(Jace Norman Fanfic) From P.A To C.A

29

I wake up in the middle of the night from a nightmare.  It was about my mother, of course.  She kept trying to kill me because she thought I was trying to kill her.  I would try to hide but she would keep finding me.

I shake off the dream, and get up.  Maybe if I just splash some water on my face to wake up, it'll be all good.  I'll forget about the dream and have happy ones.  I keep hoping things will turn out right, but look where that's gotten me.

I go out the door, down the hall, and into the bathroom.  I splash water on my face, and start heading back to the room, when I hear a door creak open.  I stop dead in my tracks.  I turn around slowly, looking from left to right.

"Rose," someone whispers from the crack.  I realize it's Jace's room and calm down a little.

"Yeah?" I creep closer to the door with caution.

"Can't sleep?"

I shake my head, but realize he probably can't see me.  "No, I can't."  I pause, trying to come up with the least creepy way of asking if I can come into his room.

Then, he asks.  "You want to come in?"

Relived, I nod and walk inside.  I sit down on his bed and he sits beside me.  

"So," he starts.  "What's up?"

"Oh, you know.  Normal things," I answer sarcastically.

We both laugh.  

After a long pause he speaks again.  "I'm sorry."

"It's fine.  I'm used to loss by now."

"But, it's not a total loss.  She's still alive."

"Yeah, I guess.  It still feels like a total loss."  I look down at my hands.  

"I...uh...  I got you something."

I start to ask why, but then I realize, tomorrow is my birthday.  With everything going on, I totally forgot.  Wait, it could be my birthday now.  I look at the digital clock on his dresser.  It's 12:01 in the morning.  So, today is my birthday.

He goes over to the dresser that has the clock on it.  He opens a drawer and pulls out a little box.  It's a cute box.  It is sky blue with a daisy pattern on it, and a white bow on top.  

"I wanted to be the first person to wish you a happy birthday," Jace says as he hands me the box.

"You didn't have to get me anything," I say.

"I know," he says.  His brown eyes seem to light up in the dark.  "Just open it!"

"Okay, okay."  I breathe in, kinda scared of what it could jump out at me, and open it.  I gasp.  Inside is a beautiful necklace.  It has a gold chain with a square as the charm.  I look closer and there is a quote on it.  I read it out loud, "Sometimes good things fall apart so better things can fall together."  I cover my mouth as tears, once again, fall down my cheeks.  I'm getting kinda tired of crying.

"Do you like it?" He asks concerned.  He gets up and turns on his light.

I shake my head.  "No.  I love it! " I hug him.  "Thank you so much.  This is the best thing that has happened to me in a while."

"You're welcome," he whispers in my ear.

I smile, still crying.  But, this time they are happy tears.

We hug for a long time.  When he lets go, I see a smile on his face.  "Thanks for staying with me in the closet today, too," I say.  "Even if it didn't seem like it, I appreciated it.  With everything that's been going on it's hard to stay happy."

"I get it.  Kinda.  Okay, I have no idea what your going through."  He pauses trying to think of what to say.  "You know what?  You're welcome."

I laugh.  At least he's being honest.

"Here turn around," he instructs.  He takes the necklace.

"Hey!  I thought that was mine," I exclaim, jokingly.

He just glares at me.

"All right, all right."  Obediently, I turn around and pull my hair to one side.  He puts the necklace around my neck.

"It really looks on the optimistic side of my life.  I need that," I say.

"I know!  That's why I got it." He's joking when he says it, but he kind of acts like Piper from the show.

I force a laugh.  We talk for a long time after that.  I end up falling asleep on Jace's floor.

*_*_*_*_*_*_

We wake up to a knock on his door.

"Jace?"  Jace's dad calls.

"Shoot!"  Jace pops his head up fast.  "Just a sec," He yells to his dad.  "Get in the closet!" He hisses to me.

"Why?" I ask stretching and yawning.

"Just go!"

I get up and go in his closet.  I give him the are-you-sure-you-wont-block-the-door-and-kill-me look.  He just rolls his eyes.  As soon as I close the door, he tells his dad he can come in.  I listen, closely.

"Rose is missing.  I'm a little scared: she could have had a break down in the middle of the night, and run off.  Do you know where she is?"

I want to tell him that I'm in the closet, but Jace speaks up before I can.  "She's missing?!"

"Yeah.  So, I'm guessing you don't know where she is."

"No sorry."

"Well, okay.  Get ready for school, then come down stairs.  We're making a special breakfast for you and Rose, where ever she is.  I'm sure she'll turn up eventually."

He talks about me like I'm an object.  I stifle a laugh.  I hear the bedroom door close, and come out.

"So, why did I have to hide?" I ask.

"I didn't want him to think anything 'happened' last night."  He air quotes, 'happened'.

"Oh, okay." I cross my arms and nod.  Like two 15 year olds, one just turning 15, would do that sort of thing.  But, I guess he knows his parents better than I do.

"I'm gonna go get ready for school," I say.

"Okay, bye." He waves and I walk out.

I go back to his sisters old room.  I go to the window.  It's about a fifteen foot drop.  Well, I'm not jumping out that window to get to my house.  Then, I see  a rope ladder on one of the dressers. "Yes," I whisper.  I open the window and drop the rope ladder.  Climbing down is a lot easier than I thought.

As soon as I'm on the ground, I sprint to my house.  I open a window and jump in.  I end up in my living room.  I try not to look at the basement door.  If I do, I know I will just think about what happened again.  I go to my room and put on my outfit I picked out the day I found out this would be my last day.  I put on make-up.  Last, I check myself out in the mirror.  I flatten my dress, turn side to side, then look at the necklace.  It goes perfect with this dress.  

I go downstairs, leaving the mirror behind, and out the front door.  I lock it behind me and practically march to the Norman's door.  I just walk in.  I feel like I am in charge.  This is my life, and no one, not even my parents, can ruin it.  Fight Song, by Rachel Platten starts playing in my head while I walk through their kitchen.

"My powers turned up,

Starting right now I'll be strong.

This is my fight song

and I don't really care if nobody else believes

cause I still got a lot of fight left in me."