BEN
Crescent High is cool. What’s not cool is that guy putting his hand on Gracie’s seat.
We need to talk.
My phone buzzes in my pocket, I throw a look at the teacher before typing rapidly on my screen. Jonah wants to know how I am. Jonah is the oldest child of the family I am staying with in New York.
I am not fine and it’s exactly what I tell him.
“Benjamin,” the teacher’s sharp voice cuts me off.
I offer her a sheepish smile and make a show of putting my phone away. Gracie’s head jerks up slightly. She wants to look in my direction but she doesn’t. If only she would spare me a glance. I miss my Gracie.
The class is not boring but I barely pay attention. If Gracie refuses to speak to me, then I might have made the greatest mistake of my life by asking to come here. Josef is not just filthy rich, he knows the right people. He made the plans for me to come here after I got Gracie’s school details from Maria. With everything she knows about me, we are kind of cool but it didn’t stop me from getting an earful from her.
Hayden never replied to any of my texts or returned my missed calls. It is probably payback for all those times I missed his calls and texts. It took texting Maria daily for the first two weeks to get a positive reply. She relented after eliciting a promise from me.
I doodle for the whole period. My mind goes over the events of the last few weeks at San Francisco and the last few days in New York. Theresa is no longer welcomed in the house. That phone call to her didn’t go well. I have seen Josef furious but it has been such a long time. Seeing him then, on the phone call to his daughter, it made me feel protected and even loved. I don’t have to worry about Asher because Mum and Josef will take care of him.
Mum thinks it is not enough Josef cut her off, she believes pressing charges will be good. I don’t want that. I see how much of a toll it has taken on Olivia and her mother. I don’t want to be in front of those people, reliving the same experience over again.
“How is New York? Seen her yet?”
I reread Maria’s text too many times to count and tuck my phone into my pocket. New York is not so horrible. On my second day, a man attempted suicide and everyone went about their daily lives.
It is just as Gracie said, everyone minds their business. I don’t want to mind my business alone, I want to mind hers. The deal with Josef expires at the end of the school year. If we don’t reconcile, I will return to San Francisco to attend SAS.
The bell rings for the next class, students scramble out of their seats. The guy with Gracie helps her with her bag. I don’t know what his problem is. Gracie can do those stuff by herself. He needs to get over himself.
I hurry to them before she leaves the class. The boy steps forward to block my view of Gracie. He sizes me up and cracks his knuckles in an attempt to intimidate me. He is as tall as I am. In a fair fight, it might end up in a tie. He also has the same eye colour as me. For a brief second, I wonder if she is trying to replace me. I raise my hands to let him know I don’t want any trouble but he doesn’t back down.
“I want to talk to her,” I say. My girlfriend.
The boy moves only an inch to give Gracie a chance to answer me. She doesn’t look at me. Instead she shakes her head. The boy glares at me as if to say I am not wanted here but I don’t want to believe him. Gracie’s eyes flicker to the memory bracelet on my wrist. She left all our memories behind but I will carry it for us till she is ready to take back the bracelet.
Our gaze meets for the briefest seconds and she moves closer to the boy like she needs protection from me. Alright. I get it. I will need to work harder to earn her forgiveness. But if she won’t talk to me, how will that happen?
“Gracie,” I whisper when she’s almost at the door. Her hand closes around the knob but that moment of hesitation gives me hope for our future. I take one step back. “I’m sorry.” My apology rings false to me. “Let’s just talk.”
The anger burning in Gracie’s eyes sends jolts of pain through my heart. She’s upset. She’s furious because before she left, she begged me for the same thing. A chance for us to talk and I threw her offer in her face.
Without another word, she opens the door and slams it. The air is terser in her absence. The boy and I stare at each other. We both want her and I am not giving up on my Gracie. He needs to back off.
On a sigh, he leans on the wall. “Look, Benjamin or whatever your name is, Tessa doesn’t want any trouble.”
I snort. “I don’t want any trouble either.”
The striking similarities between us makes me hate this boy even more. If he thinks Gracie cares about him, he’s a bloody idiot. She is trying to replace me with someone who looks like me. He pushes away from the door and stops inches away from me.
His eyes narrow and the corners of his lips lift. I don’t know this boy but I already loathe him.
“Then respect her decision not to talk to you.” It is not his choice to make. “I don’t know what you did but if you cared about her, you would stay away.”
“Okay.”
Minutes after he leaves, my heart is still hurting. He might be right. If my presence will cause her more hurt, maybe I shouldn’t be here. Then, it made sense to pick Olivia’s side. Now, I feel like the most stupid person on planet earth. Olivia wouldn’t have picked me. She would pick her soulmate over me but I picked her over my soulmate. I swipe the heel of my hand against my eyes. SAS already sent out acceptance letters. I have one more day to accept their offer.
Josef thinks it’s a great school, better than NYU. Mum thinks I should go after my girl. It’s laughable. I don’t have a girl. I’m a single boy with no future plans. I head for my next class and for the rest of periods, I blank out.
When it is time for lunch, I am the first one to leave the class. The cafeteria is crowdy. The pairs and groups makes me miss the boys back home. I spot Gracie on the queue. That boy is with her. They are not alone. There is another girl who looks like a unicorn threw up over her. She’s talking to another girl.
I wait for them to leave before getting my order. After the lunch lady serves me, I am faced with the next big decision. Where do I sit? No one pays me attention and I like that. I am here for Gracie. I stop in the middle of the cafeteria, no idea where to go.
A deep feeling of loneliness wraps itself around me. There’s a bench at the farthest corner. I can sit there but I don’t want to. It will make me the school’s outcast. The girl with the colourful hair waves me over. That boy from my class warns her with his eyes. They engage in a heated conversation and she shrugs.
Throughout their standoff, I don’t look away from Gracie. I need to know if she is fine with me sitting with them. My eyes plead for a second chance with her but she stares blankly at me. I miss us. I miss Benny and Gracie.
The girl waves again. The boy is no longer talking to the girl but he has shifted closer to Gracie to mark his territory. Insecure loser. If he feels threatened by me on my first day, then he will lose his mind if he finds out my intention is to get back my girlfriend. I will not let him have my girlfriend. Gracie loves me. She still loves me, right? When you are mad at the person you love, it doesn’t mean you love them less, right? I think I am going crazy.
Gracie looks away as I start for their table. I drop my tray close to hers, thankful she is sitting on the middle of the bench. The boy will shit his pants knowing he can’t protect her from me.
She ordered fries. No surprises. The urge to steal a fry from her plate is strong but I dip my head in a bow and smile at the girl who invited me.
“You’re the new boy, right?” she says. I cringe at the word. It sounds like a plague.
“Yeah.”
Placing a hand on her chest, she says, “My name is Mira.” She nudges her partner with her arm and kisses her fully on her lips. “This is my girlfriend, Leah.” Leah beams. It should be me and Gracie kissing. Mira’s nose turns up in mock annoyance when she turns to Gracie. “That puncher right there is Tessa.”
Gracie withdraws her hands from the table and offers Mira a tight smile. I’m curious to know the story behind the title. She seems to fit right here with them, better than she ever did at Broadway Heights. I smile for Mira to continue and she winks.
Mira’s voice lowers. “If you call her Theresa, she will punch you. I learnt that the hard way.” Her girlfriend laughs harder than she should have at the joke. Gracie doesn’t laugh, I want her to so I can hear the sound of her laughter. I’ve missed it. “The annoying ass sitting over there with Tessa is Calum.”
Calum. Finally a name to the face.
“Do you want to join our band?” Leah asks.
Calum steals a fry from Gracie’s plate and a flash of anger fleets through me. What the fuck is his problem? That’s my thing, not his. Gracie seems to be thinking the same. She looks up to me and shrugs. I fucking hate this.
“I don’t have any band skills,” I finally answer Leah. I take a big bite of my burger and gulp down my soda. Gracie would have smacked my head for eating like a barbarian. The fry in her hand hangs midair, she drops it to her plate and hugs herself. I let myself believe she only did that to stop herself from touching me. “I can’t sing or dance or drum.”
“Don’t worry about that,” Leah says. She feeds Mira from her plate. “You can be here for moral support. Me, you and Tessa can support with our presence. “
“So the band is made up of just Calum and Mira?” I ask.
Blue eyes and rainbow hair sounds like a recipe for disaster.
Leah retrieves a crumpled flier from her bag and passes it to me. “Nope. The others go to a different school.” I skim through the flier. It is for a concert. “We have our first gig today. Are you good at taking pictures?” The girl is weird. The kind of weird that grows on you. I might like her. “Then you will manage our social media pages.”
Mira laughs. “Don’t mind her. She’s so bossy.”
“I’m not bossy.” Leah slaps her arm. “I’m only taking charge.”
“So you’re bossy,” Mira teases. She steals the rest of the words from Leah with a kiss. I look to Gracie and turn abruptly to my burger. She is thinking what I am thinking. She is thinking of our many cafeteria kisses. “Sorry guys. I can’t get enough of her lips.”
Leah blushes. “Ignore her.” She clears her throat. “Back to our social media manager. Tessa will assist you.” Gracie blinks. I nod vigorously. I love my new unpaid job. “We only want the best pictures of tonight.” Her eyes lands on everyone. “Tonight is our first gig and we must kill it. No mediocre job.”
“Yes, boss,” the whole table choruses and erupts in laughter. Everyone but Calum laughs.