered the Wasson’s household the first day of Christmas break, I didn’t expect to be greeted by Reina’s lunatic of a best friend, Lana.

                Streaks of black mascara trailed down Lana’s cheeks as she clung onto the doorframe for her dear life. “My life is fucking ruined!” Lana sobbed as she gripped my shoulders, shaking me as my eyes widened from being petrified by a thirteen year old. “What am I going to do now?”

                No more than a second later, Lana was dragged away from the front door by Reina. She rolled her eyes at her Ryan-obsessed best friend before shooting me an apologetic smile. “Sorry about Lana,” Reina paused when Lana decided to interfere by letting out an ugly cry, “she just found out that Ryan and Julianne are dating.”

                “Why can’t Ryan be in love with me?” Lana screeched. “He was my first kiss!”

                Reina groaned, shaking her head with irritation as she held Lana by the collar of her shirt. “Excuse me while I go take care of this,” she paused, staring at Lana with disgust, “mess.”

                I held back a laugh, not wanting to be rude. Lana honestly looked like she would be a piece of work when it came to heartbreak and knowing that Reina wasn’t the most patient person, she was going to need God on her side if she could manage to console Lana without flipping out at her for her constant whining and tears. “Good luck with that.”

                Reina shook her head, releasing a sigh. “I’ll sure need it. Jace is up in his room, by the way.” She turned her back to make her way towards the living room, where tissues, pizza, ice cream and chick flicks were scattered across the floor.

                I made my way up the stairs towards Jace’s room. The door to his bedroom was slightly opened, and just as I was about to raise a fist to knock on the door, my breath got caught in my throat. Through the slight crack between the door and the doorframe, I saw the back of a very shirtless Jace. I watched with my heart racing in my chest as Jace’s toned back flexed with the motion of him pulling a shirt over his head.

                Get a hold of yourself, Everly.

                I suddenly felt very warm and flustered as I inched myself away from the door, turning around so that my back was facing Jace’s bedroom. I muttered some incoherent curses under my breath, trying to settle myself down before I was ready to face Jace again after seeing him half naked.

                “What are you doing?” A voice asked from behind me. I flinched from being so suddenly started, turning around. I immediately bumped against Jace’s frontier, not realizing how close he was standing behind me. I quickly backed away from him, feeling all nervous as my back hit against the wall of the hallway. “Everly, are you okay?”

                I flashed Jace a shaky smile, nodding quickly to avoid any further questioning from him. “Yup, I’m totally fine.”

                Jace frowned, not believing me for a second. “What were you doing facing the wall a few minutes ago?” he asked suspiciously.

                I blinked, trying to muster up a lie in my mind as quickly as I could. I forced a smile as words startled to ramble out of my mouth without any control. “I was praying!”

                “Praying?” Jace repeated slowly as I nodded. “Praying for what?”

                “I was praying that I get a hundred on the next calculus test, of course!”

I wanted to smack myself upside the head. Praying that I got a hundred on the next calculus test? Oh my God, how pathetic could I get?

                “It’s the first day of a week long break.” Jace stated. “Why are you worried when our next calculus test isn’t until a week after the break is over?”

                I finally understand now what Julianne meant when she always tells me how horrible of a liar I am.

                “So, what are we going to do today?” I attempted to change the subject.

                “Everly, are you sure you’re-.”

                “I was thinking we should go to the mall.” I cut him off. “I know the mall is always crowded and just completely terrible in general, but I haven’t started my Christmas shopping yet and it’s only a few days away.”

                Jace looked defeated, realizing that there was no point in arguing with me because there was no way in hell that I was going to give in to him and tell him that I had saw him shirtless. “Alright, let’s go.”

                I released a breath of relief, feeling the heavy load that was previously on my shoulders being lifted away. I turned to Jace before we headed down the stairs and asked, “You’re finished getting dressed now, right?”

                I hadn’t even realized what I’d said.

                Shit.

                A slow and devious smirk spread across Jace’s lips, a glint of hilarity sparking in his eyes. “Everly,” he paused, “how did you know that I was changing before?”

                Busted.

*

                “Why are you being so quiet?” Jace asked teasingly as I scanned through a table of knitted scarves at the mall later that afternoon.

                I glared at Jace, noticing that he had been taking to his advantage my humility. “I’m not.” I snapped, irritated that he was teasing me about the same incident for the third time today. In my best efforts to change the subject, I reached over the table for the white knitted scarf while I already had a beige one in my other hand. I held up both of the scarves to Jace, asking him, “Which one should I get for Julianne?”

                Jace shrugged. “I don’t know, they look the same to me.”

                I rolled my eyes, shaking my head with displeasure. “You are absolutely no help. Why did I even ask you to come with me?”

                Jace grinned obnoxiously. “I think it’s because you enjoy my company, princess.”

                I groaned, annoyed with myself that I was getting so giddy over what Jace had to say. Trying to hide my blush, I placed the beige scarf back down on the table, keeping the white one in my hands. “I’ll just get her this one.” I muttered.

As I approached the cash register to pay for Julianne’s gift, I turned Jace who was staring mindlessly at a glass display of earrings that I would never be able to afford. Once I was finished paying, I walked over to Jace, who was staring at a pair of earrings that had a three digit price. I wasn’t surprised, though. Jace came from a family of wealth- that price probably meant nothing to him while it meant three part time jobs with minimum wage for me. “Holy hell, that’s expensive.” I joked. “Are you shopping for Reina?”

                “Yeah, but I was actually thinking of getting these for my mother.” Jace said quietly before turning his attention away from the glass display of earrings. “Are you ready to go now?”

                I frowned, blocking his exit. “Why don’t you get them for her?” I asked. “They are a little expensive, but I’m pretty sure there’s ones that are less-.”

                “I don’t want to get her anything.” Jace said sternly, looking irritated all the sudden. “Can you move out of my way now?”

                I did as Jace told so, but I went after him immediately after I snapped back into reality. I grabbed a hold of Jace’s arm, stopping him in the middle of the mall. “Jace,” I turned him around, “what’s with the change of attitude?”

                “Nothing.” Jace snapped. “Can you finish shopping so we can leave?”

                “Did I say something wrong?”

                Jace closed his eyes to hide his frustration. “No. Are you done now?”

                I released my hold on his arm, feeling my heart sink. If Jace was insisting that I hadn’t done anything wrong, then why was he taking out all of his anger on me? “No, I’m not done.” I snapped angrily. “You can leave by yourself if you’re so mad.”  

                Stupid bastard.

                What the hell did I do to him to make him so mad at me?

                Idiot.

                I began to walk away, clenching my fists to the point where my nails were hurting my palms from the tight hold.

                “Everly.” Jace called out with exasperation, making me stop in my tracks. I heard footsteps approaching me and soon, a hand was on my shoulder. “How are you getting home?”

                I shrugged off Jace’s hand as if he had burnt me on the area where his hand came in contact with my body. “Why do you care?” I challenged. “I’m a big girl, I don’t need you Jace. I’m perfectly capable of getting back home myself.”

                Jace sighed, running a hand through his hair. “You’re mad.” He stated. “I’m sorry.”

                I released a tired breath of air, tired of fighting with Jace. “Go home, Jace.”

                “I’m not going anywhere without you.” Jace insisted, holding my hand like it was the most casual thing in the world.

                What the hell was he thinking?

                I closed my eyes, resting for a moment before I spoke calmly. “Tell me why you got so worked up then.”

                Jace’s lips parted as he hung his head low. “Everly, it’s really stupid. It’s not even something that matters.”

                “I’m not going anywhere with you if you don’t tell me.” I persisted.

               Jace looked troubled as he bit the insides of his cheeks, his eyes scanning around. Jace finally gave up as he nodded, unknowingly holding onto my hand even tighter than before. “I’ll tell you.” Jace said. “But, can we go back to my car first? I think people are starting to stare at us.”

*

                Jace and I sat in silence for the longest time. For the faintest moment, all that was audible was our breathing. Finally sick and tired of the eerie quietness, I spoke up. I crossed my arms over my chest, turning my body position toward Jace, who was staring mindlessly outside at the soft snow that was making its way from the sky to the ground. “Jace,” I said sternly, clearing my throat, “are you going to tell me?”

                Jace refused to look me in the eye as he closed his eyes for a brief second. He released a staggered breath of air, releasing a breath of defeat. “Before I get into it, I just wanted to apologize for being an asshole back there. It’s just,” he paused, looking troubled, “it’s just hard for me to talk about my parents sometimes. I never see them because they’re too busy making money than to look out after Reina and I. Sometimes, it feels like I don’t even have parents at all.”

                I pursed my lips, softening my expression as I hastily reached out to place my hand over Jace’s. “Look, Jace, you don’t have to tell me if you don’t want-.”

                “Something just hit me when you insisted on me getting my mother a present.” Jace continued, ignoring me as anger flashed through his orbs. “I got angry because I remembered that my parents weren’t even going to come home to spend time with Reina and I for Christmas. It would be pointless to get someone a present that they’re never going to have the time to receive.”

                I stared down at my palm covering his, biting my lower lip as I felt my heart dropping because of Jace. “So, you and Reina just spend Christmas by yourselves?”

                Jace chuckled bitterly, shaking his head. “No, we spend it with our housekeeper.”

                I knew nothing I could say was going to make Jace feel better.

                But, I gave him the only thing I was able to offer.

                “You and Reina should spend Christmas with my family.” 

                Almost immediately, Jace’s head snapped towards mine, eyes wide with shock. “What?” he muttered. “Listen Everly, that’s nice of you but I’m pretty sure my sister and I don’t want to be-.”

                “Shut up, Jace.” I rolled my eyes. “Every Christmas, we go over to my aunt’s house in the town over and spend the holiday there. There’s going to be family coming from across the country, so don’t even worry. There’ll be more than enough room for you guys.”

                Very slowly, a grin stretched across Jace’s face as he leaned over the car and embraced me into his arms. As soon as my head was over his shoulder, my eyes widened with surprise as to what Jace was doing to me emotionally. “You’re the best, princess.” Jace whispered in my ear.

                I gulped, my heart beating erratically in my chest. “I am?”

                “You are.”

                I felt myself falling- falling into a deep pit that I knew I could never escape out of.