A Touch of Grace✔️ (Wattpad version)

Halloween dance

The bruising healed finally, as did the broken nose, where I looked like myself. I still had nightmares of that day, but I didn't tell anyone about it. Eventually, they would go away, I hope.

The Halloween dance at school was coming up, and I wasn't sure if I wanted to go, especially after what happened at Homecoming.

"Aww, come on, Gracie," Tony said in a whiny voice.

"I don't know, Tony. After homecoming, do I want to suffer through that again?" I asked Tony.

"But it'll be fun. We're all going to dress up," Tony said, almost begging.

Zack moved from holding my hand to placing his hands on my waist and pulling me to him, "How about we go, then we can go back to your house and watch scary movies?"

"You want to go to this dance?" I questioned Zack.

"Unfortunately not, but the guys want to go," Zack said to me.

I sighed. "Fine, but only for a little."

Tony whooped in excitement and grabbed me, giving me a sloppy kiss on the side of the cheek. I wiped it off, giving him a look while the others laughed. I'm attending a dance, sigh.

The dance arrived, and Zack and I went as Bonnie and Clyde. The others dressed like other outlaws. Sean went as John Dillinger, Tony as Baby Face Nelson, and Lucas as Pretty Boy Floyd. Our dads found it comical where Mom shook her head at us in disbelief.

"Oh, come on, baby, it's irony at its best," Dad signed to Mom.

"Uh, huh, sure," she signed back.

In case you're wondering, yes, Mom knows about the family business. I stay out of it and prefer my friends to stay out of it.

We went to the dance, and it wasn't terrible. We had fun mostly, but after a while, I was ready to leave, well, until two girls stopped me. While I dealt with them, another girl made a move on Zack. Seriously?

I walked over to Zack, and the girl tapped my hand on the girl's shoulder. "Excuse me, but get the hell away from my boyfriend!" I snapped.

The girl turned to me, "No offense, but Zack is hot for an ugly thing like you."

What the hell? Is this girl for real?

"Well, I take offense. Now get your slutty hands off my boyfriend," I shouted at her.

"Oh, run along. Zack and I have some unfinished business to attend," the girl said to me.

"Unfinished business? Zack, what does she mean?" I asked, confused.

Before he said anything, the girl whipped around and said, "Didn't Zack tell you, we hooked up many, many times? He's quite the wonder in bed if you know what I mean?" A smirked formed on the girl's lips, and I looked at her then at Zack. Wow, I knew the guys had a past, but I didn't know how much of a history.

"Fine, Zack's all yours," I said as I stormed off as Zack tried to stop me.

Zack looked at the girl. "It was one time and a big mistake. Come near me again, and you won't like me." The girl's mouth dropped as he ran past her.

I walked home, knowing that I was putting myself at risk, but I didn't care. I mean, what's the point? I think things are good; someone comes along and ruins your happiness every single time.

I reached my house and went inside it. Dad and Mom looked up at me, then noticed the smudged makeup. Dad stood up. "Baby girl, what's wrong?"

"You know how you think things are going right in your life, but in one moment, they go wrong?" I asked.

"Yeah," Dad said, furrowing his eyebrows.

"That's the story of my life," I said, sniffling.

"What happened?" Mom signed.

"Besides the fact that no one will let me be happy, nothing much," I signed back. I started up the stairs, then turned and signed. "Oh, and Zack and I are over. He has unfinished business with some slut at school. Night."

With that, I ran upstairs, slamming my door shut and locking it. Mom looked at Dad and signed, "What happened?"

"Trouble happened," Dad signed back. He grabbed a jacket and his keys, then went looking for Zack.

I lay in bed with the lights off. I wasn't in the mood to watch anything since it turned out to be a shitty night. Therefore, I didn't want to go to dances. Yeah, the Barbie bitches may be history, but there is always some girl to take their place.

As I lay there, I heard a lot of shouting coming from downstairs. Oh, lord, what's going on? I got up and made my way downstairs slowly to see the guys, Dad, Chase, and Brax yelling at each other. Chase shoved Zack onto the couch. "What the fuck is wrong with you? I told you these girls that you got mixed up with were nothing but trouble! But you didn't listen!" Chase yelled.

"I know! I fucked up," Zack yelled back.

Dad took a seat in front of Zack. "Yeah, you fucked up. Zackery, I will say this once, get your shit together."

"Ace, I'm sorry. All I wanted was for Grace to have a good time. I didn't know that was going to happen," Zack said.

"Well, it did, and now, I have a troubled daughter. Look, you boys have a past, and Grace knows this, but it doesn't mean she needs her face rubbed into it constantly. Let me ask you. Has she ever brought up your history with girls?" Dad asked Zack.

"No," Zack answered.

"Then why the fuck is it necessary for these twats to bring it up to Grace?" Dad asked.

"Honestly, I don't know," Zack said, running his hand through his hair.

"Well, now you have a bigger problem," Dad said to Zack.

"What's that?" Zack asked.

"Now you need to fix this," Dad ordered him.

While they talked, Mom tried to get Dad's attention, but Dad focused on Zack. Then she picked up a knick-knack and threw it at Dad, hitting him. I stifled a giggle.

"Hope! Why did you do that?" Dad signed.

Mom pointed at me on the steps. They all turned to look at me, and Zack got up, making his way to me, "Gracie?"

"Zack?" I said.

"I'm sorry," Zack apologized.

"For which part? That you gave me a speech about slowing down. That your roll in the hay rubbed my face in your past conquests? Hmmm, I'm waiting," I said.

"Okay, I deserve that, but I swear it was one time. It was a stupid mistake," Zack said to me.

"Look, I get it. I know you have a past, but maybe it's not meant to be, you and me," I said.

"What are you saying?" Zack asked, furrowing his brows.

"I'm saying there will always be some girl that feels the need to come between us and ruin things," I said.

"Gracie," Zack said.

"Look, Zack. I want to be with you but not at the expense of worrying about your past rearing its ugly head. Maybe we should call it a day," I said as I got up and went back upstairs to my room.

Zack stood there and watched as I disappeared, then turned around to see everyone stand there, watching him crash and burn. "You're right, Dad."

"About what?" Chase asked.

"The minute you find the girl you want to be with, someone comes along and fucks it up. In my case, it's my past," Zack said as he came down the stairs and started for the door.

"Where are you going?" Chase yelled.

"Like Ace said. I need to fix it! I will not lose the one girl I love because of my past," Zack exclaimed, and with that, he left.

"It looks like the shit is about to hit the fan," Brax said.

"Come on, you idiot," Chase said as he left with Brax. Sean and Tony followed suit while Lucas stayed. It will be a long night at home.