** REWRITING ** Tidal Wave

Chapter Three

No, no, no! I thought This can't be happening! I wasn't ready to face them. Yet. Through the windshield I saw my mother greeting Mrs. and Mr. Taylor. Andrew walked up to James first. They were in the same grade and had always been good friends. They did that bro handshake-hug thing and then Andrew went over to where Ethan and Grayson were standing. He repeated the same motions with them. No one seemed to notice I was missing

Except for Grayson.

Some people had trouble telling them apart but I was an old pro. Gray had always been a few inches taller and had a small mole on his chin. A very cute mole I thought subconsciously. He made his way over to car and I tried to look indifferent while lazily scrolling through my phone. I'm sure he saw right through it.

He tapped on the window. I let my eyes slowly drift up from my phone to met his. He made some sort of gesture and I rolled my window down.

I feigned annoyance. "Yes?"

"You coming out or not?" His chocolate brown eyes sparkled the way they do when he was excited. I felt my stomach flutter.

"Not," I answered, rolling the window back up.

Grayson opened the passenger door for me anyway. I rolled my eyes and I got out of the car. He grinned as he enveloped me in a hug.

"I've missed you," Grayson whispered into my hair. His hand burned a hole in the small of my back. I cleared my throat and stepped away from the embrace,

"I've missed you too."

After I pulled away, he couldn't stop his eyes from traveling the length of my body, looking at me the boys at my old school did. I could tell he was surprised. This set off a flare of anger in me. He didn't exactly look like he was eleven anymore either. He was pretty attractive. Ok, ok. Really attractive.

This time Grayson cleared his throat. I could feel my cheeks heat up and tried to look anywhere but his face. When I finally looked up, he was grinning even wider than before. I could tell he was pleased by my reaction.

Grayson laughed as he called the other boys over. Ethan had the same hop in his step as he did when he was a kid. That was comforting.

"Ellie!" He called as he picked me up in a hug and spun me around.

I couldn't help but giggle. "Ethan!" I imitated him. Everyone laughed.

James opened his arms wide and pulled me into a hug too.

"Has someone not seen the sun recently?" he asked. I rolled my eyes and jokingly punched him in the shoulder. I knew one of the boys would comment on my paleness, but I hoped not this soon.

Mr. Taylor approached with a warm smile. "So I see the gang's back together?"

"And better than ever," Grayson said. Then he winked at me. Let me repeat. Grayson. Winked. At. Me.

We all had changed, just as I had predicted, but I wasn't nervous about facing them anymore. Well, not that much. I felt I had been given a second chance that I couldn't, and won't, mess up.

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