5. Jersey
JERSEY
The crack of a gunshot echoes from the hall, my spine going rigid at the sound, one hand hovering above the doorknob.
Pressing my eye to the peephole, my heart seizes in my chest at the sight of the guy who’d hit on me earlier slumped over.
My gaze snaps from his lifeless body to the hulking figure with a predatory grin carved into his face.
Dressed in all black, he stalks toward the door, a tattooed hand reaching up to adjust his vest.
Not just any vest, one with a skull and dagger emblem stitched on it.
Oh fuck.
Fuck.
My pulse kicks into overdrive as I whip around and sprint for the bedroom. Tearing back the curtains, my fingers fumble with the stupid window latch as I pry it open, every nerve ending in my body screaming at the sickening familiarity of my motions.
With practiced precision, I swing a leg through my bedroom window, the worn sole of my favorite Vans finding the top rung of the fire escape with ease. My other leg follows, and as quietly as possible, I descend to the dimly lit alley below.
There's no way I'm missing the Retrograde concert. Especially since Cody and Zeke are going to be there.
"Hurry up!" Hannah whisper-shouts. "We'll miss the subway!"
"No," I say, jumping down. "We won't."
Linking arms, we start running towards the subway station.
"Wait!" I shout as I throw my arm between the closing doors of a train car.
They slide back open, and we push inside, collapsing against the bench as we try to catch our breath. We get a few side-eyed glances from people as we jerk forward and surge towards downtown Northbrooke.
"How do I look?" I ask, running a hand through the 'effortless' waves I spent an hour perfecting.
"So hot," Hannah smirks. "If Zeke doesn't ask you out, I will."
"Stop," I roll my eyes and give her a playful shove. "I'm so freaking excited for tonight."
"Same. I'm so glad you decided to sneak out."
"Hush!"
"Oh, like anyone here cares!"
"You're right," I sigh. "I just don't want my dad finding out."
"He won't," Hannah reassures. Unscrewing a tube of lipgloss, she swipes it across her lips before holding it out towards me as she asks, "What was his deal, anyways?"
I pluck it from her fingers, doing the same. The sugary sweet smell of cherries floods my senses and I have to resist the urge to lick it off as I hand it back.
"I guess there was an incident in the city earlier. Enforcers got into it with some people who were protesting or something."
"What's that have to do with the concert?"
"Dunno." I cross one metallic clad leg over the other and lean back. "He just said it wasn't safe."
"Laaaame," she sighs, flipping her blonde hair over her shoulder.
"Right?" I scoff. "I spent months sorting through junked parts at his garage to collect enough scrap metal and copper wire to buy this ticket. I'm not missing it."
I pull out my phone, and she leans her head on my shoulder as we scroll through social media, trading gossip the rest of the ride.
The concert is absolutely amazing. Retrograde plays every one of my favorites, and at the end, they play a song that hasn’t even been released yet.
"Jersey, wait up," Zeke says, jogging up beside me afterwards.
Hannah and I share a look as she slows, falling into stride with Cody behind us.
Butterflies swarm in my stomach and I have to bite my cheek to keep from smiling like an idiot as Zeke slings an arm around my shoulders.
"I had a lot of fun hanging out with you tonight," he says with a smile.
"Me too," I laugh nervously.
"There was this one thing you did though, that made me sad."
My feet grind to a stop as I stare up at him, dumbfounded.
He dips his head down and whispers, "You didn't take a single picture with me."
A blush heats my cheeks. "Oh."
"It's not too late," he muses.
"Oh, ha." I sink my teeth into my bottom lip, sliding my phone from my back pocket and waving it between us. "Wanna take a picture?"
"I thought you'd never ask," he winks.
Holding the phone up, I smile as the camera focuses. Right as I snap the picture, Zeke presses a kiss to my temple and I swear to god I forget how to breathe.
"I hope that was okay," he chuckles, rubbing the back of his neck. "I'd wanted to do that all night."
"Really?"
"Well, actually, I really wanted to do this…" He tips my chin up and crushes his lips against mine.
Air whooshes from my lungs and a flurry of chills races up my spine as I lean into the kiss. I'm so lost in the moment that I hardly even notice when Hannah and Cody start whooping behind us.
Zeke pulls back, shaking his head as he glares at Cody.
"We gotta go, dude," Cody says, hooking a thumb over his shoulder. "My brother's waiting."
"Alright," Zeke replies begrudgingly. With a grin, his attention shifts back to me, "Would you maybe wanna do something next week–"
"Yes," I rush out before he's even finished the sentence, mentally scolding myself for sounding so eager.
"Cool." He nods, the faintest bit of pink creeping over his cheeks. "I'll text you."
We say our goodbyes, Hannah and I rushing down to the subway platform as the boys dart across the street.
"Oh my god!" Hannah squeals as we plop down into two open seats. "To think, you almost didn't come!"
"I know, I know!"
Cody apparently asked Hannah out too, so we spend the entire ride home planning all the double dates we’re gonna go on.
I'm still reeling as I crawl back into my room and ease the window shut. This night was everything. I still can't believe he asked me out and kissed me. Gah, how am I going to sleep?
My phone vibrates in my pocket as I toe off my shoes. I pull it out, the screen lit up with a text from Zeke.
Zeke
Send me our pic ;)
With a smile, I stare down at the message, reading it over and over.
Nope, I'm definitely not going to sleep tonight.
“Don't forget to lock the latch,” my dad says, flipping on the light.
My head snaps up, eyes wide. I expect to see a look of disappointment on his face, but instead, he just looks sad. He takes a step closer, and I mentally prepare myself for the lecture, ready to apologize and offer to work at the shop– for free– for the next month as a punishment.
Without a word, he closes the distance between us, wrapping his arms tightly around me.
"Dad?" I murmur, face smooshed against his chest. "You're scaring me."
"I'm sorry, Jersey," he says, his voice breaking. "I'm so sorry."
He sucks in a breath, releasing his hold as he leads me over to sit on my bed. I can think of exactly two times I've seen my dad cry. One, when Nana died. Two, when I fell off the car lift and broke my arm when I was five. And now tonight, makes three.
"I had to take out an assistance loan," he starts, a tear cutting a path down his cheek. "I was going to lose the shop, the apartment, too."
I sit there, listening, my heart sinking further and further as he goes on.
Telling me about the protest downtown being about the terms of these loans.
How The Registry had hid them, causing so many people to fall victim, including himself, and it was only a matter of time before they came after him.
"What do we do?" I ask, breaking the silence.
"I don't know, Jersey girl," he sighs. "We could head up to the mountains. Find someplace to camp for a few days while I try to figure it out."
"Camping sounds really good, Dad."
"Camping it is, then." The muscle in his jaw feathers as he forces a smile. "Pack up a few things and we'll take off bright and early."
Pushing to stand, he pulls me into another hug, "I love you, Jersey girl."
"I love you too, Dad."
He leaves, and I can still hear him sniffling as he heads down the hall to his room.
I don't fully understand what's happening, but I start to shove some clothes into a backpack anyways. Mentally, I start a list of questions to ask in the morning and selfishly hope we’re back by the weekend for my date with Zeke.
Oh my god Zeke!
I forgot to text him back. Ugh, if he thinks I've left him on read, it won't matter if I'm back this weekend.
I grab my phone from the charger, staring at our picture as I add it to a message and hit send.
Jersey
How cute are we?
All of the sudden, the front door rattles, someone banging on it harder than necessary. My dad charges out from his room, hunting rifle in hand as he looks out the peephole.
"Registry Enforcement."
Sheer panic is etched in his features as my dad turns to face me. "Run, Jersey. You run and don't you dare look back."
"What?" I worry my bottom lip. "Where?"
"Just run, okay? I need you to run. Can you do that for me?"
The pounding on the door continues, harder this time. "Jeremiah Ellis, by order of The Registry, open the door."
A sick feeling heats my throat, and I can't talk, I can't move. I just stare at my dad, tears welling up in my eyes.
"Jersey!"
Wood splinters as they start to force open the door. My dad cocks his gun, leaning his weight against it in a feeble attempt to buy just a few more seconds.
"Run. Just run!"
Metal groans, pulling me from my thoughts as a rusted bolt at the top of the ladder suddenly snaps. I yelp as it pitches to the side, slamming against the building.
I curse under my breath.
I wonder if he heard that?
Who am I kidding? Of course he did, the whole West side heard it.
I grit my teeth, slowly tilting my head up towards the window.
Please don’t be there, please don’t be there…
A set of icy blue eyes lock onto mine as the Repo Man’s lips curl into a devious grin that sends a ripple of terror through me.
Shit.
My knuckles whiten, grip tightening as the fire escape sways, the behemoth of a man clearing the window in seconds.
My boot slips past the bottom rung, palms skidding across the pavement as I catch myself.
Scrambling to my feet, I reach for the strap of the duffle bag and loop it over my neck as the ladder creaks.
Fuck, is he part cat?