Frozen In Love

Chapter 16

Don't hate me for making this so short! :) The next one will be longer, promise! <3 L xx

16

(ALICE)

            ‘So, Alice, who are you always texting lately?’ Sammi asked, eyebrows raised and a cheeky smile creeping onto her elegant face.

            I blushed- I couldn’t help it. Even though it would give everything away and start a whole new interview that I would have loved to avoid, my red cheeks ruined everything all over again. Honestly, I was going to have to teach myself not to blush at times like this.

            ‘It’s a boy!’ Sammi concluded confidently, certain just from watching my expression change. She could read me like a book; I also really needed to develop my poker face.

            I tried not to smile at the thought of Jack.

            ‘Tell, tell, tell!’ Sammi chanted over and over, her smile changing to a grin. ‘You don’t get any Iced Gems if you don’t tell me who he is!’

            I ran across the room from where I had been sat at the table and attempted to jump for the packet of Iced Gems she held out of my reach. This was one of the only times I wished I was taller. Sammi just laughed and whisked them further away, taunting me.

            ‘Oh come on Alice, you’re no fun. Just give me a name- it’s not like I’m going to go telling everyone!’ she begged.

            I racked my brains for an excuse. It was strange that I didn’t want to tell Sammi, but I really didn’t. It was the same with Jenny and Jamie- I usually told them everything (well, apart from my secret crush on Danny, of course) but this was somehow different. What I had with Jack felt sort of secret, undercover even, and I liked it like that.

            ‘Never!’ I screamed as Sammi lunged for my phone and I lunged for the Iced Gems at the same time. We collided a little too hard and both ended up sprawled on the floor, groaning with the impact but laughing hard.

            ‘Fine, I surrender!’ Sammi relented. ‘But sooner or later, I will find out. Trust me, Alice!’

            She turned over to poke me in the side and I screamed again, speed-crawling out of her way. Beside me on the floor, my phone vibrated, turning in a miniature circle as we both stared at it. Sammi attempted to dive for it, aiming to snatch it out of my reach and reveal my secret, but I beat her there and tucked the phone safely in my pocket.

            ‘Oooh, better get going. Wouldn’t want to keep Mr. Secret waiting, now would we?’ Sammi teased, throwing me the Iced Gems as I lifted myself from the floor and dusted myself off. I gave her a shove before running out and taking the stairs two at a time to my bedroom.

            ‘Alice, wait a sec!’ I heard Sammi call.

            ‘What?’ I yelled from the top of the stairs, desperate to read the message but knowing better than to ignore my sister.

            ‘I have to go work extra hours today- Lola called in sick again so I guess I’ll be gone a while. You OK by yourself?’

            I sighed. Did I really have a choice?

            ‘Yeah, yeah. I’m good. See you later!’ I called.

            ‘Love ya!’ Sammi called back.

            I waited to hear the all too familiar click of the door closing and then skipped my usual check of the windows as I disappeared into my room, flopping down on my bed in a very dramatic way. I pulled out my phone.  

            Jack: Hey x

          Me: Hi *-.-*

          Jack: Well that’s a smiley I’ve never seen before…

          Me: Yeah it’s one my friends use.

          Jack: How come?

          Me: We want these snowflake earrings and it looks like it’s wearing them.

          Jack: Oh I see.

          Jack: So, you still jealous of that Freya girl??

Me: Shut up! I am not jealous!

Jack: Are you really going to start this fight again?

Jack: P.S. Yes you are :P

Me: You really think you’re funny, don’t you?

Jack: Yep, I guess I do. ;)

        I laughed. He really was impossible. Impossible…but funny, playful and generally a nice guy. Well, from what I knew anyway (which was hardly anything). I hadn’t yet bought up the topic of the whole stalker issue which, to be honest, was now really getting in the way of everything else and frustrating me to no end.

Me: Jack, why were you outside my window?

There was a pause. And not a short one either. He didn’t reply for a good twelve minutes, not that I was counting or anything. Gradually, I became nervous. What if I had scared him away? What if he was still out there? What if he was some criminal, or thief, or spy…or worse? I shivered as his reply made my phone tremble in my hands.

Jack: I can’t tell you that.

Me: Why not? :(

Jack: If you want to know me you’re going to have to accept that there

           are some things that I can’t tell you.

Me: You’re scaring me.

Jack: You don’t need to be afraid.

Me: How do I know that?

Jack: Trust me. x

Once again, the conversation stalled. I was frightened, so I turned on the light in my room, hoping to scare away the shadows. Jack was intriguing and somehow dangerous; as much as I liked him, he was beginning to scare me. The freakiest thing of all was that I kept going back for more. I had been talking to Jack for two weeks now, via the window (although that was only at first), texts and phone calls. Countless times I had imagined what he might look like, presenting my mind with various good and bad scenarios to think over.

One time I had imagined him cloaked in black, sliding across the rooftop and blending well with the darkness. Tall, dark and handsome. But somehow that just didn’t feel right, it didn’t feel like Jack. I just couldn’t put an image to his personality.

My fingers shaking as they hovered over the keys on my phone, I took in a deep breath and decided that it was probably for the best that I allow myself to take one little risk. After all, it would rid me of these nagging suspicions that Jack was a masked criminal, awaiting the opportunity to strike. Closing my eyes, I touch typed the final message. When I opened them again, the two little sentences in black, bold font seemed to send a thrill of danger through me, a twisted excitement.

For a second I flashed back to that strange dream I had with the voices. Maybe that alternative voice was Jack’s, the voice that had been leading me towards the fire in the forest. Even though I was acting like some kind of daredevil, with no regard to the consequences and the fact that I was putting myself in the firing line, if the dream was real I knew that a small part of me would yearn to follow the voice, urging me to find out who Jack really was and why he was hiding.

Without giving myself a moment’s thought, I closed my eyes and pressed send.

Me: I want to meet you. Face to face.