Saving the Mafia Princess

Downtime is active

Miriam's POV

I am so sick of this family. Do this. Do that. It's ridiculous. I do not care if we have an image to uphold. I am a teenage girl. I want to be able to go hang out with my friends at a party like a normal person. But, of course, mom and dad say it is too dangerous for a mafia princess to go to a party like that. Especially since everyone knows who my parents are.

But Jacob has opened my eyes recently. He has shown me that it is not fair that my parents keep me away from normal teenage activities. He makes it seem like I am not overreacting. Honestly, I may think that I love him. I know we haven't met, but his i********: photo sure is nice to look at.

I can imagine a life with him, three little children running around. Hopefully all girls, because boys are gross. My brothers taught me that. My phone chimed, pulling me from my fantasy life. Excitement rolled through me because I knew who it was. "Hey cutie. Where is my daily dose of your sexiness?", Jacob's message read. "Eepp", I squeaked with excitement.

I let my hair down and roughed my fingers through it to make it a cute mess. I unbuttoned the top four buttons of my school uniform, allowing my cleavage to show. I stuck my lips out in a kiss as I posed for the picture. "It's been an exhausting day", I wrote on the photo. As soon as I tried to hit send, my phone blanked out.

A user message popped up on my screen. "Downtime is active", is all it said. Downtime? What the hell is downtime? I exited snapchat and opened up i********: to be met with the same message. What in the absolute freak? I tried f*******:. The same thing. I opened up my messages and almost all of my contacts were faded out. I could click on my messages to my mom, dad, brothers, and a few of my close friends, but that was it.

What is going on? I messaged my mom. "Mom, what is going on with my phone? It says that downtime is active. What is that?", I asked her. I stared at my phone waiting for her to open my message and read it. Moments ticked by and still nothing, so I messaged her again. "Mom? Seriously.", I typed out.

By this time, I was getting antsy. What if Jacob thinks I am ignoring him? Oh no. He would be so upset if I just ghosted him. s**t, how am I going to get in touch with him? Mom still hasn't read my message. Great! Panic began to set in as I paced my room. The idea to call my friend, Kara, popped into my head. She can message him for me.

"Hello?", Kara answered. "Kara, I need a humongous favor from you. Can you please message Jacob on snapchat and tell him my phone is being stupid at the moment and can't message him back for some God-awful reason?", I begged. "Brah, you can't even say hello first?", Kara chastised. "I'm sorry. Hello Kara. I miss you. Can you please message Jacob?", I corrected myself.

"Ugh, Jesus", she uttered. "Yes, I will message him", she answered. I waited patiently for her to do it. "There, done. Happy?", she asked. "Tell me what he says, okay?", I said, panicking. "Yeah, sure, whatever. What's wrong with your phone? You are able to talk to me", Kara stated.

"Yeah, but not much of anyone else. I can't get on any of my social media apps either. I don't know what's going on with it. It said something about downtime", I said, as I continued to pace my room. "Downtime?", Kara reiterated. "Yeah. Why? Do you know what that is?", I asked, curiously. "Yeah", she chuckled. "Your parents locked your phone", she said. "Locked by phone?", I shrieked.

"Why would they do that?", I asked. "I don't know. Did you forget to do your chores or something?", she suggested. "What? No", I answered. "Well, I don't know then. Did you send a naughty photo to someone?", she questioned. I stopped short in my tracks. Seriously? "But, my parents haven't taken my phone for any reason. So how would they have gone through it to know?", I hounded her.

"Woah, are you serious? You actually did? To who? Jacob?", she raddled off. "Kara, focus", I snapped. "Seriously, though? Do you not know who your dad is? He could find anything out about anyone", Kara said. Yeah, he very well could. But, that also doesn't feel right. "If it was my father who found it. I can guarantee that I would not be on the phone right now. No, this has to be my mom", I pondered aloud.

"Hey Jacob texted back", Kara said. "What did he say?", I snapped. "He asked if you were okay? Yes, she is okay. She is shaken up a little bit because she isn't sure why it is locked, but she is okay", Kara said out loud, as she typed out the message. "Yeah, that's good", I agreed. "I know it is, witch", she chuckled.

I laid out on my bed, slightly more relieved that Jacob now knows what was going on. "So why haven't you asked your mom about it yet?" Kara asked curiously. "I did. She just hasn't texted me back yet", I answered. "Really? Why not just go ask her?", she muttered. "Well, one. This house is too damn big to try and go on a scavenger hunt looking for her. And two, if my dad doesn't know yet. I'd really like him to not find out", I said.

"Ha. You really think that will happen?", she asked. "No, mom eventually tells dad everything", I whispered, running my hands through my hair. "What am I going to do, Kar?", I groaned. "I don't know, boo. I thought you didn't know that much about Jacob anyway. Why would you send him a nude?", she chastised.

"It wasn't a nude, I was in my underwear. And besides, I feel like I've known him forever", I answered too quickly. "Really? Then where is he from?", she asked. I blanked. I don't know where he is from. I don't think he has ever told me. "That doesn't matter, Kara. You are missing the big picture here", I said, becoming irritated by her comments. "Am I? I think you are the one missing the big picture, boo. You know absolutely nothing about this guy, and you sent him a naughty picture. That's not good", Kara shamed. As if I wasn't going to get enough of it from my mother and father.

"You know what? I will just talk to you later", I said, hanging up the phone. God, she's so infuriating. I didn't call her to have her side with someone else. I called her to side with me. To make me feel a little better. Ugh, what am I going to do? If mom really did lock my phone because of the pictures I sent Jacob, then she is going to make me block him and never talk to him again. If dad doesn't make him disappear for good?

Oh, Lord. What am I going to do? How will I talk myself out of this one? An email chimed on my phone. Hey, I can still get emails. "Hey my sweets, it's going to be okay. We will get through this little hiccup together. Don't you worry, babe", the email said. Oh my goodness. It's Jacob, thank you, Jesus. I immediately emailed him back, telling him why I think that it may be locked, and how much anxiety I have at my father finding out.

"Don't worry about your father, malyshka (baby girl). I can handle him", the email read.