does anyone want to make me a new cover? my photoshop stopped working and I really want a new one hahaxD so yeah.. lol, if not, I'll just leave this one:)
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I sighed happily as my feet slid out of my heels and onto the plush hallway carpet. They had not worked so well walking the distance from the bus stop to my house, which was about a five minute walk but it was also uphill.
"Grace." My mother called softly from the kitchen. I heard some rustling of papers and groaned inwardly, hoping my mom hadn't done exactly what I thought she did.
My feet carried me across the carpet and onto the dark hardwood floor before walking down the short hall to the kitchen. My mother sat with a few papers in front of her, glasses pushed on top of her head, hair pulled back into a bun. Her hands were crossed in front of her, a clear stance that said 'we need to talk.' You see, I wasn't the type of girl to rebel and my mom had obviously worried insanely about me.
"Please sit." She said coolly, her hand pulling out of her grip to motion for the stool directly across the table from her.
“‘Kay.” I mumbled before complying. She stared at me for a moment, still in shock at what I had done to myself, before she cleared her throat and glanced down at the speech she most likely already memorized. My mom had this...thing with writing speeches. Every monumental event in my life is documented by a speech. My first period, my first day of high school, my first high school party, my graduation from grade 8, my first sleepover. The list goes on. She was just really prepared which is why it didn't surprise me that she sat here with one in front of her.
Her eyes met my own and she sighed again.
"Grace," She started before taking a dramatic pause. I wonder if she even wrote when to take the dramatic pauses. Who am I kidding? Of course she did. "I know you are growing up and that teenagers sometimes need to rebel. It is totally understandable that you feel the need to go against our wishes, although you haven't done that yet, with all those raging hormones you have inside of you. I also know that sometimes teenagers decide to change something about themselves. Your Aunt Trisha went through this already with her daughter, Cassidy. Or how she now likes to be called; Raven."
I snorted at my cousins awful death metal transformation after her boyfriend broke up with her. This allowed me to receive a silencing glare from my mother. She wasn't very pleased with me at the moment apparently.
"I realize that teens like to make changes but you also have done it quite drastically. I didn't recognize you at first sight and the way you've been acting is quite uncharacteristic of your personality. I don't know what happened to make you come to the conclusion of changing yourself, but I presume it has something to do with that boy Parker." She paused as she put the paper she had been reading off of behind the next page. I took the pause as a sign that I could talk.
"It's nice that you're voicing your concerns mom, but it's unneeded. I know what I'm doing, and I know it may seem like a big change to you, but I've wanted to do it for a while now," I lied. "You have nothing to worry about. I'm still me, just in a different skin." I tried before flashing a wide grin at her. She blinked at me for a moment before sighing once more. She pushed her speech away from herself and looked back at me intently.
"I really do hope this doesn't turn into anything serious. I know how you are and maybe it's just a faze, I went through a few of my own crazy stages when I was around your age. All for that one boy’s attention..." She smiled at the thought before I raised my eyebrows.
"Was he worth it?" I asked her.
"Some days, no. But most days, a very big yes. He laughed at me while I screamed bloody murder while giving birth to your lovely face but he did cry when you were born though. That may be that only moment I'll ever see your father cry." She smiled dreamily, her eyes glazing over as she rehashed old memories.
"You met dad in high school?" I questioned her. "You never told me that."
"You never asked," She shrugged simply before standing up. Her hands pushed the speech across the table towards me. "You can finish reading if you want. I'm going to go call your father."
"Okay, I will." I lied. She smiled at me before kissing me on the cheek and heading out of the kitchen. My eyes rolled on their own as I thought about my mom's failed speech. The only thing that reassured her that I had it under control was me lying to her face. Surprisingly, it didn't hurt as much as it used to, lying to her. I used to feel extreme guilt whenever I lied to my mom. But now...? Not even a spec to be found. Well, maybe a small sliver deep down in the pits of my heart.
My mother’s laugh echoed through the house as she talked to my dad. I slid out of the stool and grabbed my bag out of the front hallway before walking to my room, her laughter drifting all the way to my room. I shut the door with my hip; dropping my bag on my bed before going over to my desk and flipping open my laptop. The machine whirred to life and the screen brightened with the login screen. I quickly typing in my password and waited as the computer loaded itself up. Finally, after a few moments of waiting, it stopped the small hourglass from turning and allowed me to do whatever I wanted. I stuck in the USB and pulled open the files, knowing exactly what I was going to do.
Ah, internet, how I love you!
My hands ran over the keyboard and typed in the website known as ‘Facebook.’
As soon as I got there, I made sure my chat was offline so no one could spot me. I went over to create a group, and clicked it. I titled the group Parker’s Poetry, and then made sure it was on private. I put up a few of the amateur poems from 2009 as wall posts then began inviting. I invited every person that I had on facebook from our school, except for Parker and Teagan of course. Soon people had taken interest, and they started liking the poetry I had posted. I began posting more of them, taking my time and knowing perfectly well that he would be a laughing stock by tomorrow.
Before I pushed away from my computer, I posted one last poem, knowing I would post more in a few hours. I knew people were going to question of the poetry was real or not so I made sure to say the dates of all the poetry. Hopefully people being as gullible as they are will see past the holes and just believe that he wrote them.
Now, I needed to go out and buy the same lock as Parker to complete the next stage in my plan. Also, I needed to find a place that sold spiders. Real or fake. Either would do.
My mind floated back to earlier, and I winced. The words Greg had said hurt, and I couldn’t help but be utterly surprised that he liked me. Well, he had liked the old Grace, but not so much this one. I should have said something to him; he was the only one that actually cared what happened to me after the incident last Friday, something to make him understand that I didn’t want to hurt him. But I did. That last look he gave me said it all.
It hurt to think that I had just lost one of my best friends. I mean, really, he was that. He drove me around a lot, hung out with me even when his friends weren’t around, he even helped me out with my chemistry homework because he was a science genius and I unfortunately was not.
He was right when he said I relied on him. How was I ever going to get around without all my friends and their cars? I couldn’t take the bus everywhere, especially with the new heels I was going to be wearing. I was also going to fail chemistry without Greg.
Sighing, I put my head in my hand and thought about it.
Maybe I could make new friends with someone who had a car? Hire a tutor?
But then, I would have something to lose again. Damn, there was no way around taking the bus. I guess hiring a tutor would be okay.
Blowing my bangs out of my eyes, I stood up and walked over to my closet, picking my outfit out for tomorrow. My homework sat in my bag, waiting for me to pull it out. I knew I had Ms. Bitch (also known as Ms. Cook) tomorrow and I had some Macbeth homework that I had put off all weekend so I pushed myself away from the closet and got down to work.
A couple hours later, my mom’s hushed voice drifted to my door.
“...I talked to her earlier. Just pretend its normal, okay?” I heard her say. The only reason I heard it was because I happened to be just about to open my door and go to the kitchen to see if dinner was ready then I heard them talking. My ear automatically pressed up against the door.
My dad grunted in response to her.
“Hun, please! She’s growing up. She can’t stay innocent forever.” She whispered to him.
“But it happened literally overnight. How do you suppose I act? Did you see the way she dressed today? I can’t stand the thought of all those boys running around after her. She isn’t allowed to bring pepper spray to school, y’know.” He whispered back.
I heard enough so I swung my door open to reveal my parents down the hall, staring at me like deer caught in headlights. My eyebrow raised on its own, although my bangs covered it.
“Mom is dinner ready yet?” I asked with my head cocked to the side. My dad cleared his throat and looked away from me and at the doorframe beside me, clearly avoiding eye contact.
“Hi Grace. How was your day?” He asked politely. I leaned against my doorframe and decided to have a little fun.
“Oh, just great. I made out with six guys and lost my virginity. Just the usual.” I said casually. My mom began coughing, trying to cover up a laugh, knowing I was joking.
“You...did what?” My dad’s eyes almost bulged out of his head. I walked forwards and passed my dad, patting him on the shoulder.
“Don’t worry dad, I was just kidding.” I laughed before heading along to the kitchen. The smell of chicken and vegetables cut through the air and my stomach grumbled at me in delight. Sitting down, I waited as my mom and dad came back into the kitchen, before I began serving myself the food that was sitting on the table.
Tuesday morning I decided I needed to come early to school as well. I needed to greet Parker as soon as he came in from the frigid air. My bag was packed with supplies that I picked up from the dollar store last night; thankfully they sold the same lock that Parker had.
Today I happened to be wearing a fuchsia coloured blouse tucked into a pair of light wash skinny jeans with my brown ankle boots. The blouse dipped lower than my usual neckline and I felt the need to constantly tug it upwards but clasped my hands tightly together to avoid that. I curled my hair and pulled it into a lose bun at the back left side of my head.
It was around 8:20 when Parker showed up, brushing himself off with his gloves because of the fresh snow that had started falling. He didn’t see me at first so I cleared my throat to make my presence known. He did a double take, not used to the way I looked yet, and then smiled at me. He walked over to wear I was leaning against the brown brick wall while taking of his gloves and stuffing them in his jacket pocket’s.
“Good morning, Grace. You look nice.” He commented, his eyes never straying from my face. I noted that he had a nasally tone to his voice, and when he suddenly coughed that confirmed it.
“Good morning, Parker. And thank you,” I said confidently before pushing away from the wall. “Walk with me.”
He raised his eyebrows at me but I didn’t let him answer as I began walking down the main hallway. His footsteps soon joined my own in their echoing in the empty main hallway. No one really hung around in the main hallway because it only held grad photos and the doors to the auditorium, no lockers. He sneezed suddenly, causing me to flinch.
“Bless you.” I muttered.
“Thanks.” He sniffed. I glanced over at him to see him wiping his nose and mouth on his sleeve. He saw me looking and quickly pulled his arm away.
“So. You’re sick?” I asked him. He nodded.
“Yeah. May have been the fact that I had water poured on me in the freezing cold yesterday.” He laughed before sniffling again. Smiling sheepishly at him, I offered a weak ‘sorry.’
“I didn’t think you would be stupid enough to sit outside after,” I continued. “I mean, the only way you would’ve gotten sick is that you didn’t come back inside after I left.”
“Yeah, well, I was kind of thinking about you and I got distracted.” He said quietly. My stomach churned and I didn’t dare glance over in his direction. Swallowing the blush that threatened to creep up my neck, I quickly changed the subject.
“So, those leaf’s huh?” I said, hockey being the first thing that came to my mind.
“They suck. I hate being Canadian and having the worst team in the whole NHL represent my city.” He shook his head and I let out a small sigh of relief. Thank god for boys and their hockey. Suddenly, he stopped walking and looked at me.
“Why are you talking to me like this,” He paused to motion between the two of us. “Is normal. It’s not. Is this some trick of yours Grace?” He asked suspiciously. I tried to covey a surprised look, and judging by the belief in his eyes, it worked.
“It’s not some trick, I’m just talking to you. Is that not allowed?” I said with a small smile before looking away from him. He must’ve thought it was some sign that I was blushing because he wrapped his arm around my shoulder and ‘aw’d. Shaking his arm off, I began walking again hoping that had convinced him enough that I had a change of heart.
Like hell.
We finally reached his locker as he continued to talk about things that I tuned out as I planned out what was just about to happen. He began twirling the locker combination in and I waited until he placed the lock on the metal hook on the outside of the door to go into action. I reached into my bag quickly, pretending to search for something, before wrapping my purchased lock in my hand. I ‘accidentally’ knocked Parker’s lock onto the floor and knelt down to pick it up for him, switching my lock for his.
“Here.” I smiled genuinely at him, handing him my purchased lock, internally bursting with joy that he hadn’t even noticed the switch.
“Thanks.” He smiled back before grabbing my lock from my hands and closing his locker shut with it.
“I’m going to head to my locker, I’ll see you later.” I said, flashing him another smile before walking back the way we came before.
Once I had turned the corner, I slipped Parker’s open lock into my bag, hoping that it would stay open until I needed to put it back on Parker’s locker. I then gave myself a pat on the back and thanked Parker for being so much more gullible than I had expected. ‘I’m just talking to you. Is that not allowed?’ I couldn’t believe he fell for that! Then again, I didn’t really know him that well, maybe he had inherited the same sort of dumbness that Teagan had as well. Maybe their family just wasn’t very smart.
All during first period, I could feel Briana’s eyes flashing over to me. I held my ground and followed along with whatever Ms. Cook was saying, even trying to participate in class knowing that would keep me from having Briana nudge me with her elbow, pass me a note, or anything else, if Ms. Cook kept her attention on me. Briana wouldn’t dare cross Ms. Cook. She was too much of a teacher’s pet for that.
Once the bell finally rang, I saw her get up and look over at me. I also saw Teagan heading over towards me. Quickly, I picked up my stuff and didn’t bother stuffing it in my bag, running out of there faster than lightning. Note to self: Practice running in heels more often.
My ankles wobbled slightly as I fast walked down the hallway after almost having a greeting with the floor. Being the good kid I was, I went to my locker instead of going to second period. My plan was only going to work if there was no chance that Parker would be going to his locker, and Parker had gym right now. So that made sure he wasn’t going to be at his locker all period.
I waited for the bell to go before I headed over to Parker’s locker, grabbing the combination from my bag because I didn’t quite remember what it was.
Hurrying, I glanced around to see that the hallway was empty. Sighing, I began spinning away the combination on my purchased lock.
It popped open and I swung open the locker door. Dropping my bag to the ground, I pulled out the dollar store bag filled with fake fuzzy spiders, dumping it out into the locker. The spiders all were around the size of my hand and had green plastic eyes that glowed in the dark according to the packages.
“God I hope he’s afraid of spiders.” I mumbled quietly to myself before replacing my lock with his own that managed to stay open since I had put it in there. Quickly shutting the locker, I stuffed the plastic bag in my backpack before heading off to the office to get a late slip.
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pretend that everything in this chapter is totally and entirely realistic, okay? lmao
I just couldn't figure out a way to prove that the poetry was his! so, yeah, everyone is going to think that it was his. yup. super realistic.
ahahaha, hope you enjoyed it. I'm going to do these author's notes at the end now because you probably don't like them being all big and stuff at the beginning lol
next chapter will probably be on tuesday because I have to go to school on monday and get my marks. -_- I would prefer to be writing.
I'll see everybody then!
...okay, I'll see your reads/votes/comments that you leave. I won't necessarily SEE you, if you really want specifics. I'll shut up now.
vote/comment/fan:) make my day?:3
-natalie♥