electric touch // luke patterson

the grudge - olivia rodrigo

GRACIE HOPPED UP HER PORCH STEPS with a grin placed prettily against her face. she was dancing stupidly, singing her own song which her band would be performing in just an hour.

she swung open her door and kicked off her shoes as she continued to dance and sing, not bothering to look at who was in her living room - she knew it was just jj and her parents.

"what's with you?" a voice asked, making gracie jump and spin around. she gasped, her cheeks burning at the sight of madeleine sitting on the couch with jj as her entire family stared.

"what're you doing home?" she asked, standing with her arms hanging by her side. her grin was gone, replaced by a nervous smile.

madeleine furrowed her brows, "aren't you gonna greet me like you love me?"

gracie rushed forward to hug her sister from the back of the couch, squeezing the girl especially hard to make her complain. when the blonde pulled away, madeleine explained, "i took off practice this weekend and was able to get out of some of my classes, most of them were cancelled."

"great! you can help me get ready!" gracie laughed excitedly, trying to pull her sister up.

"for what, exactly?" her mom spoke up. gracie looked up, her smile slipping at her parents expressions.

the teen swallowed, looking between them. she dropped her sister's hand and fiddled with her hair, "julie's band is playing tonight... i was gonna go to the place they're performing at." she shot jj a look when she felt his stare on her cheek.

"it's a school night." her dad scolded.

gracie twisted her hair around her fingers, "yeah, but... my grades are good right now and it's not gonna be late. i'll leave early if i have to."

her mom laughed making gracie share a confused face with her siblings, "what's so funny?"

"well," tonia chuckled, "it's just... i just find it funny how you seem to keep all these empty promises. cutting everything, lately, huh?"

gracie's gut twisted and she turned to her dad, "can you explain, please?"

caeden gave her a warning look, "school called. you missed your first three periods today and you're about to fail music. you know how much money we put into you going to that school for music? and now you're about to fail it?"

gracie shook her head, "no, no -"

"you know you missed a calculus test this morning? and then a lab in economics and a quiz in french." her mom listed.

gracie sighed, "well -"

"go to your room." her dad cut her off. gracie's brows knit together.

"can you listen to me?"

"we put a lot of money into your little hobby, and you don't even follow through with it. we told you that you need to focus on school, and you agreed you would. go to your room." her mom said, standing.

"mom!" gracie shouted, earning surprised looks from her siblings and an angered expression from tonia, "it's not just a hobby -"

"music isn't your future, is it?"

"maybe it is!" gracie said, feeling her bottom lip quiver. jj's face fell, looking between his sister and his mom.

"even if you did good in your class and showed interest in it, you wouldn't make it. do you even understand how hard it is to gain a career as a musician? you can't just look at taylor swift and decide you want to be her." her mom said loudly, her hands on her hips.