Grace.

Chapter 18.

We'd come up with a plan: We show Davis the pictures Ria and I took of Brooke. She also had some really incriminating texts from Luke. Basically, Brooke's phone was our lifeline. It was now or never. Luke had to pay. He needed to be ended, and we were so ready...all of us.
I had to put my best clothes on, the day was going to be a big day.
If proof is what Davis wanted, proof is what Davis was gonna get! As I was busy with my hair the following morning, getting ready for school, I heard a knock on my door.
"Come in!"
"Good morning, mija."
"Good morning, Daddy," I beamed.
"¡Guau! What's happening at school today?" He asked.
"Nothing, why?"
I continued brushing my hair and he took a seat on the chair next to me.
"You're dressed extra nice," he noticed.
"It's nothing, Papá. Did you need something?"
"Ah, sí. Please call Donna and ask her to come take you to school."
"Where's Mom?"
"Gone, with Gloria. Your sister's car has a problem, and I am running late. Lo siento. I would've taken you," he apologized.
"I know that you would've. Don't worry about it, Donny won't mind."
"Gracias, mija. Have a great day. Te amo!"
He rushed out, shutting the door behind him. Finally! I missed going to school with my friends. And of course, I wasted no time. I texted them immediately!

Me: I'm back! Well, just for today.
Bebe: What do you mean?
Me: I'm going to school with you guys today!
Luce: Great! Only problem is, Donna isn't answering her phone.
Bebe: Since last night, actually.
Me: What?
Mimi: Well, if we don't find her... we're going to be late for school.
Luce: Oh? We didn't know that, Naomi. Thanks for the heads up.
Me: Can we be serious for a sec? How on earth are we going to get to school?!
Mimi: Don't worry. I got it covered.

What was she talking about? Naomi didn't have a car. Her parents shared one car so, what was her plan?! No...oh, no!!!
I guessed correctly. Mimi called her dumb ass brother and you know what he did? That dumb mother-
He...saved the seat next to him for me! As a matter of fact, he insisted. I couldn't believe it. I couldn't believe him!
"So, where is Donna?" He asked us.
Mimi was sitting behind him, Brooke behind me, and Lucy...right in the middle. I couldn't speak.
"We don't know." His sister replied.
"Did you...look for her at her house?"
Was he serious?!
"How so? Walk to her home to look for her instead of going to school?"
"I was just asking," he squirmed.
"Don't," I muttered, rolling my eyes.
I could see him tighten his grip on the steering wheel. My heart sank. I didn't mean to be so mean to him. I-I was scared! I was lost and filled with regret! Lucy was right behind us and I could feel her eyes on me. It felt as though she knew. She was so hopeful. She'd been so much happier since Edgar came back, despite what he did to her. She still liked him.
"You look pretty today," he whispered to me.
I kept my eyes on the road and ignored him. Like I didn't hear what he said. If exploding was a norm, I would've exploded right on the spot! We finally arrived at school and Lucy rushed to get out of the car - pushing Bebe out!
"Ouch!" Bebe cried out.
But Lucy stomped away not even looking back. Not even saying thank you or goodbye.
"Are you okay, Brooke?" Mimi asked.
"I'm okay. I'm just going to rush to the bathroom. Thanks, Edgar!"
I turned to face him, " What the hell is wrong with you?!" I shouted, pushing him.
"W-what?!"
I grabbed my bag and got out of the car, leaving Mimi behind. Lucy must've been pissed that he saved a seat for me and complimented me in front of all of them! Was he stupid? I told him to forget about what happened! Stupid. Cabrón!
Naomi found me in class, deep in my thoughts.
"What is going on?" She asked, banging her bag on the table.
"What are you talking about?" I sighed.
"Edgar. You. Lucy. But especially Edgar and you."
"Nothing, Mimi."
"Okay. But..."
"What?" I grumbled.
"I think he likes you," she smiled.
"What?! Why would you say something like that?" I hissed.
"Whoa, chill out. I was just..."
"What is wrong with you? You and your brother?"
I buried my head in my arms. I think I was losing it. Lucy was going to be fire-breathing down my neck! She was going to kill me.
"Donny's still not here?" Brooke asked.
"N-no," I realized.
"She's probably sick. We'll go to her place after school," Naomi suggested.
It was unlike Donna to go M.I.A. Granted, she had social anxiety and struggled to be in large groups of people at times, but that never pushed her into hiding. She had us. We were there for her and we helped her. But we had bigger problems. Principal Davis had back-to-back meetings until Thursday. So, whatever evidence we had, it had to wait till Thursday. It was frustrating.
The day ended. Lucy was still acting weird (and I knew why). She caught a ride with Bebe and Caleb and them. Naomi and I stayed behind, stranded. She explained to me that Edgar bailed, for obvious reasons. "Ria's got class till four!" I cried. Naomi's mom was busy and so was her dad. She spotted Austin's van and suddenly had an idea.
"Austin," she suggested.
"No way!" I grunted, "You guys still talk? I thought..."
"It's a long story."
"Too long for your best friend?" I scoffed.
"Grace, please. Not now."
"What's gotten into you? First Edgar, now this. I can't keep up, honestly."
"You do realize you're being dramatic, right?"
"No, Mimi! I'm being realistic! Like I always am! The problem with you is that you're head is stuck in the clouds...ALL-THE-TIME! Grow up, this is real life... not some movie!"
"What the fuck?"
"I said what I said."
"Are we fighting? What the hell is going on?!"
I ignored her and walked away. She called out to me but I didn't stop. I was so furious. I honestly shouldn't have been. I started all this. I kissed Edgar and I wasn't mature enough to deal with it. Maybe I wasn't ready for relationships. Maybe relationships weren't my thing. You know? Like books are! I spotted Nayeli heading to her car and I rushed to her.
"Hey!" I greeted.
"Hi, baby!" She smiled. Her eyebrows creased, "Are you...okay?"
"I'm having the worst day," I sighed.
"Come over to my place. We'll have a talk about it over some virgin margaritas?" She offered.
"I'd love that."
Nayeli had a younger brother, River. He was in middle school, and was so adorable. Nayeli was such a good listener, and her room was so pretty. Their home was! I was obsessed with it.
"I was so horrible to her," I regretted.
"Well, apologize. While it's all still new."
"I'm just...the fire I started, is burning me!" I admitted.
"Clearly. Then put it out."
"Putting it out will mean that I have to face it, I don't think I can."
"Yes, you can."
"I haven't dealt with this kind of fire before," I confessed.
"There's a first time for everything."
She was right. I had to fix my mess. It was turning me into a monster, it was distracting me. Putting my big girl panties on, I decided to start at Mimi's place. She had to know the truth. All of it. Mrs. Sanders was home when I knocked on the door.
"Grace! I haven't seen you in a while! How was Spain?"
"It was great, Mrs. Sanders. How are you?"
"I'm good. Busy, but good."
"I'm sorry. Is Naomi home?"
"She must be upstairs in her room."
I dragged myself up the flight of stairs. Naomi and I hardly fought. But this fight was a big one. Sort of. Or it was about to be! She was definitely going to hate me for crushing on her brother. It sounded like she was busy on the phone when I knocked.
"What is it?! I'm on a call!" She shouted out.
"I-it's me," I croaked.
She went silent for a few seconds and then, "Come in!"
I walked in, slowly. She was sitting on her bed just staring at me.
"Hi, Mimi." I started, taking a seat on the carpet in front of her, cross legged.
"Hi, Grace."
"I'm such a whore. I'm so sorry for going off at you like that the whole day today. I am so, so sorry," I sincerely apologized.
"It's okay. I was...hurt and confused but I'm more worried about you. What's going on?"
Crap. I fiddled with the sleeves of my cardigan. Tears fell from my eyes. Wait a minute, why was I crying? Mimi quickly jumped off her bed and came to hug me.
"I have to stay away from him. I was so stupid and I hate myself for dealing with it the way that I did. I hate being so mean to him!" I sobbed.
"Who, Grace? Who?!"
"E...E...Edgar!"
"Edgar?" She wondered. "What are you talking about?"
"Please don't hate me," I sniffed.
"I could never hate you."
"I...I've had a crush on your brother for a while now. I didn't want to tell you because Lucy likes him as well. So...so I decided to sweep it under the rug! I'm so sorry, Mimi."
"Huh?!"
"That's not it. On Saturday, when you sent me to go talk to him, I...I kissed him! I kissed him and I feel so terrible! I couldn't hold myself. He was just...there. The chance was right there and I took it! I was so selfish, Mimi! Knowing that he's your brother! Knowing that Lucy has a crush on him but I still put myself first," I cried.
"Hey, hey...it's okay, Grace. It's not the end of the world," she comforted me.
"No, Mimi. I've been so horrible to everyone ever since because in whole honesty I'm mad at myself! How could I be so selfish? And Lucy? She's been on cloud nine ever since he's been back! If she finds out..."
"Screw her. She won't find out. This is great! This is perfect!" She chortled.
"W-what?" I sniffed.
"I've been waiting for this day for a really long time! I've seen you two! The lame jokes? The teasing each other? The nerdy stuff? It was so obvious! And it is so perfect!" She screamed in excitement.
"Wait...what?" I asked again, wiping the tears from my face.
"This is a dream come true. I've always wished for you and my brother to date. Date, marry and have kids. At first I thought I was going crazy but now...you're proving to me that I'm not. You two were made for each other," she confessed.
"Mimi..."
"We dodged a bullet. When he almost married Amber? Good thing she dumped him. Now you two can be together! Start a life! I'll plan the wedding! Oh! And I've got a list of baby names..."
"Stop!!!" I shouted.
"What? Why?"
"Are you hearing yourself?"
"Every single word. Look, Lucy will get over..." "No, Naomi! You out of all people shouldn't be talking this way. Lucy really likes Edgar. She's told us a billion times. I see it in her eyes. I don't want to ruin my friendship with her because of Edgar. He means a lot to me but so does Lucy. Lucy has been my friend since -since forever! I'm not that kind of person, Mimi and you know it. I want to see people happy and that's it! Even if it costs me my own happiness then so be it. I will forever have a place in my heart for Edgar but sometimes in life some things aren't meant to be. And that's me and Edgar."
"Even if it's been years later...I'm happy you told me. I really am. So, you're going to let Lucy have your man?" She pushed.
"He isn't mine. You aren't listening to me."
"I am. And just to confirm, you're letting him go?"
I shook my head at her in disbelief. "Yeah...I'm hoping me and him can still be friends without anything being weird though."
"But..."
"Mimi...stop it. It's never going to happen, okay? Can we drop this? It never happened."
"Fine," she huffed.
"Thank you, on a much serious note, Donna has never gone M.I.A like this before," I reminded her.
"You're right. It's getting late now, we definitely have to go over to her house tomorrow morning," she said.
I nodded.
"So, you and Austin again, huh?"
"Yeah, I mean, it's like...I..."
"It's okay. I totally understand. You love him."
"And I can't spend a day without thinking about him. It's honestly quiet annoying,"  she chuckled. "Like, how does one human being have such a huge effect on me?"
"You guys look cute together. Has he like...has he, erm...said the 'L' word?"
She shook her head. "No, he's been like really sweet and caring but none of us have said the 'L' word. Honestly I think it's still too soon."
I laughed.
"You do realize that you two are in your second year of...uhm...sneaking around?" I joked.
"I do, but although we've been together for that long, we haven't really been...free. I want us to be free. To be happy and at peace. I mean we're happy now, but it's not normal. Plus there's still Janny, so."
"Well, I know how that feels. Is it like still possible to find a guy who has no one? No other girl. No drama. Just him. Him and only him, just ready to love you with all of him."
"I highly doubt it. They're all just taken."
"Or...they're just man hoe's."
Don't ask who I was referring to, because I wasn't referring to anyone!