RECAP

“Hey, Kels.” He smiled at her, and then he turned to me. “Guys,” He gathered the table’s attention, “this is Grace. She’s still pretty new to town and doesn’t know anyone. She’s a friend of mine- show her how awesome we are.”

A couple people chuckled at the last part and smiled at me, there were three girls other than Kelsey, and about five guys. Kegan sat next to Kelsey and I took a seat beside him on the end. I was across from a boy with dirty blonde hair and green eyes.

“I’m Jake.” He grinned, “Nice to meet you, Grace.” He winked.

I blushed, “You too.”

“So you’re the one my boyfriend gave the kiss of life to,” A girl’s voice said to my left.

I turned in surprise and embarrassment to a pretty brunette with pretty honey coloured eyes.

“I’m Kelsey,” She said.

I smiled nervously at her; she stared at me without any expression on her face.

“My name is Grace.” I responded quietly.

“Oh I know who you are,” She responded, earning a confused face from Kegan.

“Um… okay?” I trailed off uncertainly. This was going to be an interesting night.

CHAPTER TWENTY-SEVEN

I gazed at the brunettes’ fierce face worriedly, unsure of what she meant.

Her face was serious as she just continued to stare at me.

She then broke out into a smile, giggling to herself. “You should have seen your face!”

She held her stomach as she laughed, tears nearly spilling over in her hysterics.

I looked around the table and saw the rest of them looked just as confused as me.

“Um… sorry?” I asked her, raising my eyebrows.

She stopped laughing and took in a deep calming breath.

“Sorry,” She chuckled again, “You must think I’m nuts. I just thought it would be fun to mess with you a bit when you got here… make you think I didn’t like you. Sorry.” She finished, looking bashful.

I let out a breath of relief I didn’t realize I was holding.

I laughed a little, “Don’t worry about it… I was just a little confused.”

She nodded, “So how are you adjusting to things in California?”

“I’m pretty much adjusted, I just find myself getting homesick a lot. It’s hard to remind myself that this is my new home now.” I smiled.

She looked down, “Sorry, I know that might be tough for you. I heard from Kegan what happened, not to mention it was in a ton of magazines when Michael and Luisana adopted you. You could pick up pretty much any magazine and read about your entire life story.”

I sighed, nodding. I had never read any of them because I was scared of what they might say- and how I might have reacted.

I shrugged, “I don’t mind. I’m not hiding anything so if that’s what they feel they want to write about, then so be it.”

Kelsey smiled sadly. “I imagine you’re pretty bored in that giant mansion all by yourself.” She commented, “I know I’m not exactly Hollywood material but if you ever want someone to hang with you can always call me.”

I beamed at her happily. “I think I’ll definitely take you up on that.”

We ordered our food and talked in-between bites of our dinner. When we finished, Kegan sighed and stretched. “Well, should we get going to Seth’s party?”

A few of the guys hooted in excitement.

Kelsey leaned over to me as we walked out of the restaurant. “Seth’s parties are legendary around here. This is the first one of the summer.”

I nodded, feeling nervous butterflies creep their way into my chest.

I made my way over to Lucy, Kegan’s beloved car and waited while he unlocked it. Kelsey was riding to Seth’s with us and I took the back seat.

My phone buzzed in my pocket and I pulled it out excitedly. I read it and instantly a smile was on my face.

CRAZY MOFO- Hey princess, sorry it’s taken me so long to text you back. We’re just getting settled in at our first hotel. We’re playing the first show of the tour late tomorrow afternoon and doing some radio interviews in between. I love you, I miss you already.

I texted him back immediately, hoping he was still by his phone and he had time to talk.

-Hey Ni, I miss you like crazy already as well. I’m so excited for you! You’re going to have an amazing time tomorrow. I’m on my way to a party with my friend Kegan and his girlfriend. You remember him, right? He works at my house. Wish you were here with me. :(

I looked out the front windshield as I sent the text. A minute later my phone vibrated again.

CRAZY MOFO- Thanks Grace <3. I remember him, I think I met him briefly before… he was the guy who rescued you when you fell in the pool, right? He seems like a good guy. Make sure you’re safe tonight, I wish I could be there with you as well… don’t put your drink down if you decide to drink! I have to get some sleep though, crazy time difference. I love you, have fun and be safe.

-Haha, yes he was the one who jumped in after me. I’ll be careful, don’t worry. I don’t think I’ll be drinking anything, it’s more to get to know some new people and make friends. Good luck tomorrow, I’ll be thinking of you. Have a good sleep, I love you too. Sweet dreams <3

I sighed to myself when I set down my phone again. It was going to be hard without Niall, but I was determined to make some friends tonight.

We pulled up outside a beautiful mansion with a white picket fence around it. It was the kind of house you would see in a movie. I could hear the music from the outside and Kelsey grabbed my hand and dragged me to the door. It was a relief having someone who had my back by my side.

She gave me a sidelong smirk before she twisted the door open, “get ready to be blown away, Grace!” She cheered, steering us through the double French doors. The bass of the music was so loud, I could feel it in the soles of my feet.

I mouthed a startled WOW to Kelsey and she laughed as she and Kegan led me through the hallways. We reached the kitchen and a blonde guy with a crooked smirk on his face made his way over to Kegan. The music was slightly quieter in this part of the house, so it was possible to hear each other, but just barely.

“Seth, this is my friend Grace. Grace, this is Seth.” Kegan smiled, gesturing to the blonde guy.

I smiled at him, “it’s nice to meet you Seth.”

He grabbed my hand and kissed my fingers, “the pleasure is all mine, trust me.” He winked.

I laughed awkwardly, not knowing what to say to that.

Kegan laughed at my discomfort and wrapped an arm around my shoulders.

“She’s spoken for; he just can’t be here tonight.” Kegan said to Seth.

Seth nodded, “No worries, I’ll be good.” He chuckled.

Kelsey returned with drinks for the three of us. She handed Kegan a can of coke, and she held up a plastic cup for me. “I can grab you a coke too, if you don’t want to drink.” She offered with a smile.

“What’s in the cup?” I asked curiously.

“I made you a rum and coke.” She answered with a shrug, “I wasn’t sure what you would want.”

“Maybe I’ll grab a coke as well. I don’t want to drink too much, but one drink sounds good to me.”

She cheered, “That’s my girl!” We left Kegan and Seth in the kitchen as Kelsey led me towards the living room where the music was loudest and the most people were gathered.

She started swaying her hips to the music and I joined her, jumping around with the crowd. I found myself laughing and having a great time.

When it was time to go home, we found Kegan asleep on a chair in the living room.

Kelsey giggled, “How can someone fall asleep in the middle of all this noise?”

I didn’t know myself, so I just shrugged as she proceeded to wake him up.

We made our way outside to his car and he gave a long yawn.

“Well, that was a fun party.” He grinned cheekily and we started the drive towards my house. I noticed a masculine figure in the bushes near the front of the house- it looked he was watching us.

I shivered, that was silly. It was a party so obviously there were a lot of people around that could be considered suspicious looking.

When I got home, I found Michael and Luisana waiting up for me.

“Hey, sweetie,” She greeted with a smile. They looked tired.

“What’s wrong?” I asked immediately.

Michael frowned, “Well we have some upsetting news… remember the woman that ran the foster home you were put in before we could adopt you?”

I nodded, “Her name was Petunia, right?” I asked.

They nodded slowly, “She was found beaten nearly to death in her room. She’s in serious condition and hasn’t regained consciousness.”

I got the shivers and I felt sad for the woman- even though she hadn’t been the best person when I had met her, she certainly didn’t deserve what had happened.

“That’s awful,” I said honestly. They nodded, rubbing my back.

“We didn’t know how close you were- so we thought we should tell you in case you wanted to visit her or anything. I don’t remember you being on good terms, but we thought you should know anyways.” Luisana said.

“We weren’t close,” I answered, “but thank you for telling me. Do they have any leads?” I asked.

“They think it may have been that boy you shared a room with while you were there.” Michael said quietly.

My face paled, “They think it was Tristan?” My heart was beating fast and I hated to say it, but by the amount of rage I had seen inside him in only the few days we had met,  it seemed possible he was in fact behind this.

Luisana nodded, “I knew that boy was trouble…”

Michael hugged me tightly. “You’re safe, don’t worry Grace.”

When I made my way upstairs to bed, I found that I was absolutely exhausted.

The next morning, I decided that it was time I visit Aunt Kim and Uncle Pete. I was missing Niall more than ever and I figured they were one of the few people who would be able to relate- not to mention the fact I really missed them both.

I called Kim to make sure it was alright to drop by and I headed over as soon as I was dressed. Michael and Luisana insisted that I take the car with everything that had been happening and I didn’t object.

A while later, I was standing in front of their beautiful home.

I knocked on the door and a minute later it was opened quickly by Aunt Kim.

“Grace, there’s my girl!” She cried, enveloping me in a large hug.

“Aunt Kim!” I hugged her back tightly, “I missed you,” I laughed, realizing it hadn’t been that long since I had seen them to begin with.

“Come in, come in!” She ushered me inside the door and we walked into the living room where Uncle Pete was sitting in his wheel chair watching the soccer game.

He looked up at me in surprise and his face contorted into a grimace.

“Kim, I’m going to head to bed.” He said quietly, as he wheeled himself down the hall.

It didn’t take a genius that there was something wrong. I looked at Aunt Kim’s tired face and she sighed.

“He’s been like this since the accident.” She said sadly, “he’s depressed, and he won’t talk to me about it at all.”

I frowned, “Do you mind if I go talk to him?” I asked. There was just something weird about how whenever I came around he would leave immediately.

“I don’t know if that’s the best idea, but I’m running out of good ideas in the first place, so if that’s what you want go ahead. But please don’t take offense if he doesn’t want to talk to you.” She smiled sadly as she went back to the stove.

I walked down the hall and knocked on the door.

“Yes?” He answered hesitantly.

I opened the door slowly and smiled at him, “Hi Pete. How are you doing?” I asked, walking into the room. He was sitting in front of the window, just staring out.

He gave an ironic chuckle. He took a deep breath and turned to face me.

“You know, these past couple months have been the worst of my entire life,” He began, looking at me sadly, “I thought you were put in my life as punishment.”

I stared at him, dumbfounded and hurt by his words.

“W-what do you mean?” I asked quietly.

He clasped his hands together on his lap. “Did you ever find it ironic that we were in the hospital at the same time, Grace?” He asked me.

I shook my head, “I’ve never thought about it.” I responded quietly.

Pete continued on, “I was a semi-truck driver Grace, and I hit a family of four travelling in a minivan when I had a heart attack. It was a head on collision.” He stared at me, willing to understand.

I took a step back, realization dawning on me.

“Y-you were the semi that hit our car?” My voice quivered, “that killed my family?”

Pete looked devastated and he reached out a hand to me, but I stepped back in heartbreak and shock. I never knew what I would do if I came face to face with the person who had caused the accident, but it turns out I’d known them the entire time.

“How long have you known?” I asked, tears collecting in my eyes.

He looked down, “I’ve known since we were released from the hospital.”

I didn’t know what to say, do, or how to feel. I knew tears were running down my face and I backed away from the man I had grown to care about. It was almost like I was part of some big, cruel, cosmic joke. I had considered the man who had killed my family- a part of my new broken one.

A sob tore through my throat as I ran down the hallway. Aunt Kim looked startled and jumped up from her seat on the couch. I didn’t slow down as I ran out of the house.

“Grace! What happened?” She called out of the doorway, trying to catch up to me, “are you alright?” She cried, stopping as I threw open my car door.

I was in hysterics. I backed the car down the driveway and drove around the corner and parked. I broke down and every sob shook me to my core.

Why, when things were finally looking up did something have to set me back?

I knew it wasn’t Pete’s fault directly- he had suffered a heart attack that caused him to lose control of his truck. I just couldn’t bring myself to face the man who had still killed my family- and unintentionally ruined my life.

***************

WHOA. Been waiting to drop that bomb on you guys for a long time! Some of you may have figured it out or had an idea already, but yeah. Haha, sorry! Things will work themselves out though. :P

I'm wrapping this story up in the next few chapters. Thank you for reading and being so patient with me. Again, please comment and vote, even fan/follow me for future stories :)

Grace's rollercoaster isn't over yet. ;)

Best comment gets dedication! (I usually only get one comment anyways... hahaha c'mon guys!!) <3

Love Kyla