Escaping Lights - A Greyson Chance Fan Fiction

Chapter 20: Look At You

"What's with those gloomy looks? It's as if someone just died," Meredith said that night as we were having our dinner.

     It was official that Maddie hadn't spoken to me over the past few hours. Even Greyson avoided my eyes.

     Maddie shook her head at her. She was circling her peas around her plate using her fork, just staring at them go around the edges.

     "You've barely touched your food," Meredith continued, looking at her daughter.

     "Nobody likes peas, Mom. I'm not so hungry either. I'm going to my room." Maddie dropped her fork and got up from her chair. She left the kitchen, the curtain of beads rattling after her.

     Greyson's aunt turned to us. "Did something happen?"

     "Not really," Greyson replied quietly. He chewed slowly.

     I ate my food any normal person would, but I wasn't feeling that enthusiastic. First off, I hated peas. Second, I was bugged. And third, I was not entirely sure everything was real at the moment.

     Afterwards, I volunteered to wash the plates. I was willing to do so, but it was also another excuse for me to delay myself from going downstairs where Maddie was.

     "Here you go, Phoebe." Ruthie handed me two glasses.

     "Thanks," I replied, giving her a faint smile.

     "I'm going down now," she said. I nodded and she disappeared.

     I was halfway through my work when a voice suddenly came from beside me. "Hey."

     I almost dropped the plate I was rubbing with a bubbly yellow sponge. "What do you want, Greyson?" He was leaning his bum against the counter, and his body was shifted sideways so he was facing me.

     He didn't respond to me, though. Instead, he continued staring at me with those hazel eyes. I stopped what I was doing for a moment and I snapped out. I shook my head and turned back to the dishes. "I'm getting creeped out. Say what you wanna say. Am I ever going to leave this place with only Ruthie as my remaining friend?"

     He furrowed his brows. "What do you mean?"

     "I always screw things up," I said.

     He sighed. "Don't say that. You don't."

     "Face it, Greyson. I am an ultimate messed up girl that lives an incredibly messed up life, making things harder for the people around me."

     He failed to say something in comeback to that.

     "Come on, I'll help you put those away." He reached out for the washed plates I had stacked beside the sink and placed them one by one inside the dryer.

     "Is Maddie actually mad at me?" I asked suddenly.

     "I can't say she's perfectly fine. But I'm pretty sure she's not mad mad. Just a bit disappointed, I guess," he replied.

     "Disappointed?"

     Greyson shrugged. "Well, she did trust you with her secret. And she got an unexpected response to that."

     I stayed silent as I wiped my hands on the towel that hung on a magnet hook on the fridge. Then I asked, "What about you? Are you mad at me?"

     He gave me a look that played along the lines of curiosity, surprise, and amusement. "He scoffed. "Why would I?"

     "I don't know. It's kind of stupid, actually."

     "Because it is. Are you suspecting me that I have a secret fondness for Jared as well, because I'm telling you, I'm in no way attracted to him," he joked.