RECAP

     “Harper, this is Kegan, Kegan, this is Harper. His mom works for Luisana and Michael at the house. He sometimes works here for extra money.” I said smiling.

Kegan looked offended. “You forgot to mention I’m the best pool cleaner you’ve ever met.”

I scoffed, “Yeah when you’re not nearly drowning me.” I laughed at his shocked face.

I was pulling off my shirt to get into the pool but my phone’s chime stopped me. I headed over to the table where I had set it and looked. My phone began to buzz continuously. Confused, I looked at my text messages and noticed it was already in the hundreds.

“What in the world?” I muttered, clicking on a random twitter notification.

I read it silently, my stomach dropping with dread.

NIALLLOVERFOREVEER32: @GraceRoseTanner is so pathetic. Latching on2 Niall like the wh0re she is. I bet she cant even recite 1 of his songs. Poser.

There were countless others on twitter like that as well and I looked at my texts, nearly hyperventilating. I fell into a pool chair, clutching my phone tightly in my hands.

How had they gotten my number?

 CHAPTER TWENTY-TWO

     The next few days passed by in a blur. In between deleting my twitter account and changing my cell phone number, I had kept myself relatively busy. I still wasn’t sure how the public had gotten my number, but I assumed it may have been one of my distant friends back in Vancouver.

Niall and I had been spending as much time as we could together- they were leaving on their tour in two nights and would be gone for almost a year. I was going to miss him so much- but I would definitely be visiting as much as I could.

My cell phone started blaring and I jumped at the sound.

“Hey, Ni.” I answered with a small smile.

“Hey Grace, what are you up to?” He asked curiously.

I looked around my room, musing about how lame my social life really was. “I’m just laying on my bed, re-blogging things on Tumblr.” I answered sheepishly. “How was your interview?”

He chuckled and I closed my eyes at the sound. It was one of the many things I loved about him.

“It was awesome, Ellen was hilarious.” He replied, crunching on some sort of food. My stomach grumbled- I still hadn’t eaten today.

“That sounds really cool; I’ve always wanted to meet Ellen. She seems like she’s genuinely a good person.” I said, imagining what it would have been like to meet her in person.

“She really is. She cares about everyone she meets, famous or not. I think that’s what makes her so likeable. She’s down to earth and really humble- not to mention hilarious.”

I nodded, knowing absentmindedly that he couldn’t see me. “I miss you,” I murmured, a blush flushing across my cheek bones.

He laughed, sounding happy. “I miss you too, Princess. I was actually wondering if you were free tonight. I know it’s short notice and all but my mum texted me and my whole family is in town to see me before we leave on tour.”

My stomach clenched with nerves at going to my first family function with Niall. A nervous laugh escaped my lips and I got up from my bed shakily.

As if he thought I would need something to persuade me further, he said, “My Aunt Kim will be there, and Uncle Pete.” He added hesitantly.

My heart swelled with happiness at the mention of seeing Aunt Kim and Uncle Pete again. I hadn’t seen them since the accident but frequently emailed Kim. She always kept me updated on Pete and how his physical therapy was going.

“Of course I’d love to go with you!” I cried excitedly.

“I was hoping you’d say that. I can have someone pick you up at five-thirty if that’s alright?” He asked sweetly.

“That sounds great, can’t wait to see you.” I said, “I have to shower and stuff so I’ll see you later. Bye Ni,” I smiled.

“See you later Princess.” Niall said as he hung up.

I skipped to the shower and turned the hot water up. I let the steam fill the room and sighed in content when I felt the hot water run over my skin.

A loud banging on the door startled me.

“Grace, hurry up!” Harper yelled from the other side.

I frowned in annoyance. “I just got in the shower!”

“Well, hurry up and get out! I’ve got plans to share with you!” She squealed.

I sighed, “I’ll be out when I’m done.”

I heard her huff and walk away- shrugging, I continued washing my skin and lathering the shampoo and conditioner in my hair.

I rinsed and turned off the water. Wrapping a towel around my body, I stepped out into my room.

Harper was there, lying on my bed reading a magazine.

“Finally,” She said, rolling her eyes.

She began playing with her phone and seemed not to hear me. Shrugging, I grabbed a pair of cute lace panties and a matching bra, slipping them on facing the wall. She didn’t even bat an eyelash at it. Harper and I used to change in front of each other all the time, we practically grew up together.

Before I could grab my clothes I had set out, the door flung open and I jumped back in surprise, letting out a startled scream.

Kegan burst into the room, looking frantic. He looked at Harper in confusion and then at me. His face look shell shocked and a deep blush turned his face red.

I heard a click from where Harper was sitting but snapped back into reality when she started laughing like a hyena. I struggled to get my clothes on as fast as I could and Kegan covered his eyes, facing the opposite direction.

I finished dressing and awkwardly cleared my throat.

Kegan slowly uncovered his eyes and looked at Harper expectantly, “You said there was an emergency and that Grace was in trouble,” He accused her, narrowing his eyes.

My eyes flashed to hers, looking for confirmation it what he had said.

“It was a joke. Chill out,” Harper said, finally settling down. She crossed her arms and stared at the ceiling almost like she was the one who had a reason to be upset.

Kegan turned to me and awkwardly rubbed the back of his head, “Grace, I’m so sorry. I didn’t mean for that to happen. Honestly,”

I managed a weak laugh, “I know. It’s alright, it was just a surprise.”

He stared at me for a second as if to make sure I was serious before he coughed, “Right. Well, uh I’ll be going now.” He gave a fleeting look of distaste to Harper before leaving, closing the door behind him.

I stared at her in disbelief. “What the f*ck was that about?” I hissed.

She shrugged, “I was bored. You’ve been in your room all morning,” She defended herself lamely, looking at her nails.

I shook my head, not understanding who this girl was.

“You know, I really do not understand why you came here in the first place.” I said, giving her a withering look.

She gave me her best what the f*ck face and flopped back onto my bed.

I leveled my gaze at her, “No, really Harper. It’s almost like I don’t know you at all anymore. You never used to be so obsessed with attention.”

She looked at me incredulously.

“That’s pretty hilarious when it’s coming from an attention wh*re like yourself.” Harper spat angrily.

“Right,” I scoffed, not believing this was really happening.

“Oh please, if you looked up Grace Tanner in the dictionary your name would be under the f*cking definition of attention. Don’t play innocent with me,” She seethed, the fire in her eyes was unmistakable.

“What in the world is wrong with you?” I yelled.

“The only thing wrong with the world is that you’re in it!” She screamed hysterically.

I froze, staring at her with my eyes wide. She stared at me with disgust, sniffing.

“How could you say that?” I gasped, my voice quiet- broken.

“It should have been you to die, not Preston.” She responded firmly.

All I could do is stare as she rushed out of the room. Stare after the girl I had once called my best friend. The one person I thought I would always have. The one who was the closest thing I had to my past. A person I thought would never betray me. But who was I kidding- she had already done it once before.

Flashback

Preston punched Jake McAdams square in the jaw. Jake reeled back, his eyes wide and furious.

He stared incredulously at me, as if he expected me to step in and stop my older brother from inflicting any more damage on him.

I averted my eyes, staring at my shoes. How had I let it get this far?

It had started with him calling me names. He liked to make me feel inferior to him. He even started rumours about he and I, his own girlfriend. And yet he would call me baby and pay for my lunch in the cafeteria once in a while and somehow thought it would make it all okay.

I knew it wasn’t okay; I just couldn’t bring myself to break up with him. If he did this to me now, what would he do if I broke up with him? I was scared. I was a coward. I felt alone.

Until he left a nice purple bruise under my eye.

Preston had known right away and had forced the truth out of me.

I knew he would never forgive me if I didn’t let him teach Jake a lesson. I didn’t know if I would ever forgive myself.

Preston continued beating him up until the school vice principle had pulled him off of him.

Preston grabbed my arm and pulled me alongside with him to the office. I knew he didn’t want me anywhere near Jake and I was alright with that.

No, I wasn’t alone- I would always have my brother.

I pulled myself from the painful memory and thought long and hard about it.

Harper hadn’t been there for me while I was struggling with Jake and she was well aware of how he treated me- she had turned a blind eye.

I realized what I should have known a long time ago.

Harper LaGrange was no friend of mine.

Pushing aside my hurt, I let myself feel happy about the fact I would be seeing Niall and his family in an hour.

I vowed to never be so blind with forgiveness that it became stupidity again.

_____

READMEREADMEREADMEREADMEREADME

Hi guys :)

I'm gonna wrap this story up soon. I think I'll aim for it to be finished at 30 parts. I have a basic idea of how it's going to end :) I'll try to update as frequently as I can. Thank you so much for being patient with me and reading this story! I would love and really really appreciate your feedback, even if you don't normally ever comment on stories, PLEASE COMMENT ON THIS ONE!!! :)

Also, a steamy scene ahead ;) Cause I haven't done nearly as much of those as I should... :/

First comment gets the dedication <3

Love you all :)

Kyla