Jayson

Chapter 13

"Haven!"

"What?"

"Get in here, now!"

I groaned, sliding off my bed and creeping down into the living room where my mom was sitting. She was eating garlic dip and chips while watching something on tv, so I was hopeful that it wouldn't be a long conversation and that she'd just get to the point.

"What?" I asked again, standing off to the side of the television so I wasn't in the way.

"Who gave you permission to be out of the house?"

"Nobody," I said, sighing and rolling my eyes.

"Roll your eyes again and I'm going to knock them back into place," she scolded, looking at me harshly, but harmlessly. I didn't expect her to actually hit me, as she seldom ever did. "Who told you you could leave and where were you?"

I sighed again, trying to buy a little more time to think of something good, but I had nothing. "Nobody. I went for a walk and stopped at the park because I saw Tricia and Jessica there."

"You just want to act all kind of grown. You didn't have permission to be anywhere, I don't care who you saw."

"Oh my God, mom, it's not like you don't know who they are. We're not going to do anything."

"I didn't ask you that. There are all kinds of crazy ass people out there looking to snatch up little girls. You run around dressing any kind of way, you don't know who's going to drag your stupid butt into their car and that's it. Nobody will know where you are, because you're always doing some bullshit you don't have no business doing. You can stay in your room for the rest of the night. You're going to be grounded for a while."

"Mom! Why do you have to make a big deal about everything?! Can you stop always treating me like a freaking baby! I'm not stupid. I'm not going to just go get in a car with some weirdo."

"Nobody said you would. I would hope that you wouldn't. But lots of little girls probably thought that until they got kidnapped. I'm not going to be worrying about what you're doing or where you're at."

"You're overreacting, mom, ugh! You always make a big deal out of everything! I hate that!"

My mom turned away from me and continued on watching her show, the sound of her crunching on her chips filling me with rage.

"Mom!"

"What, Haven?"

"What about Jessica's party next week?"

"I guess you're going to have to miss it."

"Oh my gosh, that's so not fair!" I whined. "This is so stupid! I didn't even do anything that serious! You always act like I'm the worst daughter in the world just because I want to hang out with my friends! Can I go to her party please?"

"No."

"Mom! Ugh, I hate you!" I ran up into my room and slammed the door, throwing myself onto my bed and sobbing into my pillow. I wanted to go to Jessica's birthday party, but even more than that, I'd hoped to use her party as an opportunity to see Jayson again, and now I'd miss out on that too.

I was three weeks into my freshman year the next time I saw Jayson and Jesse. I was home alone watching Mariah Carey videos on youtube, when I heard the sound of gravel popping in the driveway. I looked out the window expecting to see my mom's car pulling up, but instead it was a gun metal Jeep Wrangler. I didn't know anyone with a car like that, so I got a little nervous when the door opened and someone's feet hit the ground behind it.

It didn't take long for me to recognize who it was, as the boy slid his sunglasses up onto his sandy blonde hair. It was Jayson!

It was Jayson, and I was a mess! I realized only too late that I hadn't done a thing to my hair, I was still wearing the clothes that I'd slept in, and much to my embarrassment, I hadn't even brushed my teeth yet! I groaned, realizing that I was not going to have any time to fix any of those problems before he made it to the door and I wanted to die. I ran to the bathroom and quickly brushed my teeth with a finger and some toothpaste. I had just finished pulling my hair into a tight ponytail when I heard him lightly knocking on the door.