Lost & Insecure

Eight - I Speak Girl

Ashley and Grace had gathered in the school lobby on Monday morning when Ashley first noticed something was off with Grace. Ashley hesitated to ask Grace if something was bothering her because she knew that Grace was overly sensitive when it came to personal matters. Jesse strolled into the building with Katie on his arm. They smiled and waved to Ashley and Grace before they continued walking.

Ashley noticed Grace's eyes drop and her expression become blank as soon as Jesse and Katie passed by. She finally spoke up to ask Grace, "What was that?" A thought crossed Ashley's mind, but she wiped it away in hopes that her assumptions would be wrong. She liked to give people the benefit of the doubt, despite that fact that her intuition was almost never wrong.

"What was what?" Grace asked, honestly confused by Ashley's question. Grace hadn't intentionally reacted to anything, and didn't understand why Ashley's interest was peaked.

"That smile. That was a fake smile." Ashley narrowed her eyes at Grace, and stared at her with a pointed look. Grace broke eye contact with her and pushed a strand of her hair behind her ear, avoiding eye contact. "Grace," Ashley placed a hand on Grace's arm, "what's wrong?"

"Nothing." Grace's voice was barely a whisper. She coughed and increased her volume, "I have to get to class." She shook her head and left Ashley without saying another word.

"Well that was weird." Ashley muttered aloud. Ashley spent the rest of her day worrying about Grace and what had gotten to her. Ashley texted Katie, asking her to talk to Grace and find out what was up.

Katie agreed to Ashley's request and pulled Grace aside after the last bell of the day rang. "What is your-" Grace cut herself off when she saw Katie standing there. "Oh, hi Katie." Grace forced a smile on her face.

"Hey, are you busy right now?" Katie asked.

"Actually I am. I have to get home and finish my homework before my parents get home from work."

"Okay." Katie's eyebrows furrowed in disbelief of Grace's excuse. "I guess I'll see you tomorrow then." Grace nodded and disappeared into the crowd of students, leaving Katie waiting alone.

"Hey babe!" Jesse smiled as he swung his arm around Katie's shoulder. "Ready to go?" Katie nodded and Jesse gave her a look. "You okay, babe? You look a little weird."

Katie looked up at Jesse and thought for a moment. "Have you talked to Grace recently?"

Jesse thought about it and then shook his head. "I haven't really said much to her in like a week. Why do you ask?"

Katie shrugged. "She just seems off. I was just wondering if you heard anything."

Jesse shook his head again, unconcerned. "Nope. So, are you ready?" Katie half smiled at Jesse and nodded. Jesse drove her home, and kissed her goodbye just like any other day. "I'll call you later," he called out of the window before speeding away.

Katie waved goodbye to her boyfriend as she felt her phone buzz. She looked down to see an incoming call from Ashley, so she swiped her phone to answer the call. "Did you talk to her?" Ashley immediately asked, not even giving Katie a chance to say 'hello.'

"Yes I did, Ash. And I agree that Grace is acting slightly weird, but she's probably fine." Katie shrugged to herself as she walked through her front door, and dropped her bag as she closed the door behind her.

"I don't know, Katie. She's never out of it like this." Ashley's voice was full of concern. She cared about her friends. She didn't want any of them to be unhappy or feel like they couldn't be honest about how they felt.

"It'll probably go away soon enough. I know you care about her, but maybe she just needs her space for a day or two." Katie collapsed on her couch and tossed her keys onto her coffee table.