Chapter 6

Chapter 6

   Mom must have cancelled her meeting with her clients because when Grayson dropped me off, her car was parked in the driveway. I was still feeling very sick and hearing her yell at me was not going to make it better.

   "Thanks for the ride," I said to Grayson as I got out of the car.

   "No problem," Grayson said. "I'll see you tomorrow, Flower." He drove off as I walked in my house, preparing myself for Mom's yelling.

   She was waiting for me at the front door. "I can't believe you skipped school, Poppy!" she said in a loud tone. "You need to be there every day if you want to be a doctor!"

   But I don't, I thought. "I'm sorry, Mom. I really wasn't feeling good. Even if I went, it would have felt like I wasn't there because I wouldn't have been able to concentrate."

   Mom shook her head. "I don't want to hear your excuse, Poppy. I am very disappointed that you skipped school, even more so since you were with Grayson. Didn't I tell you he's a troublemaker?"

   "All the time," I said. "I didn't skip school just to be with him. I told him I wasn't feeling well, so he took me to his house to rest."

   "So it was just the two of you?" Mom asked. "Alone? Didn't you make the same mistake before?"

   I couldn't believe what she just said. She knew what happened wasn't my fault. "Grayson did nothing! All he did was let me rest! And I did not make the mistake! It wasn't my fault!"

   "Don't you raise your tone at me," Mom said with a stern look. "I will not have one of my children hanging around someone who could cause the same incident."

   Oh, please no. "What do you mean?"

   "You're not allowed to hang out with Grayson anymore," Mom said, crossing her arms.

   I knew it. "Are you serious?"

   Mom nodded. "Dead serious."

   "Mom, you can't do that," I said. "You can't prevent me from hanging out with my only friend. Belle convinced everyone at the school to hate me and Grayson is the only one who doesn't!"

   "It's the only choice," Mom said. "Ever since you started hanging out with him, you've been getting into a lot of trouble. Skipping school, getting detention..."

   "Whoa," I interrupted. "Me getting detention had nothing to do with Grayson. We didn't even talk to each other until after I got detention. And I only skipped school because I was feeling sick. I didn't want to throw up in the middle of class."

   "It was still unacceptable to skip," Mom said. "For the rest of the week, you are grounded. No TV, no video games, no computer, no phone." I sighed as she held out her hand. I pulled my cell out of my pocket and placed it in her hand.

   "What about Grayson?" I asked. "Can I still hang out with him?"

   "We'll talk about it when your father and I are home," Mom said. "As for now, I have to go to the meeting I had to postpone." She grabbed her keys off the kitchen counter before leaving.

   Seeing as I was now home alone, I took it as an opportunity to take a nap without being disturbed.

~*~

   I woke up to Dad calling my name. I was feeling a lot better, but I still had a slight headache.

   I silently groaned as I got out of bed and walked down the stairs. Dad just arrived home from work. "Your mom called me. She told me you skipped school to be with a boy."

   I sighed. Why was Mom putting it out of context? "I didn't skip school to be with a boy," I told him. "I did skip, but that's because I was feeling really sick. Grayson took me to his house to rest."

   "Okay," Dad said. "Thanks for clearing that up. Your mom also told me that she doesn't want you hanging out with Grayson. But I told her to let you make your own choices. If you want Grayson to be your friend, then he should."

   I gave Dad a smile before hugging him. "Thank you, Dad."

   Dad was always supporting my decisions, even if Mom was against it. He wanted me to make my own choices and learn from possible mistakes rather than having someone choose for me. He also knew how much the incident last summer affected me.

   "No problem, Poppy," Dad said. "I don't want to take away your only friend. Speaking of, Gary and his sons are coming over for dinner tomorrow." Gary was Grayson's dad.

   Hold on... .Sons? Did that mean Graeme would be coming as well?

   "His oldest son, Graeme, couldn't make it to dinner last time," Dad continued.

   I just nodded, not really wanting to think about Graeme. On the bright side, Grayson would be there and he promised to keep Graeme away from me.

   "You should be getting some rest," Dad said. "You look very tired and sick."

   "I am," I muttered. "I'll be in my room."

   I went upstairs and went back to my room. I laid down on my bed, looking up at the ceiling. Graeme was coming to my house tomorrow and he always flirted with me, even when his brother told him not to. Maybe it would be different since my parents and his dad were going to be there.

   Ugh, I really wish I could call or text Grayson to tell him about tomorrow and how I didn't want to be near Graeme. I guess I would just have to talk to him in school tomorrow.