So Kiss Me

Ch 8

After he kissed her hand, Jaclyn felt different around Garrett. She wasn't sure why, but something about the moment had changed her mind about him. The other girls saw him as a flirt and 'a very handsome one at that,' but Jaclyn knew the truth.

That evening, as she sat in her dress from that morning, eating dinner with her father, she felt uneasy and vulnerable, as if he'd know the secret of her whereabouts for the day.

After a long bout of silence her father grew annoyed, "Jaclyn Charity, are you going to give me the silent treatment forever?"

"Whatever do you mean, father?" Jaclyn asked in a tone that even her father could tell was dripping with sarcasm.

He glared at her, "Jaclyn, I know you're angry with me about the house-arrest, but you have only a couple days left. Plus, school is starting soon, so you'd better get used to being in the house all day because none of your friends will be around anyway."

Jaclyn's eyebrows furrowed, "That was a rude remark," she said through her bite of chicken.

"I meant no rudeness," her father addressed, "I only meant that you're all growing up and you're going to be very busy--"

"I think I'd like to go for a walk this evening. Would you permit me to do so? I've been cooped up for so long, after all."

"I will permit it as long as Glen or myself accompany you."

"Oh, would you?" Jaclyn asked again. She didn't care who went with her, she just wanted an excuse to leave the house again, but wished Glen would volunteer."

"Glen?" her father called the maid into the dining room, "Would you like to accompany Jaclyn on a walk this evening? She is on house-arrest for two days more and I don't want her out alone."

"Out alone? Miss Charity, I thought you was--"

Jaclyn's eyes opened wide and she tried to stop Glen from talking by waving her hand by her neck as a means to cut her sentence off, but Glen finished it just as she'd started, only confused by Jaclyn's attempts.

"I thought you was gone with your friends all day long? You want to go out again?"

Jaclyn looked down at her plate, feeling her father's gaze burn the top of her head.

"Jaclyn, would you care to explain?"

She cleared her throat and looked up slowly, "I spent time with Sandra today. I apologize for my disobedience, I was merely tired of spending time in the house."

Her father wiped his mouth with his napkin and turned in his chair so he was facing toward her, "You mean to tell me that you knowingly and purposefully sneaked out of the house and spent the day with your friends when you have only two days of house-arrest left? You risked it all because you thought you wouldn't get caught."

Jaclyn shrugged, then nodded.

"In this house we use words, not gestures."

"Yes, sir," Jaclyn replied, startled by his now very serious tone, "I risked it all for a day with my friends."

"Was it worth it?"

Jaclyn thought on her answer for a few moments, then leaned forward on her elbows, pushing her plate away from her, "One hundred percent," she replied, looking her father dead in the eyes. "Know why? I got to wear pants today instead of these awful dresses. I put my hair up today, instead of leaving it down and curly. I got to throw a basketball with the boys today instead of sit on the curb, minding my skirt, with the girls."