Saving Grace (On Hold)

Jocks, Cheerleaders and the Bad Boy, Oh My.

Dedicated to LovelyChocolatexx for her lovely comment, thank you so much for reading my story. The support means a lot hun :)

I tugged nervously at my black skirt smoothing out wrinkles that weren’t really there. I was stood in front of my full length mirror scrutinizing my appearance. Straightened blonde hair hanging halfway down my back, a buttoned up blouse with a soft brown jumper over the top paired with my knee length black skirt and opaque tights. I couldn’t figure out how to dress for school, Lucy had given me some cryptic message about how the first day was all about appearances and I couldn’t help the butterflies that swirled around my stomach uncomfortably as I debated on whether I was what she deemed presentable. 

Back home on my first day of sixth form college I hadn’t really cared about my appearance, sure everyone had wanted to look good but it wasn’t as important as meeting your new teachers and fellow students. Throughout the year people cared less and less about their clothes and when it got to exam time we were all practically going in our pyjamas. Not that anyone cared; I’d had a wide range of friends with a few close best friends so I always had them to fall back upon.

Not this year apparently. Not only was I the new girl coming into her senior year but I was British and hadn’t exactly studied the same way as required. Mum had apparently had to pull all sorts of strings in order for me to actually be allowed to enter the school and they had sent over exam tests for me to take to see where I could fit in. 

I thought I’d be fine but now I was slightly more sceptical. This was, after all, not the place I’d been born and raised. I didn’t know what was what here. You wouldn’t believe that it could be so different but Lucas and Lucy had filled me in when comparing our high school experiences. Back in England I was in sixth form college, a completely different atmosphere to high school and here I was now going back to high school. It wasn’t exactly a welcoming thought.

“Gracie, come on! Growing old down here!” Lucas called from the front door. I grabbed my over the shoulder bag that held notebooks, my pencil case, my phone and money and checked my appearance once again. Nervously tucking a strand of my hair behind my ear I walked swiftly down the stairs to find Lucas sitting on the front porch tossing his car keys up and down in boredom. I tugged on my brown lace up shoes that suited the outfit and followed him out to his car after locking the front door behind me, internally thanking Aunt Jane for keeping Patch at her house for my first day of school. Mum had taken our second hand car with her to work and had insisted on buying me a new one for myself, despite my shiny silver Volvo sat prettily in front of the house I’d chosen to ride with Lucas on my first day far too worried about driving on the wrong side of the road. Lucy had her own car and had left before I’d been ready saying something about senior cheerleader duties, I’d had no idea what she meant but agreed to meet her before the first bell.

“Finally,” Lucas muttered as I sat carefully in the passenger seat. I smiled apologetically as I glanced around me. It felt wrong sitting in the right side of the car as a passenger and not a driver and the entire way to school my stomach was twisting itself into knots that I feared would never loosen.

I’d never been so relieved to step out of a car, clutching my back on my shoulder with white knuckles as I felt the adrenaline in my body coarse to a stop. Lucas pulled himself out of his car laughing hysterically at my pale face. A large group of boys in letterman jackets ambled over noticing my cousin still doubled over with laughter, I felt my face flush as heat climbed up my neck and painted my cheeks what was apparently a deep shade of pink.