The Minutes We Have

chapter ten

three months later 

"Climb out your window!" 

"Are you crazy? There's nothing outside my window to climb down on. Besides, they're going to catch me anyway. I should just walk out the front door and get it over with." 

"Jordyn, do you want to go to this party or not?" 

"It was your idea, Bailey! If I can't sneak out of the house, it's not my fault." 

"I will ring your doorbell in thirty seconds if you don't figure out how to sneak out." 

"You wouldn't dare." 

"Watch me." 

He hung up. I sat on my bed with sweaty palms. 

I glanced at my clock on the nightstand. The digital numbers glowed at me through the dark. 12:37 am. I had never left the house this late at night, ever. Part of me thought this was stupid but the other part of me wanted to experience it before I wouldn't get the chance to. 

It was quiet in the house as my brothers slept. I had a good chance at making it out unseen. I would worry about sneaking back in later, and hopefully, it would be before dawn because then Mikeal would catch me. 

I stood and padded over to my window. I opened it, warm evening air rushing to greet me, and I glanced down. It wasn't a horrible drop, I considered my options. I would be taking a risk going through the front door because I had to sneak past Mikeal's room, and he was a light sleeper. I knew he would hear me. 

Biting my lip, I sat down on my window sill and swung my legs over. Before I could talk myself out of it, I scooted down until only my hands gripped the window sill and my legs dangled further below. I let go and dropped the remaining five feet to the ground. 

I couldn't exactly see the ground and landed awkwardly before crumpling in a heap. I groaned and sat up. For a moment, I felt like everything spun, and I was sure it was because my heart was racing. I pulled myself up.

As soon as I stood up, a hand clamped over my mouth and I instinctually screamed, even though it was muffled. I figured I was dead meat now because Roman had surely figured me out. He'd been on my case ever since he saw Bailey that one time, and I had worked considerably hard to avoid more drama. 

"Shhh--Jordyn, stop it," I heard a familiar voice tell me. He was slightly laughing as he said, "That was stupid but I came to make sure you didn't break your leg." 

I ripped Bailey's hand off and spun to face him. "I thought you were one of my brothers!" I hissed quietly, "Don't ever scare me like that again." Then, I registered what he had said to me, and gawked, "You told me to!"

"I was slightly kidding," He ignored my chiding, eyes shining through the dark, "Are you okay?" 

"Yeah, I'm fine," I brushed blades of damp grass off my clothes and stretched my legs a little. They ached from the impact but it wasn't anything I couldn't handle. "Let's go before someone actually does see us," I warily glanced at the windows. 

"You're such a dork," He whispered, shoving me. 

I almost tripped again. "Bailey!" 

He only laughed, and we sprinted across the damp lawn. 

ꕥ 

Fire reached for the sky.