Griffin and Grace Johnson are twins in their senior year of high school. Life is hard enough to navigate, but how will things change for Grace when she meets the new kid?
Noah was waiting outside of the locker room when I came out. "Hey, you ready to go?" "Yeah," I nodded, following him out of the side door and into the parking lot. We walked down a few rows before stopping in front of his car. "This is me," he said, unlocking it and throwing his backpack in the backseat. I got into the front seat next to him, trying to calm my nerves.
The ride to his house was short, and I was in awe of his house. "You live here? It's beautiful." Noah chuckled. "Yeah. My dad's company gave it to us as part of his relocation." We went inside, and a woman was standing in the kitchen. "Hi, Noah," she said without turning around. "Mom, I want you to meet my new friend, Grace. I met her and her brother today." His mom turned around, and her face lit up. "It's very nice to meet you, Grace. I'm really glad that Noah is making friends already." "The pleasure is all mine, Mrs. Beck. Your house is lovely, and you've raised Noah well." "Thank you, honey, but Amy will do just fine. Will you be staying for dinner?" I looked at Noah, and he nodded. "Sure, I would love that. Thank you." "Will Dad be home?" Noah asked, setting his backpack down at the table and opening the refrigerator. Amy shook her head. "Unfortunately, he has to work late. Tatum and Ty will be here though."
Noah sighed and sat down at the table. "Guess we better get started on this Spanish, huh?" Amy laughed. "They have you taking Spanish? Yikes. Good luck, Grace." "Hey, let me text Griffin really quickly and tell him that I won't be home for dinner. He'll probably just be at Dixie's anyway, but our parents probably aren't home." Noah nodded, and it was clear that he understood the parameters of having parents that worked a lot.
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As I hit send, I pulled out my notebook and the worksheet that Señora Garcia had given us. "Okay, this worksheet is just about verbs. It's super easy." We worked through the worksheet together until the front door opened. "How's my favorite little brother?" the girl asked, wrapping her arms around Noah. I assumed that she was his sister. "I'm your only brother, Tatum," he said, shrugging out of her embrace. "This is Grace. I met her at school today." "Hi, Grace. I'm Tatum, one of Noah's sisters, and this is my boyfriend, Ty." "Hi. It's really nice to meet you." "DInner in ten, Noah," Amy said from the kitchen where she was stirring something on the stove.
We packed up our stuff, and Noah showed me a spot by the front door where I could set my stuff. "So, Grace, tell us a little bit about yourself," Amy said as she set the table. "I was born and raised here in Oregon. I have a twin brother. I play volleyball. I really think that's it," I said, shrugging. I felt bad that I could almost never come up with anything more interesting when someone asked about me. "There's got to be something more," Tatum said, taking a bite. "You're a senior, right? What do you want to do after school?" "I don't know. I'll probably just got to the University of Portland and take general courses until I figure it out." Amy chimed in. "I think that's great. Noah's been looking at the Univeristy of Portland for soccer. I might be biased, but I think that he's pretty good." Noah's face flushed a vibrant shade of red. "Mom, can you stop?" "I think that it's sweet that she's so proud of you, Noah." Amy nodded in agreement. "I grew you for nine months, so I think that I'm allowed to be a little bit obsessed with you," she joked. I could already tell that the relationship that he had with his mom was a special one, and I found myself feeling kind of jealous.
When we finished dinner, Noah took a look at the time. "It's getting late. I should take you home." I nodded, yawning. "That would be really great, thank you." We sat in his car in silence. "You good? Not too hot, not too cold?" "Yeah, I'm fine. Thank you," I replied, turning to look at him. "How did your first day go? I know I spent a good portion of it with you, but we didn't really talk about it." "It was really good. I made some new friends, I met a really pretty girl, and I made the soccer team. I've had worse first days," he said. "You met a pretty girl? Who is it?" I asked, my heart breaking slightly. Noah laughed. "Think about it. You'll figure it out." I kept thinking about it, but it wasn't really clicking for me. When we pulled into my driveway, Noah put the car in park and turned the key in the ignition. "Anything?" I shook my head. "I've got nothing. Am I supposed to know what you're talking about?" Noah laughed again. "I'll see you tomorrow." I got out of the car, still confused and headed to the front door. As I opened it, I heard him honk his goodbye behind me.
"Hey," Griffin said as I shut and locked the door behind me. "Hey." "So, how was it?" he asked, still staring at me from the armchair by the door. "His family is really nice. His mom is a good cook," I said, making my way into the kitchen. Griffin chuckled wryly. "You're answering the question, but not how you know I want you to." "Nothing happened between us, Griff, if that's what you're digging for. We did Spanish homework together, ate dinner with his family, and he drove me home. That's it." "I caught up with him after school before I headed to Dixie's. I figured that he would have said something, but I guess not," Griffin said, turning and heading up the stairs. I followed him, trying to get his attention. "What are you talking about, Griff?"
