The Different Shade Of Grey

Chapter 22

"READY?" Frederick asks in his pitchy Mexican accent. I stroke the silk lingerie and dust the furry coat's shoulder, proudly. "I'm ready," I plead. I step out of the dressing room and twirl before I strike a pose with a playful smirk on my lips.
"How do I look?" Janice smiles and Fred looks like a proud father. I think I look like a killer 80's stripper in this outfit.
"Like mama Monroe! You look exquisite," he claps his hands before he grabs mine and twirls me around. He's really proud of his work and to be honest, I'm proud of him too. Frederick stops and looks at me with his rich Mexican smile. "Ginger boy!" He yells unexpectedly giving me a fright. The tall ginger boy, who I took a selfie with the other day, comes rushing through the dressing room. He's wearing denim jeans, the white t-shirt I signed, white Converse high-tops and a black polyester cardigan. Now, for some odd reason, I feel bad for not knowing his name.
His eyes widen when he sees me in a pale pink lingerie with a matching fluffy coat.
"You look amazing..." He pauses and it kinda makes me feel uncomfortable but I still thank him. "Should've told me your name! Now I couldn't stop searching your name on the net the other day 'cause I desperately wanted to invite you to my party," I lied but not entirely. The ginger did make me smile. He's just so adorable but not my type...but adorable. Inviting him wouldn't be such a big deal. Almost my whole school is coming so he'll just be a plus one.
"My name is Luke," he smiles shyly but then he's dragged by the forearm by Freddy the Mexican Teddy.
"Cancel all my plans for the day, I've got an important meeting with my American bélle over here. You and the Canadian, work together," he scolds as he slips on his white leather trench coat.

"ITS ONLY THURSDAY AFTERNOON and the club looks like this," I'm in awe of his work. The venue is like a slutty dream come true. My Vintage Lingerie party is going to be the best. There's feathers on the floor, disco balls, cages for the BBW go-go dancers, LED dance floor, stripper poles...did I mention that there's a pink slime bombs everywhere. This is exactly what I want! I'm really excited for Friday night!

I'M BACK AT ROSS'S PLACE after my little meeting with Fred and we're both busy with school work. He's busy with homework, I'm finishing up my Geography assignment. We're both busy and we don't want to be disturbed but there's still a conversation in the big study.
"So, he actually started sweating when you did that," Ross asks and chuckles at the same time. I smile and add, "It was weird but the ginger did earn a rightful spot at my party." There's an awkward silence until he asks me a question I really don't want to answer, "Your mom is coming back tonight and she must miss you. Do you miss her?" I purposely stay silent and continue writing down my theory. Ross kicks my ankle gently, alarming me. I roll my eyes and look at him, "I do miss her. I'm just not ready to face her or my dad." I said with my usual grumpy tone. Ross holds my hand and kisses my knuckles. Kissing my hand always cheers me up. He's so attentive, it's irritatingly cute. I run my fingers through his currently wet and curly hair and stroke it. He smiles, I smile. This is the perfect therapy that I'll ever need. Once I let go of his hair, he holds my head and rests his forehead against mine with his eyes closed. Our noses touch, my eyes close and the only thing we hear is our breathing. I feel his lips caress my lips and he whispers, "You're my angel, lyrics to my song, beat to my heartbeat and..." he pauses as he kisses my lips softly, "Your love keeps me breathing." I move closer to him and allow my legs to tangle with his.
We're all alone, in the Jenkins' household study; I'm wearing his big hoodie and he's shirtless, only wearing his black jeans. Our lips touch and there's an electric attraction between us. Sparks fly as our kiss deepens. His fingers skim through my hair as his tongue massages mine. My mind is concentrated on this very moment. Us...alone...together, forever.

PASSED OUT ON THE FLOOR his arms around my petite body, my head on his chest. There's a knock on the door that wakes us up. I sit up first and look around the room and it's only sunrise. Charlotte is leaning against the door with her sly smirk, two blonde braids and her white Adidas shirt and a phone in her hand.
"Morning love birds," she says as she walks closer to the desk. She hands me the phone and whispers, "Theodore." I clear my throat and put the phone against my ear. "Morning Ted."
"Happy birthday stupid. Miss you loads, can't wait for tonight," he says with his tired tone. I smile and rub my eyes as I cross my legs. "Thanks. Miss you too, bro." He coughs a little before he answers me, "Mom and dad are busy biting my head off over here. Missing you and shit, it's irritating." I sense him rolling his blue eyes. "I do miss them but I can't face them." Ted sighs, "Haven't told me what went down that's got you running into Ross's arms." How am I going to tell my father's favorite child this? That will never happen unless Grey comes out clean.
Charlotte leaves the study and Ross follows, leaving me alone as I talk to my brother. "Haven't even told Ross or any of my friends this. Can't come out to ya until the Head of that house tells you, just don't go all Sherlock on him. Not looking forward to seeing him at all." I roll my eyes and sigh. Ted seems irritated when he says his goodbyes and ends the call. No lie, I would be irritated too. I stand up and stretch before I exit the study. Daniel walks out of the nearest bathroom with a friendly smile and says, "Happy Birthday Bebz." I walk towards him and thank him with a hug. We walk out of the passage and I walk my separate way to Ross's bedroom. I kneel down near my suitcase as I take out my outfit for the day at school; denim boyfriend jeans, long sleeved flowing white t-shirt, white socks with my monochrome Vans shoes. I walk to the bathroom, take a quick shower, brush my teeth. All dressed up and I start drying my hair and trying it in a neat ponytail. I apply light makeup and grab my backpack and head downstairs.

"HELLO ANDREA, is dad available?" I ask, innocently. She shakes her head slightly and answers, "No. He's in a meeting with your mom and one of her co-workers." I shrug at her and walk to my dad's office. I hear Andrea running towards me, attempting to stop me. I zap her with my middle finger and push my dad's office doors open. Andrea is silent and so am I. Once again, why me! I throw my hands in the air.
"Making out, not even wishing me a 'Happy Birthday'! Really? As I was going to be professional with you two losers!" I yell storm out of their office, towards the reception and the elevator. Punching the button, my parents come running towards me. Mother in tears, dad shocked. Argh, the usuals.
"We can explain, don't go," mom cries. I bite my lip hard as I look at her with disgust and my chest starts to heat up, my hands curl up in fists and my face is warmer than usual.
"Explain how you guys scared my goddamn eyes? Kill me, alright? Disown me! Do something! I don't want to be apart of this disgusting family. How the fuck can you cope with this shit he calls love and affection? Huh, tell me!" I see red and I'm spitting out fire. My anger is head over hills but my breathing vanishes. Breathless words start to escape my lips, "I'm sixteen and you guys are just thinking about your tongue being shoved into each other's throats! You make me sick! SICK!" Once I stop yelling, I feel dizzy and the world is going round and round. "Should've calmed her down," I hear dad say. I collapse on the ground and blink slowly. They come running and my mom starts shaking me with tears streaming down her cheeks. I point to my left pocket and with no hesitation, she pulls out my asthma pump and places it in between my lips and presses on the other end, allowing me to inhale the oxygen. Inhale...exhale and I'm back to normal. I screw my eyes shut as I breathe. Mom holds me tightly and continues crying. No doubt, I hate the contact between us but I can feel her motherly love. No matter how much I angry at her, she's still gonna love me unconditionally. I weakly wrap my arms around her and silently cry with her. She looks at me and wipes my tears. At the corner of my eyes, I see my father's staff, half of them are wiping their tears and the others are just shocked. Dad's just looking at us with his gray eyes widened but he manages to tell his staff to go back to work. I sit up and wipe my mother's tears and stand up then I help her up. The elevator doors finally open and walk inside it, lean against the wall and close my eyes.