Song for chapter: Playinwitme - KYLE ft. Kehlani
I walked out of the bathroom with the doll in my arms, seeing Grayson leaning on the opposite wall, waiting for me.
"Well?" he asked, putting his arm around my shoulders and picking up the doll carrier off the floor, hanging it in the crook of his elbow, "How did it go?" he looked down at me and raised his eyebrows at me.
I scowled at him, poking him in the sides.
"You're doing that next time," I just got done changing the doll's diaper, and it wasn't as bad as I thought it was going to be, but that doesn't mean I want to do it again.
Grayson threw his head back and laughed, stopping at the end of the hall.
"Here, let me put her in the carrier," he reached over and I handed him the doll. He buckled her in oh so carefully before picking the carrier up again and continuing to walk out to the parking lot.
"Did you tell Ethan that you wouldn't be riding home with him?"
"Yeah, I told him while we were in the locker room. He just asked who I was riding with," he shrugged his shoulders while pulling out his phone.
"What did he say whenever you told him that it was me?"
He probably didn't care, Tenley, he hasn't cared for a while.
"He just rolled his eyes and said, 'Okay, see you at home,'" he looked up at me to meet my eyes, taking a break from his phone, glancing back down at it, then putting it in his pocket again.
Changing the subject quickly, he said, "My mom is excited to have you over tonight," he gave me a big, cheeky grin that was contagious and caused me to smile back at him.
"I've missed her! Do you happen to know what she's making tonight for supper?" His mom had the best cooking ever, no doubt about it.
"Chicken and rice, your favorite," he smiled down at me.
"Oh, good Lord, I love your mom," I shook my head and laughed.
We finally reached my car in the parking lot, considering it was all the way in the back.
I went around to the passenger side, got in, and waited for Grayson to get in the driver's seat.
He opened the back door on the passenger side, placed my backpack, his bags, and Adeline's bag in, then jogged around to the other side and placed the carrier with the doll in it, buckled it in, and then hopped in the driver's seat.
"Give me the keys, Ten!" He yelled excitedly.
I rolled my eyes, but unhooked my keys from my lanyard and put them in his outstretched hand.
"Oooo," he hissed, wiggling from side to side in his seat, "I still cannot believe you have a Bronco. God, I love this thing," he ran his hand over the dash, shaking his head, "I also can't believe you got it painted yellow. That just ruins it."
I cocked my head at him, looking hurt with my hand over my heart. He threw me an award-winning smile as he turned the key in the ignition and backed out of the lot.
We lived in the middle of nowhere. Absolute nowhere. There were miles and miles of land that stretched out over our properties, with nothing in sight but cows and grass.
The boys lived on over two thousand acres, with their house being about a mile into the property, and my family's land backed up to theirs, meaning they were our "neighbors," or the closest thing to it, at least.
Since we lived so far out, the drive from our houses to school everyday was about an hour, but it was peaceful. We drove for about 15 minutes in the city before reaching the nothingness that was the South Texas Plains, feeling very outnumbered by all of the cows and sheep in pastures left and right, covering every inch of ground that was present.
About 10 minutes away from my house, Grayson reached over and turned down the radio, which was currently playing "Eastside," by benny blanco, Halsey, and Khalid.
I looked over at him, giving him a 'what the heck?' face.
"Why do you hate Ethan, Tenley?" he glanced over at me for a second, then back to the road.
"What?" He knew damn well why I didn't like Ethan.
"Why don't you like him?" he asked again, quieter than the first time.
I still couldn't believe that he was asking me this.
I rolled my eyes at him, "You're really funny, Gray. I'm not the one who left him four years ago."
I crossed my arms over my chest and stared out at the road in front of me, too pissed off now to look at Grayson.
I felt a hand on my knee and looked up to see Grayson looking at me with a look of sympathy. He gave me a weak smile and squeezed my knee before putting it back on the gear shift, considering my car was a standard.
"What do you think you're going to wear tonight?" He changed the subject again, knowing I was upset.
"I don't know, that's your job to decide."
That's the whole reason you convinced me to let you come over, Gray, to help me pick out an outfit.
"Well, I know that you don't own any dresses, considering I haven't seen you in one since we were six," he looked over at me and I scoffed at him, still having my arms crossed.
"Do you think you could fit in one of Cameron's that she left?"
"Are you serious? Cameron is over five inches taller than me! Her dresses would reach my ankles, Grayson," he shook his head and laughed.
"Yeah, I always forget how short you are... My bad."
He swung into my driveway, stopping at the automatic gate and reaching out to type in the code to open it.
"Eleven twenty-two," I yelled to him while he was hanging out the window.
As the gate was opening, he got fully back into the car, "I knew that, you know?"
"Sure you did, Gray," I rolled my eyes at him.
--
"Mom! I'm home!" I threw my bag next to the door, walking through the house to the kitchen, where mom almost always was.
"Oh, hey, honey! How was – Grayson! How are you doing?" My mom walked around the bar and gave Grayson a huge hug, kissing him on the cheek.
He laughed a bit before looking over at me, then back to my mom.
"I've been good, Mrs. Ross. How about yourself?"
"I've been good, honey, thank you," she smiled sweetly at him, "What brings you over?"
"We're partners in a class, mom. We have to take care of this doll and Grayson wants me to teach him how so we don't fail," I motioned towards the doll and her mouth formed an "o" shape.
"I thought you didn't want kids, Tenley?" My mom knew me so well.
"Yeah, I don't. I'm taking the class because I have nothing else to do, and because it's an easy grade," she nodded her head, letting me know she understood.
"Alright, me and Gray are going to go up to my room to work on it, kay?" I started walking towards the stairs.
"Mrs. Ross, is it okay if Tenley comes over for dinner tonight? I want my mom to see the baby we're taking care of," he smiled at my mom, showing all of his teeth, knowing that she would say yes to anything he said if he smiled.
"Oh, of course!" She batted her hand, "Tell Ethan I said hello and that he is really missed around here! Let him know that he's welcome over here anytime!" With my back facing her, I rolled my eyes.
"Of course, I'll let him know. Thanks, Mrs. Ross!" And with that, Grayson went jogging up the stairs, already knowing which room was mine while I came trudging after him.
