perfection of hope | ✔️

VIII

'i love you the more in that i believe you had liked me for my own sake and for nothing else
~john keats'
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ACE

i like her. i definitely like her. i've only likes someone once and that went down hill. if i'm honest i'm kinda scared. me, Ethan and Sebastian are in the car heading home. it's 4:50 pm and we just left Gracie's house. after i woke up and found her we went into the lounge room and watched a few more movies before we all headed home.

"estás bien, hermanó?" [you good brother] i look over to Ethan who's flicking his eyes between me and the road. when it's just us we usually just speak in spanish, it being our native language.

"si, estoy bien." [yeah, i am fine] i tell him.

"entonces tú y Gracie si?" [so you and Gracie yes?] he asks. i try and ignore the warm feeling in my stomach at the mention of her name.

"solo somos amigos." [we are only friends] i deny it. as much as i love them i want Gracie to know first.

"bien porque creo que me gusta." [good because i think i like her] Sebastian pitches in. i feel jealousy burn at the bottom of my stomach. i feel the car come to a stop and see we are out side my house.

"good for you." i growl getting out of the car and slamming the door not bothering to say goodbye. as soon as i'm inside i run up to my room and slam the door shut. how can a girl i've know 2 weeks do this to me.

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GRACIE

after the boys and Amelia left i cleaned up the lounge room and washed up. i'm sitting in my room watching the maze runner when my phone buzzes a couple times. picking it up i see i've gotten two messages, one from mama and one from Ace. opening the one from mama first she tells me that she wants to call me. telling myself i'd answer Ace after i go into mamas contact and press the call button. after about 3 rings she picks up.

"hey baby." her voice sounds raspy like she's been crying.

"mama what's wrong?" i've never seen mama cry.

"your nona is sick, she's in the hospital. i think you should come down and visit her. just for a week." i freeze. when i was young i didn't have any friends so me and my grandma because best friends after my grandpa died. once we moved i stopped seeing her as much.

"okay when will i leave?" i ask.

"you're not driving. you know how i feel about you driving long distances by yourself. Dave will come get you now." she tells me.

"okay i'll see you soon." we say our good byes and hang up. i text Ace back telling him that i'm going to visit my nona so i won't be here. quickly packing my stuff into a bag and run down stairs. i grab some dog food and toys for Everest and shove them into my bag. the doorbell rings and i pick Ev up and carry him over. i open the door and Dave gives me a nod and takes my bag walking to the car. closing the door behind me i follow him and get in the back preparing myself for the 8 hour drive. i put in my earphones and snuggle into Ev, closing my eyes and drifting off to sleep.

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i feel my body being shook lightly but i ignore it enjoying my nap. the shaking stops and thank the gods but my thanks are cut short when i feel water splash into me. gasping for air i sit up and open my eyes only to look into my papas brown ones. a growl comes from the back of my throat and he laughs.

"morning sleepyhead." i look out the door.

"it's dark." i tell him.

"it usually is at 12 in the morning." a blush tints my cheeks. i quickly grab my hand bag and Ev and scramble out of the car. i ignore papa chuckle behind me and look at the building in front of me. papa walks past me and i take that as my que to follow. we walk through the lobby and go up the elevator until we are on level 23. is that even necessary. papa passes me a key.

"your room is 212 the rest of us will be in room 173 so if you need anything that's where you'll find us." he informs me before walking off. holy cow i get my own room. yes! i quickly find my room before unlocking it and walking in. i close the door behind me and see how big it is. my bags are already on my bed and everything. i notice Ev squirming like he has to pee.

"oh crap uh hold it in one sec!" i tell him. i see the glass doors too the balcony and run over and open them. i see the ground is grass and the glass panes blocking the edge touch right to the ground. oh wow how convenient. i put Ev down and he sniffs around for a spot to go to the toilet. i leave the door open for him to come back in once he's done. once i've explores the rest of the room i have a shower, get changed and turn on the tv. walking over to the balcony i close the doors, leaving them a little bit open for Everest if he needs to go to the toilet in the night. i hop into bed and flick through the channels deciding on Nicky, Ricky, Dicky and Dawn. i snuggle into the thick duma and feel myself slipping off to sleep.

a light flashing and soft buzzing wakes me up. i look over to see my phone lit up and Ace's name on the screen. i quickly check the time and see it's 2:30 am. why is he up at this time. i press the green button and put the phone to my ear.

"hello?" my voice comes out deep and scratchy. heavy breathing comes from the other end of the line. what the.

"helloooo?" i call out. i sit there for a few seconds in utter confusion before his voice fills my ears.

"baby hi, hey." he breathes out heavily.

"hi why are you calling at this time are you okay? what happened?" i ask him.

"i'm fine. i'm-im fine just talk to me, just-i'm, please." he stutters.

"okay, uh what do you want to talk about?" he lets out small shaky laugh.

"um what do you want to be when you're older?" he asks. and so i told him. we talk and talked but not once did he tell me what was going on and i didn't want to ask because he obviously didn't want to talk about it. soon enough he had fallen asleep and i lied in bed listening to his snores with my eyes closed as the sound slowly lulled me to sleep.

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