Gracie Rose | tracy beaker returns {on hiatus}

28

TWO WEEKS LATER

*Flashback: 5 years ago*

I woke up as normal to get ready for school. Everything seemed completely normal. Mum had the radio on downstairs, and dad had left for work about ten minutes before. I was looking forward to going in, to see my friends and do singing. We had singing in the afternoon, and it was my favourite lesson. Mum had made me a couple of pancakes for breakfast, and she'd bought me a little carton of strawberry milkshake to enjoy too. Just as I was finishing off, the doorbell rang. Mum went to answer it, and suddenly everything changed. It was the police.

"Mrs Reynolds?" they asked.

"Yes," Mum replied. "What's going on?"

"We have some unfortunate news. Your husband has been involved in a crash on the motorway on the way to work this morning. I hate to tell you, but he was killed instantly. My condolences go to you and your family."

Mum fell to the floor and cried into her hands. I heard her crying so I got down from my stool and slowly walked to the door.

"Mum? What's wrong?" I asked.

"Gracie, go back into the living room!" she said.

"No, what's happened?" I asked again. I looked up at the policeman, who bent down and touched my shoulder.

"Gracie, right?" He asked. I nodded.

"Well, I am so sorry to tell you this, but your father has died in an accident."

"So, he's not coming back?" I whispered. The policeman shook his head.

My instant reaction was a scream. My head couldn't focus on it. My dad was dead. He wasn't coming back.

*****

"Gracie you're not going to school." Mum said once the police had left.

"No, I want to," I replied. "I want to sing."

"Sorry, baby, but you can't. I need you here." Mum said, starting to cry again. That was what made me change my mind and want to stay with her. I ran up to her and jumped onto her lap and hugged her as we cried together.

*end of flashback*

"Gracie? GRACIE!" Carmen shouted.

"Sorry, what?" I replied.

"What happened? You just went blank." Lily explained.

"Oh, nothing, just daydreaming." I lied. I plastered a smile on my face and went outside with the girls to play with everyone. We were going to have a water fight outside. It had been planned by Mike and Gina a while back, and it was finally the day. It was a shame I had my dad on my mind, but I wanted to power through so I wasn't ruining everyone's day. I had changed into a thin t-shirt with a sports bra underneath and some little shorts, before putting on my blue and white striped flip flops.

The water bombs and water guns were all set up, along with buckets of freezing cold water all around the garden. Everyone was in such a great mood. Mike was cooking sausages and burgers on the barbecue, and the smell was like absolute heaven, while Gina was helping Gus with the schedule for the day. Before we began, there was a mini game of football about to start, so we went over there to play with everyone else. One team was Carmen, Frank, Johnny, Toby and Lily, and the other team was Liam, Sapphire, Tee, Tracy and I, with Elektra as the referee. When I found out I was on Tracy's team, I was super pleased. She opened her arms and I jumped into them with a big smile on my face.

"Glad to see a smile on your face, even though you're rubbish at football!" Tracy laughed.

"Oi, bog off!" I replied, playfully slapping her on the arm.

To her surprise, I actually scored the winning goal, which put me in a great mood.

"Maybe I'm not so rubbish after all!" I said to Tracy.

"Okay, maybe I do take it back! Now, come on, let's go and have a water fight!" Tracy said, grabbing my hand and pulling me over to the water stations.

We all got to the water area and waited for Mike and Gina to give us instructions. I sat down on the grass and started to remember this morning. The random thoughts I had about my dad were coming back, and the only way to stop them was to distract myself, but nothing was happening. Mum's antics after dad's death hit me like a ton of bricks, and I could feel myself losing control. I stood up, grabbed Tracy's hand and ran inside, causing a bit of a scene. I heard everyone shouting for us to come back, but I couldn't go back there until I'd calmed down. I pulled Tracy into the living room and collapsed into a mess on the sofa.

"I'm sorry. I just couldn't keep it in any longer." I said.

"Keep what in any longer? Gracie, what are you talking about?" Tracy asked, confused.

"It's one of those days where I can't stop thinking about what happened to Dad, and how much Mum has changed. Nothing too serious. But all I need is for you to listen. I need you to just sit with me. I don't want to be alone. I just need to breathe." I explained.

"Thank you for telling me this. I'm proud of you." Tracy said while playing with my hair.

"Thanks, Tracy." I replied.

About ten minutes later, I was ready to go back outside. Tracy took my hand as we walked back to the garden together. Everyone stared at me as I walked out, but I gave everyone a big smile regardless.

"Thanks for your concerns everyone, but I'm fine. Now, who's ready for a water fight?" I shouted, before grabbing two water guns and passing one to Tracy.

"That's the spirit!" Tracy smiled, as she started squirting me with the water gun.

"I'll get you back for this, Beaker!" I screamed, using all the water in my gun on getting her soaked.

*****

By the time we had finished with the water fighting, it was time for the food. We all went to get changed out of wet clothes so we weren't dying in the cold, and quickly hurried back down for food. When we finished, we were planning to go to the beach and play volleyball and other fun games.

"Can we buy toys on the way to the beach from the service station?" Carmen asked.

"You wish! After last time, it's a definite no. Just bring the ones we bought on the way to the beach last year!" Mike said.

Basically, we went to the beach last year, and the whole day was a disaster. However, it turned out well in the end. I printed off so many photos from that day, and they are all up on my wall in my room now.

"I'll buy you all an ice cream when we arrive if you like?" Tracy suggested.

"YESSSS!!" We all smiled. I followed everyone else to the minibus on that thought.

"Gracie wait for me!" Tracy shouted. I stopped and waited for her to come. She took my hand and we sat down in our seats once Mike had unlocked the doors.

"Okay, who's ready for an even better afternoon?" Gina said. We all got very excited at that point.

The journey to the beach was amazing. We played games and sang songs and had such a great time. We were all jamming out to 'Walking On Sunshine' to put us in a great mood, not that we weren't in one already! No one was being rude to each other, no one was complaining, no one got sick, everything was amazing.

By the time we arrived at the beach, the day was starting to come to a close, so we had one game of volleyball after our ice creams, and got some good photos before heading home. The day had gone by so fast, and although it had gotten off to a rough start, it picked itself up pretty quickly, and I was so grateful.

I'd had such a lovely day, but I should've known it wasn't going to last long.

Little did I know...