BRIGHT

Chapter 43- Greyson POV- Sunday Routine

It was Sunday morning, I had woken up early. After everything that had happened last night, I felt good. Maggie and I were on good terms, better than expected, though I was still angry with myself for what I had done. But I knew I would be for the rest of my life.

I trudged down the stairs to make myself a quick protein shake. I threw the powder and milk in a water bottle and shook the two together. I took a swig of the shake and started to go down to the basement where all of my weight lifting equipment was. The therapists had told me to continue with my love for athletics, and I was already down from all the time I spent away from training. I turned on some music to pump me up and started my usual warm up.

It felt good to work out, even though I wasn't as strong as I used to be. My workout was about two hours, which was longer than usual, but I knew I had to be in tip-top shape for when I got back into football. After I finished, I reached for my towel and wiped the sweat from my face. I heard the door from the top of the stairs open and footsteps coming down. I turn around to see my dad, holding a cup of coffee.

"Back at it already, huh?" he asked, taking a sip from the mug.

"I missed it more than you think," I explained.

"I'm sure, I remember when you came home from your first pee wee football practice. You wouldn't stop talking about how much you loved it, and you made me practice with you all the time," my dad reminisced. I smiled. "You just always had that determination to be number one, and I'm proud of you for that."

"Thanks, Dad," I replied. He nodded and put his hand on my thigh.

"Shower up, okay? You smell pretty lethal," he admitted and we both laughed. He gave me a quick pat and made his way up the stairs. I took a deep breath and walked over to the mini fridge we kept in the basement. I grabbed a water bottle and took a swig. As I raised my arm, I realized how bad I really did smell. I chugged the rest of the water and scrambled up the stairs to my bedroom to grab some clothes. I noticed my mom folding laundry.

"Morning, Mom," I said.

"Good morning, Honey. Make sure to shower up and dress decent, okay? We are going to church this morning," my mom reminded. I nodded and grabbed a teal v-neck and some black jeans to change into. 

Church made me feel good and refreshed. Going helped me to ensure that God had forgiven me for my actions. None of my close friends went to our church, but some of my acquaintances expressed how good it was to have me back. 

The rest of Sunday consisted of me prepping to go back to school. I had done all of the assignments I had missed at the facility, but I needed to mentally prepare to go back. I knew some people would judge me for everything that happened and that rumors were inevitable. I was sure the whole school was buzzing, not only about me but about Peyton as well.

"Greyson?" my mom asked, coming into my room. My dad was next to her and followed her inside. It was about nine at night. I was getting all of my assignments in order. 

"Hey, what's up?" I replied.

"Your dad and I were talking, and we decided you can have this back now," my mom confirmed, holding out my phone that I hadn't seen in so long.

"You deserve to have it back, and we want to give you the opportunity to earn our trust back," my dad explained. I took the phone.

"Thank you," I appreciated. They nodded and left. As I opened my phone, I noticed I have 78 unread text messages. As I scanned through them, almost all of them were questions about what was going on. Ones from homecoming night like, Dude, what happened with you and P? Or Is it true you were arrested? But the ones that really stood out were ones about where I had been and the assumptions, like, Grey, I heard you are in an asylum, are you good? Or, Is it true you beat up your little sister? I decided to not respond to any of them. I was sure Josh and the other guys took care of it. Most of them were over a week old anyway. 

I had texted my friends and explained everything. Everyone was surprisingly cool about it and excited for me to come back. Josh had told me tomorrow was Peyton's first day back as well. Awkward.