Things Change

Part 20:

I still felt unsure about walking into Grayson's house unannounced. Yes, technically he did know I was coming but still didn't like it. I park the car at the end of his drive and climb out locking the car behind me. I mentally pray that his parents aren't home. I have yet to meet them but they seem like terrible people. I step onto the front porch of the house and stare at the door. Maybe I should just go. I shake the thought out of my head and grab the door knob. I turn it and push the door open. A gust of cold air hits me when I step into the house. "Grayson?" I call his name but I'm met with silence. I close the door behind me and walk towards the living room area on the right but it was empty. I decide to check his room since it's more likely he would be there. Man, I hate these stairs. When I finally reach the second floor I turn down the right side of the hall towards his bedroom. I knock on the door then step inside. It was empty. I walk further into the room closing the door behind me. I walk over to Grayson's bookshelf looking at all the looks. It still amazed me that he has read all of these books. I run my finger along the shelf that had a small section of CDs. I turn my head when I hear the door open. "Oh, shit." Grayson curses. I squeal throwing my hand over my eyes and turn around. "I'm sorry. I didn't-" I stop myself. "I thought you would be here later-" Grayson explains. I shake my head. The room falls into an awkward silence. "Okay, you're good." Grayson says. I slowly drop my hand still embarrassed that I seen him naked. This is why I didn't want to just walk in. I peek to make sure he's dressed and thankfully he is. "I didn't know you were gonna be here this early." He admits. I feel my cheeks redden as I nod. What's done is done. I can't reverse myself from seeing him naked. "So," I say awkwardly. The last time I was in here, I was sneaking out of his bedroom. "Right, Edger Ingle." Grayson says snapping out of his thoughts. He grabs his laptop off of the desk taking a seat on his bed. I shrug my bag off of my shoulder tossing it at the end of his bed. "What about him?" I ask. Instead of answering me Grayson types away on his laptop. I take a seat on the edge of his bed and pull out the brown wallet. I start to shift through the wallet pulling out all of cards. "He has like a million cards." I pull out a gold card. Grayson rolls his eyes at me. "Well, someone's got a lot of money." I say. I stare at the ID again. Edger wasn't ugly but he wasn't attractive. He had dirty blonde hair and plain green eyes. He had a large narrow nose and thin pale lips. His skin complexion was pale as well. How could my mother cheat my father with a man that looks like he should be a ghost. "Edger James Ingle. Age 35. Born January 5th 1980 at Chamberton Hospital. Weight, 8 pounds and 21 inches long." He spoke with a smile. "Grayson?" I ask. He meets my gaze and grins. "Our pal, has been divorced-" I jump up from my spot and crawl towards him. I sit down beside him. "You pulled his record?" I ask in disbelief. "And did a back ground check. For the most part he's the poster child for how to be a perfect adult."
"Well clearly he's not that perfect if he wife left him." I mumble. I see Grayson nod from the corner of my eye. "He works at a processing company. He's a chairman for the CEO. So he makes lots of money." Grayson continues to explain. So my mother is a gold digger.
"Who was his wife?" I ask leaning on closer. Grayson scrolls down until a name appears on the screen. "Terri Ann Ingle. They've been divorced for two years." Grayson explains. I sit back processing everything that was happening. My mother is a gold digger who is willing to throw away her marriage for a pale face bastard. I couldn't help but feel sorry for my Dad. "Any children?" I ask. Grayson scrolls through the record. "One, a guy named Teddy. He lives an hour away from here." He answers. I nod processing. I wonder if he knows our parents were having an affair? "Did he cancel his cards yet?" I ask. Grayson opens up a different page. "No. Why?" Grayson asks. I shrug my shoulders crawling back towards the cards. I gather them together and hope off the bed placing them in my purse. "I'm in need of some new clothes." I say happily. A confused look appears on his face. "Wanna come?" I ask. He closes his lap top and stands up. "Remind me to never piss you off." He jokes. I bite my tongue. What happened between us is for another time. I slid my feet back into my flats. "Where to first, boss?" He asks. "The mall of course." I say grabbing my back pack. He opens his bedroom door and let's me out first. We walk down the stairs in silence. I wanted to tell him how much I hated these stairs but instead I held my tongue. Grayson freezes when we reach the front door. A women with black hair stumbles into the house. With a younger man at her arm. "Honey," The women straightens herself up but you can tell she's drunk. She clears her throat. "I didn't know you would be home." She explains. "School does get out at 2:30, remember?" Grayson answers harshly. A guilty look appears on the women's face. I assume that's his mother. Her dark brown eyes meet mine. A sad smile appears on her face. "Who's this?" She asks. Grayson tenses. "I'm Riley." I speak up. "My girlfriend." Grayson adds. His mother's eyes light up. "Oh honey that's wonderful." His mother cheers. She steps toward us and I feel myself getting nervous. I grab onto Grayson's hand. "Why didn't you mention this before?" She asks. Grayson tightens his grip on my hand. "Because of situations like this. We're leaving." Grayson snaps pulling me behind him. I give his mother an apologetic look then turn my attention to the direction we are walking. Grayson slams the door behind us and let's go of my hand. I grab my keys from my pocket and unlock the doors. We climb into the car in silence. I start the car and put it in drive. We make it halfway down the road when Grayson speaks up. "I'm sorry for that-I didn't want to introduce you as my girlfriend." He apologizes. For some strange reason this bothers me. "Then why did you?" I ask annoyed. "I don't want her to think I'm bringing random girls home." He remarks. I feel my heart drop. He didn't not just call me a ransom girl. I nod my head and turn on the radio. I turn it up loudly so that there couldn't be any conversation between us. Once we get to the mall, I park the car and climb out. "Riley, what I said about random girls, I didn't mean you." He grabs my arm. "It's fine." I dismiss the conversation. "No, it's not. My mom, she's complicated and I didn't mean to throw you into my mess. I'm sorry." He apologizes. "It's fine." I say. He looks unsure but nods. We turn and walks towards the mall entrance. "Seriously," Grayson complains when I jump onto his back. He stumbles forward a few feet but manages to catch himself. He hooks his arms under my knees holding me up. "Thanks, you're a peach." I say patting his chest. He grunts in response. For a split moment I feel bad about coming here to spend Edgers money. Then it's gone as quickly as it came. He was just as much to blame as my mother was. If he didn't know my mother was married that was a different story but he does. He comes to the house and sleeps in their bed. He must see the pictures of our family on the wall and the clothes in my fathers closet. "What are you thinking?" Grayson voice draws me out of thoughts. I ponder on telling him for a moment. "How much stuff I'm gonna buy." I say. He sets me on my feet when we walk into American Eagle. I start looking at the shirts on the rack closest to the door. "Don't you feel bad about this?" Grayson asks grabbing my arm. I take a deep breath and look at him. "Don't you want to get back at people like him? Like your parents? You can't tell you that you've never wanted to get back at them for cheating on each other." I say. Grayson stares at me with a surprised look on his face. "You're really pissed about this aren't you?" He asks. I look away from him and shake my head. "I'm angry at my mother for not being women enough to tell my father she doesn't want to be with him but I'm also angry at my dad for not opening his eyes." I say. Grayson stands beside for a few more moments then nods. "Spending limit?" He asks. "Doesn't exist." I answer. A small smile appears on his face as he walks towards the guy section.