seventeen | bitterness

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g r a c e

"grace?" my mum's voice rang through the house as her heels clicked on our granite flooring. i got off of my bed and headed downstairs. "yes?" i asked, standing at the other side of the countertop she was digging through her purse on.

"hey honey, so how'd the checkup go yesterday?" she asked, taking out some pain reliever and taking it with water.

"oh it went well," i said with a smile. "that's great!" she replied, returning a smile. "what week is this?" she asked, rinsing out the water glass she'd used and placing it out to dry.

"it's officially the 21st week today," i said with a smile. my mom looked up at me and smiled widely. "oh my..it's been so long, but it feels as if it's only been two weeks," she said, as if she were in a daze.

"and how are you and max? are you guys okay?" she asked, in curiosity. "we're actually doing really well. we had a talk about everything yesterday, and he seems so committed to this. it's insane." i replied with another smile, making her smile.

"that's good. so what've you guys decided custody-wise?" she asked, still smiling. i dropped my smile and looked at her. "i never ever thought about it.." i said, pinching the bridge of my nose in between my thumb and index finger. "oh..well, maybe you should," my mum said, giving my arm a gentle squeeze and walking toward the front door.

"where are you going?" i asked in confusion. "i'm meeting a friend for dinner tonight! he moved away from high school and just moved back a few weeks ago, so we need to catchup on everything. oh..and i left money on the counter for food if you want anything! love you darling!" she said, walking out of the door and shutting it behind her. i was left standing there, in utter confusion, not know what had just happened. the only thing i actually caught out of the conversation was the word 'he'. did this mean my mum was meeting a guy that she might possibly hook up with in the future?

after a few seconds, i stopped thinking about the future because it made my head cloudy and panicky. i felt quite lonely and bored so i picked up my phone and called max. i actually called him two times, since i thought he was just being stubborn, but he didn't pick up either of them, so i just called harvey instead.

"hello?" harvey asked.

"hey harvey," i replied, dragging out his name.

"what's up grace," he said back, dragging out my name, mocking me.

-

i looked at the time and saw that harvey and i had been on the phone for two hours and 17 minutes.

"woah harvey guess what," i said, starting a new conversation.

"what?" he asked, closing his room door from his adventure to the kitchen.

"we talked for two hours and seven-eighteen minutes now," i said with a small laugh.

"i mean, i'm a fun person to talk to, so it's not a
surprise," he replied as if that was obvious.

i rolled my eyes.

"don't even start," i blandly stated.

"start what?" he asked, playing dumb.

"whatever you're trying to start," i replied.

he laughed once and sighed. both ends of the call were silent for a few moments. 

"oh, i needed to ask you something," i said, sitting up straight on my bed.

"hm?" harvey said, waiting for the question.

"so, i called max earlier, two times, but he didn't answer. where is he?" i asked.

"oh, he went to a birthday thing for one of his friends," he said, making it seem harmless.

"oh ok," i said with a small sigh of relief.

-

harvey and i talked for another hour before we hung up, both of us being tired, and him having get up early in the morning. we had talked until 1:56 am, so i didn't complain.

before bed, i took a shower and heard my mum walk inside. "i'm home," she said, her voice echoing off of our cream-coloured walls. "hey mum. how was everything?" i asked, giving her a hug.

"oh it was a lot of fun, you know, getting to know him much better since he's been gone for what, twenty-five or so years?" she replied with a smile.

"oh okay good!" i said.

"well, goodnight grace," my mum said, hugging me once more before retiring to her room. "goodnight mum!" i said, walking back to my room and getting into bed without a doubt on my mind, which i was so thankful for.

-

i woke up to my alarm's unbearable ringing. i quickly shut it off and saw that i had a missed call from max. he called at 3:46 am, making me question what was so urgent. he had left a voicemail, so i clicked on it and listened.

m a x' s
v o i c e m a i l

yooooo! what's u-up 'good-girl grace'
hahaaa
i want to...to tell youuuu just how freaking strange and-and like..like just down-right weird you are
haahhhhaahh
i bet you've n-never ever ever ever had anyone who's actually cared about youuu
i hope that you get this-this message...and-and you realize juuuust how much of a-a.....freak you actually are.
i mean, i don't even knooooowwww how i have your freaking digitsss
i mean, did-did you like...like steal my phone and put them in or somethin' ??
hahhhhaaa anywayyy,
lots of love, xoxo,
the one and only,
hot freakin' maxxxx millssssss

g r a c e

i started crying, hard. i knew something wasn't right. what was supposed to be 'a birthday thing' apparently involved tons of alcohol.

in the few short moments that the voicemail lasted, max's words were slurred and didn't sound like max, and even though i knew he wasn't in his right state of mind, i felt like the words in the voicemail were built up inside of him, maybe even before we ever talked. in the background of the voicemail, there would be voices shouting and laughing at what he said, making me feel so much worse.

i felt so betrayed. it felt as if the world contained only the feeling of bitterness.

-

wowowowow. plot twisttt!!! am i right—or AM I RIGHT. YEAH. hehe.

i hope you enjoyed this chapter :))

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