Bullied by Hayes Grier

Chapter 26

Grace's POV
after the sleepover+

Hayes isn't back yet and I'm running out of time. I have to tell him over the phone. I don't want to but he needs to know. I'll call him after I walk a friend home.

On my way back, guess who I bumped into? "Hey Kevin!" I say. "Sup Grace," he said. "Gosh it feels like I haven't seen you in forever," I hugged him. "How've you been?" he asked, as we continued to walk. "Eh. I've been better. I'm actually moving next week," my small smile fades.

"Really? How did Hayes react?" his eyes widen. "I'm actually gonna tell him later today," I sigh. "Sorry Grace. I know this is probably super hard for you," he pats my shoulder. I nod my head as we keep walking down the street.

We approached my house, so I said goodbye and went inside. Mom was in the kitchen sweeping the floor. "I'm back mom," I say. "Good. Um, I put some boxes up in your room so you can go ahead and start packing. "Okay. Thanks," I nod, then head upstairs.

I walk into my room and look around. God, I grew up in this room. It's been my home for 14 years now. I mean, yeah, some of those years weren't the best, but still. This was my haven all my life.

I looked over and my bookshelf and decided I should start there. I slid a box in that direction and began taking books down. In about 45 minutes, I had gotten all of my books packed into two boxes. I put the lids on the boxes and used a marker to label it– Grace's books.

I sat on my bed and reached for my phone. I figured I should send Hayes a text to see whether he was busy or not. I don't wanna do this over text. I'll at least call him, but I can't FaceTime him. His facial expression would hurt me too much.

It took a while for him to respond because of course, he was busy. He said we can talk tonight, after his show. That at least gives me time to think of how I'll break the news to him. I sigh and stand up from my bed, heading downstairs.

Mom wants us to eat most, if not all of our food before we move. That's less boxes to pack in the long run. That's also why I had that sleep over with so many people. We ate a lot of stuff.

I open the fridge and looked for any remaining food. It's practically empty though. The milk, lunch meat, cheese, eggs, bacon, ice cream, toaster waffles... all gone. I open the pantry and find two boxes of cereal, some can foods and snacks. That's about it.

I sort through the canned foods and see baked beans and soup for the most part. I grab a can of beans and opened it up. I poured the beans into a pot and turned the stove on. I took out some cinnamon because I love using it for beans and set it on the counter space next to the stove. Now, I wait.

-

I washed all the dishes I used and put them back into the cabinets. I walked back up to my room and stood near the bed. I still have a lot more packing to do.

I let out a deep sigh and looked around. I slid my boxes full of books to the side and decide to pack up my vanity.

I won't be wearing makeup in the next week so I'll just put it all in boxes. I put my makeup brushes, foundations, lipsticks, eye pallets and any other makeup in the box. Once it was filled, I took the marker and labeled it.

I toss the marker aside and flop back onto the bed. It's about 8:30 now. I grab my phone and decide to call Hayes. I figured I should FaceTime him to make it somewhat face to face. He answered within seconds.

"Hey babe," he smiled.

"Hey," I gave him a weak smile.

"What's up?" he asks.

"Listen– I know you're probably doing something with the guys," I laugh and refer to the guys I see in the background. "but I gotta tell you something,"

"What is it?" he adjusts his phone to see me better.

"I'm uhh, m-moving," I nearly choke on my words.

"That's okay. We can work with that," he tries to reassure me, but mostly himself.

"Baby, no. I'm moving to California," I whisper.

...

"Hayes?" I look at him. "Say something. Don't just sit there."

"When do you leave?" he asks.

"Next week," I tear up.

"Next fucking week? Why would you wait so long to tell me this?!" he yelled at me.

"Hayes, I just found out that day I left the tour," I reply in defense.

"I can't believe you! You let me fall for you just so you can leave?!"

"I just said I didn't know. You honestly don't make any sense right now. Chill the fuck out," I yell back.

"So you just randomly pack up and leave with only a weeks notice? Makes perfect sense," he rolls his eyes.

"Hayes listen. My mom got–"
...

Did he just... hang up on me? Really? This isn't even my fault! How can he seriously be made at me?

I throw my phone across the floor and stand up. Just fucking great. The last thing I wanted was to end things badly with Hayes.

I've honestly had enough for one day. I took off my clothes and changed into a pair of Jake's old basketball shorts and a tank top. I climb into bed and snuggle up underneath the warm blankets.

I close my eyes and try to forget about my call with Hayes, but I just can't. He seemed so– so angry with me...

-

-

-

-

An update!! Finally!!! I know for most (if not all) of you, school is about to end!! Which means I'll be updating wayyyy more because my last day is the 6th.

Love you guys soooo much and thank you for being so awesome and leaving comments (I read them all btw😊)

Question of the day (I think I'm gonna do these when I update to get to know you guys more. Like it?): What do you plan on doing this summer?

xoxo 💋