Grace's POV

I was skipping my Calculus class.

And that was all because I hadn't completed the essay Mr Whittaker had assigned us all.

Not exactly. I was skipping because I didn't feel well. The night shifts at Welsh's Bar were proving out to be worse for me. I barely got any sleep, and if I tried sleeping, I'd just...not sleep.

My brain wasn't functioning well. I was tired all the damn time. I couldn't bring myself to eat anything. I just wanted everything to stop for a little while.

Stop so that I could catch up.

I closed my eyes and wrapped my arms around myself. I was sitting on one of the benches beside the water fountain in the school yard. The staff rarely came here and they were the only people I had to look out for.

Not like anybody else cared if I skipped a class.

That's what I had thought until I felt someone sitting down beside me. I opened up my eyes almost abruptly and was surprised to see Fraser, not in class but sitting beside me.

"What are you doing here?" My voice came out more like a rasp. That just seemed to annoy me even further.

He leaned back against the bench and looked up at the sky. "I just thought how nice it would be to spend some time under this beautiful sky."

Then he looked at me and there was this brightness in his eyes, as if he was mocking me. "You know, rather than being in Calculus right now."

Right. He and I had the same class right now.

"I came here to be alone, Fraser." I directed that towards him. I didn't care if I hurt his feelings. I just wanted him to know that this was not the right time. I was beyond exhausted.

"Who doesn't love some company, Gracie?" I almost, almost flinched at that. "Especially, company like—"

"Yours. Yeah. Why wouldn't I like it?" I muttered to myself. It took him only seconds to get on my nerves. He was so good at this.

"You make it sound like my company is bad?" He asked with a small frown. "Is it bad?"

I opened my mouth to say a big fat yes, but stopped because he looked genuine. And I couldn't find the old Fraser in him, not right now anyway.

Being mean sucked.

"I just really...didn't need any company right now." I said instead. "Not yours. Or anyone else's."

"And why is that?" I heard him asking.

I looked in front of me, at the yard. It was all empty, almost calming in a way. Sometimes you felt like people could choke you with their gazes only. I had been feeling like that a lot lately.

"I met Lucius this morning." He said, once he realized that I wasn't going to answer his question. "He used to be this sickly sweet guy."

Luca used to be anything but sickly.

Fraser gave out a short laugh. "What happened to him? Back in middle school, you'd never expect him to punch people. But now, the entire time I was talking to him, he looked like he wanted to punch me so bad." Fraser laughed again at that, in amusement.

I felt a strange feeling settling in the pit of my stomach. A lot had changed with him and he wasn't willing to let me in.

"He did punch you once." I whispered, almost to myself.

I saw Fraser staring at me, then his face broke into a huge grin. "Oh that, that was something I could never forget."

"Did you like getting into fights?" I asked, looking at him this time. "I never understood it, Fraser. You were always there to anger me somehow. And then in the end, you'd end up with a punch or two."

He laughed at that. And a small smile formed on my lips.

"Now tell me, Gracie, don't you enjoy my company?" He asked.

I looked away and let out a tired sigh. "Sure, Fraser. Whatever makes you happy."

The bell rang all of a sudden, breaking us out from our talk. I hadn't even realized how fast the period went by. And for some reason, this was so much better than staying all alone.

"All right then." Fraser got up, towering in front of me. I could see everyone filing out of the classes from the corner of my eye. "I was wondering—"

I narrowed my eyes.

"—if you'd go out with me?" I looked up at him, almost blankly. Mainly because the surprise was just too much. "There's this Carnival happening somewhere that I know of."

I got up then. "I can't. My days are busier than yours."

But before I could've turned away and headed towards the hallway, he spoke up, "Aw, come on, Gracie. Alice was excited to go there too."

I looked back at him. Once again, all I saw was genuineness, just like Alice.

"Fine." I heard myself saying.

He grinned at that. "So, it's a date."

I glared at him. And believe me, it was a really bad glare. "Geez." He spoke up, backing off. "No need for the anger, Collins."

I turned around, heading for the hallway.

This guy really asked for it sometimes.

•••••

It was past midnight and I was sleeping.

Or at least, trying to. But for some reason, sleep just wasn't coming, even if I had been way beyond exhausted the entire day. If it would've been someone else in my place, they would've slept the moment their head had touched the pillow.

For me, it just wasn't like that.

Maybe I had insomnia.

Nobody cared. Nobody cared to even send me to a therapist after my parent's death. Nobody cared about anything. They just left me.

All of them.

I sat up and pulled my knees closer towards my chest. I hated this house at night. Everything was so dark. And not just because I hated the dark.

Everyone did.

But because it felt lonely. My heart ached for someone, anyone to be here with me. But every night went by like this, nothing changed.

I was about to lean my head back against the bedrest when I heard a small shattering sound from somewhere in the house.

Downstairs.

This house got eerily quiet at night and it was easy to pick up any small noise in here. Knowing clearly well that I had locked all the doors and windows, I rushed downstairs.

My heart sped up as I looked around the lounge. The lights were on just like I kept them, but there was nobody there.

How could anyone even be here?

I took slow breaths, knowing clearly well that it must've been a sound from outside. I was just being paranoid.

I walked towards the kitchen, picking up a glass to get myself some water. That's when I saw the photo frame. Lying on the floor, it's glass pieces shattered.

With a small frown on my face, I sat down on my knees and slowly picked it up. I knew perfectly well that I hadn't placed any photo frame here. Heck, I didn't even own any frame like this.

When I came back from Manhattan, I had no photo frames with me. This was probably the first time I was seeing this—which was bizarre. But when I picked it up and saw the picture, shattered glass pieces around it, my breath got knocked out of my throat.

Oh Lord.

It was our picture. Our family picture. Mom, Dad, Jack and me. And maybe it was the fact that I felt so extremely lonely at that moment, or maybe it was just the constant heavy guilt in my chest.

Because then, I started crying.

Slumping down against the kitchen floor, I felt my shoulders shaking.

We all looked so happy in that picture.

I never kept pictures just for this exact reason. Because it reminded you so much about all the memories. It just pained me, knowing how much perfect it could've been right now.

But it wasn't.

And somebody was trying to remind me that.

_______________________________________________________________________

Crystal 🌿