Marco was woken by the slight rays of sun peeking over the horizon. He looked down to Jackie, who was still sound asleep on his chest. He hadn't actually thought about the fact that Jackie probably had a curfew. He tapped her shoulder gently , while trying not to freak out. 'Jackie, it's morning, we gotta get you home. She slowly sat upright, placing her head in her hand at the realization. 'My parents are gonna kill me...'
Marco wrapped his arm around her shoulder. 'Why don't I get my parents to take you home, i'm sure they would be able to explain.' Jackie sighed. 'Nah, it's cool, you don't need to worry them. My parents will probably be asleep too' He heard her words, but her face was not convincing at all. 'Well okay. But you aren't going to stop ME from coming are you?' He tried his best to look into her eyes, but she was still staring at the roof. 'Marco It's not...' But he stopped her. 'And by that I mean you can't stop me.' Jackie's expression changed to a slight smile, though she was trying to hide it. 'Okay, well, since I'm so late already, why don't you finally break in that board?' He smiled slyly and took her hand. 'Your on!' And they climbed down to the window together.
They quickly rushed downstairs, grabbing their boards from by the door and set up outside. Jackie stood on her board first. 'Just put your feet like I have mine.' Marco followed suit, almost stumbling a few times, but he eventually got it. Jackie flashed him a thumbs up. 'Great balance! Let's go!' And she was off. Marco was a little surprised, but he was able to go after her, while keeping his eyes on her feet. It wasn't long before he was confident enough to actually look up. He saw Jackie turn her head back to him, and their eyes met. He was amazed at how effortless and graceful she looked in this, though he was also making sure to look in front of her too, just in case.
Soon enough he was also matching her speed. 'Betcha can't catch me though!' She yelled back at him tauntingly, before speeding up. 'I'll take that bet!' It quickly became clear how much Jackie was holding back, as she was two streets of Marco within about five seconds, but he wouldn't back down. He saw her look back to him again, to give him a congratulatory nod as he began to close the gap.
Before they knew it, they arrived at her house. They were both panting. 'You... Did pretty good for your first time Marco. I thought you might actually catch me.' She punched him playfully in the arm. 'Ha, I'll get you next time!' They both laughed as they walked up to the door, and the mood suddenly changed. 'Alright, well hey, I... Really had a great time and... Well I hope we can spend time together like this again soon, I'm just not sure how long I'll be grounded, so maybe we can skate home from school together?' Marco smiled softly, with a hint of sadness in it. 'Of course, I'd love too.' And he wrapped his arms around her tightly. 'And don't worry.'
After they released each other, they were surprised to see the door open next to them, revealing Jackie's, very angry looking dad. 'Mr Thomas.' He stammered nervously. 'I can explain.' 'Well... Go ahead.' he replied sternly, yet understandingly. Marco paused for a moment, surprised that this had worked. He was halfway tempted to make something up, but he didn't. He told the him the exact truth, though he did find it unnecessary to tell him Jackie was asleep on him, he told him everything else. Jackie's dad thought for a second while Marco and Jackie just stood in silence. 'Go inside Jackie, I'll talk with you in a minute.' She walked slowly into the door, and looked back with a worried frown on her face. 'Bye Marco.' Her voice reflected her expression almost perfectly.
Now it was just her Dad and Marco. He stared at Marco for a couple seconds before finally opening his mouth to speak. 'You know, I'd prefer having my daughter stay out late knowing where she is, to not knowing and worrying about her all night...' Marco nodded. 'I know, I should have thought about that sir. I'm really sorry.' His expression seemed to soften a little. 'Well, I'm just glad she's home safe, I can see I had nothing to worry about, but...' He paused to lean in closer to Marco. 'I do not want this to happen again.' Marco nodded, unable to find words through the fear. 'Have a nice day.' He waved as he closed the door.
Marco was still a little worried about what kind of punishment Jackie would get, but her dad had been much softer on him than he excluded expected, so he was optimistic. As he was skating home, he heard his phone start to ring, and quickly came to a stop. It was a text from Jackie. 'So I'm stuck at home for a week :/ but all things considered, it could be way worse right? I guess my dad likes you. Thanks for talking to him, I know that couldn't have been easy. I'll see you at school 3' He smiled to himself as he started his reply. 'Hey yeah! A weeks not so bad! And no problem, it was the least I could do, he does kinda scare me though, so I hope you're right. I'll see you then! And I'll make sure to bring my board!' And he hit send, only to immediately start a second message. '3' His face reddened as he inched towards the send button, he almost didn't do it, but quickly tapped the button and shoved the phone in his pocket before he could second guess himself. 'Smoooooth.' He whispered to himself as he got back on his board. It took him much longer to get home, since he was trying to go at a safe speed this time, which helped him to be even more confident with his riding skills, he even considered trying a trick or two, but decided to save that for Jackie. He knew even if he fell, he'd have more fun doing it with her watching.
When he arrived home, the house was still quiet. His phone received another two texts, which he read while climbing the stairs to his room. 'Ah he's not that bad, you'll see! I should totally get a board for Star too!' The second text was two hearts, which made Marco laugh at himself. He could again feel Jackie's warm smile through the phone. He reached his bed and collapsed onto it before starting his reply. 'That would be a great way to cheer her up, just a word of advice though... We have to teach her how to stop first!' He laughed at himself again as he pictured Star flying around town on a skateboard. He started to feel his eyelids getting increasingly heavy, so he started another message. 'I'm still kinda tired though, I'm gonna nap a little, I'll talk to you later...Good-not-so-much-night 333.' 'There's no way she can beat three hearts!' He said to himself jokingly as he hit send.
Marco didn't take long to go to sleep, he never even put his phone down. Jackie sat on the other side of the conversation smiling and blushing while contemplating how she would make him smile when he woke up. 'Goodnight handsome? Maybe? No... Pet names are weird... Sleep well?' She let out a frustrated grunt. 'This is difficult. Why am I so nervous? Maybe I could just send a funny picture or something...I don't know. Relax Jackie, you're over thinking this.' She began typing out everything that was on her mind, not giving a care in the world about length. After she finished, she let out a huge sigh, before reading it over a few times. 'I think that'll do it.' She said to herself as her finger inched ever closer to the send button.