A Year in the Making

FOUR ~ grace

I open the doors and the brisk, cold air hits my face. I wrap my gray scarf around my neck a little tighter. Soon enough, I plunge my hands into the pockets of my NSHS tennis windbreaker and continue walking across the parking lot.

"Hey Grace." says Derek, our school security guard. Derek doesn't mind me going out to the beach during free period- it's not like I'm skipping class.
"Hey, Derek! How's your morning?" I stop to talk. He's leaning against his security keep checking his phone.
"Already caught three people trying to skip algebra." he laughs.
"Freshman." we say in unison.
"Haha. Have a good day, Grace." he replies, ending our conversation.

Derek isn't much of a talker. He's older than some of the teachers but he's super cool. Way cooler than any teacher I've had anyways.

As I continue walking, I look back at the school. There are 6 windows. Two ground level, two middle level, and two top floor. All of the shades are closed. With the exception of one. The top right. Mrs. Lakely always keeps her curtains open. She says the fog filled view is enough to write poetry about.
I disagree. It's enough to write a whole story about.

"Grace?" asks an unfamiliar voice. Already deep in the fog, I can't see a thing.
"Evan?" I ask, quietly. I turn around looking left and right. Out here, it's lonely. But beautiful and calming. And, when you finally get to the water, it's like it goes on forever and ever. I like it when the sand is cold and there's a nice breeze and you can hear only the waves. that's when it's the best time to come out here. And it's so private too, there's not another person for a while.

"Grace?" Says the voice. "Grace Lunar? where are you? " I can tell that it's Evan now. In the mist and fog, I see Evan's figure. "Stay there. I'm coming." I laugh. I run into Evan's arms as we both fall over.
"H-Hey!" He giggles. His short brown hair and his short stubble makes me melt.
"Took you long enough to get out here." he jokes. His smile is overwhelming, I can't get over it.
"Oh be quiet." I kiss his forehead and sit down next to him on our beach blanket. It's stripes and colorful and it's our favorite because it's soft and warm on chilly days like this September one.

"You look ravishing today, milady." He says in a horrible but cute British accent.
"Thank you, kind sir!" I laugh standing up to twirl. Spinning, I grab his hand to dance with me but I let go fast.
"Jesus, Evan. How long have you been out here?" I sit back down to warm his hands. He's cold as ice.
"Uh... the end of first period.." he replies.
"Evan! Why?! It's so cold and you've been out here for almost two hours! You could get like hypothermia or something!!"
"Grace. Relax." he says, calming me down. "It's only fall. It's not that cold yet." He adds.
"Do you remember we live right on the coast?" I chuckle. The shore is so much more chilly than in-land.
"I just really like the beach, Grace. I like the sound of the waves and the feel of the sand and I like the cloudiness and I especially like it when you're here with me." he whispers in my ear. I get chills even though I'm really warm in this blanket. That's how Evan makes me feel.
"Evan! I'm always here!" I smile at him. "That's my favorite part." he whispers again. suddenly, we're face to face and I can feel the warmth of his breath on me.
And then I have this huge, painful urge to kiss him. His lips are soft and sweet and his eyes can open a million doors for me. His face always lights up my perspective and shines a positive beam on it. He can do no wrong. And suddenly, I'm kissing him and he's kissing me. It's perfect in every single way. Except until I snap out of my day dream.
We're still face to face but we haven't actually kissed. I feel my face get red and he looks at me like he knows what just happened in my head.

"You have group today?" He asks, pulling away from me. Way to kill the mood, Evan.
"Yeah." I frown. "it's good for you. Do you want me to come with you tonight? I'm not busy." Evan's never been to group before. What if it scares him?
"Oh... I don't know..." I say, wearily.
"That's okay!" He laughs. "you can keep your group life and your love life separate!" He winks.
I tilt my head and raise my eyebrows.
"My... love life?" I tease.
"You know, the part of your life where you looooove me?" He teases back. His green eyes could light up the entire world for me.
"Hey. Thanks for those daisies." I say, abruptly. He smiles warmly, takes my hand in his, and replies, "Thanks for being wonderful." He stands up and so do I. He picks me up and hugs me. And, it's a really nice hug too. You know, the kind where the girls arms around his neck and the guys arms are around her waist. That kind. The official kind.

Evan's watch beeps and with that, it's time to go back to school. As we walk, our fingertips graze each other's and I want to hold his hand so badly. It's weird that I've known him for over five years and a hug is the farthest we've gotten. A kiss on the forehead is friendly too him.
Is it so hard for him to kiss me? There have been so many opportunities!
Aren't you rooting for me? He walks me to my fourth period and we meet again after for lunch. I've gotten used to it now that it's just our thing.

**
Later that night, I arrive at group. Emily, Chris, and Lila all saved me a seat. Sometimes, I liked group. Emily was my friend there- who'd have known that I'd befriend a girl with anxiety- and she made me feel better when I had a rough week. I made her laugh even though she went down another size. I never pushed on her to eat, I figured she'd had enough of that from everybody else. And she didn't try to help me " release my emotion" like our group advisor, Clarice, had told me. We actually laughed at that. I guess Emily was my Evan.

"Let's go get a drink?" Emily asked after group was over.
"A drink?" I asked.
"Yeah. Coffee at the brew by the beach?" She said. "Sure." I replied, pulling out my phone to text my mom that I'd be home later.
On the way down the elevator to the first floor, it stopped abruptly at the 2nd floor. The ER.
"What the..." Emily said as the elevator slammed on its brakes.
The doors open and in rolls a mid-twenties guy and a nurse. His face was all covered in bandages but it wasn't like the cloth bandages, it was like the material of band-aids. The nurse was wiping sweat away as she pushed the 4th floor button.
"Sorry, girls. Gotta take him to the ICU."
"What happened?" I asked.
"Poor thing, he was a victim in a terrible hit-and-run accident. Just by the beach."
"How sad." I reply.
And then they were gone, into the ICU.
"Stupid driver." said Emily, pushing number one.
Minutes later we were in the hospital parking lot.
"My cars over there." Emily points.
"Oh mines over there." I tell her.
"Um... Grace... is that your car?" She questions.
I look over and see a big sign with my name across my windshield. My name is in bright paint with glitter everywhere.

"Grace?" says Evan, peeking out between two cars.