"I'm dying. All these secrets and lies are slowly suffocating me."
Grace Hart is suddenly torn away from her old fairytale life, stranded on a deserted island with nine other girls. She expected nothing but wellness and luxury, yet the "Dawn of Eve"...
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------ nine ------
Alone. The next morning, Grace woke up all alone. Toni didn't lie next to her anymore. The place next to her was occupied by no one, and the only thing still there was the blue jacket, the blonde had put over the other girl to protect her from the cold. It now rested on top of her, the thick wool keeping her warm. The brunette had returned the kind gesture.
Yet it didn't keep Grace from panicking as she sat up and still couldn't spot the girl. Had she wandered off without her? Returned to camp? Left her for good? Betrayal was what the cheerleader first felt. Then came fear. For a matter of fact, Grace Hart didn't only not like being alone, she was fucking terrified of it.
It made her always surround herself with lots of people, even if she didn't like them, even if they annoyed her to the core of her existence. She didn't care. She never cared. As long as somebody was with her, everything was fine. Then, she wouldn't be all by herself, left alone with just her thoughts. And that was what she wanted to avoid because her thoughts were what terrified her most.
When people looked at Grace they saw this perfect blonde bombshell; privileged, rich, beautiful, sweet, lovable. What they didn't see was the scared little girl behind her perfect little facade. They didn't know what she had seen and heard, what she had felt. And for years, she had made sure that they never would. She liked being perfect.
Toni Shalifoe wasn't perfect and she didn't make a big secret out of it. The brunette stayed true to who she was. She expressed herself and her flaws freely. Maybe, that was one of the reasons why the blonde liked her so much. Well, that was before she left her.
"Grace," she suddenly heard a voice coming from behind her. It belonged to Toni. The blonde turned around to find her smiling. So she hadn't left her after all, or at least she came back for her. "Are you alright?" she proceeded to ask the girl. To which Grace replied with a simple nod, still very much absent.
"I thought you had already left," she admitted after some time. Grace was quite ashamed of herself. Her jumping to fast conclusions, always assuming the worst in everything and everyone wasn't her best quality. Yet, she didn't seem to get rid of it.
"Nah, I would never," Toni clarified. "I woke up an hour ago or so. And I didn't wanna wake you up too, so I went on a small walk. Promise, I didn't go far."
"Sorry, I just..." the cheerleader mumbled, trying to find the right words as she stroked the jacket over her shoulders. "My mum fucked me up a bit, I guess," she finally said, attempting to laugh it all away.
A sigh escaped the brunette's lips, before she sat down next to Grace once again. Her eyes met the blonde's. There was a hint of sympathy in them. The girl understood her. After all, Toni Shalifoe was no stranger to fucked up relationships. "Parents are the worst," she agreed.
"Well, my mum isn't the worst, she just doesn't care very much. Then again, I don't think she ever wanted to be a mum in the first place," Grace explained. "But my dad is actually really amazing." A faint smile showed on her face as she thought of the old man.
