Escaping Lights - A Greyson Chance Fan Fiction

Chapter 32: Going Home

A few moments later, Maddie, Ruthie and Jared got off the boat and rejoined us. I noticed Maddie found it hard to look in my eyes while Ruthie seemed to have little clue about what happened back in the house. Jared had his usual flat affect face on. The only difference, I thought, was maybe he was starting to realize that we were actually both related and I could tell that he felt a tad bit of restlessness, if ever he felt such.

     Greyson, thank goodness, somehow knew how to pull sticky situations like this apart. He was the first to say something while referring to Maddie and Jared. "So how was your boating?"

     Maddie sighed a little. "It was okay. Jared and I tried our best to convince Ruthie to not jump off the boat and swim. Is that the time? I think it's better if we head home now," she said, while glancing at her wristwatch.  "If that's fine with you, Phoebe," she added.

     "Huh? Why are you asking me?" I was kinda startled.

     "Nothing in particular. Is it okay if we go ahead? I want to catch a show on television."

     "That's okay," I replied.

     "I'll stay with her a little longer," Greyson said.

     "Suit yourself. Jared, how about you?" Maddie nudged him a little on the arm.

     Jared had a distracted look on his face. "What? Uh, do you want me to walk you home?"

     Maddie grabbed Ruthie's little hand. "No, that's fine. We'll go home by ourselves. I'll see you guys later!"

     "Bye, Maddie. Bye, Ruthie," I called, giving them a little wave. They waved back and then they turned their backs on us and walked away.

     "Okay, so what do you guys want to do now?" asked Greyson as soon as Maddie and Ruthie were out of sight. 

     "I don't know," Jared said. He sat beside me on the grass, his arms positioned on his knees. The three of us were quiet for a few minutes, just staring off into the distance, not minding each other, when Jared spoke.

     "Who would've thought?"

     Greyson and I cast our attention on him. "Jared?" I asked.

     "Who would've thought?" He repeated. "It was you, Phoebe, that made my mom and Aunt Erin talk about their long-dead sister again. I lived my whole life, knowing that Aunt Erin had a twin that my family had quite disliked. When I was little, they talked about Aunt Catherine as if she was the most horrible person on the planet. They talked about her as if she's just better off dead than alive. I never understood why they despised her so much, you know? I never asked them questions because I know they'd just answer me with shrugs and bitter mutterings about her. They said I shouldn't dwell too deep on the people from the past because some people are just meant to be forgotten."

     "Oh," I quietly said. "Well, it's quite a lot to take in, given that I myself was not expecting to learn the truth about my mother from anyone here. But I guess with some things, you just never know. The world is so full of surprises." I tried to laugh a little, to keep the atmosphere between us light.

     "I guess it can't be helped." Jared hung his head while picking on the grass with his fingers.

     "What do you think will happen now?" Greyson asked.