Lucy closed the door the the orphanage and turned around. She expected to see Gru standing there, but he wasn't. She sat on the steps and waited. She knew that he was suspended, but she had thought he would still come see her.
"I guess I was wrong." She mumbled to herself.
She stood up and walked to school, alone for the first time in weeks.
The bell rang for first period and Lucy felt Gru's absence even more. Girls around her kept chattering about the dance.
The dance.
Just thinking about that made her mad. Or maybe it made her sad, or disappointed? Probably a combination of them all. What she had expected to be a perfect night now looked like it wouldn't happen at all.
As Ms. Melandrano started class, Lucy tried to focus. But what the principal said yesterday kept tugging at her.
This is not his first infraction. I had believed that he was cleaning up his act, but clearly I was wrong.
She had never seen any of this in a Gru. How could there be so much about him that she didn't know?
The bell rung for the end of class. Lucy got up to leave, but Ms. Melandrano pulled her aside.
"Lucy," she said, once the rest of the students were gone. "I thought you might like to see this."
She held out a flyer for a used dress charity.
"This organization takes donated dresses and fixes them up for girls to wear free of charge. They're just a few blocks away." Ms. Melandrano stated, in her usual, matter of fact tone of voice.
Lucy didn't react.
"Really?" Ms. Melandrano looked surprised. "I would have thought you'd be excited."
"Thank you, really." Lucy said, finding her words. "But even with a dress, I don't really think this is going to happen. I didn't realize how little I knew Gru until yesterday. He hasn't talked to me since then, and I don't know what to think about that."
"I think," Ms. Melandrano paused. "That you need to talk to him. Mr. Gru is a good guy. He had a record in middle school, but since he arrived here, he seriously cleaned up his act. I think most of that is due to you, actually."
"Me?" Lucy looked at her.
"Go talk to him." She repeated.
Lucy waited until the end of the day. Surely Gru would find her after school outside the building. They always walked home together.
But he wasn't there.
Lucy waited for a few minutes and then stormed back inside. She stomped into the office and up to the reception desk.
"I need the address of Felonius Gru." she demanded. "Please." she added as an afterthought.
"I'm sorry, but that information is con-" the secretary started.
"I don't care about confidentiality!" Lucy yelled.
"You need to leave now." One of the teachers said, taking her by the arm. He escorted her out of the office and into the hall.
"I need his address." She said, staring him down.
He didn't answer her, but walked inside and slammed the door. As he left, a piece of paper fell out of his folder and landed on the ground.
She walked over and stomped on it, trying not to cry, until she looked down and saw something familiar. His name. She bent down and picked it up. It was from his file. His address!
She took off running.
Finally, she came to a small house in a cookie cutter neighborhood. She stood in front of the house, and eyed the number on the mailbox. This was it.
She didn't even knock. She just stood in the yard and yelled.
"Gru!"
She waited and sure enough, he stepped outside. He had an ugly-looking black eye that was nearly swollen shut. A tiny part of her heart twinged, seeing him hurt like that. But the rest of her was still mad.
She walked up to him and-
Smack!
She slapped him.
"What the h*ll were you thinking?" She shouted.
He looked stunned.
"You could have been hurt. Like, really hurt, Gru!" She fumed. "And in front of the whole cafeteria!"
She glared at him, and he didn't look away.
"And then you just leave!" She went on. "I don't see you for an entire day. No explanation, nothing!"
She took a deep breath.
"You scared me." She said, much quieter. "You just collapsed. I didn't know-"
She broke off, crying.
His arms were instantly around her, pulling her to him. She cried into his chest, feeling his steady heartbeat.
"I'm sorry." He whispered, stroking her hair. "You're right. I just got mad. He looked so proud and pompous, and I saw red. I didn't want him anywhere near you."
She listened, her tears slowing.
"I used to act out a lot," he went on. "Before this year. But, I left that life behind me. I would never do anything to harm you or scare you. I promise."
She pulled away from him and looked him in the eyes. Well, eye. One of them was still swollen. She realized that he meant it. He meant everything he said to her. She brought her face close to his, and she kissed him.
His eyes widened in surprise, but then his arms pulled her closer to him. He was kissing her back, for the whole neighborhood to see. And he didn't even care.
