4
Grace
Kennedy sits across from me with her bright magenta hair and friendly smile. I like her, she seems to actually want to be friends.
The guy from earlier was a slime ball. Propositioning me, asking if he could be my new sugar daddy. Gross. I told him if he didn't back the fuck off I'd gut him. I even put a little bit of metal behind the threat to get the point across.
"So, you're starting school tomorrow? Do you want a ride?" Kennedy offers.
"That would be great. It will be nice to know someone." I admit.
"Oh, I bet. Don't worry I won't feed you to the wolves." She grins. "It's not that bad though. You just need to navigate the hoards of bitches and assholes." I can't help but laugh at that. She is my people. "Where am I picking you up?"
"Do you know where Andras Van Doren lives?" I ask realizing I don't know the address yet.
"Oh yeah." She says like it's obvious.
"He's my uncle. I'm staying with him," I say easily... or what I hope passes for easily. No big deal. Fake it ‘til you make it.
"Oh perfect, you're only a few houses down from me.
" She grins. "I'll pick you up at eight.
" I hear the door open and glance over and get caught in Caribbean blue eyes.
Holy fuck. They do not make men like that on my side of the tracks.
He's tall and lean with messy dark copper hair with tattoos swirling up his corded arms. His clothes hug every muscled inch of him. He is positively drool-worthy.
Best of all, he has trouble written all over him with an eyebrow ring glinting in the light. His shirt looks like it's going to split at the seams. I feel my face heat as he nods a hello to me with a smirk. Oh, I am in so much trouble.
"I see you've noticed Liam." She grins.
"Kinda hard not to," I admit causing her to laugh.
"Alright, Grace. Let's head out." Andras says coming up behind Kennedy.
"This is Kennedy, this is my uncle, Andras. She's going to pick me up for school tomorrow." I explain.
"Oh perfect. It's nice to meet you, Kennedy." He smiles shaking her hand.
"See you tomorrow, Grace." She waves as we get up.
"See you then." I smile and head out.
"One more stop and then we head home." Andras grins.
"What are you up to now?" I ask narrowing my eyes in suspicion.
"Just relax and be surprised." He huffs impatiently waving me off. Okay then.
We drive to a strip mall where he tells me to wait in the car.
I do as I'm told and pull out my book from my new bag.
Emily made me throw out my rucksack saying it was on its last legs anyway.
I couldn't really argue there. I had already patched it up a few times and the straps were starting to reject the safety pins.
When Andras arrives back at the car, he hands me a bunch of boxes. I'm nosy so I look at them. A laptop, a tablet and a phone. I look at him.
"You'll need them." He shrugs. These are for me?
“I do?”
“Yes. The laptop for school, the phone so we can get in contact with each other- don’t even bring up the flip phone I saw you with earlier. You weren't even born the last time I had a flip phone.” He rants. Okay then, touchy subject. I choose not to ask about the tablet and behave myself.
We head back to Andras' house and I start unloading the car until he stops me and shoos me inside. I look back to see Richard has taken my place and is bringing everything inside behind us. So frigging weird but I thank him anyway.
The weight of the day must be bearing down on me. My whole body is heavy with exhaustion. I head to my new room to get ready for bed. It's only eight but today has been crazy and it's not like I have to find a place to crash tonight. Or wait until it's safe to sleep.
Alas, some habits are hard to break and I still hide my knives around the room so I can get to one wherever I happen to be.
I slip one under my pillow too. Just in case.
I like Andras but it's all so new and different.
It's not like family hasn't betrayed me before.
I will never be in that type of situation again without some line of defence.
I hope the school doesn't have metal detectors. I'm bringing knives there too. Once I'm done preparing my battlements I get into bed and slowly drift to sleep. Or try to.
This bed is so soft. Too soft. I feel like it's going to swallow me whole in all that marshmallow softness. After half an hour, I give up and bring my blankets to the floor. I'll be normal another day. I bring my pillow and knife with me too and soon sleep overtakes me.
I dream of broken glass, blood, and screaming before jolting awake breathing heavily and trembling.
I slow my breathing and my heart and look out the window to see a dark morning sky.
The only reason I know it's morning is because my phone says it's four o’clock.
It's too early but the adrenaline from my dream buzzes under my skin not letting me return.
I need to go for a run to get rid of the remnants of my dream, my memories.
I need to do something. Soon, I'm up and dressed in leggings, a tank top and hoodie that Emily picked out yesterday and running the perimeter of the estate.
I have music from my new phone blaring in my ears as my feet pound to the beat.
I'm on my fourth lap when I feel eyes on me.
I look up to see Christian in a black suit leaning against a fucking black Lamborghini like a nerdy GQ model.
If I could hate him, I would. Instead, I jog over to him with a smile.
"Good morning."
"You're up early." He grins.
"I've been up for an hour at least." I laugh. "What are you doing here so early?"
"Andras was looking for you. You weren't in your room." He chuckles. Oops.
"I'll have to start leaving notes, my bad. Sorry." I grimace.
"It's all good. Just glad you're okay." He smiles. "But we better head inside."
"Yeah... that's probably a good idea. This is going to take some getting used to." I mutter walking to the front door with Christian beside me. "Honey, I'm home!" I cry out into the house. I hear Christian trying not to laugh as footsteps echo through the air.
They're hitting fast! Is he running? Andras comes into view looking like he's going to have a stroke and drop dead any minute.
He doesn't stop either he brings me in for a crushing hug that makes me stiffen but I don't reach for the knife hidden in the waistband of my leggings.
I feel like that's a victory in and of itself.
I don't manage to clear my face of fear when Andras pulls back though.
His brows pull down and his lips thin into a hard line.
"It's time for breakfast." He says gently and puts me under his arm protectively.
"Sorry for worrying you. I just went for a run. I need to get used to having someone." I mutter quietly hoping Christian can't hear me in the echoing hallway.
"It's okay. We'll figure it out. It's only day two.
" He says with a gentle quirk of his lips.
We walk into the kitchen and I'm greeted by the smell of bacon and the sight of an absolute feast laid on the table.
I've never seen this much food all at once.
Unless you count the soup kitchen but even then, it wasn't like this.
The food here is colourful and smells amazing. I want to eat it all. I know I should pace myself though. I've been skipping meals and going without for so long. I don't want to make myself sick and make no mistake, I will get sick. It looks delicious.
Then I'm wrapped into a big hug by a plump woman with frizzy greying hair and bright brown eyes. Her smile is infectious but dims when she feels me stiffen again under her hug.
"Hello dear. I'm Ruby, the cook." She says patting my cheek gently. "Go eat. You're too thin." I smile and take a seat while she piles a plate up with fruit and meat. Things I didn't get much of before now. She sends me a wink before turning away leaving us to eat.
I eat my fill and have to stop myself from eating more. Can't be sick on my first day of class. I notice the guys are off doing lawyer-business stuff so I start clearing the table and cleaning up.
I'm filling up the sink with hot soapy orange-scented water when Ruby starts swatting at me.
"What?!" I ask trying to block a swat.
"What are you doing?" She scolds. I freeze not knowing what she expects me to say.
"Cleaning up after myself?" I ask. Is that the right answer? She makes me doubt myself.
"Well, that's my job now scoot. You have to get ready for school." She chides levelling me with a look that promises another swat. I raise my hands in the air and slowly back out of the room. I hear her laughing as I turn the corner. I think I like Ruby.
I run up to my room and take a shower that's not in a locker room. I do make sure to check the vents and light fixtures and am happy to find them clear. It’s almost as glorious as the hot shower.
The shampoo Emily picked out smells like apple pie and I love it.
She said it was specifically for my type of hair.
I didn't know shampoos did that. I thought they just cleaned your hair.
That was the wrong thing to say because I got a whole hair-type speech from Emily yesterday.
But now I smell delicious so it was worth it.
I wrap my towel around me feeling much more vulnerable than I care to be. I should have brought my clothes to the bathroom with me. Still, I have to get dressed. I palm my switchblade and make my way to my dresser with my heart pounding in my chest.
After several heart attacks, I am dressed in a black pleated skirt and a white button-down with a burgundy cardigan over top.
I slip my knife-rig high on my thigh. Ray got it for me for Christmas last year.
It's one of the nicest things I own... until recently.
Still, it's precious to me. He may have stolen it though, I didn't ask.
I store another knife in my bra and one in each of my boots. I pull my hair up into a half ponytail so I look sweet and innocent and not like I'm armed to the teeth.
I look at myself in the full-length mirror and don't recognize myself. I don't see any of my weapons but I do look like a little brat. I sigh and sling my bag over my shoulder. Nothing I can really do about that.
Walking down the steps to the door, I yell out a goodbye before grabbing my jacket.
"Hold up!" I hear Christian shout. I turn to see him jogging toward me but he stops and doesn't say anything for a moment.
"What? Kennedy is meeting me at the gate. What's going on?" I ask. He blinks a few times.
"You uh... you look nice. Mr. Van Doren wanted me to give you lunch money." He hands me a twenty like it's nothing.
"Oh... uh thank you," I mumble feeling my face heat. I take the twenty and shove it in my bra to keep it safe and dash out the door before I embarrass myself.
I see a cherry red SUV parked beside the guard booth. I run down the driveway and see Kennedy's pink hair in the driver's seat. I wave goodbye to Greg and slide into the passenger side.
"Hey, girl." She grins.
"Hey. Thanks again for picking me up." I smile.
"All good. It's on my way anyway. I'll even drop you off after school if you want." She shrugs.
"Thanks, you don't have to though."
"Whatever. It's kind of nice to have a friend who's a girl and not a complete bitch." She laughs as she pulls out and onto the road.
"Well, I can be a bitch but I know the feeling." I chuckle.
She turns up the radio, blasting Dessa from the speakers, as we make our way to school.
I remind myself that I better let Ray and Rudy know what's going on or they're going to freak out.
I've only ever been out of contact for a couple of days at a time and that's usually because something bad happened. I'll have to do a trip tonight.
Kennedy lets me in on all the latest gossip about people I don't know.
Apparently, Addison is a bitch and she's with Chad who's on the Student Council but they both cheat on each other like no tomorrow.
Addison and her friends Maddi and Kaley are the Bitch Brigade as titled by Kennedy.
Chad and his friends Tyler and Callum are absolute slime balls so it sounds like they're all a match made in hell.
We pull into a parking lot and I finally see the school. It's huge! It doesn't even look like a high school. It looks like Harvard. All red brick and stone archways. It has turrets. And ivy.
Homeless one day and this the next. I am so out of my element.