Whisper in the Rain

Chapter Twenty-Three

Chapter Twenty-Three

MILES

"You're full of it."

Marlow smiled sadly, as if she pitied me and my naivety.

"I don't think I am, Miles. I think..." She turned to look at Grace. "I think she knows what she is. I think she fears what's in her blood just as much as I do."

Impossible. There wasn't an evil bone in Grace's body. There couldn't be.

Without another word, I grabbed Grace's hand and pulled her out into the hall. I didn't stop there. I wanted to be as far away from that monstrosity of a woman as possible. I walked, pulling Grace behind me until we reached the outside doors. Which were locked.

"Dammit!" I kicked the door frame, sending splintering pain all the way up my shin.

"Miles, stop." She tried to pull me into a hug, but I didn't let her. "Calm down. You know what she said is-"

"No! I don't know that. And neither do you," I yelled. "She's a fraud."

"Miles, listen," she pushed softly.

"No. I'm not going to listen. I refuse to believe you're evil, Grace. You're pure and loving and wonderful. You're too damn GOOD to be evil."

"You're a little biased, don't you think?"

Her firm voice halted me in my tracks.

Biased? How? Because I cared about her? That didn't mean I was wrong.

"Everyone sees it. They can sense that I'm different," she whispered, looking around to make sure we were still alone. "But you- you just go on pretending like everything's okay, like there's not something wrong with me."

"Because there's not," I snapped. "I'm not biased."

"Even so," she said, lowering her eyes. "You're wrong. That woman saw something in me, something dark, and I feel it, Miles. I've felt it for years. And everyone else sees it. Everyone but you."

Grace's words cut me. She took my feelings for her and turned them into a weapon. How was that possible? How could she do that? She was so ready to condemn herself for something she had no control over. And she was going to take me down with her.

"You don't see yourself the way I see you, Grace. I think you're the one that's biased. You're the one wearing blinders. Because if you could see yourself the way I see you, then maybe you could like yourself, believe in yourself, maybe even love yourself. But instead, you insist on seeing yourself through their eyes!" I pointed toward the interior of the school.

"You think you're broken and crazy, but you're not. You're not cursed. You're not evil. You're just different. You're more. You are so far above all those other people that they can't comprehend how extraordinary you are underneath all the fear. The fear is your only problem. But you'll get past that one day, okay? If you would just let me in, just let me love you, then you wouldn't be alone in this. So just, stop acting like you're bad for me. Stop pushing me away!"

My chest heaved with aggravated breaths as I paced in front of a stone-still Grace. I fought back the anger, the injustice I was feeling on her behalf, and tried to get a grip. She didn't say a word. She didn't move. Didn't seem to breathe. The noise of our classmates cheering was the only sound that filtered in around us.

Finally, I couldn't take her silence.

"Grace, say something, please."

She raised her eyes, her dark, beautiful brown eyes, and I watched her fight back the tears.

"Take me home."

Her tiny voice cracked and she wrapped her arms around her torso; cocooning herself. Protecting herself. From what? I don't know. Me? Hell, maybe.

"Grace, just-"

"Please." She turned away from me. "I don't want to stay here."

That was it. She didn't believe a single word I'd just told her. She didn't believe in herself, she didn't believe in me. She didn't believe that I loved her.

But I knew it wasn't the time or place to push the issue. That was another battle for another day.

"I'll get Cole," I said, catching up to her. "Meet me in Mrs. Sherwood's office. She'll let us out."

Grace nodded and I turned away.

An unusual ache set up shop in my chest and I didn't want to acknowledge what that meant. Something told me Grace was shutting down, pushing me away. For weeks we'd been so happy; she had seemed so happy. What had changed? Surely not one crazy woman's opinion of her. No. There was more to it than that.

Once I found Cole, the two of us huffed it to the principle's office where Grace was telling Mrs. Sherwood she felt ill.

"We'll take her home," I said, coming to a stop outside the door.

"Alright. Just let me get my keys. Sorry you're not feeling well, Grace," she said. "What a night to come down with the stomach flu."

"Yeah, I just hope I'm not contagious," Grace replied.

She was one skilled liar. That, or she really didn't feel well. Either way, she did look a little green around the gills.

"C'mon," I said. "Let's get you home."

I wrapped my arm around her shoulders, trying my best to mask the annoyance still seething from my pores, and we all headed for our lockers and then the door.

Grace shivered in the cool evening air, so I draped my tuxedo jacket over her shoulders. The parking lot was packed, but very few people remained outside.

"Sorry to ruin your night."

I had a feeling Grace's comment was meant for Cole, so I kept my trap shut.

"It's okay," Cole assured her. "The fun was winding down anyway."

I breathed out a heavy sigh of exhaustion when the car was finally in sight. All I wanted to do was take Cole home, strip down to my boxers, and snuggle up next to Grace in the darkness.

What I didn't want was someone jacking me in the back of the head with a fucking beer bottle.

But we don't always get what we want.