Windows to the Soul

Chapter One

Friday, March 8

"Earth to Shay," Kaci said, "what do you think?"

I came back to reality to my best friend Kaci snapping her fingers in my face.

"What do I think about what?" I asked, confused.
"Going to the party this weekend," she said.
"Whose party is it, again?"
"Zack Irwin's! Have you not been listening to anything I've said?" she asked, sounding a little irritated with me.
"Kaci, I'm sor—," I began before she cut me off.
"Save it, I know you're thinking about that boy."
"His name is Jake," I replied quietly, looking down at my plate of food I hadn't even touched yet.
"Well, it's been what, a year? Since you started texting and it's gone nowhere," she replied, ripping up her straw wrapper and throwing the pieces onto her tray.

Even though Jake and I seemed to have a lot in common, I didnt want to mix our worlds yet. From what I've gathered, he's really popular at his school in Phoenix, which is an hour away from Eloy, while I'm just a normal girl living an average life.

"So when do I get to meet this Jake guy?" she asked.
"Uh.. I don't know Kase," I responded, trying to come up with something to get her off this topic.
"We are going to that party in Phoenix tomorrow. You said he lives there, right? Invite him to come," she said, as if it was really that easy.
"Fine, I'll text him. But I make no promises that he'll even be interested."

S: "Hey!"
J: "What's up?"
S: "Not much, just at lunch. How's your day going?"
J: "Just got better"
S: "Why's that?"
J: "We're having pizza for lunch"

OUCH. I thought maybe he was flirting..

S: Lucky you! Oh hey, do you have plans this weekend?
J: Just hanging out with some friends, whats up?
S: My friend and I will be in Phoenix and wanted to know if you'd wanna hang out? But you've already got plans, maybe another time.

Play it cool, Shay, don't seem too eager.

J: I'd love to hang. What's the plan?
S: My friend heard of a party tomorrow and is dragging me to it."
J: Whose party is it?
S: A guy named Zack Irwin? We've never met him.
J: So you're actually party crashing.
S: What? Nevermind, this is a bad idea.
J: There will be so many people there, nobody will know you guys aren't from Phoenix. I'll send you the address later.
S: If you insist.. I've got to go, lunch is over.
J: I do. See you tomorrow. 😎

"Looks like we're going to Zack's party tomorow," I quickly told Kaci as we dumped our lunch trays.
"WHAT!? Finally!" Kaci squealed, jumping up and down.

What have I gotten myself into?

Saturday, March 9

1:27 a.m.
*Ring, ring, ring*

Who would call me at 1:30 in the morning?

"Hello?" I answered, rubbing my eyes, still half asleep.
"Shay?" a guy's voice wakes me up completely.
"Yes.."
"Hey, uh, it's Jake. Sorry to wake you, but my car got a flat tire outside of Eloy and I don't have a spare. I know it's late but I didn't know who else to call.." he sounded nervous.

I sat up and turned on my lamp.

"What? Are you okay?" I asked, panic creeping into my voice.
"I'm fine, but I need a ride and somewhere to crash. I don't want to put you in an awkward position but.."
"Send me your location and I'll be there as soon as possible," I told him, getting out of bed.
"Shay?"
"Yeah?"
"You're a life saver," was all he said before hanging up the phone.

Oh no, what am I going to do? He can't stay here, can he? My grandparents are going to freak out if they find out I have a boy in my room. But Phoenix is over an hour away from Eloy..

Thirty minutes later, I pulled my car to the side of the road behind Jake's car. He drives a Challenger, that's really nice. My car doesn't even have electric locks or windows. I didn't see Jake so I pulled down my visor to make sure I looked okay for it being 2 a.m. Jake and I have never met or even seen each other before. This is about to get awkward.

Suddenly, there was a tap at my window. I rolled it down to see one of the most handsome guys I've ever seen in my life.

"Jake?" I asked, unsure of the person I'd been texting for months.
"That's me. You must be Shay?"
"Yeah.. Nice to officially meet you," I let out a nervous laugh.

Why the hell did I agree to meet up with a boy I've never met, in the middle of the night, in the middle of nowhere? Way to go, Shay.

Jake smiled, "It's nice to meet you, Shay. Thank you so much for picking up your phone."

Wow, am I actually dreaming? His smile is so angelic.

"You're welcome, I was still awake."

Liar.

"I'm going to get my stuff and lock my car, I'll be right back," Jake said as he walked away.
A few minutes later, Jake was sitting in my car just looking at me. Talk about awkward.

"Is everything okay?" I asked, self-conscious.
"Oh, sorry. I didn't mean to stare. I've been wondering for months what you look like, and I never imagined this," he said, bucking his seatbelt.
"I don't know whether to be offended or say thank you," I said, putting my car in reverse.
Jake laughed, "It's a compliment, so you're welcome. And thanks again for coming to get me. My mom would freak out if she knew I was driving around this late."
"Your mom doesn't know you're not home?" I asked, suddenly worried.
"Does yours?" He countered back, raising one eyebrow at me.
"My mom is never home, I live with my grandparents," I said quietly, "and no, they don't know I'm not home."
"My mom's a nurse, she works nights. My stepdad's on a business trip in New York," Jake said, looking out the window.
"Where's your dad?" I pried.
Jake was quiet for a few moments before answering, "He's dead. He was killed in Afghanistan about 8 years ago."
"Oh, Jake, I'm so sorry," I said, hating myself for prying.
"It's not your fault," Jake replied, giving me a half smile.

And with that, we drove the rest of the way to my house in silence.