Changing My Ways For You

Chapter 10

Chapter 10

Grace’s POV

“Grace? Is that you?” I heard my mother call out when I walked in the door.

“Uh, yeah, mom, it’s me,” I answered her nervously. I don’t know why I was so nervous, though. Maybe it was because I had been with Austin. But she didn’t have anyway of knowing that, did she?

“You’re home late,” She said accusingly as she came to meet me in the foyer.

“Yeah,” I laughed uncomfortably. That wasn’t enough for her, though. She stood in front of me, arms crossed, eyeing me harshly. I quickly came up with something else. “Mina was late to come in, so I had to work a little extra to cover the gap between our shifts.”

Mom stared me down for what felt like eternity before the suspicion fell from her face.

“Alright then,” She chirped. “How was your day?”

“Uh, good, I guess,” I said.

“That’s good. Did you learn anything new?” She pressed.

“Actually, mom, I kind of have a big homework load tonight, so if you’ll excuse me,” I said, turning towards the stairs.

“Of course,” She answered. “Go, dear, finish your work. Dinner will be ready in an hour.”

With that, she turned on her heel and walked back to the kitchen. I breathed a sigh of relief, thankful that she bought my lie so easily.

If she knew I had been with Austin, even though he had only walked me to and from work, she would have my head. I hated knowing that. It bothered me that she was so quick to dismiss him, yet she didn’t even know him at all.

My dad was a whole other story. We haven’t spoken much since the Austin thing. I had tried to make conversation, but it was always strained on his half.

I knew he was disappointed, and I understood that. But it wouldn’t kill him to listen.

I took the stairs two at a time up to my room. Closing the door behind me, I got to work.

As always, I turned up my stereo to drown out my sisters’ voices. I loved them, I really did. It’s just that they don’t know the meaning of the word ‘quiet.’

By time my mom called me down for dinner an hour later, I was halfway done with my homework. I skipped happily down the stairs, stopping to kiss my father on the cheek as I passed. He didn’t say anything, so I just kept on walking past him.

Taking my usual seat between Sydney and Emilia, I smiled at my little sisters.

“Hey girls,” I said cheerily. “How were your days?”

“Good!” Rose and Emilia yelled in unison.

“Wonderful,” Sydney sang out.

“Did you have lessons today, Syd?” I turned to Sydney fully.

“Yes,” Sydney sang again. All she ever did was sing. She took lessons almost every day, but that wasn’t enough her her. “Ms. Lena said I’m almost ready to move up a level with the older kids.”

“That’s great!” I said honestly, reaching over to give her a sideways hug.

“Alright, girls,” My mother said, setting the last dish of food on the table. “Let’s eat!”

Mom sat down, and for once it was actually quiet. My sisters weren’t bickering, Dad wasn’t talking over anybody, and Mom wasn’t fighting with anyone to eat their vegetables.

Of course, I spoke too soon.

“Here, Rose, let me help you,” Sydney said as she reached over to Rose, who was sat next to her. Rose couldn’t get the spaghetti to stay on her fork.

“No!” Rose shouted, snatching her plate off the table and holding it away from Sydney. “I can do it myself!”

To accent her words, Rose jerked her plate farther from Sydney, causing her red-sauce covered pasta to slide onto the floor.

“Oh no!” My mother yelled. “Rose! Please be more careful!”

“I’m so sorry, mommy, I was just trying to help!” Sydney cried out while Rose just stuck her tongue out.

“So, Em, what did you learn at school today,” My dad asked Emilia as if nothing was going on. Typical.

I pushed away from the table and headed off to the kitchen. I could still hear my family talking over each other, their conversations interlacing. I just laughed to myself as I ran warm water over a dishcloth.

When I returned to the table, Sydney was crying, Rose and my mom were having their nightly mother-daughter glaring contests to see who would break first, and my dad and Emilia were completely oblivious to everything going on as they talked about God knows what.

I sighed, bending down to scrape up Rose’s dinner from the floor. The red sauce was beginning to stain the grout between the dark gray floor tiles. This happened often, though, so I knew what to do.

Retrieving the special grout cleanser, I wiped up the last remains of Rose’s outburst. At this point, everyone was still sitting at the table, doing their own thing. I shook my head, taking my plate to the sink.

No one seemed to realize my absence from the table, so I snuck back up to my room. I turned the radio up a little louder so that I couldn’t hear my family’s loud voices.

About an hour later, I realized that the mayhem had subsided. I heard footsteps coming up the stairs, and I guessed they were my mother’s.

“Grace, honey?” My mother said from outside the door. “Can I come in?”

“Uh, yeah, mom,” I said, pushing my chair away from my desk a little. My mom stepped into my room and came and sat on the edge of my bed.

“Tomorrow, your father and I have an important gala event to attend.”

“A gala on a Tuesday?” I asked, confused.

“Yes,” My mother confirmed. “There was a scheduling mishap, but they decided to keep it tomorrow.”

“Okay, so?” I pressed, not sure why she was telling me this.

“So, your father and I have to be there a bit early, so we will drop off the younger girls at grandma’s. But we don’t really have a way of getting you to grandma’s after school. So do you think you’ll be okay home alone for a few hours?”

“Uh,” I gulped nervously. I hated being home alone. It gave me the creeps. But I agreed nonetheless. “Sure. Yeah, I don’t mind.”

“Great, thanks, dear,” My mom came over to kiss my forehead before going back downstairs.

Fantastic. A whole night home alone. Most teenagers my age would be on the phone with their boyfriends right about now, asking them to come over tomorrow. Not me, though. I was sitting here, freaking out about having the house to myself.

The thought of asking Austin to keep me company left my brain just as soon as it had entered. That was what had gotten me into this mess in the first place.

Knowing I would just have to suck it up and deal with it, I sighed. It was getting late, so I shoved my books back into my backpack and climbed into bed.

I let my mind wander, and before I knew it I was thinking about Austin. I smiled a little at that.

I believed him. I knew we could make this work. Somehow, some way, we would figure it out. For each other.

***Alright, all you wonderful readers, I have great news! CMWFY has reached over 1,000 reads! So thank you all so so so so so much, you have no idea how happy I was when I found this out!

So you think I would write a really great chapter to thank you guys for reading my story? Wrong. LOL I tried, but this chapter needed to be done as boring as it is. I promise the next one will be more exciting!

Love you all, and thank you again and again and again for reading!:)***