Unravelling

Chapter 33 - Creativity

"And you are really sure that you want me to come with you?" Gracie asks for what feels like the hundredth time.

"Ye-es," I confirm, dragging out the 'e' to show how redundant I think her question is.

"He might not be too happy," she drags on.

I stop and almost cause her to bump into me. She yelps in surprise and just in time jumps aside to avoid a collision.

"Okay, one more time: you are coming with me because you and Jayden have been bugging me endlessly about what is going on with me. The same with Finn. So I have decided that I am going to tell you about it. And I prefer to go over it only once, so therefore I have to tell you all at the same time," I repeat what I have told her numerous times already this morning, but then I add: "Plus, I might need you guys' help."

"Ahh, now, see, that makes more sense," my best friend laughs. "Help with what?"

"Gracie!" I exclaim, frustrated. "All in good time, okay? And if you would stop with the questions, this would go a lot faster, ya know?"

"I guess I just kinda, like, ya know, feel bad for crashing your date," Gracie says with a cheeky grin.

"Oh, for goodness' sake, would you stop it already? I think Lauren is rubbing off on you, and in a very bad way at that. This is not a date! I don't want to have a date with Finn! Or with anyone for that matter. I am not interested in boys in that way yet. I have enough males in my life to probably last me a lifetime. At my age, finding a boyfriend is definitely not at the top of my priority list, okay? Just because Lauren is boy-crazy, and half of the other girls in our year, too, doesn't mean that I am the same. Are we clear?" I huff exasperatedly.

Gracie just laughs at my rant, clearly not taking me seriously.

When did she become so, so...teenage-y?

I glare at her again, hoping to hammer the message home that she has got it completely wrong when it comes to mine and Finn's relationship, if you can even call it that.

Although we said we would meet up the next day for lunch, we didn't manage to do that. I couldn't think of any good excuses why I would abandon my three girlfriends and Jayden, who usually sits with us, for the second day in a row. And telling them about Finn was not an option, since I would never have heard the end of it from testosterone-obsessed Lauren. She doesn't know yet that Finn and I are "on talking terms" again, and I plan to keep it that way for as long as possible.

Which means I had to wait for the perfect opportunity to meet Finn for lunch. That opportunity presented itself today, almost a week after we initially made the plan to get together again. Lauren, conveniently, is off sick and Anna has joined a Spanish club that meets once a week on Tuesdays during lunch.

Poor Anna has to endure endless teasing from us ever since we found out that Mr. Rodriguez – according to Lauren's sister the hottest teacher at this school – runs the club. She claims that she didn't know when she signed up and even has gone as far as trying to make us believe that the guy is not even that hot. Since I have not yet seen him with my own eyes, I have to take her word for it. Not that it matters to me, since thanks to Ben I find the mere thought of students lusting after teachers really off-putting.

Anyway, when I figured out this morning that today would be perfect to meet up with Finn without having to explain myself, I also decided that I would ask Gracie and Jayden to join us. That way, I can tell them all together and ask for their help with my further investigations.

Because, as it turns out, partnering up with Noah and Aidan has been anything but fruitful. The two of them are pretty useless when it comes to planning our next steps in order to dig deeper into our brothers' past and to find out when and why they moved here. I think they don't even deem it necessary anymore.