Splinters: Part One

Part One | 45

When I got to her house, the garage was open. I spotted both of her parents' car, which made me slightly jittery. I made a quick U-turn and went around the block like Collie instructed. Turning off the car, I jumped a neighbor's fence, which should've made me nervous, but Collie's neighbors could really care less. I've done it plenty of times with her.

After making it to her backyard, I texted her that I was here and made the stupid decision to go up to her door. When I was half-way up her backyard patio stairs, she opened her balcony door.

"Hide!" she whispered loudly.

"Why aren't you going out the front door?" I heard Mr. Mathers question.

I quickly hid behind Collie's door, not really sure what the best hiding spot could be. Mr. Mathers could see me anywhere on the back patio if he came out here.

"I, um, think I left my earphones back here."

"Alright. Be safe. And when you get back, we're going to talk about applications."

She rolled her eyes, peering her head out of her room and looking at me. I smiled nervously.

Mr. Mathers continued talking, but his voice got quieter and quieter.

"Alright, sure, Dad," Collie said before shooing me. "Go! Go! Go!"

I quickly slid from behind the door and ran down the steps, Collie close behind me.

"Wait, Colleen!" he called.

"Oh my god! He's coming!" she said. "Run!"

"Colleen?" I glanced back, catching Mr. Mathers walk out of her bedroom onto the second story patio.

His eyes went wide as he caught us hopping the fence. I was the first to get to the top before jumping off. I felt like I was running from the law.

"Colleen! Get back here!" he shouted, running down the patio stairs. "You are forbidden to see that boy!"

"Yeah, well screw you, Dad!" Collie screamed back, jumping off the top of the fence.

In less than a minute, Collie and I made it to my car. Without the adrenaline rush, I was sure her father might've caught up to us. He's probably too professional to jump fences, though. Collie and I slammed our bodies into the car, panting like we just ran a marathon.

"Did you really just say that to your dad?" I laughed breathlessly.

She went toward me and slammed her lips against mine for a good ten seconds, her hands around my neck. To say I was surprised was an understatement, but it didn't keep me from wrapping my arms around her waist and pulling her closer to me.

Gosh, I missed her.

When she pulled away, she shook her head. "Who cares?" She smirked. "Let's go!"

The drive home was filled with conversation; Collie told me all about her fights with Tay regarding me and how she felt when I ran away. I told her all about how much I missed her and New York. It was too short of a drive to explain each and every little detail, and when we got to my house, we weren't even talking. We were making out.

"I missed you," she told me.

"I missed you, too," I said between kisses. "But we gotta go inside otherwise my parents will look out and see us."

"Five more minutes."

I laughed. "Collie."

She stopped reluctantly. "Fine."

I pecked her lips one more time before unbuckling my seat belt and turning off the car. When I opened her door for her, she hopped out and hugged me, wrapping her arms around my waist.