Chapter 32
Dean 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 34I heard nothing from Dean that night.No texts, no calls; nothing.And I just have to admit, it kind of hurt.I don't know what I was expecting, maybe an apology via text, a voicemail, a plea from Chris, something. But he didn't do anything and I hated the fact that I was waiting for him to.I looked at my phone every ten minutes to see if there was anything from Dean and my heart sank every time I saw nothing. Whenever my phone would vibrate with a notification, I'd hurriedly take it and get disappointed when I see that it has nothing to do with him.Maybe he really didn't care anymore.Maybe he never really did.I shook that thought out of my head because I could just have been overreacting. And then I asked myself, if he had called, would I have picked up? Would I have heard him out? That, I wasn't sure of.
Chapter 35"Grace, your date is here!" I heard Chris yell from the living room.I took one last glance at myself as I heard Kyle and Chris having a conversation. I was dressed in a tight long sleeved baby pink top and dark blue skinny jeans. I had my favorite black boots on and a long black coat over the pink top. My hair was let down in loose curls and I had worn a mild casual makeup on my face.I took a deep breath and said to myself, "You've got this."I placed my phone, mascara and lipstick in my purse and walked out of my room and into the living room.Kyle and Chris ended their conversation immediately they spotted me.Kyle smiled at me as I walked over to him, "You look pretty.""Thank you." I smiled as he kissed my cheek. "You look good too."Kyle was dressed in a long sleeved blue-black button up shirt and black jea
Chapter 36Hanging out with Kyle these past few days has been wonderful. We had both learned more about each other. Kyle was also very nice, sweet and had an amazing sense of humor. He lovedlistening to music and his favorite genre was hip hop, he liked the way of the African American culture and strongly disliked racism. His favorite color was red and he wasn't a natural blonde; he dyed it when he was 14.It was nice learning more about Kyle.But, did I like him in that way? Did I see him as anything more than a friend?That, I didn't know.But, we learn to walk before we run, right?Kyle and I had just finished for the day and he insisted he walked me to my ride. He held my hand in his, intertwining our fingers and although it felt weird to have them like that, I left it there because I knew I would get used to the feeling in only a matter of time.
Chapter 37Just as promised, the party was a small one. The house wasn't void of a lot of people entirely but it wasn't packed either. It had this comfortable and snug aura. But that didn't mean that there wasn't any alcohol, drugs, loud music and sluts. All of those were present, trust me.By the time Kyle and I arrived at the party, there were only a little number of people. But as time passed by, more people arrived.Chris and Dean hadn't come yet.Kyle led me to the dining, where a circle of friends stood."Hey guys!" Kyle chirped.They all returned his greeting with smiles on their faces.A taller guy was the first to notice me. He smiled widely at me and stood in front of me, "You must be Grace!""That I am." I said, offering a polite smile."It's so nice to finally meet you." He be
Chapter 38It was exhilarating, every single second of it.His hands cupped my face gently, caressing my skin tenderly. I pressed my body closer to his as I wrapped my hands around his neck, one going up his neck and into his soft hair. Our lips moved slowly, leisurely, like we were savoring these sweet moments with our lips together.I felt Dean's tongue nibble on my bottom lip and I parted my lips slightly, granting him entrance. And immediately our tongues met one another's, the slow and leisure movement didn't feel enough anymore.My insides felt like jelly as our tongues danced with one another, tasting him, feeling him, every little wonder of his mouth. I let out a soft moan when his hands went down to grasp my waist, his fingers on my bare skin, making them feel like they were on fire.Dean placed his hands under my thighs and lifted me off the
Chapter 39It had been a week since I had been ignoring Dean.I wouldn't like to use the word 'ignoring' but I knew that was exactly what I was doing and I wasn't one to sugar coat things.Not a day went by that he didn't call, or text. And each time he did, I ignored them. Most times, I'd read through our old texts and sometimes, I'd see the three dots pop up, but I won't receive anything. It'd just be there for a long time.Most times, I'd see him lurking around my department, like he was trying to reach out to me and talk to me but at the same time he was scared to because he wanted so much to respect my wishes. And each time, all I'd want it do is walk up to him and let him drive me home as we listen to our favorite songs on the radio but I couldn't.There was this day, I saw his car around but not him and as I tried to look out for him. I saw him and Jenna seated
Chapter 40Chris sped through the streets of Santa Clara and parked at the bar in not less than 6 minutes. The car wasn't even fully parked when I opened the door and barged out of it. I waited for Chris to step down from the car but he just sat there quietly, trying to look into the bar."Hey, you coming?" I asked."Nah, just go ahead." He said to me. "I think seeing you will be for the best. If you need help carrying him, just call or something.""You sure?" I raised an eyebrow.He nodded.I made my way toward the front door of the bar and walked in. I continued to walk when my eyes spotted Dean's back, fully slouched, his hair a toppled mess on his head. I could make out the drink in his hand. I was about to walk up to him but stopped in my tracks wh
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