Lock Me In

(1) Réalité

Lock Me In: Chapter One

Réalité- Reality

It's funny how on the day of your birthday you don't feel any different, whatsoever.

People ask you, "Do you feel eighteen yet?" trying to be nice, as if it's a customary thing to ask on a birthday.

"Not exactly. I feel the same way I did two hours ago," I would always say.

Getting out of bed was probably one of the hardest things I had to do every day, always waking up to the same morning sun, the same view. Except today I woke up to find a blonde head of hair poking out from behind the covers.

I laughed, pulling them back, revealing a very happy Jace, who pulled me into his arms and held me tight against him.

"Happy birthday, Alianna," he whispered in my ear, kissing me on the cheek. I laughed and wiggled out of his grip, standing up and looking down at him.

"How'd you get passed the locks this time, genius?" I laughed, throwing a pillow at him. He grabbed it before it could hit him and shielded it over his face.

"No no! Not the face! Anything but the face!" he cried. I couldn't help but snort at his over inflated ego, even the selfless Jace couldn't help but be arrogant at times, as all guys were- or so I assumed.

"Get up, Ace. It's my birthday, which means I get a third of your mirror time and at least half of your hair styling time. I've picked somewhere we can go today, they've just finished the bridge," I smiled at his nickname. He hated it, which made it all the better to tease him with. I knew better than to provoke him, but it was one of the rare things I had on him compared to  the million he could pull out of his sleeve.

"Not today, Anna. Today I'm taking you where I wanna go." I was about to protest when he said smiling, "But trust me, it'll be something you'll like."

I crossed my arms and pouted slightly, but I couldn't help feeling the least bit excited over our quick excursion. Seeing my expression, Jace hopped out of my bed and into my closet, grabbing my favorite blue sundress and sandals.

"Think fast," he said, throwing them to me. I barely caught them, raising my eyebrow.

"So we're going now? But it's still dark!"

"Exactly," he said, pulling on his shoes. "That way, we'll get back before your parents wake up, and it'll be like you've been asleep the entire time," he smiled. Of course. There was always a plan involved.

And if that didn't work, a Plan B. The one we always conjured up at last second. The one we more frequently used.

This was our routine, every day of every year. Get up, go out, do something my parents wouldn't even dream of, and try not to get caught doing it. Half of the time we would, and make up something entirely believable that would put us back on our route. The other half was a clean getaway, always the way I liked it.

Tip-toeing out of my bedroom and down the stairs we made sure to avoid all of the creaks of the house. The memorized path to freedom was practically etched into my brain after the hundreds of escapes we had made before. Like always, Jace was there. I glanced back at my parents bedroom and thought of how disappointed they'd be if they found out I was sneaking away once more, but quickly shrugged it off, figuring that what they didn't know wouldn't hurt them.

My parents have always been the overbearingly protective type. Not the "tell me what time you'll be staying out until, who are you with, and where are you" every half hour kind of worry. No, that was nothing compared to the hell I was given. For me, it was more "you are not working with other people at their homes, you're doing this school project at home and we'll help you" kind of protectiveness. Don't get me wrong, my parents weren't monsters. They loved me more than I can imagine a regular person loves, and treated me like it was true. However, I was always curiously excluded from as much human interaction as possible. My only real friends were Jace, and Athena, both gorgeous beyond compare, always making me feel ordinary and out of place standing next to them.