Page 51 of When Fate Breaks
“Crap,” I say, sitting back up and rubbing my eyes. Blake smirks, arms still crossed, once he knows the realization has hit me. “Happy Birthday!” I sing, mustering up as much enthusiasm as I can.
“Thank you,” Blake chuckles, dropping his arms and walking closer to my bed. “Now, get up.”
“Er… why?” I ask, my eyes shifting the side.
“Because,” he begins, plopping back down on the edge, “it’s my birthday today.”
“Yes?” I agree, my brow furrowed.
“Which means tomorrow is your birthday.”
“...Yeah?”
“Which means we only have twenty-three hours left of both of us being seventeen.”
I blink at him, still not following.
“Which means you only have twenty-three hours left to be a rebellious minor on the brink of adulthood with me.”
My lips part, pulling into a smile. “I’m listening,” I say.
“So, I propose we sneak out–”
“Veryrebellious.”
“I’m not finished,” Blake continues. I thought we’d sneak out and tick off a few things tonight that are perfectly legal for eighteen year olds to do but very illegal for us measly seventeen year olds to do.”
“Like?”
“I’ve got a few things in mind,” Blake says with a mischievous grin, “but you’ve got to get up to find out.” He hops off the bed, nodding towards me. “Are you in or are you out, Jacks?”
Excitement prickles at my skin and swims in my stomach. “Oh, I’m in,” I confirm, whipping the covers off myself. “Can you grab my jacket from my backpack behind you?”
Blake doesn't move, his mouth hanging open and his eyes trailing down. I follow his gaze, my cheeks instantly heating when I realize what he sees.
I’m wearing his t-shirt. The t-shirt I definitely promised I’d give back a year ago.
“Oh,” I blurt, clutching at the bluish-purple fabric. “Sorry, I was going to give it back to you,” I lie.
It wasn’t always meant to be a lie. I had totally intended on returning the shirt to him when he loaned it to me back in Boston, but the fact is, it was the comfiest t-shirt I had ever worn. The ridiculous woodsy citrus smell that seemed to be embedded in the very threads of the shirt was just an added bonus. I wore it to bed one more time after coming back from Boston out of pure laziness. I was so tired and the shirt was justright thereat the foot of my bed sticking out of my suitcase. Then, after that, I told myself I was wearing it to see how long the scent would last, purely as a scientific experiment. Then, I think I somehow forgot about the experiment all together and simply found myself wearing the shirt to bed almost every night since. I didn’t even think about it when I packed it for this trip.
“Here, um, I’ll change right now,” I say, scrambling out of the bed.
“No,” Blake says, making me stop my movements and meet his gaze. “Don’t.” Almost entirely without taking his eyes off of me, Blake steps back and reaches behind him into my carry-on backpack, grabbing my denim jacket and tossing it to me. He takes a step closer. “That color was made for you,” he barely whispers.
I swallow against the sudden lump in my throat. “Er–thanks,” I mumble, averting my gaze. “I, uh, I’m just gonna go to the bathroom real quick,” I say, nodding towards the bedroom door.
Blake nods and I slip past him out the door without another word, closing it quietly to not wake Steph who is sprawled out sleeping on the game room sectional sofa just outside the door. We were supposed to share the queen-sized bed in the guest bedroom, but Steph, being very particular about her sleeping experience and freedom to move throughout it, opted for the couch.
Once in the bathroom a short ways down the hall, I splash some water on my face and quickly brush my teeth with my toothbrush from my toiletry bag I thankfully left in here before going to bed. After running my fingers once through my hair, I’m out the bathroom door and slipping back inside the guest bedroom.
“Ready?” I ask as the door latches shut, turning towards the room. “Hey!” I scramble over to where Blake is sitting on the end of the bed, my backpack zipped open at his feet and my high school yearbook propped open in his lap. “What are you doing? Give that back!” I try to snatch the yearbook from Blake, but he blocks me.
Even though we had received our yearbooks on the last day of school over a month ago, I hadn’t had a chance to fully flip through it yet. I threw it into my backpack last minute as we were running out the door to the airport, thinking several hours on a plane would be the perfect time to do that.
“Nosy, much?” I grunt, still fighting and failing to get the book back as Blake just laughs, keeping me away with one hand as he flips through the pages with the other.
“Hey, I just wanted a look inside your world. Can you blame me?” he questions.
