Subject #013 | ✓

Chapter 29

Jax POV:

It's been twenty-four hours since my parents handed me the Wanted sign. Twenty-four hours. I've been trying to convince myself that Jess isn't a fugitive... that she's still my girlfriend...

But I can't.

As the clock slowly ticks onward and my head throbs louder, I find myself submerging into a pool of doubt, and eventually, I'm going to drown.

A shrill noise rips through the silence, and I wince, pressing my fingers to my temples. Please tell me those aren't police, I repeat in my head over and over again. Please tell me those aren't police. They're police. And they're finally coming to search Jess's house.

I'm not the kind of guy who likes to go beyond his comfort zone. I follow the rules when I'm supposed to follow them, and never step out of line. It's the way I was taught, and it's simply the way I am. But something about the scene in front of me changes the atmosphere around me, making everything feel...wrong.

I've been in that familiar house hundreds of times. I've called that phone number twice as many times. Some part of that house belongs to me, and I feel it when someone unwanted goes inside. Ha, I remember the good old days, when I first developed my crush on Jess. I had just moved here from Los Angeles, a large change from Silverton. Jess lived across the street and down, about a quarter of a mile away. If you were to sit on the roof of my house, you could see it in the distance.

The first time I saw her I was playing video games in my living room, and she was out on the street, walking. She's always been beautiful in my eyes, even through my hormonal stage where I thought every girl that looked my way was beautiful.

There were still boxes scattered everywhere and random things without homes cluttering shelves, seeing as we'd only moved in about a week ago, but I didn't care. I just wanted to meet this girl. So, I went out to meet her. I remember the first time I talked to her like it was yesterday.

"Hi." I say, jogging over to where she's walking along the sidewalk. She looks somewhat disturbed by my sudden appearance, but she merely pushes a strand of her fiery hair behind an ear and pauses for a moment.

"As long as you're not a solicitor, I'll listen to what you have to say." She responds. Her hair is pulled back into a messy ponytail, and by her clipped pace, she must want to get somewhere quickly. Or maybe she's tired of me already.

"I just wanted to meet you—um—I'm new here." Nervously, I attempt and match her pace.

"Lucky you. You landed right smack dab in the middle of nowhere." She emphasizes 'nowhere' like living here is a punishment. But so far, it seems pretty nice. Everyone knows everyone in this town. And eventually, I will be like everyone else.

"My name's Jax." I say, hoping to lighten the quickly darkening mood.

"Jess." She replies.

Jess. It suits her. I should come up with something witty to say, like 'that's a pretty name.' But instead, all my mind can think of to say is, "Oh."

"You sound disappointed." She points out, glancing over at me. Her eyes are hazel, the sunlight reflecting off of them. "Did you expect my name to be more...extravagant? Would you have preferred Amani? Evelina? Khadijah?" If anything, she seems almost amused at my ramblings.

"Oh, no!" I quickly say. "Not at all. Jess is cool." What am I saying? I sound like a five-year-old trying to sneak up on a pretty girl to give her flowers. Only I will be the little boy that gets rejected. The side of her mouth twitches upward, and I take so much pride in finally getting some sort of a reaction from her that my foot catches on the curb and I trip. Literally and figuratively. I stumble uncontrollably, a blush warming my cheeks. Do I have to make a fool out of myself all the time? Luckily I'm able to right myself.