Surviving the Aces (#Wattys2018)

Meet Talia

On our way to the Haunted house, we ran into trouble. Trouble wearing bright pink four inch heels in grass and dirt.

I kind of felt sorry for her; walking in heels wasn't fun to begin with. Walking with heels in soft ground was torture.

She had long red hair and beautiful skin that was practically glowing. Her dress came up to her mid thigh which meant she gave a lot of guys a good view whenever she went on a ride.

"Jace babe," she purred, leaning a little to expose her cleavage. "You didn't tell me you were babysitting." she said, looking me up and down in disgust.

Jace tightened his grip on my hand. "I'm not."

The girl frowned and twirled her hair trying to look confused. "Then why else would you have that with you?" She asked, clearly confused.

"What? This zebra?" Jace responded. "I won it for my girlfriend. Now if you don't mi-"

"What do you mean your girlfriend?" She squeaked with a horrified look on her face.

Jace looked at me and smiled. "Talia, this is Dakota, my girlfriend. Now get out of our way." He ordered pulling me forward.

I turned and waved at Talia's horrified face as we passed her.

"Well, she was pretty." I commented, not knowing what else to say.

"Barely." He muttered. "She's pure evil."

I laughed. "Is she your ex?" I asked him.

He scoffed. "She wishes. She's been with most guys in school, she thinks I'm next."

"So I have competition?" I clarified.

"Absolutely not." He muttered.

We reached the haunted house and got in line. Jace was squeezing my hand. "Really?" I said giving him a look.

"I've seen a lot of scary movies." He informed me. "Things happen."

-:¥:-

We got home around eleven that night. I went straight to bed since despite my new status, I still had school tomorrow.

"I had a really great time tonight." I told Jace when he came into my room.

He'd finally got a new bed set, and new underwear so he no longer bunked with me.

He smiled and sat on the edge of my bed. "I know." He said cockily. I rolled my eyes. "Hey, let me know if Talia gives you any trouble at school." He said seriously. "She's a little crazy sometimes. I think she goes to therapy."

I laughed but Jace didn't join me. "I'm serious." He said. He stood and pulled the blanket up to my chin making me smile.

"Are you tucking me in Bruno?" I teased.

He leaned down and kissed my forehead. "Are you blushing...Dakota?" He retorted lamely. "I've got to find a name for you." He muttered.

I laughed. "Good night." I said turning over.

"Good night."

When I woke up the next morning, I realized I was dreading two people, Talia and Tony.

I sighed and dragged myself to the shower. I put on one of my newer sundresses and curled my hair. I applied eyeliner and mascara then grabbed my bag and headed out the door.

I squeaked when I found Jace leaning on the wall by my door.

He kissed my cheek. "About time." He smirked.

I rolled my eyes and followed him downstairs. We'd only been a couple for a day, but I found that he was the sweetest boyfriend a girl could ever ask for. Which made me feel even more guilty about lying to him.

He took my book bag as we entered the nook, then pulled my chair out for me. I felt like crying. I didn't know how long I could keep it up. I'd been upset with him for pranking me at the park, so I couldn't even imagine how he would feel when he found out that I helped rob his family and lied to everyone about it.

"Good morning Dakota." Bailey chirped. "You look so pretty."

"Hands off." Jace snapped. "She's mine."

Bailey laughed. "Okay son, put your claws away."

"Good idea, I just got them done." He replied smiling and inspecting his nails.

Their playful banter made me forget about my felony and I began to relax. Quintin entered the nook and was about to give me my usual morning kiss on the cheek when Jace intercepted it making him kiss his hand.

"Really Jace?" I said.

"That won't be necessary anymore." Jace told him.

Quintin rolled his eyes and took his seat across from me. "I still love you Dakota." he informed me loudly blowing me a kiss.
I laughed, catching it and planting it on my cheek.

"Dakota and Bruno sitting in a tree!" Tristan sang with a waffle sticking out of his mouth.

My phone rang then interrupting the rest of his song. I immediately pulled it out hoping it was Ash. Instead, Christians face appeared on my screen. I didn't remember adding him to my contacts but the horrible selfie told me what happened.

"Hey." I answered.

"Hi Dakota. Sorry to call you so late but I was working on something and it kept taking over my whole mind, I couldn't remember. Are you good?" He asked. "You know, from the robbery?"

"Yeah. I am. Thanks for asking. How are things over there?"

"Eh. The usual." He responded.

"Christian, I'm seventeen, I don't know what the usual is." I said smiling and turning away from the table.

He laughed. "You'll understand soon. Hey, when is your birthday anyways?" He asked me.

"September 1st." I told him.

"Cool. Do you wear clothes by any chance?" He asked hopefully.

"No." I said smiling. "I hate wearing clothes. Clothing is so overrated."

He chuckled. "Darn. Well, hypothetically, if I wanted to buy you a dress, what size would it have to be?"

"Medium." I said.

"Okay. Carry on with your breakfast. We've got to keep our conversation short."

"Why?" I asked confused.

"Because Jace is getting jealous." He told me.

I turned to see Jace hadn't touched his food while everyone else was finishing up. Bailey was already gone.

I laughed. "How'd you know about us?" I asked.

Christian laughed. "Lets just say Jace called me and my brothers yesterday and threatened us to keep our hands off."

I smiled at Jace. "Wow. Okay. Well thanks for checking on me."

"What are brothers for?"

I smiled at his question. Just those words was like welcoming me into the family.

Instead of telling him that though, I said the second thing that came to my mind.
"Taking out the trash." I retorted.