Stuck in the Moment

I stirred around three o’clock that next morning, a gentle tapping on the window rattling me out of sleep.

  “Oh my god, are you crazy?” I whispered, wiping my eyes. I slid back a few inches, unlocked the latch, and lifted the window open. “What are you doing?”

  “I figured he was sleeping by now,” Jasper said, careful not to make any fast or sudden moves from where he stood atop a rickety wooden ladder. “I have provisions.” He passed a small plate of cookies over. “How are you doing? Are you okay?”

  “I’m grounded.”

  “For how long?”

  “Life sentence, I’m sure,” I teased, keeping my voice low. The last thing I needed was to make any noise and have Dad discover this new turn of events. I could go ahead and count myself as good as dead if that happened. “Dad has a strict no boys rule.”

  “So I’ve heard. I got an earful from Roz.”

  “Oh,” I said. I could only imagine he’d given my friends the play-by-play when they’d asked about my whereabouts, and no doubt Roz had given him a million reasons to think this was all his fault.

  “I’m sorry if you didn’t want them to know. I was worried about you, Ally. I had no idea what you were up against.”

  “It’s okay.”

  “They trust him,” he said. “At least Mel does. She said he’s completely harmless.”

  “He is.” I couldn’t blame him for questioning Dad’s intentions, especially after what he saw tonight, but I prayed that he would believe us.

  “So I guess I can stop stalking you from afar, then.”

  I pouted my lip. “I kinda liked you stalking me from afar.”

  He smirked. “You and me both, kid.”

  “But you should go inside. Get some sleep. There’s no telling how long this is going to last, and you don’t need to waste away on Nora’s back porch.”

  “I’ll bring pie tomorrow.” He grinned. “Sleep well, rule breaker. Don’t go crazy in there.”

  “I’ll do my best.”

  With a quick wink and a gorgeous smile, Jasper climbed his way down the ladder, taking it with him as he made his way back across the yard and onto the neighboring porch. With one last wave, he ducked into the house, and I finally stretched across my bed, praying for a quick end to this ridiculous punishment.