you have my hart.

01. loud noises

(grace's pov)

after grandma woke me up for the third time this morning by taking away my blanket, i finally got out of bed and trudged towards the bathroom. i decided to take a bath after school, so i just brushed my teeth and threw in the first thing i could find from my closet. that happened to be one of mom's cat t-shirts i stole and grey sweatpants. too lazy to do my hair, i just went  downstairs.

already late for school, grandma hands me a smoothie while brushing through my hair trying to fix it. she tells me to have a good day and pushes me out the door. i start walking down the road while drinking the smoothie. since it was in a plastic cup, i throw  it away in the nearest trash can.

school wasn't a far walk, it took about ten minutes, and i stopped by a mcdonalds and got myself three hashbrowns. i was three minutes late which means i'd be considered late. i walk into math class and sit down in an empty chair, which happens to be right behind the girl i like, maya hart. she was laughing and she leaned her head back making her hair lay on my desk.

"ms. collins, would you like to tell the class why you're late," the grumpy, old teacher asks.

"ummm not really," i respond.

"stand up and tell us why you're late," she forces.

i groan but stand up, putting my hashbrown back in. and plus, i'd be wasting class time so i decide to make up a story and take as long as possible. i look around and find everyone's eyes on me, including maya's. no words come out as i'm looking at her. i clear my throat and look away within a quick second.

"well you see, i was hungry and running late, and that wasn't my fault. someone assigned me three hours of math homework and i stayed up until one am trying to finish it. but moving on, i went to mcdonalds which was the closest place to here. but there was this woman there and she was taking forever to order her— thank you, that's enough, sit down," she interrupts, mumbling something under her breath.

everyone started giggling and chattering while she went over to her desk, probably to mark me as tardy again. i sit there munching on my hashbrowns knowing i wasted fifteen minutes and the bell rings in another thirty minutes.

"silence!" the devil shrieks, and everyone stops talking.

she goes back to talking about what she was before i came in, but i don't pay attention like usual. maya had her chair pushed back and her legs on the desk. and her hair was sprawled out across my desk. riley looked back and noticed me staring at her hair.

"maya! sit properly! your hair is all over this poor girl's desk!" riley scolds.

"but i'm comfortable, she doesn't even care, do you?" maya whines.

"n-no," i say, which comes out as a whisper.

"see," she tells her friend, making riley sigh, and turn back around.

i keep looking at maya as she talks with her friends, trying to catch a glimpse of her face. i slowly put my pencil under her hair, pretending i need it, i move her hair a little to the side. i think she felt it because she turned around and looked at me with an amused expression before going back to talking with her friends. my face grew extremely red, making riley's eyes widen in confusion.

"are you okay? you're face is red," she asks, making her whole gang look at me.

"y-yeah, it's just hot in here," i say, making up an excuse.

i couldn't tell if i was hallucinating or not, but i could see maya smirking at me, making my cheeks burn even more. i lay my head on the desk trying not to get more embarrassed. after a quick second, they all go back to talking about riley's brother annoying her. i probably fell asleep because i woke up to a loud bang.

"fuck!" i yell at the loud sound.

i look up to see maya holding a metal rod and an iron thing. everyone in the class was laughing, including the teacher. it was really embarrassing, and i hated loud sounds. due to my past, they really scared me. forgetting my crush on maya, i grab my bag, shove her out the way before walking out. i think she didn't know it'd make me upset, because her and her friends started running towards me.

"dude, it was just a joke, chill out," maya yelled.

that just made me a lot more upset than i previously was. i turn around for a quick second and riley caught a glimpse of my face.

"maya she's crying, leave her alone," riley says, hitting maya on her shoulder.

"i'm sorry, i didn't mean to make you upset," maya says, as i'm walking out.

"maya, leave her alone," farkle butts in, as i walk out the school.

i walk home before continuously knocking on the door vigorously. grandpa opens it up, and he gets really concerned after seeing my tear-stained face. he lets me in and calls for grandma, who comes down within a minute.

"oh honey, what's wrong?" grandma asks, helping me onto the couch.

"i want mom," i say.

i don't usually call her mom cause i don't feel that close with her, but when i do, they know i'm serious.

"she'd be in rehearsals right now," grandpa said, looking at taylor's schedule.

"i don't care, i want her," i say, while trying not to cry.

loud noises remind me of my father, and i took therapy for a long time to get rid of the scared feelings and nightmares.

"i'll call her," he responds, dialing in taylor's number.

"hey dad," taylor said, into the phone.

"hey honey, grace wants to talk to you," he responds.

"can it wait for a couple hours? i'm in rehearsals right now?"

"i wouldn't have called you during rehearsals, btu it's really important, grace is sobbing her eyes out and she said she wanted you,"

"what, let me talk to her,"

after he gave me his phone, taylor started speaking again, but i couldn't form words. i was mad, upset, sad, and overwhelmed. i've been really good with handling loud noises, but that one being really sudden, i wasn't used to it or ready for it.

"hey honey," taylor said to me.

i tried to respond, but nothing would come out except sobs.

"grace, sweetie?"

"honey? you there?"

"mom? dad? is grace okay?" taylor asks, worriedly.

"she's sobbing, i don't know taylor," grandma responded.

"fuck it, i'm coming over, i'll be there in about three-ish hours," taylor said.

word count: [1105]