Chapter 13
A long weekend at home was exactly what I’d needed, and when we returned to school on Sunday night, I felt totally recharged for the rest of the semester. At least, as recharged as I could feel when we’d been traveling for hours.
It was late by the time our car pulled up in front of the school, and Anna and Cress were doing their best to stifle yawns. It was after curfew, so there were no other students about, and the school felt oddly empty as we made our way back to the girls’ dorm.
“I’m going to sleep so well tonight,” Anna said as she lugged her two suitcases behind her.
I was tired, but at the same time, I felt wide-awake. I was excited to be back at school, mainly because I couldn’t wait to see Wes again. Last night he’d sent me pictures of him wearing his tuxedo at his family’s gala. He’d looked so incredibly hot. I hadn’t stopped thinking about him ever since.
“Do you think I’d get in trouble if I snuck over to see Wes?” I asked.
“Probably,” Cress replied. “Lisa usually checks students in when they return from weekends away, and you know they’ve been cracking down on curfew since the pranks.”
My shoulders slouched in disappointment. “Yeah, I really don’t want to clean the boys’ bathroom.”
“We could cover for you though,” Anna suggested. “You’d have to be quick, but we could tell her you needed to run back to the car for something.”
“That could work,” I said.
“You’d have to be super quick,” Cress added. “And even then, she might be a hard ass…”
I glanced toward the boys’ dorm. “I’m sure it’ll be fine,” I said with a grin. Right now, seeing Wes felt like it was worth the risk. “I’ll be as quick as I can.”
Cress took my duffel bag for me, and I started over to the boys’ dorm at a jog, taking out my phone to call Wes as I went.
“Isobel?” He sounded sleepy as he answered, and I had a feeling I’d woken him up. It was close to midnight, but he’d been texting me on the drive back to school, so I’d thought he’d be awake.
“Sorry, I didn’t mean to wake you.”
“No, I wasn’t asleep,” he said. “What’s up?”
I still wasn’t sure if I believed him. “I just got back to school. I was going to see if you wanted to sneak out front to meet up quickly.”
“You’re back now?”
“Yeah. I’m just coming across the courtyard. But if you’re in bed, we can just see each other tomorrow.”
“No, no. I’ll come down.”
“Really?”
“Of course.”
“Okay, you have to be quick though. The girls are covering for me with Lisa.”
I could hear movement in the background. “I’ll be right there.”
He hung up the phone just as I reached the entrance to the boys’ dorm. I waited in the shadow of the building, pacing as the seconds dragged by and there was still no sign of Wes. I‘d only been a couple of minutes, and already the girls were messaging me.
Anna: Lisa bought it. You have maybe five minutes. Tops!!!
Cress: Hurry!!
I released a breath and glanced over at the door. I hoped Wes wasn’t far off because we really didn’t have long. He had his own dorm dad he’d have to sneak past, so there was a chance he might not make it at all.
Another minute went by, and finally the door creaked opened as Wes stepped outside.
He was dressed in a pair of checkered pajama bottoms with a dark Henley that stretched across his muscles, and his hair was mussed with sleep.
He looked just as hot now as he did in the photo he’d sent of him wearing a tuxedo—maybe better.
A wide smile lit up his features as he spotted me, and he closed the distance between us with long, powerful strides.
He grabbed me up in his arms, and I sank happily into his embrace. We’d only been apart a few days, but it felt like much longer. I was so at ease in his arms and knew this was exactly where I was supposed to be—curfew or not.
“I missed you,” he said.
“Me too. I didn’t want to go another night without seeing you.”
I lifted my lips to his, and he pulled me close, pressing our bodies together as he deepened the kiss.
It was filled with passion and yearning; it was the kind of kiss you could lose yourself in.
If this was the way Wes kissed me when we’d been parted for a few days, maybe I needed to spend some more time away from him.
“You’re never going away without me again,” he said as we finally separated.
I laughed and slowly pulled back a little so I could look him in the eyes. “I was just thinking the opposite. You’re an extra enthusiastic kisser when we’ve been apart.”
Wes rolled his eyes. “I’m always enthusiastic.”
“I did say extra,” I replied with a smile. “How was your weekend?”
“Dull until this moment.”
I raised an eyebrow. “You were at your parents’ party last night. I’m sure that was far from dull.”
“It was the dullest party of my life without you there.”
I laughed and glanced down at my phone. There were several new messages from Cress and Anna. I didn’t need to open them to know they would be telling me to hurry up. I could have stayed out in the courtyard with Wes all night, but I knew I needed to get back or I’d be in trouble.
I lifted my eyes back to Wes. “Cress and Anna are probably getting worried. I should go.”
“Okay, good luck with Lisa. I’ll see you in the morning.”
He leaned down and pressed another kiss to my lips, which I struggled to pull myself away from.
“See you in the morning,” I said before I turned and hurried off in the direction of the girls’ building.
As I barreled through the entrance, I came to a screeching halt. Lisa was waiting for me in the front foyer. She was dressed casually, and her eyebrows were raised as she looked me over.
“Sorry, I had to go back to the car,” I said, trying to calm my puffing breaths.
Cress and Anna were nowhere to be seen, so I was guessing they were already back in their rooms.
“I’ve been told,” she replied, folding her arms as she looked me over. “What did you need to go back to the car for?”
“Uhh…” I paused as I realized I hadn’t actually brought anything with me. Cress had my duffel bag, and my hands were empty. “I went to get my bag, but I forgot to take the car keys.” It was worth a shot.
“You didn’t take a detour via the boys’ dormitory?”
“Um, of course not.”
“Because I just received a call from Adam to say that one of the boys was found sneaking outside.”
I could feel the blood draining from my skin, and I wanted to swear. I felt so stupid. I’d gotten Wes in trouble too.
“Wesley Montfort,” Lisa continued. “I believe you are friends with him?”
I grimaced, knowing there was no way out of this. “I just wanted to see him for five minutes,” I said, the words spewing out of me in a rush. “We haven’t seen each other in days. I—”
Lisa lifted a hand to stop me. I was somewhat grateful because I didn’t think my word vomit was doing me any favors.
“Isobel, you had permission to arrive back at school after curfew tonight on the condition you made your way straight to your rooms, not the boys’ dorm.”
“I know,” I replied, my whole body sinking. “I’m sorry.”
“You’ll attend detention this Friday night, and your privileges to leave school grounds are suspended until next week.”
“But, Lisa—”
She shook her head, cutting me off. “I’m sorry, Isobel, but rules are rules. And with the pranks that have been taking place in the middle of the night recently, we won’t be making any exceptions. I don’t care who your father is.”
I released a breath and slowly nodded. I hadn’t been planning to play the father card. Did she really think I was that entitled? Or was that just the way she expected all students at Weybridge to respond when they were given detention?
I’d never had a detention in my life, but in the grand scheme of things, it wasn’t so bad. At least she wasn’t expecting me to clean the boys’ bathrooms like she’d threatened everyone in the dorm just a few weeks ago.
“Now, off to bed with you.” Her tone was stern and left no room for further discussion. I left quickly before she could reconsider my punishment.
Cress was sitting on the edge of her bed when I arrived. She took one look at me and let out a sigh. “Oh no, you got in trouble, didn’t you?”
“Yeah. Grounded until next week, and detention on Friday.”
“That sucks. I told you to be quick.”
“I was, but Wes took a while to come out.” I blushed. “He got caught too. I should probably check he’s okay.” I pulled out my phone to see he’d already sent me a text.
Wes: So, I might have gotten caught. It was totally worth it though. Want to sneak out again?
I laughed and quickly texted him back.
Me: No!!!! Are you crazy?
Wes: Crazy for you.
Me: Ha, ha. Very funny. I got caught too. I’m grounded till next week and have detention on Friday.
Wes: Same, but I have a meeting with my rowing coach Friday after school, so my detention is Saturday morning. Still worth it.
“You look very happy for someone who just got detention,” Cress said, noticing my smile as I looked at my phone.
“Wes is so sweet,” I replied. “And his kisses were definitely worthy of detention.”
“That good?”
“I guess what they say about absence making the heart grow fonder is true.”
Cress looked thoughtful and then smiled. “If that’s the case, maybe I should sneak out and find Kaden.”
“Maybe.” I laughed as I started to get ready for bed.
“Oh, man, there’s no way I’m going to be able to sleep now.” Cress sighed.
“Yeah, me neither.”
*
Cress and I stayed up late chatting, so it wasn’t all that surprising when Anna burst into our room the following morning and we’d both slept through our alarms.
“You guys aren’t up yet?” Anna asked with surprise. She walked over and threw open the curtain.
“Neither of us could get to sleep,” I said, pushing down a groan as sunlight filtered into the room, while Cress threw her pillow over her face.
I must have been truly exhausted because it was rare for me to sleep much past sunrise.
It had been a busy weekend though, and the excitement of last night probably hadn’t helped.