Danger II // J.N

Chapter 2

Anna's POV.

I sit on my bed, criss-crossed. I work on my AP literature homework.

I can't wrap my head around the fact that Alexia was fourteen when she "dated" Jace. I can't believe I'll be going the same school as her for the next nine months.

Jace never said her age. He never said she lived here in Calabasas.

There's a knock on the doorframe. I glance up and see Jace standing in the doorway of my bedroom. I crack a smile.

"Hey," I say. I push my books and notebook aside. I stand up and walk up to him, wrapping my arms around his neck and kissing his soft lips.

"Are you doing homework?" He asks, pointing to the books scattered on my bed. I sigh and nod.

"My dumbass self decided to take four AP classes. I have AP literature, music theory, and government. Next semester it's AP literature and psychology," I say, sitting on my bed. He sits next to me and nods.

"Damn, keeping yourself busy!" He says. I nod. "So how was the first day?" He asks.

"Pretty good. I met a few people who I get along with. I found out Alexia goes to my school," I say, tilting my head. Jace's eyes widen.

"Since when did she live in Calabasas?" He asks.

"Since when was she two years younger than us?" I ask, nervously giggling.

Jace's jaw drops. "She's fifteen?" He snaps.

I nod. "You didn't know that?" I ask. He shakes his head. I part my lips. "You mean, you fucked her for almost a year and you never once asked her for her age?"

"What do you mean by 'asked her for her age'? It's not a fucking VIP thing where only a certain age can-"

"Jace! You fucking asshole!" I yell, quickly covering my mouth and laughing. He laughs.

"She was fourteen, dude. She was fourteen and giving blow jobs. That's really sad!"

Jace looks down, obviously somewhat embarrassed by what he did. He scratches behind his ear. "It's her life, Anna. Let her do her, you know?"

I roll my eyes. "I know. I'm not judging her, I just feel bad. She's so young, and the whole school already knows she'll be a prostitute or a stripper," I explain. Jace smirks. I slap his thigh. He looks at me and smiles. I smile back.

"How was your first day?" I ask. Jace shrugs his shoulders. He plays with his phone in his hand.

"Same thing. They didn't change anything. A lot of new people, but I'm not interested in any of them," He says. I nod. There's a pause, before Jace speaks again.

"Sean and Corey wanna see you. I was hoping I could maybe steal you from your family for tonight and maybe we could go out for dinner?" He says, grinning. I grin.

"I'd love to, but I got a lot of AP shit to do," I say, pulling my notebook closer to me. Jace rolls his eyes.

"I'll have you back before ten," He says, standing up. I look up at him and point to my books. He shrugs.

"Nine-forty-five," He states.

I point to my books again and nod.

Jace groans. "Anna, you're killing me! Nine-thirty?"

I shake my head, pursing my lips.

Jace rolls his eyes. He grabs my wrist and yanks me off the bed. I burst out laughing as he pulls me up. "Nine?" He asks.

I sigh. "I guess. But no later!" I say. He snickers, turning around as he pulls me out of the bedroom.

***

Jace, Sean, Corey, and I all sit inside of Pizza & Pasta. I sit next to Jace, while Corey and Sean sit across from us.

Jace pulls a slice of pizza from the pizza tray that's placed on the table. He sets it on his plate.

I pick up my glass of ice water and take a drink. I fell the water run down my throat, followed by an immediate choke on the water. I cover my mouth with a fist, trying to stop choking on the water.

Jace looks at me as he bites into his pizza. Corey looks up with a puzzled face. Sean looks at me with a worried face.

I finally get myself to stop choking. I feel a clump of something in my throat. I swallow, thinking it's just pizza. I take another drink of water, but it just barely helps.

"Are you okay?" Sean asks. I nod. "I think so. I think I just swallowed the water wrong," I say. Sean nods.

"That sounded deadly," Jace says.

"No it didn't! You're being dramatic," Corey says. I giggle. I take another bite of pizza. Jace looks at his phone. He lets out a sigh. "Looks like we better get going, so Anna can go back to her homework," He says, shaking his head. I smile.

"I'm sorry! I'd stay longer, but I have a ton of shit to do," I say. Jace nods. "I get it, babe," He says, patting my thigh. I crack a smile as I look down at his hand.

***

I stand in the kitchen of Denny's, where I work for now. Since lifeguarding can't last all year. I wear my black dress pants and black button up shirt, along with the black apron they have for waitresses. I fix my ponytail, and leave some baby hairs down.

"Anna, there's a new family at table number six who looks ready," Melanie says. I turn and look at her and nod. I grab the small notepad out of the pocket of my apron, along with the pen. I turn around and walk out of the kitchen.

I walk down the row of tables, counting each one with its number. My eyes widen as I realize who's sitting there.

"Anna!" Addy says. Addy and Andrew smile at me. My dad turns around in the booth. He smiles at me. I part my lips. I crack a slight smile.

"H-H-Hey, what are you doing here?" I ask, shocked to see he brought them.

My dad smirks. "Dinner! Your mom worked late tonight, and I wanted to bring the kids out to celebrate their first days of eighth grade!" He explains.

I smile. I click my pen. "Are you guys ready to order?" I ask.

Addy nods. Andrew waits, but then nods. "I'll have a cheeseburger with all toppings and fries," Andrew says.

"I'll have an avocado chicken salad," Addy orders. I nod and write down their orders on my notepad. I look at my dad once I'm finished. "And you?" I ask.

"I'll have a sirloin steak, please! With a garden salad on the side," He says. I nod and write it down.

My dad looks at my outfit. "How long have you been working here?" He asks.

"About two weeks," I answer, while writing. He nods.

"Good to see you back on your feet, Savannah," He says, nodding. I finish writing and glare at him. I automatically feel the urge to just light up a blunt, take a couple Xanax, and drink away the anger inside of me. But instead, I cover my feelings with the fakest smile.

"Your orders will be out shortly," I say, holding the notebook with both hands against my stomach.

I turn and walk away. I walk to the kitchen, setting the order ticket on the counter. "Ticket order for table six!" I yell.

"Who was that?" Melanie asks, pointing towards to the table my family is at.

"My dad and siblings," I say, sighing. Melanie raises an eyebrow. "I've never seen them," She says.

"My dad doesn't really wanna be apart of my life lately. I haven't seen him since June. He didn't even invite me to this dinner, and my sister probably told him I worked here. My families petty," I shake my head. Melanie nods, placing a hand on her hip.

"Don't let them stop you from working, though. Keep going Anna," She says smiling. I smile.