Pick Me Up

9.

It had been almost 2 months before Brad and Grace spoke again. She had been absent a quarter of the time. And when she was in school, there was some new kid always with her, so Brad couldn't exactly go up and speak to her.

His name was Tyler or Taylor or something like that.

Brad didn't care.

What he did care about was his old friend Grace. And how he wanted her to be his friend again.

During lunch, Brad saw that the new kid wasn't with Grace.

So, he walked up to her.

"Are you a magician, Grace? Because every time I see you, everyone else disappears."

Grace wasn't as sad anymore. She was learning to move on. Learning to accept death. She was learning that death happens all the time. Which is why she responded like this.

Grace threw herself off of her seat, and just like she had expected, Brad rushed to help her.

"What the hell, Grace? What was that-"

"Was that an earthquake or did you just rock my world?"

Brad looked at her in disbelief before laughing loudly as she stood up. She smiled at his laugh.

It was cute. Adorable even.

"Who's this?"

Brad stopped laughing and turned to see the new kid.

"Oh, hey Taylor. This is Brad, my friend. Brad, this is Taylor. He's my cousin and he just transferred her."

Cousin. Ha. Brad smiled friendly and offered his hand. Taylor shook it, also being friendly.

Brad looked at Grace and a smile played on his lips.

"I guess I'll see you later."

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