"I'm so sorry she hurt you," Graci says later that night as we sit cross legged on my bed. She holds a package of frozen peas to my head as I tape it. It looks ridiculous, I know, but it gets the job done.
"Don't be," I scoff. "I've been roughed up before. Being the only openly gay kid in this joyful little town of ours, earns you some thick skin."
"Well, I can't tell you how much I appreciate what you and your family are doing for me," Graci smiles, blushing at the ground. I slap my hand into her own.
"Of course," I grin. "I guess-- uh I guess-- I'm the one who owes you an apology," I say.
"But Winter, you haven't done anything," she says.
"Maybe not, but I did assume... all these years I just assumed that you were happy in this town, happy to be whatever Karen wanted. Wanted the same thing," I explain. "It never occurred to me that you may not have had a choice."
"But I did," she said, twirling a finger around a stray auburn lock. "I did have a choice." Her deep blue eyes look into mine. There is a and brokenness in them that makes me want to bawl for days.
"You deserve better," I whisper.
"Oh Winter, please don't think she's a bad person; she's a great mother-- she just..." Graci trails off, her hands shaking. "She didn't see me. She didn't see who I was... she only saw who she wanted me to be. So, I pretended, because I didn't want to be a disappointment. God, Winter.. I-I didn't... I never wanted to disappoint her..." Graci falls into my arms limply . I hold her, stroking her back.
"Shh... she still loves you," I tell her. "You're not a disappointment. She's just scared, I think. Of what she doesn't know. That doesn't excuse how she's acting, but maybe she needs to learn-- learn that no fear lies in love."
"T-Thanks Winter," Graci says, taking a big breath and separating us. "And can you do me a favour?"
"What's that?"
"Call me Grace. Just Grace."
---
YOU ARE READING
Somebody's Daisy (Title page by Evan!!!" )
Teen FictionWinter Rose Hill's longtime crush Sara Welsh moves back to their small town after spending her secondary school years at an elite boarding school inEurope, and Winter can't wait to reconnect. But is Sara really who Winter remembers her to be? Or is...
