CHASING HALFTIME

Chapter 14: Unseen Forces

Jace hadn’t shown up to school.

Not today.

Not after that file started circulating—screenshots of a sealed juvenile case, stamped with court redactions and a blurry mugshot that didn’t quite look like him, but it was him. Jace Callahan. Age fifteen. Arson.

Lexi stared at the photo on her screen, heart racing.

This wasn’t just high school drama anymore.

Someone had dug up a sealed court file. Someone who wanted Jace destroyed.

And that kiss video? That was just the warm-up.

She ran to the bleachers after school, where they usually met when things got overwhelming. Her breath hitched when she saw him—hood up, jaw clenched, leaning forward with his elbows on his knees.

“Jace,” she whispered, approaching slowly.

He didn’t look at her. “You saw it.”

She sat beside him anyway. “You gonna talk to me? Or just keep running?”

Silence.

Then—he exhaled sharply. “It was an accident. A stupid one. I didn’t start it, but I took the fall. My foster brother lied, and I… I didn’t want him going to juvie. He was ten.”

Lexi’s eyes widened. “You protected him.”

He nodded.

Her chest ached.

Jace turned to her finally. “But now the whole damn school thinks I’m a criminal”

Lexi reached for his hand. “Screw the school.”

He blinked. “What?”

“I said, screw them. If they can’t see the real you, they don’t deserve to. But I do.”

And when she leaned in to kiss him—soft, slow, nothing like the stolen moments from before—it was Jace who melted. Jace who deepened it. Jace who pressed her against the bleachers like she was the only thing keeping him grounded.

But just as things grew heated—Lexi’s phone buzzed.

Another message.

Blocked Number: “You shouldn’t kiss someone who starts fires, Lexi. Because you might be next.”

Lexi’s heart froze.

And this time, the image attached… wasn’t of Jace.

It was of her. Sitting in her room. From her window.

Someone was watching her.

---

Lexi sat in the cafeteria, her phone clutched tightly in her hand, her mind miles away from the conversation unfolding around her. The screen flashed with a message from Jace—just one word: Later.

She hadn’t seen him since the kiss. He hadn’t shown up to school today, and she hadn’t gotten a chance to talk to him about the message she had received last night. The one that had chilled her to the bone.

“You shouldn’t kiss someone who starts fires, Lexi. Because you might be next.”

The image attached was of her. From her window.

She shuddered, the weight of the threat settling in her chest like a heavy stone.

Her thoughts were interrupted by Mia’s voice breaking through the silence.

“You’re quiet today,” Mia remarked, leaning over the table, her brown eyes narrowing in suspicion. “You okay?”

Lexi forced a smile, but it felt too tight on her face. “Yeah, just… thinking.”

Madison, who was sitting across from her, gave her a knowing look. “Uh-huh. Thinking about the fact that your boyfriend is MIA and there's a stalker threatening you? Yeah, we can tell.”

Ryan, who had been picking at his lunch, added, “You really should tell us what’s going on, Lex. We’re not stupid. Everyone’s talking about the mess with Jace and those threats. And you’re not fooling anyone with that fake smile.”

Lexi bit her lip, glancing at each of them, before letting out a long sigh. She couldn’t keep it in anymore. Not with everything escalating so quickly. “It’s not just the threats. It’s… everything. Jace has been acting so distant lately. And I don’t know if he’s trying to protect me or just pushing me away, but I can feel it.”

Mia raised an eyebrow. “Protect you from what?”

Lexi swallowed hard. “From whatever this is. The threats, the stalker... his past. I think he’s hiding something from me. But every time I ask him, he just gets defensive.”

Madison, always quick to jump to conclusions, leaned forward. “Okay, so your boyfriend’s got a dark past. That doesn’t make him a bad person, Lexi. I mean, we all have our baggage, right? But this stalker thing? That’s messed up. Someone’s really out to get you both.”

Ryan’s voice was calm, but his eyes were serious. “Do you think it’s someone we know? Like, maybe it’s someone close to Jace? Or is it someone trying to mess with both of you?”

“I don’t know,” Lexi confessed, her voice shaking. “But the messages… they know things. Personal things. Like they’re watching me.”

Mia looked like she was about to say something, but Madison cut her off. “Let’s back up for a second. Have you told Jace about the pictures? Or the texts?”

“I tried. He said he wanted to handle it himself.” Lexi frowned, her fingers tapping nervously on the edge of her cup. “But the more I think about it, the more I feel like there’s something I’m missing. Like he’s not telling me the whole truth.”

Ryan leaned back in his chair, his gaze thoughtful. “Well, if it were me, I’d want to keep you safe. But this doesn’t sound like something that can just be fixed with a talk. Someone’s playing games, and they’re not afraid to get ugly.”

Madison shifted in her seat. “Maybe you should start looking at people who have something to gain from all of this. I don’t know who would want to hurt you, Lex, but you’ve got to think about who stands to benefit from making Jace look bad. That’s the person you need to focus on.”

Mia’s eyes narrowed. “Yeah. Someone with a vendetta. Maybe it’s someone who’s got a problem with both of you. Or someone who just wants to see everything fall apart.”

Lexi’s heart skipped a beat as a thought crossed her mind. “Savannah.”

The name hung in the air, heavy with implication.

“Wait, what?” Madison blinked. “You think she’s behind it?”

“It would make sense,” Lexi said, her voice barely above a whisper. “She’s been trying to ruin Jace and me for weeks. At first, it was just little things and then spreading rumors. But this… this is different. This is personal. And it’s been escalating.”

Ryan’s face hardened. “She’s done this before. Remember when she tried to get that dirt on Mia last year? You think she’s got something bigger planned?”

Mia’s jaw tightened. “I’m not putting it past her. If she thinks she’s losing Jace, she’s probably going to pull out all the stops.”

Lexi stared down at her phone, the weight of everything closing in on her. “But why now? Why go this far with threats and stalking? What does she want from us?”

Madison shook her head. “I don’t know, but someone clearly has it out for you both. You need to be careful, Lex. If it’s Savannah, she’s not playing by any rules.”

“Then I’ll play by my own,” Lexi muttered, determination rising in her chest. She wasn’t going to back down. Not now. Not when the people she cared about were being threatened.

Ryan gave her a small nod of approval. “That’s the spirit. But seriously, you need to talk to Jace about this. He’s been avoiding you, but he can’t keep pushing you away forever. If he’s hiding something, you’ve got to find out what it is—before it’s too late.”

Lexi nodded slowly, feeling a renewed sense of urgency. “I’m going to talk to him. I have to. But right now… I just need to know that we’re all in this together.”

Her friends exchanged glances, and one by one, they all nodded in agreement.

“You’ve got us,” Mia said firmly. “Whatever happens, we’re with you.”

“Always,” Ryan added, his tone resolute.

“Yeah, we’re not letting some stalker or some b***h like Savannah win,” Madison said with a grin. “Let’s make sure they know who they’re messing with.”

Lexi felt the warmth of their support settle in her chest. Maybe the road ahead was going to be rough, but at least she wasn’t facing it alone.