Redwood High 2

Chapter 10

Riley refused to talk about what happened that night. It's not like she didn't flat out say "No", she just didn't speak of it. I didn't push her. If and when she was ready was entirely up to her. All I asked her is if she would be needing a pregnancy test and she shook her head and went back to eating her Pop-Tart.

Ryan didn't show up the next day and it wasn't until later that I found out that he went to some soccer tournament. I called Carol over and then I called Sebastian. Carol came about twenty minutes later. She marched into Aunt Gwen's house and straight to Riley.

"If I find out that you ever put yourself into danger like that again I will shave your head and throw you into an active volcano in Chile. Mainly because I really want to go to Chile sometime in my life so I'll just kill two birds with one stone."

I poured myself some orange juice and went to go sit on the sofa right across Riley.

"So you're going to tell your aunt about Ryan?" Carol asked me.

I nodded. "I have to. Not because of Riley, although that did help set my mind on it. I have no idea what he's doing or if he's safe."

Carol grabbed a glass of orange juice and sat on the futon that overlooked the backyard. It was kind of cloudy outside, but there was still some light to make it warm and fresh.

No one said anything, mainly because there was nothing to be said. We all sipped our orange juice until Carol put her glass down.

"Okay this is boring. Let's do something."

"Like what?"

"I dunno, a game or something."

Sebastian rang the doorbell.

"Okay if you guys just make out for this entire hangout I'm leaving" remarked Carol.

Riley nodded. "Me too."

I just scoffed and went to go answer the door. Sebastian was wearing a white T-shirt with black jeans and black shoes. He smiled, flashing me with his white teeth, and pulled me into a hug. He leaned down and placed a kiss on my temple.

"Hi," he said softly.

"Hi," I replied.

I took him to the living room where Carol and Riley were.

"Oh! Grace do you happen to have any board games?"

"In the attic, yeah."

"Can you bring some down please? I haven't played Monopoly or Guess or Candy Land in the longest time."

I nodded. "I'll check what we have."

I walked down the hallway and took a right. The attic door was in it's own little hallway with a window at the end. I pulled the string and allowed the stairs to follow.

The attic was unusually bright for an attic. I expected darkness and little ghost girls sitting in the corner. I looked around for the box labeled "Games." Aunt Gwen told me about them when I first arrived, I guess to help me feel more at home. I walked to a small bookshelf surrounded by boxes. I found a box filled with photo albums. It was filled with the typical old relatives and children. Which isn't much in my family. I thought my mom was an only child until they found Aunt Gwen and my dad had one brother who I don't even know.

I found a picture of a little girl, maybe 4 or 5, holding a baby. I flipped the photo and the names read Gwen and Diane. My mom and Aunt Gwen. How could my mom just not tell me I had relatives? What happened to cause that big of a rift between them?

I put that photo album down before I began crying. Or angry. Not particularly in that order. How could someone just turn his or her back on family?

Under that box was a box with documents. Old tax returns and such. I found a copy of a birth certificate. I lifted it. Maybe I could find Aunt Gwen's birthday. She refused to tell me, probably didn't want to make me feel obligated to get her something. Psh.

But when I read the name I froze. Why would my aunt have a copy of this birth certificate?

Giselle Velasquez.

Why did my aunt have Giselle's birth certificate? I looked at the other names and nearly fainted. Aunt Gwen gave birth to Giselle. Oh my god. I looked at the father's name. I don't know what I did after that. I probably stayed normal since no one came looking for me.

"Grace did you find the games?" Someone called. Riley. I think.

"Yes," I called back. Fake normalcy.

"Need help?" She asked.

"No. I'm okay. I'll be right there I just found photo albums."

"Oh."

I loved my friends. They understood sometimes. I looked back at the birth certificate. The name was still there.

David Arias.

My dad was Giselle's father.