Catchfly: Seeing Stars

Chapter 23: Resonance

September 25 – 4:24 PM

I slip my phone out as I speed-walk away from the Rayas house. Sienna texted me, checking up on me. I quickly text back asking if they're still at the ice cream parlor. I want to eat ice cream until my brain is frozen.

I nearly knock head-first against someone's chest on the sidewalk. I jump back immediately, reaching out for my wrist as if I expect it to get hurt again.

"Paisley,"

My eyes focus. Jace is in front of me. He slips into his jacket, as if he just ran outside.

"Jace," I say in surprise. I look over my shoulder. When I turn back around, I spot his pick-up truck on the side of the road. Parked a few houses further.

"Did you follow me out here?" I ask.

Jace frowns. "Do I look like Edward Cullen to you?"

My surprise grows at the knowledge it takes to make such a reference.

"I was at Mike's, I saw you walking by." He juts his thumb to the yellow house that his car is parked in front of. I recognize it from when Jace dropped off Mike the night of Jesse's party. In my head he lived somewhere entirely different, but I doubt my orientation was doing great in that moment.

"Wow," I mutter. "Mike lives in a really bad neighborhood."

"Yeah, I know. So... What're you doing around here?" His gaze shifts to the Rayas house at the end of the street. He knows. I know he does.

"Do you really want me to say it?" I slant my head. I'm embarrassed enough. I realize I'm still rubbing my wrist, and I quickly drop my grip, letting my sleeve fall over it.

"I guess you just did." Jace says in a sigh. I can tell he's trying to remain calm in case it went well– which it didn't. I feel like an idiot.

"If you wanna call me crazy and say I told you so, now's your moment." My eyes leave his.

"Who said you were crazy?"

I glance up at him, frowning. He holds my stare. "Going to talk to Cyrus? Yes, that was a crazy thing to do. But you're not crazy. Because of your so-called craziness, Sienna got to escape her stepfather's abuse. Because of you, she lost Danny– and I'm saying that as a good thing. And this might just be a personal thing, but because of you, Cyrus hasn't been bugging me so much." A small grin lifts his lips. "I think you're... stubborn and passionate. Maybe a little crazy, but in a good way."

Those are the last words I expected to hear from him. Whenever I run into this guy, I never know which version of him I'm gonna get.

"The only thing I'd like to say is, that for such an overthinker, you really underthink your safety."

I release a breath. "I just..." I rub my forehead. "I don't know. I thought I understood the situation. But..." I shake my head at myself. I can't even justify myself.

"I get it." Jace sticks his hands in the pockets of his jacket. "I've thought that I could handle Cyrus more times than I can remember, and it's always come back to hit me in the face. Sometimes literally. He's got more power than you know. What happened to Levi's father, and Frank Riley... Even Ahmet: That's nothing compared to the stuff that flies under the radar."

His words knot my stomach. And people think the Rayas cartel mentality is in the past. But Vito and Benito laid down the perfect foundation for Cyrus. He's smarter about the crimes he commits.

I squint my eyes. "And you're sure you don't have an in with them?"

"Yeah, now you're starting to sound crazy." He says.