** REWRITING ** Tidal Wave

Chapter Fifteen

I woke up Monday morning with a migraine. I hated mondays. And migraines.

Friday had been a very interesting night. First off, I put a end to whatever romantic relationship Grayson and I were going to have. Stupid. And secondly, Jason had driven me home. I don't think I could've handled being alone in the car with Grayson. It would've been too much after our kiss.

No one forgets heaven. Even if they only had it for a minute.

I could see Grayson up in his tower watching me as I got into Jason's car. Yeah, I let him put his arm around me, whatever. I didn't want to break two boys hearts in under a hour. Sue me.

In the car, Jason tried to make conversation. I just nodded along, not really paying attention to him. My mind was focused on a different boy.

We pulled up to my house and I opened the door. I was about to slam it in his face and leave but he asked me something.

"Um.. Ellie?"

"Yes?" I said, clearly annoyed.

"Is there anything between you and, um, Grayson?"

"No." My insides screamed yes.

"Ok, well, that's all I needed to know. Have a good night, Ellie." I finished my process of slamming the door and scurried up my front steps. I rang the doorbell. Once. Twice. Three times until someone answered. I ran to my room and slammed the door.

Note to self: slamming doors doesn't help anything.

My bed shook as I dove head first into it. The pillow made it hard to breath but I didn't care. I was too upset to notice.

Being around Grayson, being in Coby, and being in the Taylor's house, all brought back memories of my father. All memories I didn't want haunting my mind. But they did. And they continued to. One memory I didn't have this problem with. The day of my father's death. I was with him that whole day, but after he took me to the beach, my head was blank.

It frustrated me more than anything else. Knowing that I was most likely there, and it still happened. I hadn't done anything to stop it.

Before we left Coby, Grayson had never left my side after that day. He was constantly telling me it was ok and I didn't have to remember. "It wasn't your fault," he would always say. "But it was!" I would protest. He never knew how to respond. Neither did I.

~*~

I trudged down the stairs. I knew my hair was a ratty mess and my morning breath stank but who was I trying to impress really?

My mother stood in the kitchen. She cringed."Are you going to school in that honey?"

"Yes." I grabbed cereal from the cupboard.

"Maybe you want to change into something more... appealing?"

"What you don't like it?" I said causticly.

My mom's eyes showed that she was furious. "What I don't like is your attitude."

I glared at her as my brother stepped into kitchen. He took one look at my and my mom's stance and he started to retreat. "So yeah, I can go without breakfast today.."

"No, stay Andrew. I was just about to leave." I shot a my mom a sassy smile and marched towards the door.

I tried hard to stay calm. "Where's my backpack?"

"You must've left it Grayson's." Andrew said while making kissy faces.

"I actually must've." I said to Andrew, feigning sweetness, "I'm taking the car."