Not to be found

Chapter 15 - Cheesy

Its warm; I'm wrapped up tightly in my own little cocoon made out of duvet and blankets. I feel safe. The beams of light peering through the curtains as my eyes begin to make out my surroundings.
Oh yeah I'm at Noah's house.......Oh god, I'm at Noah's house! Sleeping in his guest room! How can I feel safe? What is wrong with me? I shouldn't be here, they're gonna find out who I am and then I'm done. Whoa. Slow down Lacey.....I mean Gracie, they can't know who you are. You're a redhead with a face full of make up; freckles hidden, a new looking set of eyebrows and an outgoing personality. Lacey was never like that. You're safe. Chill......

The digital alarm clock on the left hand bed side table reads 8:48am, I'm wearing my PJs; navy blue shorts and a white sleeveless t-shirt with a palm tree on it.....classy. I haul myself up so that I'm sitting on the edge of the bed with my feet dangling down. I rub my eyes so that they can focus as I hear a soft knock on the wooden door.
"Come in," I mumble, my voice riddled with sleep.

Noah stands in the door frame, dressed in red PJ bottoms and black t-shirt, a smile on his lips. "Good morning, sleep well?" He asks.

I sit up straight, adjusting my posture as I tug at the bottom of my shorts to pull them down just a little so that more of my thighs are covered. "Much better than the backseat of my car, thanks."

"Good. You'll be ready then," he grins, his eyes full of excitement.

"Ready?" I question, "ready for what exactly?"

He turns to leave the room, "get dressed and meet me downstairs then I'll tell you 'what'."

He leaves, leaving me with nothing but my thoughts standing alone in this beautiful room.
Ready for what? To hand me in? No, surely not. He can't know it's me, I look different; my hair is red and cut short. I'm not me anymore, I'm improved. I'm strong.

I walk into the en-suite bathroom that is attached to my now bedroom and turn on the shower. I lock the door and watch as the water warms in seconds as the steam fills the little glass box, I take my PJs off and leave them on the floor, stepping into the shower and shivering as soon as the water hits me. I welcome it turning around slowly so that the water can run down my body.
I search for shampoo and find some on the metal shelf and slowly massage it into my hair. I wash it out and savour the warm feeling on my body.

*************************************

25 minutes later I'm downstairs; Noah's parents and himself sitting at the dining room table eating what appear to be croissants. I'm dressed in black jeans, cream jumper, black doc martens and a khaki jacket.

"Are you ready for today love?" Julie asks me motioning me to sit down at the table.

I sit down in front of her, "I'm ready, but for what I do not know."

She smiles and it's warm, but she has that devilish and excited look in her eyes just like her son, "oh don't worry, it's nothing bad I promise you. But you'll see soon enough,"

I sigh, "do I even get a clue?"

I'm terrible when it comes to surprises. I can't handle them. My parents tried throwing me a surprise birthday party for my 18th and I had to go and ruin it by eavesdropping on my mum when she was making arrangements. Of course I acted like I was surprised but I knew all along and told Monica who scolded me for being such a spoil sport and ruining the fun.

"Nope." Noah says, as he pushes his empty plate away from him, "It's nothing even big I just want to show you something."

"Oh," I mumble, looking at the empty plate.

"Gracie dear, aren't you hungry? Please have a croissant," Mike pushes the plate towards me stacked high with the buttery treats.

I take one and begin to pick at it, eating it piece by piece, "thank you," I say as I finish chewing.

I finish eating the croissant and Noah gives me a look as whether to say 'ready?' I nod my head at him and he gets up from the table, so I take it as my queue to do the same.

"Enjoy you two," Julie says as we walk into the kitchen which leads to the living room and out the front door.

As we walk out of the kitchen Noah grabs a black rucksack that is sitting on the side and pulls it over his shoulders. What could possibly be in there?

He then walks out the front door without saying a word and heads towards the barn. I keep up with him, a few paces behind. We turn left as we reach the barn and come across a wooden building, he opens the door and inside are two Labradors one black and one sandy.

"Oh my gosh!" I exclaim, "they're gorgeous!"

The two dogs stand up on all fours and tiredly walk over to Noah, their tails wagging. After greeting Noah they make their way over to me, sniffing my legs and making little whiney noises.

"Gracie meet Bentley and Hunter, Bentley and Hunter meet Gracie," he introduces me to the dogs, "'hopefully she'll be around for quite some time."

I blush knowing what he implied when he made his comment. "they're absolutely beautiful! but what are they doing living out here?" I ask slightly confused.

Noah leads us out of the building and heads off into the woods down a dirt track, "oh, they do come in the house sometimes, but we mainly keep them out here for security."

"Oh," I nod my head, following him down the track.

The woods get deeper as we carry on walking and the terrain is getting steeper as I feel the pull on my calf's. Gosh, I really wish I brought my camera with me, the autumn colours in this forest are beautiful and I wish I could capture them. I also wish I brought a thermos because it is very cold out here, I can see my breath and wish I had dressed warmer.

"Nearly there," Noah says as we walk up the hill a little more, "do you have any pets by the way?"

"No I don't," I reply, "I wasn't allowed any, my parents thought that I may not be responsible enough for one. So yeah.....no pets for me."

Noah looks at me, his eyebrows knitted together and a confused look spread across his face, "why on earth would they think that?"

Him saying that actually made me wonder the same thing. Why didn't they think they could trust me?

"I don't know. It puzzles me."

*************************************

We walk for a little longer, until the trees begin to thin out and I can just about see beyond the forest. Noah pulls a tennis ball out of his jacket pocket and throws it as far as he can; Bentley and Hunter in hot pursuit disappearing off into the distance.

As we come out of the woods, I stop and stare in disbelief as I look at the beautiful landscape before me. Where I'm standing is a downhill path that leads into the valley, two massive stacks of rocks on both sides. The sky a lovely blue colour and the ferns a red-brown colour.

"Beautiful, right?" Noah asks as he walks back and stands beside me.

I take in my surroundings turning around in a 360 degree angle, taking in all of its beauty and what it has to offer. I'm speechless.

"Beautiful." I simply reply.

Noah pauses as if he's considering a response, "Yep. Just like you."

Oh wow. Did he just say that? That's kind of cheesy, but I have that feeling in the pit of my stomach; like butterflies. Oh no, not the butterflies. He's a charmer. Noah is a charmer. A cheesy charmer. Is it too early to ask: am I falling in love?

Help.