Redwood High 2

Chapter 15

When I was little, I was fascinated with soap operas. The badly acted dramas were what I lived for. Tele-Novellas were what sparked my interest at first. I didn't even need to know Spanish to keep up with the show. Drama and relationships and often times murder/death was what kept the show going. I was all for it. That was until I found out my life was slowly turning into a soap opera. I so far had all the components of living in my very own soap opera. I didn't like it. 

So when I opened my eyes and saw my friends huddled all around me I felt like Maria Cortez who fainted after she found out her father was going to have a child with her adopted sister after being left at the alter. It was an insane season finale.

I groaned and slowly sat up. Sebastian reached for my arm and slowly pulled me onto my feet.

I rubbed my head and sat on the edge of the bed. "God, what happened? My head is all fuzzy, even more after taking that test."

I looked at all the people staring at me with wide eyes. I felt exposed and that was a feeling that I disliked. I sat up and walked towards Carol who was standing by the window. If I didn't desperately have a question for Carol I might've marveled at the night scenery going about outside.

I leaned towards her so I could whisper into her ear. "Why is everyone staring at me?"

I heard her gulp and then say, "We all know everything about your... personal life." She took a step back leaving me wide eyed, staring out the window.

"What does 'everything' mean?" I whispered back.

"Your parents and your aunt..."

Oh god. I stumbled back towards the bed and sat down. It's definitely not a secret that I'm not really an open person. There was a lot that I kept from the people who have been closest to me this past year. I didn't want to talk about anything. I thought if I ignored it all that it would disappear. That isn't the case with real life.

"Grace, you're ok. You don't have to deal with everything on your own." Sebastian sat down next to me and wrapped his arm around me. I leaned into his embrace and let out a tiny sigh. My parents are dead, there's no changing that. What I can change however is how I treat the people around me and to stop running away from everything. School has been my distraction but when summer break starts I'll be left to what I've been running away from.

"How - how did you guys retrieve this folder? Where did you get this information?"

Riley coughed. ''Sebastian and I did some digging. I begged for them to wait until after State but he wouldn't listen to me."

"Grace, how have you been hiding this for so long?" Sebastian looked at me with his stupidly pretty eyes.

"I want to talk about this, I really do. But I'm tired and I need my focus on State. Afterwards I will tell you guys everything. Just not right now."

"We have more things to worry about right now," Riley said.

"We love you," said Carol.

"I know and I love you all very much too. Now get to your room before they come and see our door is closed with a boy in the room."

"That's sexist. I dare Ms. Galangey to come at me, she'll be on the floor in an instant."

Riley scoffed. "You know damn well you can't knock her out. You can't even do five sit-ups."

"We have to get ready for the opening ceremony." I got up and pulled Sebastian up with me. "Go get ready, we'll meet up with you later." I pushed him out the door and it was just Riley, Carol and I. Our freshmen roommate wasn't here yet which I was kind of grateful for because I didn't want some stranger to see me pass out.