reputation //sweet pea//

//one//

When I was young my mother would introduce me to people saying, this is my daughter Grace. If they had been in the same room with me longer than five minutes they'd laugh because it was very evident I had zero of my namesake.

As I got older and social situations constricted me, (not to mention that I matured), the fewer people laughed at the mention of my name. Instead, they gushed about how such a perfect name fit such a perfect girl. This, of course, pleased my mother. Her embarrassment count lessening by the minute. I, on the other hand, missed the days where strangers would laugh at my name because I was apparently graceless. I truthfully missed the girl of yesterday, the one who feared nothing and threw caution to the wind. She still existed, of course, people don't change that much, but she was buried away. Somewhere deep so my mother couldn't get her perfectly manicured hands on her and strangle her of all life.

By the way I've described my mom, you'd think we were dealing with a witch, but that couldn't be farther from the truth. My mother had been a bad ass bitch since her and my dad got divorced. It wasn't as if she was passive while married, but her newfound single life sparked something inside her. Our standard of living skyrocketed as she learned not to take shit from anyone.

During her time of personal growth, I found myself adapting to the life of luxury my mom could now afford to give us. My wild days were few and far between, now more than willing to rein things in to gain more.

Of course, my mom didn't really like being alone. Sure she had me but what comfort was I at night? It was then she met Eric. He lived mostly in a tiny town outside the city with his son and daughter. The same town my brother and Dad lived in. Eric was a widower much to my mothers twisted excitement. Exes were messy as she had learned the hard way. From what I could tell, this was the first time I'd seen my mom happy. Not just pleased but truly happy. As hard for me as it was, I wanted her to be happy, even if that meant spending a little more time with Eric and his less than perfect children, Will and Blaire.

It was this chore that was unbelievably magnified when my mom and Eric decided to erase all summer plans any of us teenagers had. Instead of our own personal plans, a surprise (an unwanted surprise) but a surprise nonetheless, trip to Santorini had been made. Two entire months of "family bonding". Though as far as Will, Blaire and I were concerned, we were not in the least bit family.

It was this surprise that awakened an old friend of mine, little Grace. The one I had buried so long ago. The wild twitching in my veins let me know she knew about the plans to go to Greece, and that she wasn't having it.

I was lucky enough to get out school a day later than Will and Blaire meaning I was boarding the plane a day after the rest of the crew had already left. It was the day I was supposed to be boarding a plane that I crafted my plan to derail any plan my mom had made for me.

I had completely discarded the luggage that lay untouched in the corner of my bedroom. I knew what was packed in there and it just wouldn't do for my new destination. In a split, and frankly ill-advised, moment I unzipped the three full suitcases and emptied them of their contents. Dozens of beautiful garments littered my floor but I had no use for them where I was headed. Instead, I filled them with the t-shirts and jeans I had stowed away in the back of my closet. We hadn't always been rich, and I still occasionally favored comfort over style.

It didn't take me long before I was flying down the road in an old mustang, my mom's first car to be exact. While the gear shift stuck a little, she drove like a beauty. If my mom wasn't mad about me skipping out on family fun time, she'd be mad I kidnapped her car. Despite anxiety finally setting in, I drove on forward, now just desperate to get where I was going. Night was falling fast but I had officially missed my plane. The flight was approximately 15 hours, my mom not picking me up until 10 in the morning my time. This gave me more than enough time to get caught, but then again it gave me time to settle in.