Making Her Fall

Chapter 24

     My crunching steps fall silent when they stop in front of the solid stone. The early morning sun peers over the mountains in the distance throwing shimmering rays onto the property. Peeling the folded chair from my shoulder I remove it from its case to set it up. I walk around and make myself comfortable sitting down turning my attention back to the professionally cut stone. I sit silently for a moment reading the words in front of me once more.

                                                                            Grace Evelyn Hart

     My fingers run along the sharp engravings of each individual letter. The emptiness in my chest is only partially filled at the thought of her.  I hang my head, but make sure to keep my eyes on the tombstone. No amount of time makes the holidays easier.

     "So uh...here I am. I guess the first thing I should say is I am sorry for being a few days late. I only spent Christmas and New Years with mom and dad. I haven't really been in the mood to deal with anyone else so I have been hiding anywhere I could. The gym, high school track, down the river, took a ride up the mountain, and I even locked myself in your room because no one would look for me there."

     I take in a deep breath of the cold brisk air as a gust of wind runs through my body. The silence of the cemetery is interrupting by the song My Wicked Bones by Nick Nolan. My panicking fingers fly to my pocket pulling out my phone where the word Mom is highlighted on the screen. I carefully take my index finger flicking the green phone up then press the phone to my ear. "Hello?"

     "Honey? Where are you? You haven't really been around the past few days and your friends have been constantly coming around asking for you." I knew all three of them had been looking for me. My phone had been blowing up since the party. I wanted no part in pushing my problems onto Alex and Melanie now that they had finally figured things out. Well at least I thought they had seeing how I ran into them locked in a passionate kiss. "Amber has already been to our door twice today and she drove by again. I think she was looking for your truck. What is going on? Was there a fight?"

     I manage to pinch the bridge of my nose between my index finger and thumb. "I don't know what to tell them. I'm not in the mood for their questions right now." Amber was the last person I wanted to see right now. I had no intention to speak to her about the party or her Hollywood looking boyfriend. The look on her face was enough to tell me how much of a fool I was. "Look, I'm spending the day with Grace and I don't want them coming. So can you please not tell anyone where I am?"

     For a moment the only sound on the phone is my mother breathing. "Okay Jayden. I won't try to force you to tell me anything. If they come by again I will just tell them you went to see your cousins." That is actually a great idea as long as no one finds our my cousins took off to Florida for the holidays. "I hope you know you can tell me or your father anything. We love you."

     "I love you too mom. I don't want to get you involved in this because they did nothing wrong. I just need some time alone. I will come straight home whenever I am done here. I'll see you later tonight." Shortly after she tells me goodbye my ear is filled with a long beep signalling the end of the call. I make sure to shove my phone back in my pocket before looking back to the tombstone.

     "You know I shouldn't feel like this. I have no reason to be this jealous and hurt. Amber is a phenomenal girl and any guy would kill to be able to call her his. I'm sure they have been together for awhile and hell I had my own girlfriend that she set me up with." My brain starts to wonder if that is the whole reason she set me up with Zoe a couple months ago.

     "For a brief moment everything felt perfect again. I had a lot of fun at the Christmas party. You should see Bethany now because she is becoming a stunning young lady and she is just fun to be around even when she is making fun of me for not knowing men buy ties just to match their date." Amber's beautiful dress presents itself in the front of my mind in vivid detail. 

     "You should have been there Grace. It sounds corny to say someone is breathtaking, but that is exactly what Amber was. But, she could be wearing a burlap sack and she would find a way to be the best looking girl in the room. She finally changed her hair back to her natural color again. It looks so much better than the black hair she had. It just seems more like her."

     The ghost of a smile possesses my face recalling the moment when her eyes met mine. I was helpless because her warm eyes put a spell on me. Amber's words whisper in my ear, "I put a spell on you. Because you're mine." I shake the chill from my body thinking about the way she looked at me during the Halloween party when she said those exact words. She really did put a spell on me.

     I release a defeated sigh as I reach into my drawstring bag clutching for Grace's present. My grip locks on a small paper back book pulling it into my lap. "I bought you a book for Christmas and I thought it would be nice to read it to you. I had to get help from the bookstore employee to find a romance book I thought you would enjoy. Get this the main character's last name is Lockhart."

     I can only chuckle at the poor joke comparing our last names. My thumb grazes the pages while I lean further back in my chair. Normally, I would feel embarrassed for even looking at a book like this, but it was for Grace. I clear my throat then begin in a easy to understand tone, "Chasing Red by Isabelle Ronin."