Veiled [Seth Clearwater]

The Edge

  "'It's a tough life,' she'd said. 'It's the little things that get us through the day.'" - Jeffery Deaver  

Grace made sure Seth knew what he was in for before going over to her house. A full 40 minute bus ride. Grace had no idea that Seth was almost glad it was so long but it sucked that she had to ride the bus home alone for so long every day. The two of them sat together, sharing a pair of headphones, showing each other songs they liked, and Grace lip syncing to most of them like a crazy person.

"That wasn't so bad." Seth stated, as they got off the bus.

"It's not so bad when you have someone to talk to but when you're all along it's a pain." She frowned, leading him to another bus stop.

"How come I can imagine you with your nose buried in a book for the whole ride?" Seth asked, trying to lighten the mood as they boarded the second bus.

"Because it's true." Grace laughed. "Thanks for coming with me, are you sure you'll be okay to get home later on?" She asked. and Seth rolled his eyes playfully.

"Yes. And even if, it's too late now." He grinned, making her smile. "So, the lady who drops you off every morning, that's your aunt?" Seth asked. Grace nodded.

"Bonnie. My mom and her were really close in the 90's, in fact she was the one who introduced my mom and my dad." Grace smiled.

"That's sweet." Seth mused, Grace nodded her head in agreement.

"She is amazing, kind and generous." Grace said. "Although her and her daughters don't get along too well, they're still like my family, and what family is without their problems?" Seth smiled slightly, being reminded of his family and his current problem.

"What about her daughters?" Seth asked, genuinely wanting to know Grace, who she is and who her people are.

"Anna is 20, away at college but she's great, like the big sister I never had. And Nina is 15, a bit of a handful but it's nothing Bonnie can't handle." Grace smiled, looking out the window for signs telling her where she was. "We're here." She said, getting up, Seth followed quickly after.

The weather that day made it almost too perfect for a walk, Grace knew that when the time comes for snow, she's going to be hating her life. The pair came upon a decent sized two story house. Grace walked right up to the front door and opened it, not even bothering with the lock. Seth narrowed his eyes, itching to comment about how unsafe that was but left it. A large white lab came bounding up to them with a smile and wagging tail. Seth smiled when he saw the dog, crouching to greet him properly. Grace smiled at how cute Seth looked next to Teddy, he always looked cute but next to a dog almost made her melt.

The walked through the living room to get to the kitchen, two girls and a boy were sitting on the couch watching TV, backpacks abandoned by the door.

"Hey guys!" Grace greeted. The boy smiled kindly and waved, one of the girls had to nudge the other who clearly wasn't very interested in anything that wasn't the TV, but when she did pay attention, she couldn't look away.

"Uh- hi!" The girl said.

"Seth, this is Nina, and her friends Leo and Laura." Grace pointed them out, each one waving as she did. "Everyone, this is Seth." Seth smiled at them despite feeling uncomfortable under Nina's gaze.

"Mom said to grab pizza for dinner, she's working late today." Nina said, unable to remove her eyes from Seth.

"Okay well we're going to go study." Grace said, taking Seth's hand and guiding him upstairs. "Sorry." She said, relaizing she was holding his hand, she shook her head, unsure of why she even did it. Perhaps it was out of innocence or maybe because Nina was watching Seth with wanting eyes and Grace wanted to make sure it was clear Nina couldn't have him. Seth on the other hand, didn't mind, Grace's touch was like a warm hug on a cold day, rosy cheeks and all.

"Okay." Grace huffed, plopping face down on her bed.

"This is what you call studying?" Seth chuckled.

"Just give me a second." Grace said, words muffled by the cushion of the bedding. Seth laughed, sitting at her desk. She sighed and rolled off the bed, onto the floor, causing Seth to burst out in a fit of laughter. Once he was calm, he joined her on the floor. She handed him her English binder. "All of my notes are in there, if it was a note we copied at some point, my own little notes about whatever it was has an arrow beside them." She explained. He took the binder, opening it up. He tried to focus really, the only problem was Grace was sitting in such a close proximity to him and she was being all cute what with her scrunching up of the nose and her focused face. But when he did actually get to the notes, they were really insightful.

The note told him a lot about not only the course material but also Grace. What she found interesting, what she thought was important. They told him a lot about the type of person Grace was. They also told him a lot about himself, for example, he was beginning to really fall for her.