Living with the Grace Boys

Chapter 7

Rae's POV

"You little whore!" He spat at me. "You think you can get away with that, you fucking slut?"

He brings his hand down across my face.

"I'm sorry." I sob.

"Sorry doesn't cut it princess! This is what I should've done a long time ago!"

He punches my face, hard. He pulls my shirt off and unbuttons my shorts.

"No! No stop, please!" I plead.

"Rae! Rae!"

I'm shaken awake by someone. I open my eyes realizing it was just a dream. Griffin stands over me, his hands still on my shoulders. I sit up.

"What happened?"

"You were yelling in your sleep. Something about someone hurting you."

"Oh. Sorry."

"I came in here to wake you up. Are you okay?"

"Yeah. Thanks. Where's Isaac. And what time is it?"

"He's out with his girlfriend. It's around noon." That stings. I don't know why, but it does.

"The rest of them are outside. What was your dream about?"

I bite my lip. I've never old anyone about this before. Not even Lanie.

"It's nothing."

"It's more than nothing. You were yelling at someone to stop hurting you. Now, what happened."

"Why do all of you want to get up in my business? I don't want to talk about it. Not now."

"Listen to me, Rae. If something's bothering you, you can come to me. I'm just trying to help." He walks out of the room.

"Griffin wait!"

"What?"

"My dream; I've never told anyone about if before. I don't want to tell you because I barely know you. If I'd known you longer, I'd be able to tell you. It's private."

"Fine. But I'm being serious when I said you could talk to me. Anyone of us can help. Maybe not Spencer, Noah, or Liam. But the older boys will." I nod in acknowledgement. He exits the room.

**********

I get up a little while later and take a shower; this time I bring the clothes I'm changing into inside the bathroom. I don't want a repeat of what happened last time. I take my shower. After drying off, I pull on my light-washed jeans, a white crop-top, a black cardigan, and white high-top Converse. I French-braid my hair and leave the bathroom. I grab my phone and walk down the stairs.

I get outside and find all of the boys playing soccer. My favorite. I'm an amazing soccer player; I was on one of the top teams in the area. After my parents died, I couldn't play because I can't accesses the funds for it. I decide to join in.

"Noah pass it to me!" I shout. He does. I dribble around Spencer and take the shot. Elliot dives. He misses.

"GOAL!!"

"Nice shot Rae!" Isaac remarks. I smirk. He sets up the kick off. I drop into right forward; my natural position besides Keeper.

The teams are Noah, Isaac, Shane, and me against Elliot, Spencer, Sterling, and Liam. Shane is in keep, for now.

We keep playing until the score is 5-2, my team is in the lead. I scored 4 of our 5 goals. We end the game. By now it's 4:30 in the afternoon.

"How did you get so good Rae?" Sterling looks astonished at my skill level.

"I've been playing since I could walk. And don't sound likes it's unbelievable." He still thinks it's impossible that I'm as good as I am.

"I still think it's unbelievable how she bicycle-kicked the ball I headed and made a goal." Noah added.

"Hey, I can do a lot more than that." I like being praised for my skills. When I still had my real family, they would congratulate me and then they wouldn't say anything else until I did something else amazing.

"I think your an awesome player." Liam pipes up. This is the first thing I've heard him say, so I was confused when he said it because I didn't know who was talking.

"Thanks Liam. That's super nice." I flash a smile at him. He smiles back.

"Where is Griffin?" Elliot asks.

"Last I saw he was inside." I tell them.

"I'll go check on him." Isaac replies.

"Who wants a snack?" Sterling gets up and everyone follows his lead. I walk up the steps and into the kitchen with them. We all start making snacks. and talking and laughing. I think I'm going to like it here after all. I'm starting to fit in.