Grace Taylor Hudson

Chapter 11

<Grace POV>

"Grace." Somebody was gently shaking me, "Grace, darling it's time to get up." I groaned groggily and rolled over to see Katy sitting on the left side of my bed with a smirk on her face. "Noooo, just ten more minutes. Please?" Katy shook her head, chuckling, then got up and pulled the curtains open causing the bright morning sunlight to temporarily blind me. "Argh! Close it. Please!" I threw my arm over my face to shield my eyes until they adjusted. "It's already seven Grace! Doesn't school start at eight?" I busted out laughing, "Katy! I don't have to be there until 10! I have a free period every morning. So if you could just close the curtain and the door on your way out that would be great!" I gave her a thumbs up and rolled back over with my back facing the light seeping in from the floor-to-cieling windows.

I didn't hear any noise for a few seconds until the loud pounding of footsteps on the floor grew closer to me. I turned around with just enough time to brace myself before Katy jumped on top of me. "Oooph! You're so heavy. Get offff." Katy looked up at me, pouting. "But I love you!" She tickled my sides causing me to fidget and twitch uncontrollably. "Katy! Stahhp! Hahahahahah. Ka- Oh my gosh!" I twisted myself out from underneath her and jumped out of the bed before sprinting downstairs, squealing and shrieking the whole way down. "You'll never get me!"

We were running and dancing in circles around the island that stood in the middle of the kitchen. Both of us out of breath due to the mixture of laughter and running. "Okay, okay. I give up! Truce." Katy stuck her hand out across the island, "You're too young and agile for me." I did a victory dance and took her hand, "So does this mean the original firework has lost her spark?" She laughed at my joke, "Hey! Don't diss my song! That's one of the ones I'm most proud of! And actually, you're the original firework." She looked at me and pointed, "You're the muse behind that one." My jaw dropped then quickly turned into a smile. "So I'm the firework." She shrugged, leaning her left hip on the island, "I wanted you to know that no matter what you were going through, you could make it through."

I tapped my fingers on the island's granite counter top. "What else have you written that had to do with me or the things that happened?" She took a moment to recall, "Lost, do you know that one?" I nodded, vaguely remembering hearing it with Rachel. "Who Am I Living For?, Part of Me, and an unreleased one called Diamonds. Of course other stuff was mixed in with them but I started writing them with you in mind." "But wasn't Part of Me written for your movie?" "Yeah, but there were much deeper meanings behind it. A message to Russell. He understood; no matter how upset I was I'd make it through because I'd been through worse like not having you. And I had you to live for, the part of me nobody could ever take away from me."

I never had any idea... I was the inspiration behind two mega-hits... I took a moment to absorb it all. "Well, I did listen to Firework a lot. It made me feel confident? I don't know. All I know is that it helped me a lot." Katy broke into a dazzling smile, "Well that was it's purpose and to know that it helped you means more than the world because..." She paused then broke into song while walking around the island to me, "Baby you're my firework! C'mon show 'em what you're worth! Make 'em go oh oh oh!" I was embarrassed by the serenading and buried my head into my arms on the counter top then made the decision that now was a good time to go upstairs and get dressed for school. "Oh geez! Look at the time. I absolutely need to go get ready for school!" I mimed looking at a nonexistent watch then backed out of the room slowly, letting Katy continue singing. I was halfway up the stairs before she noticed.

I went back downstairs an hour later to find something to eat; I had to leave an extra fifteen minutes earlier to accommodate traffic and the fact that Katy's house is farther away from the school than my parents' house. I peered into the fridge, and when I found nothing in there I moved onto the freezer hoping that there might be waffles, of course there was nothing. I groaned out loud then jumped when I heard the front door open, I was in a panic until I saw Katy round the corner. "Oh dear lord. It's just you!" I brought my hand to my chest, "I didn't know you left!"