As He Held My Hand

12. Unexpectedly Expected

12. Unexpectedly Expected

Gemma’s POV

Grant stays true to his word and calls me a few days later to come over and play videogames. I gladly accept, and hurry to get ready in less than thirty minutes.

I toss my hair up into a messy bun that hangs low on my head and search for an outfit that won’t make it look like I’m trying too hard.

But what would I be trying too hard for? I try to think about this as I pull on a ¾-length sleeve white shirt, jeans, and a turquoise infinity scarf. I grab my brown leather jacket off the back of my desk chair before leaving for Grant’s house. Even though I’ve only been here once, I’m getting better at remembering the directions.

I pull into his driveway and see that both cars are here, so I know that Grant’s father is home as well. I walk up the front steps, the wind blowing loose strands of my low bun around my face.

I press the doorbell before stepping back a little and waiting for someone to open the door. Grant’s father opens it, and smiles when he sees me. “Hi, Gemma. Grant’s almost ready. C’mon in.” he says, stepping aside. I walk into their house and take off my shoes so I don’t track snow or slush inside.

I follow Grant’s father to the couch where we sit down. “So how’s your vacation been since the last time we were together?” he asks, taking a sip of water from a glass that was on the coffee table. “Nothing really, just some reading. And sleeping in.” I say, and he laughs at the last bit, which I didn’t plan on. It makes me happy to know that I made him laugh without even trying. And I wasn’t even embarrassing myself.

“So, um, Grant’s been talking about you some.” he says. I freeze in my position and swallow hard. “He-he has?” I ask. “Yeah, he told me that you took care of him after that fight at school. He managed to skate by with a few weeks detention, but he said you took him into the bathroom and cleaned up his cuts after telling someone to beat it.” he laughs again, and I chime in with a giggle forced because I still can’t believe that Grant was talking about me.  

“Yeah…Has he said anything else about me?” I ask, swallowing again and trying not to sound desperate. “Yeah he’s talked about you a few other times. I think you’re a really good friend for him.” he says. The anticipation pooling in my stomach quickly dissipates. Now I know why I wanted to try so hard before.

I look around the living room some more, realizing that I didn’t get to scope it out much before when we were watching a movie. “Awww, this is so cute. Is this Grant?” I ask, walking towards a photo of a five year old boy with dark hair. He’s eating a cupcake with blue frosting, and it’s all over his face and arms and legs. “Yeah, he hates that I have that picture out, but I think it’s cute so…” he says. “If you want to see something really cute, I have this one.” he says, moving towards a stack of pictures on a bookshelf. I follow him.

He pulls one out from the middle of the pile, and I can’t help but clamp a hand over my mouth to keep from laughing. It’s the same boy, who I now know is Grant, sitting in the bathtub playing with different toys and smiling up at the camera. “He was so cute.” I say, looking over the picture and taking my hand away from my mouth.