Grace.

Chapter 13.

We continued chatting and getting along right into the afternoon. It was honestly the nicest time I had had in a long time ago. If only I had known it would be one of the last moments I'd enjoy before my life got seriously complicated. My best friend, Naomi had fought with Edgar. I didn't know what about, but she asked me to talk to him for her.
I agreed to help her, for many reasons.
She told me about what had happened when we were at the skating rink. It was a friend date: Josh and his friends, me and all my friends. I also noticed how smitten Brooke and Caleb were. They held hands as they were skating and even fed each other ice cream. I was skating with Josh when I noticed. Josh was a really bad skater so I was teaching him.
It didn't take him too long to figure it out. After a few falls, a sore bum and not much of any patience left — he finally got the hang of it.
"This was quite an experience. Be sure that I'm never doing this again," he grunted.
"Ow, come on. It wasn't that bad," I reasoned.
"My ass is on fire!" He complained.
"Then why did you agree to come?" I asked.
"To try new things," he shrugged.
I rolled my eyes and took off the skates. We were sitting on a bench talking. The others were still skating.
"Plus, I really like ice cream," he revealed, playfully shoving my shoulder. "You look annoyed."
"I'm not annoyed," I lied.
"Okay, I'm sorry for being too difficult. Thank you for teaching me how to skate, Grace."
"You're very welcome," I smiled. "But it's unlike you to be so easily vexed, are you okay?" I investigated.
"No, not really. It's the parents," he sighed.
"Let me guess: College?"
"Yep. But I don't want to bore you about it," he smiled.
"You're not boring me."
"I know. But, you and I are always talking books and school."
"True. So, what would you like to talk about?"
"How was your day?"
"It was great, thanks! How was yours?"
"I slept throughout the day, woke up like two hours ago," he chuckled.
"Are you sick?"
"Exhausted. I need to stop drinking so much."
"And smoking. You and me both."
"You smoke?"
"No. Only weed, when we go out."
"Why do you wanna stop?"
"It's...getting old. I'm just so tired of it," I admitted.
"But it's all you and your friends ever do."
"Exactly."
"What would you rather do instead?" He asked me.
"I dunno," I shrugged. "Anything but partying."
"You know what's happening?" He smirked.
"What?"
"You're growing up."
I breathed a sigh of relief. I thought he was going to talk about...
"And you're lonely. At the end of the day, you're human...and your soul needs affection. A stranger in your life. Something new."
"Yeah, but it doesn't need to be a boy," I sulked.
"Hold up, you're into girls?!" He joked.
"It'll be our little secret, right?" I joked.
"Come on, let's go join the others. I'll buy you ice cream," he offered. "What's your favorite flavor?"
I took his hand and we found our way to an empty table next to the canteen. The others joined us a few seconds later. Naomi rushed to take a seat next to me. I knew something was up.
"Hey!" She grinned.
"Hello." I gave her a quick peck on her cheek and pulled her into my arms.
"Did you have a good time today?" She smiled.
I could see right through that smile. She wasn't okay. It was definitely Austin again. Well, that's what I thought at first!
"Yep!" I went on to tell her all about it. Then I remembered: "Hey, can I see the picture you took of me and Edgar?"
"Sure!"
She handed me her phone and when I looked at the picture, I fought so hard to stifle a smile. Donny peered over my shoulder, resting her chin on it. She was also sitting next to me.
"You guys look like a newly married couple! Absolutely gorgeous!" She cried out.
"Let's see?" Lucy said, squirming in her seat.
Donna grabbed the phone out of my hand and gave it to Lucy.
"What the hell, Donny?!" I fumed, smacking her hand.
Lucy looked at the picture and flatly complimented it. "Looks nice," she shrugged, handing me my phone.
Of course that made me feel like a bad friend. I felt so sorry for Lucy. What Edgar did to her saved her, but it was wrong. He shouldn't have lied like that. It must've been hard for her seeing him back and not even being able to talk to him! Let alone look at him! It must've been embarrassing and heartbreaking.
After finishing off our ice creams, we decided to call it. At the parking lot, Bebe was with Caleb, Naomi with Hunter, and I was with Lucy, Donny and Josh.
"Hey, Donny, could you take a pic of me please?" Lucy asked.
She was wearing her favorite leather jacket, the one that made her look so badass. She also had a cigarette in her manicured fingers, red stilettos.
"Want me to take a pic of you?" I teased Josh.
"I should be the one taking a pic of you," he chuckled.
I was trying to distract him. Both his friends had girls and he — he was alone. Josh had a very low self esteem. He doubted himself so much. I don't know why. It was kinda sad.
"Let's take one together. I'll post it on my page. And you better like and comment!"
"I-I don't have any social media accounts," he admitted, nervously.
"Why not?"
"Not really my thing." He shrugged.
"What is your thing?"
"Video games, fishing, drawing."
Uhm, okay...okay! No problem-o! Fishing was a bit weird but video games sounded cool! I pulled my phone out of my pocket and got the camera ready.
"Come stand next to me. You can do whatever pose you want, okay? When you're ready we'll take a pic. Ready?"
"I've taken pics before, Grace." He laughed.
"Yeah, but not for the world to see."
He finally loosened up and one pic became three! One where we're smiling, the other where he kissed my cheek and the last one...we were laughing at something, I don't remember what it was. Joshua was a decent looking guy. Normal. We went over the pictures again before I posted them: