Love Me Back To Life (Preview)

Be Normal

I drum my fingers on the steering wheel thinking about what I'm doing here. Seriously, what am I doing here? I'm not home to make friends, I'm not even home for that long. I run my hand down my face and groan tiredly. I'm just going to call and cancel because...well, just because.

I grab my phone and go to her name. I stare at it as I try to think of why I can tell her I'm cancelling. I don't want to lie. I swallow and my throat feels a bit scratchy. Oh, I know what I can say. I can tell her I'm coming down with something and I don't want her to be exposed. Yeah that works. I start the message and as I type, a knock on my window breaks my concentration. I look up and see Grace smiling down at me. I smile weakly and delete the message.

"Hey, you made it." She redundantly states as I step out of the car. I'm caught off guard when she wraps her arms around me and pulls me into a hug. I inhale sharply at the contact and breathe her in. She smells really good. She lets my tense body go and takes a step back. "Sorry I thought a hug would be okay, we could like high five or something next time." She tells me slightly embarrassed and I realize that I haven't said one word yet.

"No you're fine, I just didn't expect one."

"Well expect the unexpected and whatnot." She responds airily, and I snort because it's kind of corny. She laughs as well and shakes her head. "Yeah that was bad."

"Just a little bit, yeah." I nod my head in the direction of the food trucks. "Come on let's eat."

We walk in silence towards the aisle of food trucks. The streets winding down as families head back home to get ready for the new week ahead of them. Summer is fast approaching, but the school year is still in. I wonder for a moment what Grace's status is and I'm grateful for the topic because I don't know how much longer we have before the silence becomes awkward.

"So, what do you do when you're not stalking me?" I ask, turning to face her. I can see a smirk playing at her lips.

"Well, stalking you takes up so much of my time that I don't really have time to do anything else." She says, finally allowing the smirk to appear.

"Sounds exhausting." I reply quickly, mirroring her face.

"Well, since I know what you do, I guess its only fair that you know something about me." She shrugs as we reach a Korean food truck. I glance up, reading the name: 'Kogi BBQ.' Being overseas I've developed quite the palate. I've learned to not be a picky eater, not that I ever was one, but it's definitely gotten a variety of tastes since I first left home. Either eat what's in front of me, or don't eat. More often than not the food has actually been pretty good.

"That seems fair. "

"Doesn't it though!" Grace exclaims excitedly and I laugh. It feels good actually, weirdly enough it feels natural...normal. I've been trying hard to be normal and the one time I'm not trying, something normal happens. I feel a tiny bit lighter. It's making me feel a bit uncomfortable. As I have my internal freak out at how nice it feels to feel something, and decide whether or not I should feel guilty; Grace orders her food and pays. I look up and notice that she is holding two containers in her hand and two bottles of water.

"I ordered for you, your mind seemed a bit busy."

"Huh?"

I shake my head ridding it of the fog that's gathered and return to my lunch...date, I guess. I'm not entirely sure what this is, if I'm being honest. Grace giggles as she motions her head towards an empty bench nearby.

"I looked at you after I ordered my food and you seemed, I don't know, not here so I just chose something."

We sit down and she hands me a water bottle. She then holds both containers on both palms of her hands and holds them up in front of me.