Saving Grace

A Whole New Person

Chapter Thirty Two

Jay

"I'm so sorry."

The words didn't leave her mouth in the form of sound. She mouthed them to me before looking away. I swallowed hard, not grasping why she would be apologizing. She hadn't done anything yet so I was only more confused.

Cali's gaze shifted to face the three people standing in front of her. And I couldn't help but feel this was all my fault.

Me and Preston are complete idiots. Simple as that; no other way to put it. We had just finished mending a fence in the northern pasture and were walking up the grassy slope towards the house. We were laughing about something Finn had posted on Facebook when out of the corner of our eyes, we saw cars pull up.

And here comes the part where we were idiots. It never once occurred to us to find out who the mystery drivers were. We never once thought that it could possibly be the people who ruined Cali's life.

And that made all difference. Because it turned out to be just them.

My slow brain finally put it together after we heard Cali's sudden scream. I broke out into a run with Preston close behind me. I finally reached the porch and threw open the screen door but it was too late. We were finally facing the problems that have been looming over our heads for some time.

Even though she never wanted to admit it, I knew Cali was bothered ever since her family made an appearance. She was the strongest, yet most stubborn person I had ever met. Whenever any of us tried to get some sort of emotion out of her, regarding this whole mess, she would brush us off.

Although she did tell me a few nights ago that she had always been independent when it came to her problems; that's why she didn't want help because this was the only way she knew how to deal. I didn't argue with her though. No use because she wasn't changing her mind.

So here we were. Me, Preston and Sam facing Sheila, Mark and Peyton. It was like monkey in the middle -- Cali was the thing both sides wanted. But we were what she needed. And we weren't going down without a fight.

Wow, you sound pathetic.

I know.

This isn't some old western showdown. This is your girlfriend and her family. Calm down, Clint Eastwood.

God dammit; stupid voice in my head.

I was pulled from my irritating and pointless thoughts when a shoe scuffed against the floor. I whipped my head to see Mark make the same protective move he had a week ago. His arm was covering Sheila's body and he had a scowl on his face.

For once it wasn't a stupid grin. Thank god.

But what was still the same was his feeling that we were going to hit Sheila. Obviously this boy didn't know how we were raised but whatever. It amazed me how he was acting so protective now, when I heard the stories about him and Cali.

It broke my heart really.

But then again, when was something not breaking my heart? It seemed that everything that involved Cali was just so sad and depressing. Every other thought of mine was that my heart was broken. When would our lives just be normal?

The room stayed silent, the quiet chirping of birds was all you heard. And it was going to drive me mad, but then a voice equal to nails on a chalkboard broke the silence, making me miss it more then I should have.

"So, how are you Grace?" Sheila tilted her head to the side with a small smile on her face. Her eyebrows were raised and she scrunched her nose, just like Cali did. That was the only movement in the room. Everything else was frozen and honestly, I felt it was going to go to my head again. If something didn't change soon, I was sure to go insane.