Chapter 24 - Parole
My phone began vibrating on my desk and as soon as I saw the words 'UNKNOWN -585' flash across my screen I basically jumped up from my seat and raced to the front of the class.
"I have to go to the bathroom." I told my english teacher, trying to act as casual as possible, except the vibrating phone in my hand was a harsh reminder that if I didn't make it into the hallway in the next few minutes and answer the call before it stopped ringing, I'd have no way of calling Jace back.
"There's only 20 minutes left until the end of the day, can't you hold it?" Ms. Lavender answered snippily and I resisted the urge to roll my eyes. Why did I even have to f*cking ask to go to the bathroom? It's a basic human need for god's sake.
"No Miss, I can't hold it." I replied impatiently as I began to get annoyed with the delay. I was debating not even waiting for her response and just leaving the classroom, but I didn't want to get on her bad side. I do still plan on going to Harvard after all, and a bad word about me—even from one single teacher—can screw it all up.
"Very well then, make it quick." Ms. Lavender said causing me to practically sprint out of the class as soon as the words left her mouth. I could only imagine what the rest of the students were thinking, but in the moment I couldn't have cared less. As soon as I rounded the corner, I answered the call.
"JACE!?" I practically screamed into the phone and the sound of him chuckling at my eagerness lifted my hopes. He wouldn't be laughing if he just found at that he had to stay for another four months, right?
"Hey little sis." Jace said and I found myself getting more and more impatient and anxious by the second as I waited to hear if he was being released or not.
"So.....?" I said, trying to politely hint to him to get the f*ck on with it already.
"So, what?" Jace asked teasingly making me even more annoyed. Deep down I knew he wouldn't be joking with me like this if he wasn't being released but I needed to hear it out loud to be sure.
"JESUS JACE, ARE YOU BEING RELEASED ON PAROLE OR NOT!?" I asked, scared that the call would get cut off at any second.
"I'm being released Willow." Jace finally said, and I could hear the smile in his voice.
"THANK THE F*CKING LORD SAVIOUR JESUS CHRIST." I said, practically doing a happy dance as a wave of relief and happiness crashed over me.
"You know for someone who doesn't believe in god, you sure do thank him a lot." Jace said teasingly and I realized how much I missed him and his stupid jokes.
"Shut up, pretty boy." I said remembering the name he'd told me he had received in prison and for a few seconds we both just laughed. After telling him that I was leaving now and that I'd see him in an hour we both said our goodbye's and I hung up the phone. I turned around to go back to class so I could get my books but my heart sunk in my chest when I saw Slate standing only a few feet away.
"So that's why your parents don't want anyone to know where your brother is, he's in prison." Slate said casually, as if he had just learnt my middle name or something, not that my brother is a criminal.
"You weren't supposed to hear that." I said angrily as I went to walk past him. Like my parents, I didn't want anyone to know about Jace going to prison. My reasons were very different though, my parents are trying to protect their image, I'm trying to protect Jace's.
I could only imagine the things people would think about him if they knew he was charged with DUI and vehicular man slaughter, and considering it's all just one big misunderstanding he sure as hell doesn't deserve the awful assumptions that come along with the knowledge. Slate grabbed my hand as I went to walk past him, effectively making me stop.
"I didn't mean to overhear your conversation, I was just coming to see why you left english class so abruptly." Slate said letting go of my arm to scratch the back of his neck—something I'd learnt was an indication of him being nervous or uncomfortable.
"You were worried about me?" I asked teasingly, the corner of my mouth quirking upwards ever so slightly. He rolled his eyes in response.
"Here, I brought your books." Slate said, holding my books out in front of him. I smiled at the gesture, who knew mr. bad boy could be so sweet? We walked in silence to my locker, I kept waiting for Slate to ask the obvious question—why is my brother in prison?—but he never did.
I quickly shoved all of my books into my backpack, wanting to get on the road as quickly as possible. I grabbed my keys off the top shelf of my locker before slamming it shut and locking it. Slate grabbed my keys out of my hand causing me to turn and frown at him.
"Give me my keys, I need to go pick up Jace." I said impatiently as I reached up to grab them out of his hand, but he held them above his head so that they were out of my reach.
"I'll drive you." Slate stated as though the decision had already been made. I might've been annoyed that he always makes statements instead of asking me questions but I'm an indecisive motherf*cker so it kind of works out perfectly.
"Okay." I sighed and I swear I saw the hint of a smile make it's way to his lips. We got into his gorgeous black Lamborghini and sped out of the parking lot just as the bell rung indicating that it was finally the end of the day.
***************
"Well, I'm a basic b*tch so I'd have to say my favourite colour is probably red." I said, smiling when I saw Slate chuckle at my response.
"Really? Your bright red car didn't give that away at all. " He said sarcasm dripping from his voice as a cute little smirk settled on his lips. "Your turn." We were currently playing 21 questions as we cruised down the highway towards Evergreen Correctional Centre.
"Okay, but I'm warning you, this question is going to make or break our friendship." I said turning to Slate with a serious look on my face. He turned to look at me with a raised eyebrow and the hint of an amused smile playing on his lips before turning back to the road.
"That's a lot of pressure, baby." He said teasingly and I slapped his arm lightly in response.
"Why are you laughing? I'm serious." I said, pouting out my bottom lip. Slate looked over at me, his eyes flicking down to my lips for a couple seconds before he cleared his throat awkwardly and looked back at the road. I froze at the gesture... Slate had been teasing me to try and get me to kiss him for the last week but that's all I assumed it was; meaningless teasing. Was there a chance that Mr. Womanizer next to me, actually misses kissing me as much as he jokes about? As much as I miss having his lips on mine?
Quite honestly, I couldn't remember why I had made the pact against kissing him in the first place. As if it would actually make my feelings for him disappear... if anything it's only made me want him more.
"Okay, shoot." Slate said, pulling me out of my trance. I looked away from his face, focusing my gaze on his large hand that was gripping the shifter loosely. I let my eyes travel over his wrist where an expensive looking rolex watch sat and up his inked arm to his muscular biceps—that were even visible through the sleeves of his white t-shirt—before looking back up to his annoyingly perfect face. I am so screwed.
"What Hogwarts house do you think you'd be in?" I said, finally asking my question, causing Slate to burst into a fit of laughter.
"Seriously Willow? That was your big make it or break it question?" Slate said still laughing his ass off. I glared at him from my seat.
"It's a serious question. I could never be friends with a Hufflepuff. Don't get me wrong they're great and all but were just not compatible, you know?" I said smiling softly. Talking about anything Harry Potter related always makes me happy.
"What house would you be in?" Slate asked, turning the question on me. I stuck my tongue out at him in response, did he actually think I was that dense?
"I'm not telling you. You're just going to copy my answer. Gosh, do you even know what the Harry Potter houses are? Have you even read the books? Please tell me you've at least seen the movies!?" I said getting more worked up by the second as I stared at Slate with wide eyes.
"Do you honestly think I'd read a book?" Slate asked, looking at me like I'd just accused him of doing math. For fun. "But yes, like every other person on earth I've seen the movies." He responded, causing me to release a sigh of relief. He tapped his fingers against the steering wheel for a few seconds, the only indication—aside from his silence —that he was thinking.
"Hmmm... I'd like to think I'm brave but Gryffindor's are too nice, let's be real, I'm obviously a Slytherin, Draco's got nothing on me." Slate finally replied, causing a grin to fight it's way to my face.
"Me too." I said happily, causing Slate to chuckle at my enthusiasm.
"How do I know you're not just copying my answer to impress me?" He said mocking me.
"Shut up." I mumbled, shoving his shoulder softly, but letting out a light giggle nonetheless.
***************
The sign that read 'Evergreen Correctional Centre' made our easy flowing conversation come to a halt. Slate parked in an empty space right in front of the looming, thirty foot tall barbed wire fence. I stayed frozen in my seat, trying to ignore the unreasonable dread that was pooling into my stomach.
What if it had all been a big mistake? What if Jace wasn't actually being released? He received a year sentence from the court and now he was being released on parole after just four months... it all seemed too good to be true and I couldn't help but wonder if maybe it was. If maybe the mysterious 'boss' man who wanted to ruin my life had orchestrated this too...
As if the security guards had sensed my building fear, the large metal doors that were hidden within the barbed wire fence creaked open and out walked Jace, no longer handcuffed or wearing a hunter green jumpsuit. He strolled out and the heavy gates clanged shut behind him, breaking me from my elated reverie. I hurriedly clicked the button that made the car door automatically swing upwards and quickly climbed out of the Lamborghini. I ran towards Jace happily, feeling like I was in a scene from a movie as I jumped onto him wrapping my arms and legs around him in a tight hug. He stumbled back a half step from the force but recovered quickly and wrapped his arms around my back just as tightly.
"I missed you so f*cking much." I said, hugging him impossibly tighter.
"I missed you too, Low." He said, my childhood nickname slipping off his tongue naturally, as though nothing had changed since then; except despite his casual tone—the reality laid heavy...everything had changed.
I heard Slate's door slide open and decided it was as good a time as any to introduce him to Jace and vice versa. I had no doubt they'd get along, despite the fact that Jace is much more smiley, they both have very similar personalities and interests.
"Jace this is my friend Slate, Slate this is my brother Jace." I said gesturing towards each person as I spoke.
"Hey man, nice to meet you." Slate said sticking his hand out for Jace to shake.
"You too. Is this your car?" Jace replied, staring at it in awe as he walked towards it after shaking Slate's hand. Slate nodded and they soon broke out into a full blown conversation about the car's modified engine.
"Man, I miss the tracks." Jace sighed, just as I tuned back into the conversation him and Slate were having.
"You're a sort of legend down there." Slate said, making me snap my head towards him. I'd wondered how long it would take him to catch on to the fact that my brothers the same Jace Woods that's known down at the tracks for holding the drift racing course record. The one Christian's been trying to beat for months. "I have a race tonight, you guys should come." Slate said looking between Jace and I but purposely holding my gaze for a few seconds longer.
"Yeah that'd be sick dude—" Jace started but I grabbed his hand causing him to stop mid-sentence and turn to me.
"I don't want to be a buzzkill but you just got out on parole, what if there's a raid or something? I just got you back, I don't want to lose you again." I said quietly, knowing Slate could still hear since he was standing only a few feet away but still feeling like it was too personal to say loudly.
"Come here," Jace said wrapping an arm around the back of my neck and pulling me into his chest for a hug. "You're not gonna lose me again, I promise. The tracks have never been raided before, what are the odds it would happen today? Plus now that we're talking about the possibility of it happening, it's even less likely to happen because that would just be ironic." He said, causing me to pull away and give him a questioning look.
"Well, with that logic..." I replied, sarcasm dripping from my words but I let a smile grace my lips anyways. Jace was right, I was just being paranoid. I hoped.
***************
Jace, Slate and I were currently sitting at a booth in a diner waiting for Christian, Alec and AJ to arrive. The diner is pretty much in the middle of nowhere and it should be completely bankrupt by now, but fortunately for the owners, the tracks being close (which is saying something since the tracks are purposely off the beaten track) makes it a perfect dining place for the racers and their crews.
Since Monday is the biggest race day—it's Monday because it's less likely the cops would be looking for illegal street racing on a Monday compared to a Friday or on the weekend—the diner is already filled to the brim with rowdy young adults and it's only half past 7h.
Our waiter came and placed two extra large pizzas on our table, causing my stomach to growl in response. As if on cue, Christian, Alec and AJ all entered the diner. As soon as they sat at our large booth and we said our greetings— I dug into the pizza. Just as I was finishing my first slice, a voice that sent chills down my spine called my name.
"Willow!? What are you doing here?" His uncharacteristically, over enthusiastic voice called out, making my hair stand on end. A million questions were racing through my mind but I found myself unable to speak or move. It wasn't until I felt Slate's hand on my thigh protectively—clearly sensing my unease—that I woke up and realized I had to suck up my fear and play the part unless I wanted this whole thing to end very badly.
Taking a deep breath, I turned my head and made eye-contact with the smirking green eyed psychopath who seems to show up everywhere I go. I faked a smile as best as I could—which happens to be pretty good since I've been doing it around my parents and their acquaintances my entire life—and clasped my hands together in my lap so no one could see them shaking.
"West." I greeted nervously, thanking the universe when my voice came out steady.
A/N
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*********DISCLAIMER: MY CHARACTERS VIEWS ON CERTAIN SUBJECTS DON'T NECESSARILY REFLECT MY VIEWS AND THEY ARE NOT MEANT TO SAY THAT ANY OTHER VIEWS ARE INCORRECT.*********
DUN DUN DUNN..... Ended it on a (sort of) cliffhanger :D #SorryNotSorry
Next chapter is gonna be filled with action and drama, thats a promise ;)
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