Chapter 6
Nathan’s POV
After a while we had finally gotten to my place. I decided to knock, so that Mum could meet Gracie right away. Just then the door opened, and I felt Gracie tense up; I gripped her hand to let her know everything was going to be fine.
“Nathan, have you forgotten your key—oh, who’s this lovely lady?” Mum stopped herself and looked up from her blouse, which she was fixing to ask about who Gracie was. I looked over at Gracie to see her blushing.
“Mum, this is Grace. She’s erm, she’s my student,” I stuttered. I think that came out wrongly because Mum widened her eyes at me, and Gracie hit my leg with hers.
“Nathan-“ Mum started, but I was quick to cut her off.
“Mum, it’s not what it looks like.” I looked over at Gracie and gave her a look that said, “Your turn to say something.”
“Hi, I’m Gracie,” and she placed her hand out for Mum to shake.
“Yes, erm, come in, you two,” Mum shuffled to the side to let us in, and I lightly pushed Gracie for her to go in first. As Mum was shutting the door, she pulled me off to the side.
“You have explaining to do.” She told me.
“Mum, really, it’s not bad. And please, don’t embarrass me; I brought her here to get to know her better,”
Mum smiled at me. “You sounded like you were 16 or something just now!” She giggled. Oh, Mum. I just rolled my eyes playfully and made my way further into the house. That’s when I saw Gracie standing just outside the sitting area, looking confused.
“Come on, Gracie, take a seat; don’t be shy,” I chuckled and she sat down. I took the space next to her and looked over at Mum. She only smiled and made her way upstairs.
“So, what have you planned?” Gracie asked.
“I was just thinking about watching a movie. And you get to pick.” I told her.
“Alright, then. Have you got any animations?”
“Do I?” I smirked, and she just looked at me with a knowing look. I chuckled. “Yeah, yeah, I do.”
I went over to the drawer full of movies and moved out of the way so that she could see.
“Is that “Ice Age” I see there?” Dammit. She had to pick that one out. It’s stupid, but I was kinda scared that she’d make out the similarities between Sid the Sloth and me.
“Erm, no it’s not “Ice Age,” what are you talking about?” I jokingly covered up.
“I’m pretty sure that was “Ice Age” I saw there…” she smirked. “Don’t think I don’t know about your affiliation with Sid the Sloth, Sykes,”
I gaped at her. “Cheeky! Fine, we’ll watch the damn movie,” I huffed and she laughed harder.
“Don’t worry, I wasn’t going to tease you about it,” I looked over at her and saw her stick her tongue out at me, so I just returned the gesture. I placed the CD into the player and went into the kitchen for popcorn and tea.
“Would you like tea?” I popped my head out to the side so that Gracie could hear me better.
“Yeah, please,” she smiled.
The day played on and we really ended up not watching “Ice Age.” Instead we made conversations in between and got to know each other a bit more. But when we got onto the topic of family, her mood shifted and I suddenly felt guilty about even touching the subject.
