Chapter 25
"Grace!" Christian called out for me, honking his car.
"I'm coming, I'm coming!" I said as I locked the front door and hurried into Chris' car.
"You look like shit." He said as he started driving.
"Gee, thanks." I rolled my eyes and zipped up my bag.
I arrived home late yesterday night and after that, I still wasn't able to get any sleep. I woke up really late this morning and I was a mess, trying to sort myself fast enough.
"So, how did yesterday go?" Chris asked.
"It sucked that you weren't there though, but it was my best birthday yet." I said with a smile. "Dean took us to Sunnyvale and I saw so many beautiful places."
Chris smiled, "Of course it was the best birthday."
I looked at him.
"Look at how happy you look just talking about the day you had with Dean, your smile is literally b
Chapter 26It was a cold Saturday afternoon.I woke up late and Chris had already stepped out when I did. After taking a warm shower, I threw on a purple sweater and blue jeans. I headed to the kitchen and started fixing brunch for myself.I had on my Beats By Dr Dre headphone listening to Anne Marie because she's awesome. I was bobbing my head and moving my body to the rhythm of the song as I sang along and used the spoon in my hand as a microphone.I felt my heart jump out of my body when all of a sudden, someone bigger than me wrapped their arms around my shoulders from behind."Bloody fucking hell!" I screamed and hit them in the stomach with my elbow."Holy shit, Grace!" I heard a familiar voice groan as I took off the headphone and placed it on the counter.I turned around
Chapter 27I had exited my COMPLIT 121 poetry class and I had only one class left for the day. But it wasn't until the next two hours and I was already feeling exhausted.School is out for my life, I swear.Chris was still in class and judging by Dean's schedule, he would be dismissed from class in any minute. With a small smile on my face, I adjusted my bag on my back, clutching onto the strap and began walking towards Dean's department.By the time I got there, there were several people loitered around the front of the building. My eyes searched for Dean and as they landed on him, my heartbeat seemed to quicken its pace. Dean wasn't alone though, he was speaking to a girl who had her back faced to me but I didn't really care about her, my eyes were fixed on Dean as I walked over to him."Hi Dean." I chirped as I stopped in front of him.Dean seemed taken aback
Chapter 28"Green beans?" Dean asked, holding out a can."Sure, okay." I said.He took out five extra cans and added them to the cart.It was a Friday afternoon and Dean, Chris and I went out grocery shopping. I was dressed in a pink sweater and black booty shorts. My hair was high up in a neat ponytail and I had Nike sneakers on my feet.Dean, on the other hand, was dressed in a grey shirt and black jeans. His hair was, as usual, in a hot mess and he had his favorite vans on his feet.I looked beside me, "Where's Chris?"He motioned behind us, "Over there."I looked backward to see Christian standing a few feet away from us, a light crease etched between his eyebrows as he stood there, still debating on what brand of canned sausages to buy."Okay." I said faintl
Chapter 29Midterms had come and gone.Thank freaking god.When I got back from school yesterday, I kicked off my shoes, went straight to my room and collapsed on my bed, not even bothering to get out of my clothes. Midterms rendered me stressed to my very bones, studying had eaten up all of my time and I was barely getting any sleep because of it.This morning, I woke up to see that it was around 11:00 AM. I felt better and well rested as I took my clothes off, brushed, showered and changed into a big grey sweater that ended mid-thigh. I also had knee high socks to protect my feet from the cold.The thought of going home soon for thanksgiving put a smile on my face.I walked out of my room and started to hear voices and aggressive TV sounds coming from the living room. I made my way into the living room to see Chris and Dean seated on the couch, co
Chapter 30"Okay, I think that's everything for me." Chris said and zipped up his suitcase."I'll be done in a sec." I said quietly as I placed my toiletries in my suitcase. "Hey, have you seen my pink headband?""Grace." Chris called."Yes?" I responded, not looking at him."Are we ever gonna talk about last night?" He asked."What about last night?" I asked back, looking around for my headband."Grace-""Look, Chris." I looked at him and sighed. "I had no idea what I was saying last night, I had some stuff to drink, I guess I was just pretty mad at everything and I said stupid shit that I didn't even mean. My head was fucked up last night, I didn't mean any of the shit I said.""You don't have to say that." Chris said, leaning on the couch. "You don't have to say you didn't mean any of it because you're
Chapter 31"Hey Grace." Kyle said at the other end of the phone.I positioned my phone between my head and shoulder, "Hey you. I thought you were in Bath already.""I am." He said.I opened the refrigerator with my left hand and my eyes roamed around its content, searching for the love of my life."Whoa, how much is this call gonna cost you?" I chuckled as my eyes landed on a tub of strawberry chocolate chip ice cream.Come to me, baby."Apparently my mother's got it all covered." He said. "She has been spoiling the shit out of me ever since I got here.""Typical." I said as I took out the tub of ice cream, a plastic spoon, whipped cream and Oreos. I adjusted them all in my hands and placed them atop the counter. "How are your half siblings? Are they brats?"His laugh sounded through the phone, "They
Chapter 32Dean took me to a park.We were the only ones at the park and we were seated on the grass. It was dimly lit and comfortably quiet.Except for the sounds of my crying.All Dean did was hold me, ever so closely to him, as I cried into his chest. We had been in that position for minutes, half an hour maybe, I wasn't sure. But what I was sure of was the way Dean held me, his arms wrapped around me, pulling me close to him. He held me like he was trying to shield me from the hurt I was feeling and somehow make it go away, gently stroking my hair, whispering comforting words to me, never once asking me what had happened and never once apologizing for what he knew not of.He just held me.And I could've stayed in that position forever.Truth is, I was able to calm myself down a little bit before Dean arrived at my house. I was out of th
Chapter 33"Maybe we'd get a Christmas tree but it wouldn't be a big one." I said and gasped excitedly, hitting his arm. "Ooouu, and candy canes! I want lots and lots of candy canes!"Kyle chuckled down at me, "You know, I find it really weird that you want to decorate your house when you wouldn't be spending Christmas at your house."I let out a soft laugh, "Psh, so? It's good to have that Christmas feeling because it's Christmas!""No, it's not." He smiled at how childish I was acting. "December 25th is Christmas. Today is December the 5th. I don't get why everybody goes all out way before the big day.""Yeah, I get that it's the 25th but Christmas isn't just a day, it's a season!" I said in a soothing voice, smiling as I did. "Christmas is December. Back home, we don't put down our Christmas tree until New Years Eve.""Oh, wow.""And
Chapter 73{ D E A N }Something wasn't right.There was something wrong with Grace and I could feel it in my gut.Maybe it was the way she always seemed distracted, maybe it was the way the littlest things I said or did caused her demeanor to change, maybe it was the way she always seemed lost in thoughts, maybe it was the way I could simply tell when something wasn't right with her but this was a gut feeling.And I was going crazy with the oblivion.It hurt that she didn't want me to be there for her. Whenever I asked her what the matter wa
Chapter 72I had no idea what to do.Kendra had given me the offer again.We had quite the conversation when she called me last week. We talked about everything that happened and how it affected her view of me. We talked of how relieved she felt when her son told her that it was all a misunderstanding and everything was done out of spite. We talked about how she had received a call from Dean Ryan and the heart-to-heart conversation they had.We talked about how hesitant she was to contact me when the truth behind the photo was revealed. We talked about how shocked and happy she felt when she received my email. She talked about
Chapter 71"Hi." Dean said in the most feathery voice, his tone completely matching mine.Someone teach me how to breathe, please.I literally held my heart in my hands as I stood in front of him. I had no idea how this was going to go or what I should've said next but all I knew was that there were a million things that I was finally ready to get off my chest. I was done fighting it, I was done trying to act strong, I was done with all of it. Because standing there in that very moment, I realized something;I missed him.God, I missed him painfully."Can I come in?" I asked him.He cleared his throat like my voice snapped him out of a trance
Chapter 70I woke up the next morning with this nervous feeling in my stomach. Every action I performed, right from brushing my teeth, having a shower and getting ready, made the feeling in my stomach go up a notch every time.Every bone in my body screamed at me to just stay home today until I was sure that I could go to school without feeling like anxiety was about to knock me out but there was also a voice at the back of my mind that told me to suck it up and get this over with once and for all.I swear, I felt like a freshman on their first day of high school.Chris and I's schedule no longer aligned this year. As my first lecture of the day began at 9
Chapter 69{ G R A C E }Summer had come to an end, making it close to two months since I last saw or spoke to Dean.I remember that day vividly everyday. I remember how hurt Dean looked when I walked out of the penthouse which was basically our home for months. I remember how his face fell when he begged me not to fall out of love with him and I lied through my teeth. I remember feeling like a part of me was missing when I had to force myself to be okay. I remember going back to my best friend and him trying to get me to hear him out.Chris had told me that Dean had explained to him what really happened and that if I'd just listen to what
Chapter 68{ D E A N }Three days.I hadn't heard from Grace in three days.Ever since she broke up with me, I've felt completely empty. As cheesy and over the top as this may sound, everything seemed to have lost purpose and meaning. I never thought a time like this would come, where Grace would no longer want anything to do with me, where we wouldn't be together.After that morning at Chris', I drove back home feeling the deepest void inside me. I had been texting Grace nonstop to hear me out but I haven't gotten a response from her. It was only today that I realized that she had blocked my number, if not deleted it and that hurt me, a lot. If sh
Chapter 67I felt the pain in my core.It was as though someone had thrown a heavy weight upon my chest, crushing and crumbling my heart bit by bit. My head was spinning, everything around me at that moment was spinning. I felt a heavy lump in my throat as my eyes never left the laptop screen. Jenna was saying something but I had completely drowned her out, trying to calm the wave going on in my head.The photo stared back at me, taunting me, mocking me, causing a thousand questions to flood through my mind and rush back out. I wanted to believe that this was all just some stupid prank, that Jenna was lying about all of this, that Dean had not
Chapter 66Chris' photos got approved.He was so happy and excited that his work was going to be displayed on Mark Finston's photo exhibit and Dean and I couldn't have been happier for him. We still hadn't seen the photos, Chris wouldn't let us. He said he wanted us to see it for the first time in the exhibit and we didn't mind, honestly. We were just really proud of him and his accomplishments.The photo exhibit was tonight and Dean and I had gotten ready to leave. We had agreed to meet Chris there, as well as our other friends whom he had invited. I was dressed in a rose gold dress which hugged my upper body and flared from my waist, ending mid-thi
Chapter 65"Oh my Jesus!" The sound of Chris' voice boomed over the entire living room. "Holy fucking shit! I'm gonna be blind, I'm gonna be blind! I'm gonna be fucking blind!""Chris, what the fuck?!" Dean shouted as he wrapped me up in him as an attempt to cover me up."I'm never gonna see again!" Chris exaggerated, throwing his hands over his eyes. "Please put some fucking clothes on! Holy mother of Jesus. How will I ever unsee that?"I couldn't help but laugh at how ridiculous he was being. Dean's glare etched his features as he lifted himself off me, looking around for wherever we threw our clothes to. He tossed his shirt to me, putting on his briefs right after. I put the sh