I breathe out a sigh and sit on the porch, placing my bag beside me and grabbing out my phone. I turn it on and cringe at the amount of missed calls and messages I have from Nicole.

I click on the messages and start at the beginning, my eyes scanning the test messages. As I continue to read the fifty+ messages, my phone goes off and I frown, looking at the No Caller ID.

Don't answer it, my brain says and I let out a sigh, clicking the 'decline' button. Suddenly, my phone goes off again and I furrow my eyebrows in confusion.

Who the hell is this?

I press the 'decline' button again and roll my eyes. I look up in front of me and watch as a few cars pass by almost silently. I look over at my driveway to see Eve's car not here. I look back at my phone and lick my dry lips.

It has been an hour since I left James' hideout. Okay, well, I didn't leave, James untied me then let me go first, leaving Luke and Bennet still tied up. I knew I wasn't going to leave without having Luke by my side but James said that he would be fine. Of course I didn't believe him and stayed where I was, in the room, with James standing in front of me. After a few minutes of me not moving and just glaring at James, his bodyguard or whatever literally threw me out. Luckily, I landed on the grass but still... that is not cool.

So, I walked myself home and now, I am here. I reminded myself that I had to call Luke in half an hour since James said that he won't be keeping him more than that and if he does, I'm calling the police. I honestly don't care anymore. Like I said before, I am not letting that bastard take another person I love away from me. I don't even know what he could be doing to Luke now... hopefully nothing bad.

"There you are!" I hear someone say and I look up to see Nicole storming towards me, a frown etched on her face. My eyes widen at Nicole's presence, not really expecting Nicole to be here.

Wait, has she been walking around looking for me?

"Uh, hi?" I say, a little frightened and confused. Nicole grabs my hand and pulls me up, sending me a glare. I stand in front of her and watch as Nicole's frown slowly turns in a small smile. All of a sudden, Nicole brings me into a hug.

"Oh my god, I'm glad your okay." Nicole says and I freeze, completely shocked. Nicole let's go of me and looks me over.

"Did he hurt you?" Nicole asks and I frown in confusion.

"Huh?"

"My brother. Did he hurt you?" I ask and I pause, my eyes going wide. I step back and gasp.

"Y-Your brother?" I ask and Nicole frowns, confusion and concern clear on her face. She narrows her eyes at me and crosses her arms over her chest.

"Are we talking about the same person here?" Nicole asks and I sit down on the porch, scared that if I stand up for too long I might fall down. My chest begins to tighten and Nicole crouches down in front of me.

"Grace..." Nicole says, lifting my face up to look at her. "Who do you think I am talking about? Is it James?" Nicole asks and I feel my heart practically clench in shock. I stand up and walk over to the grass, crouching down.

"Are you okay? Holy shit, what the hell did he do to you?" Nicole asks, rubbing my back and I push her away.

"Move. I'm going to-" Without even finishing my sentence, I throw up the food that I had last night. I immediately lunge over, my stomach becoming tight. When I am finished, Nicole grabs my hand and pulls me towards the house, sitting me down on the porch again. She rubs my back and sends me a frown.

"Explain everything to me."

●●●

"You're not serious..." Nicole says and I nod, wiping away the tears. Nicole shakes her head and stands up, placing her hands on her hips.

We are still outside sitting on the porch and I have just told Nicole everything. Everything from first meeting James and his buddies to the point where I left his hideout. Also, Eve is still not here which is one of the reasons why we are outside and also because I stupidly forgot to get the spare key.

Hopefully she read my note...

"So, your telling me that my brother killed your father and is now threatening to kill you if you testify against him next week?" Nicole asks and I nod.

"Thats exactly what I am saying." I say and Nicole let's out a growl.

"I swear I should've put him in jail when I had the chance." Nicole says and I furrow my eyebrows in confusion.

"Huh?"

"Oh, it's nothing. I just spotted James selling drugs at a party one night and the police was there and caught James but since James said earlier that if he gets caught, I have to make up an excuse to prove that it wasn't me. So, I took the blame and I got fined for selling drugs." Nicole says and I gasp.

"What? Why would you do that?" I ask and Nicole sighs.

"James threatened that if I don't take the blame, he will tell my parents that I lost my virginity - but I haven't, I swear!" Nicole immediately says, waving her hands in the air and I nod.

"Okay, well, not to point fingers but a few students said that you were a... uh-"

"Slut? Whore? I know, I hear it all the time. They are just rumors spread by my ex who got pissed when I broke up with him because he tried to have sex with me one night at a party." Nicole says and my mouth forms into an 'o' shape and I nod.

"Oh..." I say and Nicole nods.

"Anyway, back onto the topic at hand... I can't believe he killed your - sorry, I should stop bringing it up." Nicole says and I let out a dry chuckle.

"Yeah..."

All of a sudden, my phone begins to ring and I grab it, hoping that it is Luke or Eve. When I answer the phone, not even checking the Caller ID, I press the phone to my ear and wait for the voice to speak, not having the energy to say hello unless it could be James or-

"Hello, Grace." I hear a familiar person say and I furrow my eyebrows.

"How did you get my number?" I ask and he let's out a sigh.

"I want to explain. Please." Bennet says and I shake my head.

"Thats not happening. I need a good reason to-"

"Your birthday is the 18th of August, mom's birthday is the 9th of December and dad's birthday is the 1st of February." Bennet says quickly and I narrow my eyes at the small flower that is beginning to bend towards the ground.

"Who is that?" I hear Nicole say and I frown.

"Bennet. They guy I was telling you about." I say and Nicole's eyes widen. She rushes over and sits down next to me, motioning for me to put it on speaker. I do what Nicole says and clear my throat.

"You could've just looked that-"

"Ask me a question then, Grace. Any question at all." Bennet says and I let out a sigh.

"Fine," I say and I turn to Nicole. She shrugs and I bite my lip, thinking of what to ask Bennet. All of a sudden, the perfect question appears in my mind and I push away the thoughts. "What is my middle name?" I ask.

The reason I asked this is because no one, no one at all, knows my middle name. Not even Nicole or Luke. Only my mom and my dad knows. If Bennet gets this, he can explain what he needs to explain to me.

"It started with an L..." Bennet says and my eyes widen. "Is it... Le - Leigh! It's Leigh!" Bennet says and I can tell how happy he sounds. I can't help but smile when I hear the happiness in Bennet's tone. I turn to Nicole and she smiles.

"What happens now?" Nicole asks and I look back at my phone.

There are three days till Saturday which is the day that Eve and I will be leaving to go to her home town. On Friday there is the dance which means I have Thursday and the rest of today free. I have to spend tomorrow with Luke, so I guess Bennet can meet me somewhere tonight.

"You get one chance to explain everything. Meet me - wait, do you know where I live?" I ask and Bennet chuckles nervously.

"Is it creepy if I say yes?" Bennet asks and I roll my eyes.

"Only if you don't have an explanation for that too." I say and I hear Nicole laugh.

"Oh I do." Bennet says. "I will come over now."

I guess calling Luke will have to be pushed further away now...

●●●