·Archer's POV·
Apparently, Grace and I are on good terms again. Let me rephrase that, great terms. What saddens me a bit though is that Grace doesn't seem to recall confessing her love for me some days ago.
We can't have it all, can we?
Right now she's upstairs talking to Toli about her new whereabouts and what has been happening until now before Katie and her head to high school. I think she's lucky to have such supportive and caring friends. Mine were just a bunch of trouble makers, the ones who my parents wanted me to put distance between, sending me to a correctional. Let's say the plan didn't go as expected.
"You seem deep in thought, everything okay?" Grace asked appearing out of nowhere.
I'm the ghost here, that's my job.
"It's nothing. Hearing you talk to Toli made me a bit nostalgic."
"Oh, sorry... Can you tell me something about your friends? If it is okay for me to ask."
"We were more than that, love. Friends, partners in crime, buddies. None of those titles can describe the appreciation we had for each other, but one does. Brothers. There were three of them:
Caleb Callaghan was the stereotypical goody two shoes of the group, scolding us for our multiple antics. I met him in elementary and we became friends after I defended him against some bullies who were messing with him. Then it came Lee Zhang. His family had just moved here all the way from China at the beginning of middle school. He was the schemer out of all of us. And what a schemer!" I let out a laugh. "Everyone was aware of the fact that pranks were our thing, but we never got in trouble, all thanks to Lee. He sure knew how to leave no trace for someone to bust us."
Before telling Grace about my third and best friend, I stopped talking for a moment. Talking about Aaron is gonna hurt like hell.
"If you are not comfortable with this, you should stop. I don't like seeing you so sad."
"It's nothing Grace. Just give me a few seconds."
"You know what? Forget it Archer. Let's talk about something else. What about-"
"His name was Aaron Blackwell." I cut her mid sentence. "He was trouble personified: wearing black from head to toe, breaking every possible rule and always wearing his famous smirk."
"You were so alike then."
"Indeed. But it was expected. We had been together since we were born. That's why we were best friends."
"How I wish I could have witnessed all of that..."
"Me too. You would have got on really well with those three. Lee would have tried to flirt with you, with no shadow of a doubt. Aaron would have made you gain his trust and Callaghan would have been his regular 'cinnamon roll' self."
"I can almost picture it. Did they enroll in the correctional too?" Grace wondered, curiosity eating her alive.
"No. I'm happy they didn't though, otherwise they would have died too. As far as I am concerned, the three of them are living satisfying, long lives. That's enough for me. The funny thing is that they didn't like the idea of me leaving to St. George one bit. One, because they wouldn't see me as often, and two, because it was our last year together before parting ways. How they reacted when they were told I died a couple of months after, is still a mystery to me."
"It's obvious they must have been very affected by such a loss, Archer."
"I guess so. That's the reason I was so distracted. Seeing you interact with your friends makes me remember mine and wonder if life has treated them well."
"I'm sure they are fine, don't worry. I can dig up information for you, you just need to ask."
"Although I'm grateful, I'd prefer not. Maybe living with the doubt is better than discovering the truth."
"It's up to you. I'll be here if you change your mind." She shrugged and inclined her head to the left.
After that, I started telling her the most hilarious stories I could think of our antics, like how we managed to make a teacher transfer to another school or how we pulled a prank on Lee's neighbour. Priceless, both of them.
When I was in the middle of the third anecdote, Grace's mobile phone rang. Blood drained from her face after reading the name of the person calling her on the screen.
"Who is it?" I asked her. Seeing her so shaky, holding her phone with an upset look was enough to alarm me.
"It's Scott."
Oh, hell no. What does that dickhead want again? Pardon my French.
"Shall I answer?" She continued.
"Love, I don't think it's a good idea..."
"Maybe it's something important. Or he might be calling me because he's sorry. Who knows?"
"I don't buy it. Do you really believe what you have said?"
"There's only one way to find out." Then, Grace picked up the phone putting it on speaker.
"Hello?"
"GRACE! DON'T LISTEN TO HIM!" What happened to be Toli's voice answered the call.
"Toli! What's going on?!"
"Well, hello G. Love to hear your sweet voice once again."
"Scott, I swear to God-"
"But God doesn't have to do anything with this, sweetheart. Listen carefully, 'cause I won't repeat this twice-"
"Don't! Don't tell him anything, we will be fine Grace!" Katie begged.
"You have Katie too?! LEAVE THEM OUT OF THIS, THIS IS ABOUT YOU AND ME."
"As I was going to say before I was so RUDELY INTERRUPTED,-" We heard Scott yell at Katie. "-on one condition."
"What else do you want from me?" Grace asked desperately.
"Tell me where are you. Grace, you don't understand how bad I need you. Once I find you, we will never be apart again. Ever."
"You are crazy."
"Crazy for you, G. Do you know how difficult it was for me to hurt you this way? It had to be done though. For you and me to run away together."
"If I tell you my whereabouts, you'll set Toli and Katie free?"
"NO GRACE, WE'LL BE OKAY. DON'T TELL HIM WHERE YOU ARE!" They both pleaded.
"SHUT UP, BOTH OF YOU, OR I'LL DO SOMETHING I'LL REGRET!" Scott coughed and kept going. "Yes, I'll let them go. And if you lie to me, you better say goodbye to your friends, Grace."
"Okay."
"Grace, you heard them. You mustn't tell him where to find you." I said before she commits the worst mistake of her life.
"This isn't about me anymore Archer. I need to save them." She answered me whispering, tears threatening to leave her eyes. Grace swept the tears away and before I could convince her otherwise, she concluded the phone call saying:
"St. George's Juvenile Correctional."
*****
A.N: Okay... Someone's a bit crazy over here. And now he knows where to find Grace.
P. S: Toli and Katie fans, please forgive me, but this scene was necessary.
Love,
M³
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