Chapter 1

Chapter 01

"Ow!" I winced, rubbing the back of my head to relieve the pain, cursing under my breath. "Remind me to lower my head every time I pass there."

Christian looked at me and let out a dramatic laugh.

I glared at him, "Yeah, real funny."

"Sorry, sorry." He slowly broke his laughter.

"Stop sitting there like a big pile of nothing and start unpacking." I said sternly.

"All right, all right." He got himself up, made his way to the boxes and began to help me.

It wasn't long after we began unpacking. Box after box, we fixed everything in their designated places. I don't know how long for, but the hours felt like days and in time, we were done.

I headed to the living room and sank into the couch. My back hurt from all the work I had to do and I was honestly exhausted. I turned on the TV, searching for any meaningful thing I could watch.

Chris made his way toward me with two bottles of root beer in his hands. He handed me a bottle and sat down on the couch with his legs carefully crossed.

"So, uh, have you spoken to your parents since?" I asked, not looking at him.

"Nope." He said like it was no big deal.

Christian Walker was my best friend. He had been my best friend since junior year, although it felt like we had been in each other's lives forever. Back in high school, I didn't exactly have a lot of 'friends' because for some reason, everyone thought of me as mean but Chris wasn't one of them.

Chris was in my biology class and he wasn't exactly in the closet; people knew that he was gay. But over and over, I kept seeing people make fun of him because of who he was, so one day I got fed up and told them to piss off. Not that I liked him or had any intentions of being his friend, I simply hated the fact that he had to be treated differently because of his sexuality.

Gradually, we became friends. Then, we became best friends. When we graduated from senior year, I got admitted into Stanford and so did Chris, so we rented the closest house to campus we could find; which was a rough eight minute drive.

"Chris-"

"Grace, I don't wanna talk about it." He inhaled a deep breath.

"Okay, okay."

Chris' parents had always been so cultured and God fearing. When they found out that he was gay, they threw him out of their home, not even caring where he would go to or stay. I had begged my mom and dad to let him stay at our place for a while. Then Chris' uncle, Stanley, heard of everything and took him in. He had been the one taking care of him ever since. It was like his parents didn't even care if he was alive.

"I mean, who cares, right? You don't need them, they're assholes." I said, trying to lighten the mood which I may have ruined.

"I know, right?" He tried to laugh it off but I could still see the hint of sadness in his eyes. "So, you wanna grab dinner somewhere? I know none of us have the strength to fix something up right now."

"Yeah, okay. I'll grab my jacket."

That night, Chris and I went out for dinner at a diner nearby and their food was pretty good. By the time we got back, Chris was tired and he headed straight to his room to get some sleep.

I stepped into my room and looked around before sitting on my bed as my mind began to wander.

New life.

I had to adjust to this whole new life. Back in high school, it was my parents taking care of me and now it seemed like I had stepped into this whole new world where I was responsible for that.

There was always this pressure that came with the thought of adulting. The way you hear people speak about it, not fully being able to relate yet. The responsibilities that come with it; the experience.

It was all a bit overwhelming but I was trying all I could not to dwell on the thought and just focus on getting through college, hoping the next four years would pass by in a blur.

Changing into my nightwear, I tucked myself into my blanket and fell asleep.

* * * *

I woke up the next morning around 7:00 AM. According to my schedule, my first class for the day started by 8:30 AM, so I had enough time to get ready.

Groggily, I got out of bed and into the bathroom. I tied my hair up in the messiest of buns and brushed my teeth. And then, I took a brief shower and got dressed.

I wore a mint green sweatshirt on a pair of white high waist jeans with a pair of my favorite nike sneakers. I curled my hair down and did a little bit of makeup before getting to the kitchen to be greeted with the scent of pancakes.

"Morning, Grace." My best friend said with a smile, flipping the pancakes in the frying pan. "I see you're ready for your first day in college."

"Yup." I said flatly, sitting on a stool close to the kitchen island.

I was trying not to make it seem more of a bigger deal than it was. It was college, not high school where you have to worry about silly little shit like making friends or whether the hot guy at the back is finally going to notice you. It's just all about you.

Nothing too big.

"Here you go." He said, placing a plate of tasty looking pancakes in front of me.

There were like 2 or 3 stacked upon the other with chocolate syrup spread on the top of it and a cute little strawberry for finishing.

He sure knows how I like my pancakes.

"Thank you." I muttered as I took a bite and let out an appealed sound. Having a best friend who cooks so wonderfully is a gift. "Chris, you are a godsend."

He chuckled, "I know, I know."

He sat across from me, setting his own plate of pancakes down and a jug of orange juice. I got two glass cups from the kitchen cabinet and placed them down.

It wasn't long before we were both done with our breakfast and out the door to Christian's car.

We arrived at school at exactly 8:16 AM. Chris and I got down from his car and I was about to walk away to my destination, Chris held me back.

"Okay Grace, this is college. You've already screwed up high school, do not screw up this one. Be nice to people, make friends, try not to glare at everybody in class and if anyone tries to talk to you, make an effort. Understood?" He raised an eyebrow at me.

I rolled my eyes.

"Under. Stood?" He asked again.

"Okay, okay." I agreed and started walking away from him.

"Bye sweetie, have fun on your first day!" I heard him from behind me.

"Thanks. You too." I said to him and made my way to my class.

I had chosen literature as my major; Comparative Literature. Mostly because I had a great passion for it. I loved everything about it, I loved studying it, I loved the life that it brought. I loved creating literature. I loved all forms of it, poems, novels; every single thing about it was so intriguing to me.

Chris, on the other hand was studying photography. It was also his passion.

Immediately I stepped into class, I had a seat and watched the long day commerce.

The rest of the day rolled by as quickly as I prayed it would. I made my way out of the class and out of the department building. Walking to Chris' car, I decided to give him a call.

He picked up, "Grace."

"Hey Chris, where are you?" I asked. "I'm done with all my classes."

"Um, I'd be there." He informed me. "Could you just wait like 15 or 30 minutes? I have to finish up."

"Sure, okay." I said to him. "I'm gonna find something to do while I wait for you."

"Stay where I can find you."

"No problem." I hung up.

I looked around for anything I could possibly do to kill time. Then not too far away, I spotted an ice cream stand. I began walking over to the stand, making a mental note to stuff our refrigerator with buckets of ice cream very soon.

I felt my phone vibrate in the pocket of my jean. I took it out of my pocket to see that it was my mother who was calling.

I hit accept.

"Hey mom." I said, carefully passing through people.

"Hey sweetie. How are you? How's your house? How's Chris? How's college? How was your first day? I'm sorry I couldn't call last night, I got home late and my battery was flat and I was tired so I just-"

"Mom, mom! Slow down." I said, making a left turn and down the walkway.

She laughed nervously, "Sorry, sweetie. I'm just stressed."

"No problem. I'm fine, everything's fine, the apartment's fine, Chris is fine, we're all fine." I answered her. "What about you? How are you doing? How'rethings at home?"

"Good. It's all good."

I stopped in front of the ice cream stand and said to the man, "Strawberry chocolate chip, please."

"Coming right up." He smiled.

"So mom, how's work?"

"It's all good, sweetheart." I felt her smile.

"Here you go, miss." The ice cream man handed my order to me.

I heard my mom saying things I couldn't really make out when I said, "Hold on a sec, mom."

I said a quick thank you and paid the man his money. While doing so, I began licking into the ice cream and it tasted divine.

"Oh okay, but--"

I heard my mom again but I wasn't really listening when I asked the man for another one.

"Okay, miss." He smiled again.

"Uh, mom, what were you saying?" I asked, ice cream in my mouth.

"I was telling you about how your father's doing. He got a promotion at the company."

"That's great." Was all I said.

"Grace."

"What?"

"Can you at least pretend to be happy for him?"

"Here, miss." The ice cream man said, handing me over an ice cream cup.

Then I paid the man his money and said, "Wrap it up for me, please."

"Grace?" My mom's high pitched voice sounded through the phone.

"I am happy for him."

"Are you sure?"

The man handed me the bag and I gave him a curt nod of gratitude.

"Uh, mom, can I call you back later?"

"Yeah, but um, before you hang up-"

"Yes?"

I took short strides away from the ice cream stand. I squeezed my way past the swarm of college students who were walking on the side walk. I simply took a wild guess that this was a busy afternoon because of the amount of people everywhere.

"Mommy loves you." She said rather sweetly.

"I love you too--" Then all of a sudden, I was pushed from my side and the ice cream jolted out of my hand and into the road.

I don't joke with ice cream.

"Shit." I cursed under my breath.

I definitely wasn't thinking about anything else in that moment when I ran into the road to pick it up. I became aware that my choice was quite reckless when I heard screeching of tires.

I felt a car halt just a few inches away from me, causing the breeze from said action to swat my hair to my face. I pushed my blonde hair backward and heard the car door open.

From the corner of my eye, I could make out a male figure.

"Are you crazy?! Why would you just barge into the middle of the roa-"

Then I looked up at him, and he stopped for a moment, just staring at me.

"-road like that." He said, his harsh tone changing entirely.

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~Chris xx.