Chapter 3

            When Grace woke up the next morning, she felt a sharp pain in her arm. At first she forgot about last night until she saw she was in Chase's room. Outside the door of his room she heard the voices of her parents.
            "What can we do, Ron? She misses her brother. That's all." The sound of her fathers voice was unsettling, "She's obsessed with Chase. That's not normal." Her mother started to cry as her father carried on. "Listen, Beth. It's unhealthy to be this attached to someone that their loss drives you straight into the ground."
            Just then she heard footsteps coming down the hall. She quickly pretended to go back to sleep. The door opened and her parents walked in. "It's time for school, Grace. Get up." Her dad walked off coldly as she sprang up. Her mother sat on the bed and sighed. "He's just having a bad day."
            Grace nodded and got out of bed. "Do I have time to take a shower?" Her mom nodded and left the room. As soon as the coast was clear, Grace took of her shirt and looked at the bandages on her arm. She slowly took them off and stared at the revealed crimson colored cuts. They were puffy and red. She smiled at them. Grace put her shirt back on and walked to her room for clothes. Jeans and a long-sleeved shirt would be good. She headed for the bathroom. Grace looked in the mirror as she got undressed. "I'm getting kind of chubby." She turned on the water and let it get hot. Still staring in the mirror, She got her razor blade out and jumped in the shower. Cutting her wrists as she washed away tears. One for being fat. One for upsetting daddy. One for being obsessed. Cut after cut, she bled. Soon she was satisfied and got out of the shower. It took four big band aids to cover her cuts. Then she got ready for school.
             she got her toast, went to the bus stop, went to school, and stopped at her locker. Early morning routine. The warning bell rang and she was off to Chemistry. She rushed down the hall and ran into a boy. He dropped his books. "I'm so sorry!", Grace said. The kid laughed nervously "It's okay." Grace picked up his books and half smiled at him. Her heart was racing fast. "uh..... I'm new here", said the boy. All she did was nod. The kid stared. "Well I have to go to class. see ya." She nodded again and walked off to her own class.
             The whole rest of the day she wondered who the boy was. He was beautiful. His pale skin and ice blue eyes drove her crazy. He was a skinny kid with longish, black hair. Perfect for her. She couldn't focus through quizzes and notes. It was too much.
            Then lunch came around. In the cafeteria she saw the boy sitting alone. She ditched her friends to go sit with him.  He smiled at her. " I'm going to be blunt with you. Your cute. I think I like you. Here's my number. Lets find out." He handed her a slip of paper. She felt like dying. He was all too perfect. She frantically got out a pen and grabbed his hand. "Here's mine." She laughed.
            They talked all through lunch. She told him about her brother. He talked about losing his mother. She told him her dad wasn't being himself lately and he said that was just like his dad. And his name was Justin.
            Grace was happy. They had so much in common. After lunch, she went to her last two classes and then home. As soon as she set her bag down on her bed, she got a text from Justin. He wanted to hang out over the weekend. There was a party Justin wanted to bring her to. she was so excited.
            Grace asked her parents if she could spend the night at a friends over the weekend. They said yes and Grace texted Justin back. Then she went into her room and laid on her bed, smiling.
            All of the sudden, she heard a thud. she got up and walked over to where the sound came from. It was a book that fell off her bookshelf. More like jumped, it looked like. It was opened to a page where a sentence was circled. It said "I wouldn't do that if I were you." No doubt it was Chase.











Chase,

             I met a boy who actually likes me! Isn't that great? He's pale with the most beautiful eyes I have ever seen. He makes me happy. We are going to a party this weekend. I know you don't agree. You made that perfectly clear but I'll be fine. I promise.

                      Grace