Everything Has Changed

Chapter Eight: Confronted

The cast list has been posted, just so all of you know.

*****

Chapter Eight: Confronted

Danny

Grace is passed out next to me, curled into a little ball.

She never used to sleep that way when we were kids. She always hogged the blankets and slept halfway on top of me.

I wonder why she sleeps in the fetal position like that. Probably her bitch ass Mom.

If there is one person in the world I hate, it would hands down be Eileen Levinsky.

She is a spawn of Satan. She ruined my best friends happiness, and I want to help her but I don't know how.

I glance at the clock on my phone. 10:53AM.

I need to pee but there's no way in hell I'm waking her up.

I carefully slide off the end of my bed, making sure I don't bump her. She's still sleeping peacefully once I'm on my feet, so I cross my bedroom and slip out into the hall.

I walk into the bathroom to pee, and once I'm done and i'm washing my hands, face, and teeth, all I can think about is my best friend.

Eileen was an excellent mother when I lived in Maryland, and the day Grace told me she tried to hit her, I remember I cried.

Grace doesn't know that, but I cried, because I just had a feeling everything would go downhill from there.

And it did. She almost died.

And every single time she moved last night, I woke up ready to wake her up before the nightmare got bad, but she never had one.

I spit out the foam in my mouth and wipe my face on a towel. After rinsing my toothbrush, I walk into the living room.

My parents and Scott are chilling on the couches. Miley and Kyle left after Grace's nightmare because they didn't want Grace to be uncomfortable.

Them leaving probably made her more uncomfortable.

"How is Gracelyn?" Mom asks.

"She's fine." I grumble.

"What was her nightmare about?" Scott asks.

I can't help but be bitter with him. "What is it always about?"

"Daniel, don't be rude." Dad says.

"No." I say. "I've been up all night thinking about this, and you know what? It's your fault!" I say to Scott.

"Daniel Michael Grey!" Mom scolds. I ignore her.

"Danny," Scott starts.

"You knew she was trying to hit her! She did it almost twenty times before she choked her until she passed out! If I was older and Grace was my kid, I would've left her ass with my child the second she tried to harm a hair on her head, but you waited. You sat back and waited and watched as Grace slowly disappeared. When is the last time you saw her smile reach her eyes? When is the last time you heard her laugh so hard she cried? When is the last time she slept through the night, because I know I can't remember."

"Daniel." Dad stands up.

"The fact that it took you seeing your wife with your hands around your daughters neck to react is disgusting." I pause. "And don't think I'm saying that leaving your wife wasn't a hard decision, because I know it was. Eileen was never like that when Grace and I were kids, but still. You had to see her trying to murder your baby girl to do something about it, and don't get me wrong, I'm so, so glad you guys moved down here. Grace is my best friend and everyone knows I love her, but bringing her to a different house is not going to fix what's in her head. She needs help. She needs to talk to somebody, and I'm telling you because I was with her last night when she was sobbing into my shirt, that she needs to talk to somebody. She's not going to want to go, but you're her father and she is your child. Everyone that witnessed what happened last night knows she needs to talk to somebody. If you want to blame it on me, go ahead, but she needs to talk to somebody."

My parents look pissed but Scott doesn't.

"Daniel, you're grounded." Mom says.

"No." Scott shakes his head. "He's right. I know he's right, and he's only telling me this because he cares about Grace." He stands up. "Thank you, Daniel. I'll find somebody she can talk to."

"Thank you." I whisper. "I know you love her. I know you had a hard time leaving Eileen, but I'm glad you finally got your head out of your ass and realized she wasn't okay."

At that, I turn around and walk out of the house.

Gracelyn

I sit in the car next to Dad, scrolling through my phone. He told me we were going to sign on the house today, which whatever. I'm just going because I want to see the house.

With my phone getting boring, I lock the screen and turn my attention to the window, watching the buildings pass us.

Dad turns right into a plaza.

"Why are we here?" I ask.

"We just have to do something first." He says calmly.

I see him park outside of a building, and then he turns to me.

"Come on."

"Can I stay in the car?" I wonder.

"No, it's going to be a while."

"Yeah, but I can just stay on my phone."  I insist.

"No Gracelyn. I'm not leaving the car on. That's a waste of gas, and it's really hot outside."

I sigh, giving in. I unbuckle my seatbelt and get out, following him inside of a stupid therapist office.

"Dad, why are we at a therapist office?" I mutter.

He ignores me and walks up to the counter.

"My daughter has an appointment here." He says.

"What's her name?"

"Gracelyn Levinsky."

I have an appointment with a therapist.

I scowl at the back of my Dad's head and turn around to walk out.

Just as I reach for the handle, his hand closes around my wrist.

"Grace," he begins.

"I'm not going to talk to a shrink." I spat the word.

"Yes you are." He says calmly.

"Why? Because I had one bad nightmare?"

"You have bad nightmares every single night." He argues. "You're going."

"I can't believe you came up with this bullshit idea!" I hiss.

"Keep your voice down." He says in his stern fatherly tone. "I didn't come up with it. Daniel did. We're all worried about you, and I'm telling you right now that you are going to speak to that therapist, do you understand me?"

"Danny came up with this?" I snarl.

"Yes." He says.

"I'm going to kill him."

"Go sit down." He points to the waiting room. "And if you try to leave, there will be consequences."

What kind of best friend does that?

I'm going to kill Danny.

*****

I know you guys are so shocked that I'm not dead. I'm sorry it's taken forever for an update. I've been so busy with looking for a job and job interviews and babysitting my two year old cousin, along with cleaning my room and laundry.

I'm sorry it took so long for this.

~Sam