『 the sound of you and i 』 ➤ the first "sounds" book

❁ Ⅲ ｐ．１ ∞ 𝚝𝚞𝚛𝚚𝚞𝚘𝚒𝚜𝚎 ❁

Thursday. I sigh. Why can't Parker come to school earlier? I miss her already and it's been less than twelve hours since I last saw her.

My alarm hasn't gone off yet, I woke up naturally. That hurts me a little inside. It's a whole hour before I need to get up.

I stay in my bed and think about last night. I can't help the faint smile on my face. Why does she make me so happy? I get when people say you get a crush, but seriously, I literally only just met her. How can she make me feel like this already? It's crazy. I really, REALLY, don't understand.

I get up. I hate thinking about my feelings for so long. I hear a gentle knock on my door and it opens slightly.

"Grace?" I hear a whisper.

"Viola?"

"Yeah, kiddo, it's me, don't worry."

She sneaks into my room and shuts the door quietly behind her. I smile. I love her so much. She's still in her pj's, little shorts and a t-shirt with the cookie monster on it. She's such a child at heart.

"You okay?" I ask as she sits on my bed and I sit next to her as she nods.

"Yeah, I just miss you," she mumbles, wrapping her arms around me.  I melt into her arms and shut my eyes. We just sit there for a while. I contemplate telling her.

"Can I tell you something?"

"Yeah, sure, what's up?"

Should I tell her? Damnit!! Just do it! "I-I..."

"You can tell me anything, it's okay."

"I... I just... I love you!" I blurt out, cringing slightly.

She laughs. "I love you too..." She knows, she knows. "But what's really up?"

"I just..."

"You're trans."

"W-What??!"

"I know, it's okay."

"Viola!"

"What? You dress and act like a boy! It's okay, I came to terms with it the minute I noticed you starting to buy guys clothes. It's nothing to be ashamed of, I'm so proud of you for dealing through this, and stuff.  I was kind of upset that you didn't tell me, though."

"I know, I'm sorry." I think I'm tearing up. I sniff a little.

She notices. "Hey, I'm sorry, it's okay."

"No, I'm sorry. You're always here for me and you came out to me and I just... I should've told you."

"It's your thing. I get that."

"I love you so much."

"I know, I love you too. You're gonna get through this, and mum can go screw herself."

I laugh quietly but it turns into a sob. She just holds me.

My alarm goes off.

"Alright, rise and shine! Up you get!"

I laugh again and escape her arms, stretching. "You think mum will let me get my hair cut?"

"Absolutely not. But we'll do it anyways."

"This is how you know we're related."

And so she leaves and I get ready.

~

I wonder about walking to school. It's not that far, honestly. We hadn't talked about Chase picking me up or anything so I wondered if he was even coming.

But about ten minutes earlier than usual, I hear a car beep from outside and I glance to me phone, realising Chase had said he was going to pick me up.

I'm such an idiot.

I run outside but then I run back inside because I forgot my damn schoolbag. I groan, walking out of the house this time with a Viola attached to me. She waves to Chase and he waves back with a grin. I say bye to her and she promises me she'll book a hair appointment for me soon. I'm so excited.

I get in the car and Harley is already sitting in the front and Josh is already in the back.

"Sit in the middle," Chase says as he pulls away. He always pulls away before I've got my seatbelt on. I send him a look.

"Why?"

"We've got someone else to pick up."

"Huh? Who? Tiffany? Lovelle?"

Josh looks confused too but I can tell he's acting. "Oliver? Oscar?" He joins in, teasing me before tickling me. I laugh and shove him away.

"Shut up!"

"You'll see when we get there," Harley perks in with a grin.

I'm so damn confused.

~

We pass Lovelle's house. We pass Tiffany's house. We pass Oliver and Oscar's house. I'm really confused because we're in a part of town where none of our friends live.

"None of our friends live here," I mumble, looking out of the window. I'd sat in the middle seat like Chase had requested but I was starting to doubt him now.

"You're kidding, right? Someone you really like stays here." Chase laughs.

"Okay, I'm so damn confused."

We stop outside of a reasonably small house, it looks a little run down and stuff. I'm utterly lost. I sit and cross my arms, in a huff, before looking out of the window to see the door open.

Parker steps out with a bag over her shoulder and her beautiful smile on display.

"W-What??!" I exclaim, immediately sitting up in my seat. I think I can feel myself shaking.

Josh, Chase and Harley all laugh.

"You should see yourself!" Chase howls, in hysterics which worries me because he's at the wheel.

"How?!" I ask, shock painting my face as Parker starts towards the car.

Harley smiles at me. "I managed to get her enrolled quicker. I got her number too and she was texting me a bunch last night saying how she missed you already and she just wanted to come to school already. I made a few phone calls, contacted her parents and bam! She starts early."

"I... Wow. I love you."

His cheeks heat a bit. "I love you too, Ash."

The door beside me finally opens and Parker gets in. I can't hide my excitement as I squeal and throw my arms around her. She laughs and embraces me back.

"Hey, Grace! Chase, Harley, nice to see you guys! You must be Josh then, right? You're cute."

Josh giggles a little. "Thanks."

Parker laughs and looks to Harley. "You're right. He's soooo gay."

"Hey!" Josh exclaims but he laughs. That's the first time he hasn't denied being called gay and gotten all offensive.

Parker is really having a great impact on us all.

~

The first half of the day is me introducing Parker to literally every single person I know. I swear to god people think I'm in love with her. I guess I don't hate that idea and whenever someone assumes that Parker just blushes and lets me handle it. She's pretty. Pretty sneaky, I mean.

Oliver and Oscar vaguely see us but when they meet Parker they seem to really like her which is good. She really likes them too, she agrees on the whole Cadwellcest thing. They're way too close.

The day goes amazingly because Parker and I have so many classes together. I guess that was maybe deliberate, Harley supposedly told the Principal that I already knew Parker which would make it easier for her to fit in? I don't know. I don't care, either. We have lots of classes together and that's all I care about.

We're hanging out after school again. I'm so fucking excited.