Gracie - Part 1

A Short Story... Incomplete

I knew what I’d done as soon as the door closed. I hadn’t done the right thing. I had lost all hopes of seeing Gracie again. God knows what that jerk would be doing to her now. I had lied, had been caught, lied again, realized it too late that I suck at lying, and had been caught again. Now, as I sprawl on the cold, dirty floor, I wonder, for about the hundredth time, how had everything gone so wrong? Why did I have to be such a wimp? Why could I never protect her from him?

I look around me. It is a large room all right, devoid of any furniture other than that little stool in the corner. There is one little bulb just above my head and I can just about make out a lizard on the ceiling. I shiver. Where have I landed myself into? There is one window with metal bars in the room and as I look outside it, I can see a tiny shed quite some distance away. The lizard slithers up to the window and exits the room. I breathe a sigh of relief and lie down again on the floor, and think of Gracie.

I had known Gracie all my life, ever since I was five at least. I was in her class from primary school through high school. I was the nerdy type, shying away from girls and sports and video games and the jocks. I only had one friend throughout my schooling, and his name was Jay. He and I used to hang out every evening together. We were best mates, we were. We used to tell each other everything. He used to tell me about this girl he fancied called Aisha, and I used to tell him about… Gracie.

She was by far the prettiest girl in the school. She had the dreamiest eyes and the silkiest chocolate brown hair you could ever imagine in a girl. As expected, all the guys in our grade and above fancied her and bought her chocolates and flowers. She basked in all the attention and played along by batting her long eyelashes at them. There was this one guy in particular, who bought her the most exotic flowers that I could afford only in my wildest dreams. I don’t know if she really liked him, though. She turned down his invitations to ‘hang out’ at his place or to ‘grab a coffee’ at the roadside café.

He looked like the type of guy I always try to maintain a distance from; the type with six packs and spiky hair and who never shaved. He was the kind of guy who always had that come-in-my-way-and-I’ll-break-your-neck kind of look on his face. Those kinds of guys always had this ‘thing’ towards geeks like me; the ‘thing’ being utter and complete hatred. I always used to wonder what would become of them when they morph into men. Real men, who have to worry about income tax and insurances and pleasing their bosses.

There was this one day in high school which I will remember clearly for the rest of my life. It was prom week, and everyone was getting their costumes and dates ready. Macho guy asked her to be his date, but yet again, she refused. It was the day before prom, and I was standing by my locker waiting for Jay to come out of history class when Gracie walked by. I stayed put, and silently willed my heart to stop beating so fast. Then, out of the blue, she looked at me and smiled. My heart started racing at the rate of a thousand miles per hour. ‘Hi,’ I squealed.

She smiled again. ‘Hello,’ she said.

‘Do you know me?’ I managed to splutter. ‘Yes,’ she said. ‘Your name is Wayne, and you have been in my grade since, like, ever, haven’t you?’

My heart literally stopped beating that one second.

Time passed rapidly afterwards. Gracie and I became best friends. We never went out, but we became almost inseparable friends. Jay started dating Aisha and we slowly drifted apart. But I never minded. I had Gracie instead. The looks which the guys gave me when I was seen on the corridors with her was to die for. Eventually we graduated from high school, and I never saw a single person from my schooling ever again, other than Gracie, of course. We went to the same university too. Surprisingly, our relationship never seemed to cross the best friend mark. We were close friends, but that was about it. Only when we had graduated from university that I realized I wanted more.  I wanted to be a special person in Gracie’s eyes. I did not like this just-friends relationship anymore, not after we were out of uni. It suited me just fine when we were in school, but after graduation I wanted us to be more.

Reviews

[Saddam]

Well write dear, you have lots of time to understand other things and side of writing.
This is very nice story. Well done, keep it up.

[Vaishali Roopesh]

Thanks a lot for your review. It means so much to me when you say it was nice :)
And yeah... I AM looking forward to exploring and writing loads more. This is just the beginning, fortunately, of a lifetime of connection with the language :)

[Saddam]

you may be....but keep it on dear...thanks

[Rehan Roy]

I like your flair of expression, for i enjoyed reading it. You have got a prodigious talent, at an age of 14, which will progress with each writing. So, keep it up. 'Come-in-my-way-and-I'll-break-your-neck'- this gave me a paroxysm of laughter. Thanks for sharing this piece.

[Vaishali Roopesh]

Thank you, Rehan! I'm glad you think I have talent and glad you liked the story!

[Radhika]

Hi Vaishali...Its astonishing to know that you are just 14 and your writing sparks like a professional.
The way you have started your story creates an aura of suspense and kept me hooked to read further!
Well done..waiting for part 2 !

[Vaishali Roopesh]

Oh thank you so much! I'm glad the story made you want to read further. (I wanted that :p) And Part 2 is on its way... thanks again :)

[Radhika]

you are welcome :)

[Keerthisree]

Mother is proud. :') Keep writing, love. xx

[Vaishali Roopesh]

Aww thaaank youuu! Sooo glad you liked it! x