I slip back into the house. The empty air is illuminated by the moonlight. I lean my head back and whisper "thank you" to the heavens for my family being sound asleep. I creep up the steps to my room.
I don't take my shoes off. I don't shower. I don't change. I don't do anything. I'll take care of that later. I toss myself into the pillowly haven of my bed, forgetting to even crawl under the covers.
Think about it, Jace had said in the car on the way home.
And I do think about it. I think for hours before consciousness escapes me and, I drift off to sleep.
I wake up at the ungodly hour of 6:05 am the next morning. My eyes are drawn to my phone, which sits quietly on my bedside table. I itch to call Jace, or for him to call me. I decide against it. Until I can get over his ludicrous proposition it will just be best, for the both of us, to keep distant.
Jace isn't in English. His seat is empty. Despite my oh-so firm decision I find myself longing for his presences. I like watching his knee jump up and down with untamed energy as we are forced to sit through unbearable lectures. Every three minutes or so my eyes dart towards the door as if he might walk in at any given moment. I squeeze my eyes shut and look over at his empty desk, repeatedly hoping that he will fabricate from thin air. When all fails I begin to presume that he probably skipped class. But that just seems so un-Jace like, to exclude me from such adventures. But then again, last night happened.
Jace isn't in school the next day. Or the next. Thursday rolls around and I'm sure I'm suffering from reckless behavior deprivation. I haven't exactly interacted with any human life form. So when Violet and C.J call my name I'm slightly stunned.
"Hey, Wynter." Violet sides up besides me as I make my way towards my locker.
"Hi." I mumble. My mind orbits around Jace, the gravitational pull of it is too strong to think about anything else.
They ask if I'd like to hang out. I accept. Had I chosen the alternative, I imagine I'd be laying silently on my bed simply thinking about Jace, tempted to call him.
C.J, Violet and I haven't been on talking terms for a while. My life has consisted solely of Jace. So walking around C.J's Victorian style house has the polished feeling of visiting a new place.
". . .and she said that I was being a bitch, but it's not my fault that fugly dress made her look like a squished banana. She asked for the truth after all. . ." Violet rambles on, Cassandra laughing hysterically along with her.
It is completely unfair of me to compare Violet's frivolous chatter to Jace's deeply impassioned speech. But I do, with such a wide variation between the two, it's practically inevitable.
"Wynter? Are you okay?" Cass snaps me out of my thoughts.
"Do you ever think there will be a someone who is worth everything?"
She purses her lips and then shrugs, "What do you mean?"
"I mean like leaving everything behind. Family. Friends. Future. That kind of thing."
Violet rolls her eyes. "You're thinking too much, Aristotle."
And that's when I realize what Jace meant in saying that I was the only person who actually meant something. It was becoming increasingly more difficult to listen to Violet or C.J. It was annoying. The majority of what she, and everyone else in Easton, talks about is meaningless and quite irrelevant .
It was obvious that they were not the right person with whom I should discuss my situation. However, I know exactly who will qualify for the position.
"I have to go." I trample over Violet's endless supply of plush teddy bears and throw pillows.
She frowns, "Why?"
"I have to call my brother."
"Keegan?" C.J asks.
"No. Levi."
Outside, I train my breathing to sync with the wind billowing through tree branches. The phone only rings twice before Levi answers.
"Hey. Is everything okay?" Levi is 21 years old. He, against our mother's wishes, lives in Seattle with his band, Wanderlust.
"Yeah-" I quickly catch myself because there is no reason for me to lie to Levi. "No."
"What is it, Wynter?" Concern laces his words.
"It's Mom. It's Keegan. It's everything." And then I deflate like a balloon. I tell him about Jace. And the night of the ice cream, and what Jace thinks about everyone in Easton. I tell him about breaking into the Alfred's pool, and finally his proposal to leave.
Levi's silent until the end, and at least a minute afterwards. For a slight second I worry that even he doesn't know what to do.
"Listen, Wynter. There will be a lot of opportunities offered up to you by the world. Obviously you won't want to take them. But you don't want to be the kind of person who'll regret the decisions you didn't make. And trust me, reminiscing about what could have been will just kill you."
"So I should go."
"No, I'm not saying that. But I'm not exactly against the idea."
I roll my eyes, knowing he can't see, "Levi, if you were me, what would you do." I know this will force a straight out answer of him.
Silence.
"I would go." He admits. "But I would at least wait until you have a commitment."
"You mean like-"
"I mean, at least wait until he tells you he loves you or something." He suggests. "Know that he's down for you and you only."
"Okay." My heart swells knowing that I have a Levi in my life to give me advice.
YOU ARE READING
The World Beyond Us
Teen Fiction"If you and I could get into that car and drive away and never look back, would you?" When Wynter unexpectedly finds herself in a thrilling relationship with Jace, it's begins to become increasingly hard for her to decipher between good and bad, rig...
