Description
(Completed-Short Story) Two years ago, Grace Conrad -an Italian/French beauty- had a perfect family. She had two parents who were hopelessly in love, an adoring boyfriend, and Mirabelle.
But everything has to come to an end eventually.
Now her parents are divorced, after her father walked out on them to seek a Chaldean woman.
Now her boyfriend has run away to Arizona without any future contact out of grief.
Now her Mirabelle is dead
And now it seems like the world has turned on her
Chapter 1
"You there?" I felt a faint tap on my head after Eva spoke those words and my bright green eyes instinctively rolled. She noticed and grinned her usual smile. "So," She drawled, feigning a horrible Australian accent.
"So," I mocked her lightly, waiting for her to continue. She looked nervous, and that might be bad. See, Eva is usually a very confident soul, outspoken and not afraid to face the little fears she had. I, on the other hand, was close to a polar opposite. I have a tendency to be too reserved and shy, afraid of the smallest things, like spiders. Whereas Eva would probably let the little creep crawl around on her hand, I would be screaming and rolling around in terror.
"Jasmine and I were thinking you might want to go to the fair on Friday," She mumbled, shying away from me. I gritted my teeth, trying to figure out why she would be so timid to ask me that. Then it came to me and I blew out a shaky breathy.
Just when tears began to sting my eyes did I let out a small cry that was inaudible to anybody besides Eva. "I'm sorry, Ev, you know I can't."
"I know, but it was worth a shot," She smiled, but it never quite met her eyes. When the silence started to be too much, a very pretty black-haired girl slid into the seat next to me. Despite their similar personalities, Jasmine and Eva were opposites when it came to appearances. Jasmine was the very pretty black-haired beauty with pale skin and gentle blue eyes, whilst Eva was the drop dead gorgeous blond girl with her tanned skin. She was actually from Spain and had moved here when she was twelve.
Where do I fit in? Well, I'm the 5'7 figure with very light curly brown locks and bright green eyes. Eva may be Spanish, but I took pride in my Italian and French heritage. I had absolutely no American in me, although English was my first language. I am fifty percent of each, my father being Italian and my mother being French. They had met in Paris, my mother running errands and my father on Spring Break. They married and lived happily, but that came to a halt when my father met a Chaldean beauty named Marie and left us.
I was broken at first, but then I realized I was being selfish. I liked to believe that losing a love is worse than losing a father. Since then, my mother and I have been a lot closer and I've decided on learning her native tongue, in case we move back to France.
"What are you two up to?" Jasmine's light, carefree voice woke me from slight daze and I smiled at her.
"I just told Eva that I can't attend the fair this Friday with you guys. Sorry, but I have to do something," I apologized and watched as Jasmine's face fell into a deep frown, not something that generally looked good on a happy, go-lucky teen.
"Right, well hope you have...err...fun," Jasmine averted her eyes to the ground. She knew exactly what I was doing this Friday, and she knew it was going to be far from fun.
"I doubt that, Gwacey's never fun," A boy took a seat next to Eva and stuck his tongue out at me.
"Oh, it's just you, Paul. We thought it was somebody actually worth our time," Jasmine pretended to examine her nails, much like the way the Queen Bee and her followers did. It was what Jasmine did next to make all four of us burst into giggles. She turned to me and through her fingers in my face. "My nail's broken!" She wailed obnoxiously loud. "I must make a huge fuss about it and get the media here, quick!"
When we had all regained our composure, Paul answered Jasmine with a small punch to the arm. "Ah, you know you love me, Twin!" He laughed.
Jasmine smiled back before it dropped and she muttered, "Hardly." Paul wasn't kidding, the two were identical twins. They both shared the raven black hair and light blue eyes. The thing that always gave Jasmine the advantage was the small fact she was older by five minutes.
Sooner than expected, lunch had ended. Eva and Jasmine skipped to English while Paul and I grumpily made our own way to Math. "I heard you weren't going to the fair this Friday. Why not? Friday's our last day of school, celebrate a little!" Unlike his sister and Eva, he wasn't aware of the place I was visiting and I wasn't planning on telling him anytime soon. But he was also perseverant, making it very hard on my part. Sometimes that trait could make me want to sit back and admire him, but other times I wished I could strangle him to death.
"Mom's taking me on vacation as soon as we get out. We're going to... Florida," I lied easily, tensing up for a brief second.
"Oh, okay," He didn't look like he believed me, but he dropped the subject. "Ready?" He cringed as the door for Math came into sight. I nodded and he opened the door, stepping inside.
"Paul Ross and Grace Conrad! My two favorite students!" The teacher, Ms. Baro, greeted us sarcastically, though it was teasingly. She knew Paul and I shared a deep hatred for mathematics and she tried to make it as painless as possible. Too bad her efforts were useless.
All three of us shared a knowing look before Paul took his seat at the front and I did the same at the back. As the class filed in, all the seats were filled except for the two next to me. Ms. Baro had finally gotten fed up with two troublemakers and decided it was a good idea to place them next to me. I was okay with it though, mostly because they didn't bother to show up to class.
I guess today was different. Two boys that nobody had seen in mathematics strolled into the classroom with smug looks on their faces. "Afternoon, Ms. Baro! Could you kindly direct to our seats?" The first asked with fake politeness.
Ms. Baro rolled her eyes and pointed to the back of the classroom. "Mr. Farr, Mr. Andrews, your seats are now located on either side of Ms. Conrad," She replied and both boys made their way to the back next to me.
"Oh! It's you! You know my sister," The first, Percy, grinned down at me. "Uh, Ghandi, is it?"
"Dude, Ghandi is that Indian guy, it's Grace isn't it?" The second smacked Percy upside the head. I just rolled my eyes and nodded.
"I know you, Percy. For the love of God, do I look Indian?" I crossed my arms over my chest in disapproval.
"Yes, in fact, you do," Percy chuckled and the other boy watched the clock as if it would speed up passing time. We still had five minutes left. Suddenly interested, the second interrupted my retort.
"She really looks Italian, and I'm Wyatt by the way," He introduced. Paul turned around and shot me a teasing look. I chuckled and shooed him off. "Who's Loverboy?" Wyatt asked casually, leaning back in his chair.
"Not Loverboy," I scowled, "that's Paul Ross. He's one of my best friends," I answered as the bell rang, cutting off any curious questions they both might have.
"Mr. Ross, Ms. Conrad, would you like to do the first question?" Ms. Baro asked, probably cackling evilly inside.
We both burst out laughing and the whole class shot us weird looks, including Percy and Wyatt. "Wait, you're serious?" Paul and I chorused.
Ms. Baro laughed, "I feel in the mood for torturing you both. Give me a break; I won't have you again next year!"
"Actually, Paul might be held back," I drawled and giggled as the devil himself glared at me.
"Okay, so are you going to answer the question?" She shot a pointed look at Paul.
Paul studied the book. "Actually, that's easy! It's one plus one followed by a bunch of random numbers and letters -who puts letters in math?- that have to cancel each other out! So, one plus one is window!" He threw his hands up in the air and cheered.
"Um, Mr. Ross? First, one plus one is not window, it's two. Second, those aren't ones, those are L's. And those numbers and letters do not cancel each other out. Who the heck put you in my advanced class?"
Paul just shrugged.
"I'm home!" I shouted, entering my house happily. After math, Paul and I were met by Eva and we all skipped to Science, a subject we all enjoyed. I was met by silence and a note saying that Mom was out. I just sat on the sofa and watched The Lion King in French. Baby steps, baby steps.
Tuning out Simba and Mufasa, I focused on English and Math, shoving popcorn into my mouth between questions. "Salut, Grace!" She opened her arms and I leaped into them, welcoming the warmth. "Ma fille, have you found anybody to take you on Friday?"
"No, Ma. Can't I just borrow your car?" I pleaded and she shook her head sadly.
"Grace, I'm going somewhere too. Why can't Eva, Jasmine, or Paul drive you?" She asked quietly, taking a seat beside me.
"Eva, Jasmine, and Paul are going to the fair," I told her as if she should have known better.
"What about Percy?" She crossed her legs and stared at The Lion King playing out on the screen. I don't blame her, it was our favorite part; when Simba and Nala met those years later in the jungle.
"Doesn't know, and I don't plan on telling him. Any advice now?" I asked, only half-hearing what she had said. It was true, only two of my friends knew about my past.
"Yeah, try to find someone with no strings attached. Somebody who you just met and doesn't really care," Mom smiled at me before trotting off into the kitchen, most likely to prepare dinner.
I groaned aloud. Who was somebody I just met and didn't really care about me? The answer came at my quickly, and I mentally prepared myself to say what I needed to.
Tuesday mornings were my favorite. First, they didn't mislead you like Wednesdays and Thursdays did. Second, they weren't Mondays. I got up cheerfully and hopped in the shower, my mood still bright. Throwing on an orange flowery sundress, I skipped outside and to Eva's car. "Morning, Grace!" She had the same loopy smile as me. We both shared a love for Tuesdays!
"Morning, Sunshine!" I giggled and sat in the front seat, watching as Eva put back her roof of her red Mustang convertible. "Will you buy one of these for me?" I asked, stroking the leather adoringly.
"Uh, sure?" She laughed and tied her hair up in a messy bun before taking off. "Blue or red?" She shouted over the wind.
"Hmm, blue!" I let my hand hang over the side of my door and absorbed the light and warmth dancing through the air. Once we pulled in, I explained to Eva about getting a drive.
"Him? Okay, I guess you could try him," She looked puzzled at my suggestion, but motioned for me to go along with the plan that was forming in my amazing mind. By the time math rolled around, I took my seat in the back and watched as Wyatt and Percy strolled his- as usual.
"Hey, Grace? Eva told me you needed to ask me something," Wyatt dropped into his seat, looking at me expectantly.
"Yeah," I stammered. "Could you drive me somewhere Friday? It's really important."
If you wish to read more:
[move]http://www.wattpad.com/story/20095466-pray-for-mirabelle[/move]