Saving Grace

Chapter Eighteen: Charlie's Wish

Gracie, Pi, and Layton met with Armando at the designated meeting spot and when they arrived, Armando's cousin, Tony, was there too, along with Lester, Brielle, and Carl. The people Gracie had liked the most at Visionary. Brielle's eyes were red from crying and Carl had his arm slung around her, attempting to calm her down, but it looked as though she'd been sobbing for days (she had).

They'd had a long day planning and scheming, but finally, things were underway. Enough so, that Gracie found herself with time to sit with Charlie and Preston, while Pi and Layton helped the others start the first few steps to bringing Clara Storm crashing to hell. They would make her suffer far more than she'd ever made any of them.

"How was school?" Preston asked when Gracie pulled up a chair alongside Charlie's bed and slid her hand into his.

Gracie shrugged. "I didn't go. Sorry." She wanted to explain everything to him, but fatigue washed over her and she just didn't have the energy. Her thoughts were only on Charlie. He needed to wake up. She needed to see his sparkling eyes and smiling face. She needed to show him that she picked up his trophy and it sat beside his bed. She needed him to know that she would never leave him.

"You're not going to graduate, Gracie. It's not just about getting your schoolwork done, it's about actually attending your classes," her older brother scolded lightly. Gracie just shook her head.

"Press, school is the least important thing on my list of shit right now."

"Please, just get it done! You only have a month left."

"That's easy for you to say. When you graduated Dad was still alive and normal-ish," she shot back irately. "I just... can't focus on trivial bullshit. I can't do it, Preston." She wanted him to understand, but she doubted he ever would. Preston had it in his mind that if she finished high school she could go out into the world and do anything. But it wasn't like that. Not for her. Not with all the other crap she had to constantly think about.

"What would Mom think?" Preston finally stooped low enough to ask. "What would Charlie think?"

Gracie let out an exasperated sigh. "I don't know. Is that what you want to hear? 'Cause it's the goddamn truth. I don't know what they would think. I don't really care either. I have other priorities. Mainly, finding out who's supposed to kill me and Charlie and stopping them before they succeed. I would say that takes the cake, wouldn't you?"

Preston stared at his little sister for a long time and she had no idea what thoughts were going through his head, he kept his face carefully blank and folded his arms across his chest. He had the whole intimidation affect down pat. "I think we need to take a trip down to visit Mom." His words were slow and calculated and out of all the things he could've said, she'd least expected him to say that.

A frown immediately imbedded itself into Gracie's face as she watched her brother, hoping he'd shout, "just kidding!" but he never did. "Is that a good idea?" she asked, instead.

"Yes," Preston answered immediately. "We need advice from someone who knows more about the Underground than we do."

"I think that's a terrible idea," Gracie confessed, thinking about what their dad had sacrificed for him.

"Too bad. You're not going to school right now anyway, so what the hell else do you have going on?"

"I have to find out-"

"We're going to visit her tomorrow no matter what you say," he told her decisively, leaving no room for argument. Gracie glared at him petulantly.