Breanna Michelle Santana

KNOCK! KNOCK! KNOCK!

My fist started to hurt from the pain I inflicted on it as I knocked on the Jansen's front door.

It was only noon, I knew someone had to be awake. All the kid's cars were in the driveway and the parent's, too.

I only wanted to find Grayson because he hadn't been answering his phone since six o'clock in the morning after leaving so abruptly - he scared me.

At long last, German opened the door and let me in.

"Hey, Mr.Jansen," I said out of breath,"where's Grayson?" I pulled the sleeve of the dark grey oversized hoodie up on my bare shoulder and scanned the room for my (temporary) boyfriend.

German tried calming me down but I started to go from worried to angry in a matter of seconds.

So, I entered the living room and saw that Grayson was perfectly fine, sitting there on the couch.

"Brea!" He gasped and stood at the sight of me.

"Well I'm glad to see you're okay." I roared and stormed out of the room.

Grayson chased me and grabbed my wrist.

"Let go." I demanded, not making eye contact.
When he didn't do what I said, I forcefully yanked away and yelled,"I said let go!"

Grayson let out a sigh and talked to me in a low, calm tone.
He went to take my hand and lead me upstairs to his old bedroom. Once we were both inside, he closed the door and told me to sit down.

"Just tell me what the fuck is going on." My leg anxiously trembled as I sat at the end of the mattress.

"My mom died. This morning. That's where I went, not wherever you made up in your head. I didn't answer my phone because I haven't done anything other than comfort my grieving family. In fact, my phone was dead up until I just charged it. So, sorry."

I felt stupid. Relief overcame me though, I was worried he was out "cheating" or something.

"Grayson, I'm sorry. I-I didn't know. I'm so dumb. Come here." I vowed, starting to tear up.

Grayson didn't shed a tear, his voice didn't even crack. He did, though, have this look in his eyes like he had seen something traumatizing. He was a zombie.

All I wanted to do was comfort Gray and grieve with the family.

When his phone buzzed, he read the text in his head and then said to me,"I have to go."

I didn't let go of his hand when I offered,"I can go, too."

"No. I just need a little space, if you understand."

Trying to act like my feelings weren't hurt, I let go of his hand and nodded slowly in agreement, my eyelashes blinking fast. "Um, y-yeah, sure. Just text me, okay? Please."

He agreed with a head nod and left the room, leaving me to wonder where he was going and what he'd be doing.

As soon as he fully left the room, Holland joined me inside.

"Hey." I spoke, not wanting to dive right into sympathy-talk.

"Hey. You heard?" She kicked off the conversation.

"Yeah. I'd say sorry but does that ever help?" Holland shook her head and sat on the bed.

"I can honestly say, my mother really liked you, even though the time you spent was brief."

"She was a sweet woman, raised amazing kids."

"That she did. How's Grayson taking this whole thing? He hasn't said much to us since the hospital, he's just sort of been making sure we're all okay."

That's Grayson for you, I thought.

My shoulders shrugged because I truthfully had no idea. "He's strong."

"Very. You are, too."

"What do you mean?"

"I know about the bet, Brea. How can you two play with each other's emotions like that? It's wrong, it's asking for heartbreak."

"It's not for you to understand, to be completely honest," I stood to go on,"We have a good thing going, now you're going to tell us to break up?"

"No," she shook her head,"but he likes you, I just wish you felt the same way."

"Who says I don't?"

"If you did then you'd call this bet off and make it official."

"You know, you're just like your mom. Why do you two care so much about his fucking love life? Y'all want him to knock some poor girl up so your daughter can have a play date?" As soon as those words left my mouth I regretted it. I closed my eyes and cursed under my breath.

"Wow." Holland mouthed and started to rub her stomach.

Feeling the shittiest, I left the room in a rush and darted to my car so I could drive around and clear my head.

======

It was dark out now. I turned on my high beams down a dark, backroad. So many thoughts circulated around my brain, all about Grayson and how he must've felt.

My optimism almost wore off when I couldn't seem to find him anywhere. I almost gave up, that is, until I saw Grayson's car parked crookedly in the lot outside of the high school.

I jumped out of the car and stomped up the bleachers where I saw two bodies sitting awfully close under the pale moonlight.

"Can we help you?" A woman's voice asked, taking me a back with the attitude. Her voice was kind of familiar but I didn't know it well enough to make out who it was right away.

"Brea?" Grayson's head shot up from the lady's lap.

My arms dropped from being folded across my chest and I just glared down at him.

"I came to check on you, but I see you're okay." I jested, turning to walk down the bleachers but couldn't get far away before Grayson caught the zipper of my jacket.

"I'm fine, thanks for coming," Grayson stopped speaking when he noticed my attention was more so focused on the woman who was comforting him,"I just needed to get out of that house. You understand, right?"

It wasn't until he even said that that I felt an inkling or jealousy. I didn't like that he depended on another woman for consolation.

Remembering my character - that I, in fact, was NOT a jealous person - I inhaled deeply and when I opened my eyes, I nodded my head at him.

"It's fine." I said, ripping my eyes away from the woman's shadow.

"That's why you're the best. I won't be too long, but don't wait up. I'll see you at the house, okay?" I hesitated to nod again.

Smiling like he was proud of himself, Grayson gave me a kiss. ON THE CHEEK.

"The fuck?" I silently mumbled, caressing where his lips were.

Had I been a spiteful, petty woman, I would've grabbed him by his collar and kissed his lips so hard. Instead, though, I just forced a faint smile and headed down the bleachers, disappearing into the night.