Chapter One
I sat outside in my back yard on the tree swing. I built it with my best friend when we were little. The moon shone down brilliantly through the darkness around me. The sound of crickets was all I could hear. A feeling of tranquillity washed over me; I could think here, it was peaceful.
I stared down at the blank page in front of me. It had been this way for the whole summer; nothing inspired me enough to write about it. Grace was gone. My inspiration and muse had left. I often sat out here to reflect on my life; since Grace had gone I had nothing to reflect on. But tomorrow that was going to change, I would see her for the first time in months and the place in my heart that belonged to Grace; would fill up again.
Tomorrow was the first day back at school after the summer. I hated school. I was a B standard student, this came quite easily to me. If I applied myself more I could probably achieve better grades, but my heart has always been elsewhere. My music has always been number one, the most important thing to me. My father and Grace had always supported that and the reasons why.
My phone ringing smashed me out of my train of thought, I took it out of my pocket and my face lit up as I looked down at the caller ID, it was Grace.
“Hello?” I answered, trying to sound calm
“OLIVER!” She screeched, not bothering to hold back her excitement, “I’ve missed you! How are you? I’ve forgotten what you look like!” She blabbed and then stopped to breath.
“I’ve missed you too Grace” I began, “I’m great what about you? And tell me about it! My summer has sucked without you, how was Italy?” I replied honestly.
“I’m good too! Aww Oliver I’m sorry for leaving you all summer but I’ll have to tell you about Italy tomorrow, Aiden has just pulled up, bye!” she said quickly and hung up the phone, not bothering to give me time to respond.
I pulled the phone away from my ear and looked at it in disbelief, nice talking to you too, I said quietly to myself. I put my phone back in my pocket and stared down at my notebook. Disappointment and loneliness washed over me, Aiden would always be more to her than I was, I had no chance, I was nothing.
I threw my tatty lined notebook on the kitchen table as I walked past it and headed up to my room. I collapsed onto my bed miserably. Soon I drifted off into a deep, dreamless sleep.
My alarm clock sounded loudly, waking me up in its process. I opened my eyes and blinked rapidly, trying to adjust my eyes to handle the brilliant sunshine gleaming through my window. I got myself out of bed and headed for the shower. When I was finished I brushed my teeth and went into my bedroom. I quickly put on my uniform and grabbed my backpack.
I walked downstairs and into my kitchen where my dad was sat at the dining table flicking through my notebook. I watched him for a few seconds until he looked up.
“Are all of these about Grace?” he asked.
“No, why are you looking at that?” I replied quickly, pulling it out of his hands.
“Son, you’re songs are terrific, you shouldn’t be ashamed of them, your mother...”
I cut him off quickly, not wanting to hear what he had to say.
“I’m going to school” I stated, shoving my notebook in my backpack.
“You should eat something, it’s a big day for you, first day back at school and all that jazz” he said calmly.
“I’m not hungry” I stated.
“Atleast eat this” he reasoned, tossing me an apple; he smiled at me as I took a bite out of it, I couldn’t blame him for trying.
“Bye dad” I called as I left my house and headed for my car. I got in and put the radio on; I tapped along to the music as I drove. I soon pulled up outside Grace’s house; I beeped my horn to let her know I was there and waited patiently.
Soon Mr Lopez wandered out of the house for the mail; he saw me and called to Grace. He walked over to my car and leaned in, I opened the window for him.
“Hey Oliver” He said in his friendly tone.
“Hey Mr. Lopez” I greeted.
“Grace will be right down, you know what girls are like, they take hours to get ready every morning, with all the hair and make-up crap” he joked.
As he spoke, Grace wandered out of her house and walked over to my car; she kissed her father on the cheek and got into the car. We said bye to her father as I pulled away from the sidewalk.
“Have fun kids” he called as we took off down the street.
I turned the radio down to enable us to talk, Grace made herself comfortable, putting her legs up on the seat and adjusting it until she felt that it was right.
“So, how was Italy?” I asked, making conversation.
“It was good, we spent most of the time at my grandfather’s vineyard; it’s so beautiful out there you know? I spent most of my time sightseeing, the views in Verona are breathtaking.”
I smiled as she spoke; this was the Grace I loved, the Grace that enjoyed everything in life, even the simple things that take her breath away.
“My grandfather makes the best wine” she began “He let me taste it quite a few times, I didn’t realise how much I’d miss him now that I’m home. This morning I missed waking up and seeing him there.” she paused, “After spending so long with him you know” she explained.
“I get what you mean” I replied, smiling at her.
“What did you get up to over the summer?” she asked, looking at me almost excitedly, like she expected me to have discovered some buried treasure.
“Not much, I helped my father out at his garage most days, there wasn’t much to do around here without you Gracie” I explained, “I’ve practically learned how to rebuild an engine” I bragged, winking at her.
“Oh look at macho man over here” she joked.
Soon we pulled into student parking, that was the fastest fifteen minutes ever. Now we both had to go to our lessons, this was going to be a long day. It always was at Ocean Falls High School.
We walked through the crowded halls, making our way to our lockers. They were right next to each other, which was kind of great. We both opened them shoving our books inside. We stood talking as we waited for the bell to sound, signalling that it was time for registration.
Unexpectedly an excited girl ran up to us, it was Heather. The schools cheerleader, don’t get me wrong, she was a nice girl but she was lacking brains.
“You guys, I’m throwing a welcome back party at my house tonight” she began, handing us an invitation each, “My address is on there, I hope you guys can make it, it’ll be fun and everyone is going” she gushed, seeming proud of herself for being able to organise something.
As Heather spoke to us about the party, we saw a girl next to us shuffle uncomfortably. Grace noticed this and pulled Heather down the corridor, I followed, not knowing what was going on.
“Heather, when you say ‘everyone is going’ did you invite Caitlin?” Grace asked.
“What? You mean that geek? No way, that will ruin my reputation” she replied, laughing.
Grace kept a deadly straight face.
“Well then let it ruin mine... you should invite her, its rude Heather. You cannot just invite the whole year then leave Caitlin out; that’s awful, imagine how she feels!” Grace snapped.
“Fine, you invite her” she said, handing Grace another invitation, “This will be your embarrassment, not mine” she hissed.
Grace snatched the invitation from Heather and walked away, she made her way over to Caitlin, putting on a smile.
“Here you go Caitlin, you’re invited to Heather’s party tonight” Grace stated, whilst handing Caitlin the invitation.
“What? Really?” Caitlin asked, her eyes full of wonder, she stared down at the invitation, as if she were expecting it to disappear from her grasp.
“Of course, the whole year is” Grace said, smiling.
“Thank you so much Grace” Caitlin gleamed.
“No problem!” Grace replied; she waved at Caitlin and walked back to her locker; she threw her invite inside and slammed it behind her.
“I hate that bitch” Grace stated.
“Heather?” I asked.
“Yes” Grace agreed, I think that was the first bad word she had ever said about anyone.
“I know hate is a strong word but, I’m sure its fine to use with her” she reasoned.
“Hey Grace, what you did back there, that was deep... not many other people would have done that” I began.
Grace smiled to herself.
“I just put myself in Caitlin’s shoes, if I were her, I’d have felt awful about myself”
I nodded; I would have felt the same after all.
A bell rang out through the halls; our first day back at Ocean Falls High was just beginning.