A Touch of Grace

[ chapter six: homecoming committee ]

Chapter 6: Homecoming Committee

Phoenix and Leo were right when they said that Aaron was in worse shape. On Monday, I was standing at my locker when Camryn let out a loud snort. Alice even let out a quiet chuckle, which caused me to turn around. My jaw dropped slightly as I watched Aaron limp down the hallway with his friend Thomas beside him. His left eye was bruised shut and his lip was split. His cheek was bruised and his naturally tan skin looked...gross. However, his horrid appearance didn't stop girls from flocking towards him. All it took was a synced chorus of 'Aaron, are you okay?' to cause me to roll my eyes. I immediately dropped my feelings of sorrow for him when a triumphant grin lined his face.

"He's such a jerk," I complained as I closed my locker.

"Yeah, I know," Alice nodded with a look of boredom on her face. I guess she's upset that I'm just now realizing this. Admittedly, realizing this a few months, even years ago, would've saved me a lot of pain.

"Well, enjoy avoiding him again," Camryn chuckled as the bell rang. I began walking to class, only to hear the arrogant guy's voice call my name from a few feet away.

"Grace!" Aaron called. I kept walking, pretending that I didn't hear him. "Grace!"

"What?" I asked as I whipped around. He stopped jogging and offered me a smile.

"Hey," he greeted me. "How have you been? You ran out on me at the party."

"Yeah, I was tired," I blurted as I continued to walk to class.

"Oh, well, did you give your sister my number?" he asked.

"Yeah, she wasn't interested," I told him, feeling a jolt of satisfaction run through me when I saw his eyebrows furrow.

"Oh, well, did she say anything else?" he inquired.

"No," I bluntly answered.

"Oh," he spoke. Before I could say something else, he continued to speak. "So did you hear what happened yesterday?"

"Yeah, I did," I responded.

"Yeah, Phoenix just attacked me," he explained.

"That's not what I heard," I told him, staring at the classroom down the hall. Only twenty more feet.

"What'd you hear?" he inquired.

"That you were asking for it," I responded once I reached the classroom.

"And you believe that?" he asked with raised eyebrows.

"Yeah, I do," I told him before entering the classroom. He was left standing outside with a confused look on his face.

+ + +

I managed to be left alone by Aaron for the next few days. Phoenix seemed to be controlling his urges to harass me, as well, because I found myself letting down my guard as the week continued on. In fact, Phoenix didn't really speak to me at all, and I obviously made no moves to speak to him. It wasn't until Thursday that I had to speak to Phoenix. And by had to, I mean I had no choice.

I had to rush out of the house on Thursday, mainly because I woke up late, like usual, and my siblings were threatening to leave. I didn't have a chance to grab my gym clothes, which I brought home to wash yesterday. I was standing in the locker room, rummaging through my bag repeatedly to find the obviously missing clothes when I decided to just do my exercises in my normal clothes. I'll get points deducted but it's better than getting a big, fat 0.

The thing about skinny jeans is that they look great on almost everyone, but they don't feel great when you're running a mile for warm up. When it was time for our stretches, I reached down to touch my toes but immediately stood back up, basically throwing myself against the wall. I'd heard a loud rip and I was almost positive it came from me. I practically felt the jean material tear. The air hitting my underwear proved my theory to be true. Just to be sure, I brought my hands to my pants and, like I thought, a split about four inches long found its way onto the butt of my pants.