Chapter 7
"What are you wearing?" Mom asked as I came down the stairs. I came home from school about an hour ago and immediately got changed into a very comfortable outfit; baggy sweats and a loose fitting t-shirt. My hair was in a messy bun.
I looked down at my outfit with furrowed eyebrows. "Why? What's wrong with it?"
"You look like you just got out of bed," Mom told me. "Need I remind you that we are having guests over today?"
I nodded. "Yes, I know. But I don't think they'll care what I wear. I mean, I am friends with one of them."
Mom sighed. She was always so high maintenance, always wanting to have her family look their best. I didn't understand why we had to dress nicely for Grayson's family.
"Poppy," Mom began, but she got cut off when someone knocked on the front door. Good thing too, because I was not going to get changed.
Mom opened the front door, welcoming them into our home yet again. Grayson entered the house before Graeme, thankfully, and walked over to me. "Hey, Flower," he said. "Long time, no see."
I raised an eyebrow. "We saw each other at school today."
"Yes, but an hour was a long time ago," Grayson said.
Graeme walked over to me and Grayson with a smile. "Looking good today," he said to me.
Grayson glared at his brother. "What did I tell you, Graeme?"
Graeme snorted. "You think I'd actually listen to my little brother?"
I looked at Grayson, who looked down at me. He knew how much I hated Graeme flirting with me, and he tried getting Graeme to stop. But Graeme was very stubborn.
Grayson looked back at his brother. "I'd love to stay and talk, but we are going to play some video games." Before Graeme could reply, Grayson made his way to the basement and I followed. Grayson knew I was grounded and couldn't play video games, so I knew he was using it as an excuse.
"I wish I could play," I muttered. "I've been so bored ever since I got grounded."
Grayson sat down on the couch. "You got grounded yesterday. How can you be so bored already?"
"I usually spend my free time on the computer or watching TV," I told him. "But now, I can't."
"I guess you shouldn't have skipped," Grayson said jokingly.
I rolled my eyes, seeing as it was him who got me to skip. I did wonder if Grayson got in trouble for skipping or if his brother didn't say anything to his dad.
"Do you mind if I play a game?" Grayson asked.
I shook my head. "Not at all. I'll just watch."
Watching Grayson play wasn't as entertaining as it would have been if I was playing at well, but it was better than nothing. In fact, I was watching carefully at his strategies just in case we ever played against each other. I could use it against him.
Half an hour later, Mom called the two of us outside. Since the dining room table couldn't add another person, we were having a barbeque and eating outside. I led Grayson up the stairs and to the backyard. I immediately smelt barbeque ribs sizzling on the grill. Dad absolutely loved grilling, so there was no surprise when he told us we'd be having barbeque for dinner.
"What were you doing in the basement?" Mom asked me once Grayson and I were outside.
"Grayson wanted to play video games," I said. "But don't worry. I didn't play. I just watched him."
"Good," Mom said. "I don't need you disobeying me any more than you already did." She walked to the grill to help Dad set the ribs on some plates.
I sighed and shook my head. I always felt like a big disappointment in Mom's eyes. No matter what I did, I was doing something wrong, whether it be skipping school because I was sick or wearing sweats and a loose t-shirt when we had company over. Nothing pleased her.
"Wow," Grayson said. "That's exactly how my dad acts to me."
I looked up at Grayson as he was taller than me. "I guess we have something in common. We're both disappointments."
"I don't see how you're one," Grayson said. "The only bad thing you did was skip school. And trust me, it's not even that bad. I've done worse. I've been through worse."
I sighed once again, having the memories of what happened last summer flood back to me. "Yeah, so have I. And since the thing that happened to me, my mom has been making sure I only make right decisions, even though it wasn't my fault." I looked down at the grass. I didn't understand how Mom thought it was my fault. I didn't want it to happen. I didn't ask for it to happen.
"You know, I'd probably understand a lot more if I knew what happened," Grayson said. "I know you're can't talk about it, but I'll still wait for you to tell me."
"Thanks," I said. "We should probably sit down." I noticed that everyone was waiting for us to sit at the picnic table. And there was only three available spots; one beside Tony, and two on either side of Graeme. I, of course, sat beside my brother because there was no way I was going to sit beside Graeme.
After dinner was served and we began eating, Mom decided to talk to Graeme. "So, Graeme," Mom said. "Are you in college or university?"
Graeme nodded. "Yes. I'm currently in my third year of college. I'm studying to be an anesthesiologist." I raised my eyebrows. No wonder Grayson's dad looked down to him. Grayson failed a grade and Graeme was in college studying to be an anesthesiologist. Graeme probably seemed perfect in his dad's eyes.
"Impressive," Mom said. "How's it working out for you so far?"
"Great," Graeme said with a smile. "School is challenging, but I'm doing well."
"If only my other son would do well in school," Grayson's dad said with a sigh. Why did he bring up Grayson's educational problems? We didn't have to know about it.
"Yeah, I get it," Grayson said. "I'm not perfect like my siblings." Siblings? He had another sibling? "Just so you know, Graeme isn't as perfect as you think."
At first, I thought is dad would have gotten angry at Grayson, but all he did was sigh. "Grayson, now is not the time to bring up your brother's relationships with your friends. They liked him, so they went out. There's nothing wrong with it."
"Yeah," Graeme agreed. "Just because I had more girlfriends than you, it doesn't mean I'm not perfect." What surprised me was the way Graeme said that sentence. It wasn't in a conceited tone; more of an innocent tone. And judging by the looks on everyone's faces, they believed him. Wow.
Grayson's dad faced my parents. "I'm sorry about Grayson's behavior."
"What behavior?" I asked, even though he was talking to my parents. "Of course Grayson would be mad at his brother dating every single one of his friends who are girls."
"Poppy, mind your own business," Mom said in a fake sweet tone. "Their sibling problems doesn't involve you." It does if Graeme is going after me next, I thought. I didn't say anything, though. All I did was continue to eat my dinner without a single word.
Dinner turned silent as everyone ate. I looked at Grayson, who was sitting across from me. He looked like he was both sad and angry. Sad at being looked down on. Angry at having his brother taking his girl friend's away. I felt bad for him.
Grayson's family had to leave as soon as dinner was over. His dad thanked my parents for having them over again. And Grayson did something completely shocking. Before he left, he pulled me into a hug. I hugged him back, a bit confused, but that was before he whispered in my ear. "Graeme is going to try to get your parent's approval to date you. Make sure they don't approve of him." He left afterwards, leaving me completely shocked and confused. Graeme was going to try to date me? Even though there was a four year difference?
There was going to be one thing for sure. He was not going to date me.
Chapter 8 As soon as my Biology teacher, Mr. Franklin -who was also the vice principal- told us we'd be going to the biology lab, I knew we were going to dissect something. Fantastic. Grayson was in my biology class so I could actually pair up with someone to dissect whatever we were going to. Normally, I went by myself since everyone hated me and I didn't talk to Grayson then, and it was horrible. I had to do everything by myself and I nearly vomited a few times. While our class was walking to the biology lab, Grayson and I walked beside each other. "About what you said to me yesterday," I said. "Is it true?" Grayson sighed. "Yeah. I heard him talking to his friend on the phone about it before we got to your house. He said something along the lines of 'Grayson has a new friend. I'm going to try to get her parents approval.'" He sighed. "Sometimes I think he dates my friends just to bug me." "That's horrible," I said. "But there's a four year difference between me and G
Chapter 9 School was unbelievably boring for me. Not only was my only friend suspended for a week, but Mr. Franklin decided to give me detention for the incident yesterday because he felt as if being kicked out of class wasn't punishment enough. So here I was, in detention with most of the football team and cheerleaders. I had no idea what they did to get detention, but I did not want to know. "Looks like we have a full house here," Mr. Pierce said as he was, once again, the teacher in charge of detention. "There hasn't been one of these for a while. Just in case some of you don't know, the rules to detention are simple. No talking and no texting. If I catch any of you doing either, you will be here tomorrow. Understood?" Everyone nodded. "Good." I had nothing to do in detention. I finished all my work in class and I had no upcoming tests. I was even more bored because of it. I was sitting at the back of the class so I could easily see Devon glare at me. I didn't glare
Chapter 10 A week later, I knew something was going on with Devon, Belle, and their friends. Grayson was back at school and they seemed to be everywhere Grayson was. At lunch, wherever Grayson and I ate, they were there too. After school, Grayson offered to give me a ride home. Since I was ungrounded, I had my cell phone back and I was able to call Mom to let her know. Usually, I had to use the phone in the office which took forever because there was always a huge line up. I hadn't seen Ben since the time at the beach, thankfully. I was also so worried about seeing him again. "Grayson," I said as he drove out of the parking lot. "Do you notice something weird going on with Devon and Belle?" "Kind of," Grayson said. "It is my first day back after my suspension so I have no idea if they were acting like that when I was gone." "Trust me, they weren't," I said. "It's kind of creeping me out." Grayson looked in his review mirror. "Speaking of creeping..." I turned a
Chapter 11Grayson After dropping Poppy at her house, I drove straight to mine. I was not in the mood to do anything after what happened. Poppy found out about what happened two years ago and I did not want her knowing quite yet. Then there was what she told me. She was assaulted by Belle's brother and was blamed for it. I swear, if I ever see that Ben's face again, I was going to personally send him to the hospital. "Grayson, there you are," Dad said when I walked inside. "Your sister called. She doesn't know your cell number and she wants to talk to you." I nodded as I went upstairs to my room for some privacy. Honestly, I loved talking to my sister, Gale. She was twenty-two and was in university. She was always there to support me, especially since Dad always looked down at me. I dialed Gale's number and held my cell phone up to my ear. "Hello?" she answered shortly after. "Gale, hi," I said. Gale squealed. "Grayson! I haven't talked to you in so long! So, how'
Chapter 12 I got to school the next day, only to be extremely confused. I thought it was just any regular day. Until I talked to Grayson. Actually, rephrase: Until I tried talking to Grayson. But he just walked away as if I didn't say anything. What if he didn't want to talk to me anymore because of my past? No, that couldn't be it. He promised Ben and Belle wouldn't hurt me anymore. There was no point of promising that if he wasn't going to talk to me. After school, I was putting my books away when Grayson went to his locker. Right beside mine. I decided to just give him space just in case he needed it. I had no idea why he wasn't talking to me, but I hoped it didn't last. It felt a bit weird, though. Whenever I was at my locker and Grayson went to his, he always said, "Hey, Flower." He didn't even do that. "Poppy," Belle snapped suddenly. I turned to her, once again not in the mood to talk. "How was finding out that your friend nearly killed my boyfriend?" She had a s
Chapter 13 One of the sports I hated the most had to be volleyball. Then again, I hate basically every single sport. But out of all of them, volleyball was definitely the worse, especially if Belle is in my gym class and was on the opposing team. I wasn't that skilled in volleyball. I could do the simple underhand serve and volley, but other than that, I was not good at all. When my gym teacher, Miss North, told us we were going to play volleyball, I silently groaned. Why did we have to play the sport I hated the most? When Miss North started dividing up the teams, I honestly hoped Belle would be on my team. As much as I hated her, it would be better to have her on my team as opposed to the opposing team. That didn't happen. On the bright side, Grayson was on my team. Well, if you considered your only friend ignoring you and is one your team a 'bright side'. But then it was ruined when one of Belle's friends, Loni, was put on my team. There were four teams and two di
Chapter 14Grayson "Grayson!" Dad called from the kitchen. "Your sister will be here soon!" I didn't reply as I continued slaughtering zombies in the video game. I had to get my anger out somehow because beating the crap out of Devon yesterday didn't do the trick. And quite frankly, killing graphical zombies wasn't making me feel any better as well. Shocker. "Grayson!" Dad called again. "Did you hear me?!" When I still didn't reply, Dad stormed into the gaming room and turned off the TV. "Hey!" I exclaimed. "I was in the middle of a game!" "You didn't reply," Dad said. "I didn't know that I had to," I told him, dropping my controller on the table beside the couch and crossing my arms. Dad sighed and shook his head. "Gale called and said she'll be here in less than ten minutes. Graeme and I are going to head out now to get a few things from the store. Don't make a mess." "Sure thing," I muttered as Dad left the room. Seeing how I lost the game since Dad turned i
Chapter 15On Monday, I was surprisingly excited for school. Since Spring Break was next week, the grade elevens and twelve's were heading to the beach all day for a field trip. Normally, I hated anything that had to do with school but since I didn't have to be near anyone, I was excited.I got to school and immediately had to go on one of the two buses. Luckily, I was one of the first few people to arrive so I sat in the back.Slowly, everyone else began to arrive. Grayson, being Grayson, showed up just as the bus was about to leave. I instantly looked away, not wanting to look at him. I was still mad that he randomly started ignoring me and didn't help me when I got knocked out in gym class.We finally began driving to the beach and I couldn't wait to get there. I really needed to relax and since it was Monday morning, it was even better.When we arrived at the beach, we all piled out of the buses and waited for instructions from Mrs. Goth. "I suppose you're all happy about being at