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My only hope was that I’d get a chance to see Jace
tonight while working. On the off chance he didn’t remember that I
worked, I decided I should send him a text before I clocked in.

Working tonight. Hope to see you. ~ Tessa

He replied while I was struggling to tie on my
apron.

We’ll be there around six.

K ~ Tessa

Great, more time spent with Shelby. My horrible day
could now be complete.

* * *

At 7:45, I stood next to the cash register staring
at Jace and Shelby while I snuck a tiny cup of potato salad,
wondering if they were soul mates and I was just messing with their
destiny.

Rachel walked over to where I stood. “He’s not even
that into her.”

“
Really? Because from where I’m
standing it doesn’t look like he’s not. They look like freaking
Barbie and Ken.”

“
He’s just being nice,
Tessa.”

“
You don’t understand, Rach. Those
two have known each other since they were both in diapers! Shelby
is literally the girl next door!”

“
So, you and Sam have practically
known each other since you were born, too. It doesn’t mean a thing.
She’s leaving tomorrow and he’s staying. Now, shut up and stop
sulking!”

Jace shifted his gaze to me in that moment and
flashed me his most dazzling smile yet. “I know,” I whispered to
Rachel while returning his smile.

* * *

At 9:35, I stood in the parking lot with my body
pressed firmly against Jace’s. My shift was over, but I wasn’t
willing to say goodbye to him for the night just yet.

“
I can’t believe we’re leaving in
the morning,” Jenna grumbled. “I feel like I really didn’t get to
spend much time with you. Maybe next time,” she said, shifting her
hazel eyes to mine.

“
Next time, sure.” I smiled, hoping
she didn’t see right through it. The thought of crossing paths with
Shelby for a second time did not seem appealing. “I’d like
that.”

“
Well, we should probably let you
get going. I’m sure you’ve got homework and stuff to get done,”
Jace said, placing both of his hands on my hips.

“
I do, actually.” I could feel my
face begin to flame with embarrassment. I hated being the only one
who had to deal with curfews and homework.

Jace kissed me once before leaving me standing
beside my car as he walked away with his friends. Shelby lingered
behind.

“
Just so you know, I have a few
more hours with him and I’m still determined to change his mind
about us.” She sneered. “Nighty-night, Tessa, sweet dreams,” she
taunted me with a wiggle of her fingers.

I climbed into my car and slammed the door shut as
white-hot anger made its way through my veins. Why couldn’t I have
thought of something clever or witty to say in response to her in
that moment? My cell phone buzzed from my apron pocket. It was
Jace.

She won’t change my mind about anything.
Promise.

I smiled. How had he heard her, I wondered, before
replying back.

Good to know. Goodnight. ~ Tessa

No goodnights yet. I’ll see you in a few.

K ~ Tessa

My heart pounded and I let out a tiny school-girl
giggle as I pulled out of the parking lot and headed home.

* * *

My parents were still awake when I walked through
the front door. I’d hoped they’d be on their way to bed by now,
after all ten o’clock was practically their bedtime.

“
I’m home,” I shouted.

“
Hey, honey. How was your day?” dad
asked from in the living room.

I leaned against the wall that separated the tiny
foyer and the living room. “Usual.” I shrugged and then continued
to my room, anxious to see if Jace would already be there, standing
outside my bedroom window.

I passed my mom in the hall. “Hey, sweetie.” She
yawned. “Before I forget, I really need you to remember to stop by
the shop after school tomorrow. I’m down to thirty-one vases left
to decorate and I still have all the bouquets to make.”

“
Okay.” I closed my bedroom door
behind me and locked it, before heading straight for my
window.

Jace was nowhere to be seen, but I slid the window
open anyway. “Jace?” I whispered, feeling foolish.

After waiting a few minutes for his answer and not
hearing one, disappointment swam through me. I quietly closed the
window and wondered how long
in a few
meant to him.

* * *

Forty minutes later my parents told me goodnight and
I’d finished up my small amount of homework. After changing into my
pajamas and silently walking to the bathroom to brush my teeth, I
retreated back to my room to turn in for the night, giving up on
the hope of Jace stopping by at all. Shelby must have won his
attention, for the night anyway.

As I flipped off my light, a slight tapping on my
window pane startled me. Switching the light back on, Jace’s dimly
lit face peered in the window at me.

Excitement surged through me. I was across the room
in a flash, thrusting the window opened for a second time.

“
Hey.” He smirked, looking amused
by my behavior.

My cheeks warmed. “Shh.” I put a finger to my lips.
“My parents just went to bed.”

“
So come outside with me again,” he
whispered. “Then they won’t hear us talking.”

I sighed. Dread filled my stomach. I did not like
sneaking out of the house, but I would hate to be caught talking to
Jace in the middle of the night, too. The farther away from the
house I was, the less chance there was of them hearing us talking.
All I had to do was quietly make my escape through the window.

“
Hold on.” I crossed the room to
slip on my pink fuzzy slippers and grabbed my gray hoodie from the
floor of my closet. There was no way I was stepping outside this
time without something on my feet and a sweater.

I caught a glimpse of myself in the mirror above my
dresser on my way back toward Jace and cringed internally—no
make-up and sweats were not very flattering on anyone and
especially not on me.

“
Nice slippers,” Jace whispered
with a grin as I hiked my leg up and out the window he’d already
made screen-free.

“
Shut up,” I muttered, while
balancing myself on the window’s ledge.

Jace gripped my hips and helped lower me to the
ground. I quietly thanked him and we started toward the edge of the
yard where it met the woods. Jace’s hand found mine somewhere along
the way and I smiled at the feel of his touch. Silence surrounded
us once we’d reached our destination. I shifted my gaze to my house
and began scanning the darkened windows for any trace that my
parents might have woken up.

“
Will you stop; you’re acting like
you’re going to be burned alive if you’re caught with me.” Jace
grinned.

“
You don’t know my mom,” I said,
sucking in a deep breath of the cool night air. Jace’s face fell
and we drifted off into an empty silence again. “So, do you drive
here or what?” It was a random question, but I had to get a
conversation going. The silence was killing me. I knew that if I
didn’t fill it soon, then I’d start asking stuff about Shelby and
him, which would be letting her win his attention for the night
even if she wasn’t here to do it herself.

“
Of course, how else would I get
here?”

I shrugged. “I don’t know.”

“
I park my bike at the gas station
just before your street and walk.”

“
Wow, that’s a pretty decent walk,”
I said, my gaze meeting his.

“
Anything for you.” He winked and
again I felt my cheeks becoming the warmest part of my
body.

“
How can you even see?” I wondered,
hoping he hadn’t seen how flustered his cheesy little comment had
made me.

“
There are plenty of street lamps
between here and there. Plus the moon is sort of bright,
too.”

I glanced up to the night sky again. The moon was
slightly bigger than a Cheshire Cat smile. I didn’t see how it
could have been that much help. In fact, I could barely see my hand
in front of my face. If it hadn’t been for Jace taking my hand and
leading the way, I probably would have fallen flat on my face more
than once during our walk.

“
Well, it does look like it’s
glowing,” I said, noticing how striking the bright white of the
moon was against the pitch-black sky.

“
Yeah, it does,” Jace whispered,
glancing upward.

“
You know, people say that the moon
has the power to make people do crazy things they normally
wouldn’t. Maybe that’s why you feel the need to visit me in the
middle of the night,” I teased.

“
Hardly.” He scoffed, and I felt
his eyes on me. “I visit you because I haven’t been able to spend
as much time with you as I’d like to lately.” His thumb gently
rubbed across the top of my hand back and forth. “As for the moon,
I believe it holds the power to make people do things they normally
wouldn’t, sure—but only when it’s full. For some, I believe it can
rule their entire existence.”

I stared at Jace as he spoke, his eyes never
wavering from the fragment of the moon hanging in the sky. His face
became twisted with a sadness so powerful I couldn’t find my voice
to speak. He reminded me of how he’d appeared in the dream I’d had
not too long ago—so sad and broken.

When Jace finally broke the hypnotic hold the moon
had on him, his eyes met mine again and I watched as the sadness
evaporated from those honey-colored eyes of his in an instant. I
don’t know what possessed me to do it, but I stood on my tip-toes
and kissed him.

It didn’t take long before I felt his warm lips
moving beneath mine. Jace’s hands came up and cupped my face as his
lips forced mine to move in a slower, less needy pace. A pace that
made my insides catch fire and my heart race. Clouds feathered
across the moon, darkening our dim nightlight. It wasn’t until I
felt the first few fat droplets of rain fall from the sky and onto
my face that we parted.

“
Well... that was nice.” Jace
chuckled lowly, wiping a drop of rain from his forehead.

I wasn’t sure if he’d meant the kiss or if he was
being sarcastic about the rain. It didn’t matter either way because
a wide smile had stretched across my face and a giggle escaped me
as more fat droplets fell from the sky.

By the time we made it back to my window the clouds
had opened up and were dropping buckets onto us. Jace helped me
back in. I stifled a laugh when I slipped on the windowsill, nearly
falling on my face.

“
Do you work tomorrow?” Jace asked,
hanging his arms over the edge of my window once I’d righted
myself. The rain had flattened his golden hair to his head and made
his T-shirt cling to his wide chest.

“
No,” I answered.

“
Then, same time tomorrow night?”
he asked with a crooked grin.

I leaned out the window and brushed my lips against
his one final time. “Same time tomorrow night,” I agreed, with a
giddy smile.

Jace handed the now wet screen back up to me and I
watched him jog backward, away from my bedroom window and through
the rain. My smile never wavered. This night had ended
perfectly.

During the remaining twelve days of my grounding I
saw Jace every day. He stopped by my work on the nights when I
worked, and he swung by my house after school on the days I didn’t.
Mom put a stop to those visits though. One, because usually no one
was home until five, which gave us almost two hours alone; and two,
because I was supposed to be grounded.

It didn’t matter though, because we still had our
secret nighttime visits—visits kept secret from my parents by some
massive stroke of good luck. At 10:30 every night Jace would be at
my bedroom window, tapping lightly against the glass. He’d help me
climb down and then we’d walk to the edge of the yard and sit,
talking for hours. I learned his favorite color was black, he’d
gotten the tattoo across his back on his eighteenth birthday, and
had gotten the scar near the tip of his right eyebrow when he was
three from the corner of a coffee table.

* * *

By the time my first official day of being
ungrounded rolled around, I was in a state of never-ending bliss.
Shelby had long ago gone back to Winburg, Ohio, Jace’s hometown,
and was no longer a threat or a worry. Sam and Darcy were still an
item, but the fun Sam had found in flaunting it in my face and
attempting to make me jealous had ran out. I had a spectacular
boyfriend who genuinely adored me and my eighteenth birthday was
rapidly approaching. Life couldn’t get any better.

“
I know I probably should have
asked you sooner, but what are your plans for tomorrow?” Jace
asked, coming back to the couch with a bowl full of
popcorn.

It was Tuesday night; I’d gotten off of work early
and was sitting at Jace’s house watching
The Lost Boys
in
preparation for the coming Halloween holiday.

“
Um, Rachel always spends the
night. My parents always get my favorite dinner. And me and Rachel
always head to wherever she’s planed for my party to be afterward.”
I ticked each thing off on my fingers. “Oh, and I get to stay out
until eleven, even if it’s a school night.”

“
Sounds like you’ve got a pretty
packed day.”

“
Yeah, but you’re coming to the
party Rachel’s throwing for me, aren’t you? They’re always a blast.
Last year it was at Wayne Austin’s. His parents were out of town so
we threw it in his basement. Wayne’s house got trashed and I felt
so bad I made Rachel go back with me the next day and help him
clean up.”