Turning Grace (13 page)

“You guys want something to drink?” I asked, suddenly feeling pretty parched myself.

It was then that I noticed Phoebe’s hand was behind her back, under her red cape. Her scarlet lips formed into an O as she swung her arm around to reveal a large bottle of Southern Comfort liqueur, also known as SoCo.

“Oh yeah?” Tristen asked as he rubbed his hands together. Eric nodded his head in approval. I, on the other hand, felt a little anxiety coming on but tried to hide it with a smile.

“Oh c’mon G…don’t clam up on me now.”

I gave her a look. “Phoebe, can I talk to you in the kitchen? We’ll be back guys.”

I linked my arm to hers and we walked over to the kitchen.

“Grace, what’s wrong?” she asked as she began her search for some drink glasses in my cabinets.

“Phoebe, I don’t think we should drink.”

“Why not? It’s Halloween! Our favorite night of the year!”

“Shh! Listen, we are going to be driving and I just don’t think it’s a great idea is all.”

“But we always have a couple of drinks. You know we sneak some of your mom’s wine like every year.”

“Yeah, but we were home. Watching movies. Can’t we wait till we get back?” I asked. We have never snuck in some drinks and drove around town before.

Although I was trying my hardest not to be a buzzkill, Phoebe’s face proved that I was unsuccessful. She stepped away from the drink making and grabbed both my shoulders as if she were about to shake some sense into me.

“Grace, it will be okay. Eric and I talked about it and he is only going to have one drink. He is driving tonight so that we can all drink and have a good time,” she reassured. Phoebe knew me, and she knew I was a little more conservative than she was.

I took a deep breath in and caved. She figured as much and hugged me. “We’re going to have an amazing time G. This is your night to shine for Tristen.”

“Yeah, but what if I get stupid drunk or something?” I began to panic at that thought. Tristen just told me that I was one of a kind. I wasn’t sure being wasted and covered in my own puke would change his mind a little considering the type of people he usually hung with. Although he had already seen me physically ill, I had an inkling that it was not that attractive.

Phoebe headed back to mixing drinks. “G, this isn’t your first time drinking. Just limit yourself.”

Her stupid matter-of-fact-face crept up. Ugh! She was right. 

After a second, the smell of Southern Comfort and Coke traveled into my nose and I was in…for at least one drink. Phoebe grabbed two glasses and I followed with the other two. Tristen and Eric were standing near the couches talking football.

“Okay guys! Here you go.”

I handed a glass to Tristen.

“Thank you,” he said softly and smiled.

Phoebe held her glass up and we all followed. “Here’s to a great night ahead of us! Happy Halloween!”

We clinked our glasses and took a swig. Kind of strong, but the fruity, spicy taste of whiskey hit the spot. Phoebe and Eric kissed after their clink, leaving Tristen and I smiling and glancing down at our glasses. Our moment would come. Soon.

Chapter 11

The Party

We finished our glasses of SoCo and Coke…well, one glass for me and Eric, two for Tristen and two and a half for Phoebe, and headed out the door. Eric’s old black Mustang shimmered in the moonlight and Tristen sighed.

“Now this is a car!”

“Yeah dude, it’s my baby.”

“Hey!” Phoebe shouted.

“You know you’re my baby. But she’s my baby too. Baby.” He cupped her face and kissed her forehead gently before opening the car door for her. Phoebe smiled sweetly and giggled. Yeah, those two are definitely in love. My heart filled with happiness for both her and Eric, but a twinge of jealously followed. I glanced over at Tristen as he waited for Eric to unlock his door. He was watching them with a smile growing bigger and bigger. He switched his gaze to me and I melted once again.

He was a romantic. I could tell.

We piled into Marilyn, as Eric called his car, and began our fun-filled night. Our first stop was the House of Shock. This haunted house had been around for several years. It was known as a Halloween staple around town. It had been voted the number one haunted house in New Orleans for many years. It was started by the frontman of the metal band Pantera and had been named on the Travel Channel as one of the most extreme haunted houses in America. Phoebe and I had been there almost every year since we could remember, and while there were some scenes within the haunted house that were quite graphic and…demonic to say the least, it was still one of the best places I’d been to. I have almost peed my pants walking through that place before. And if I did, it would have been worth it.

We pulled up to the parking lot and of course the line was almost down the street. As we waited, we watched the rock band play on stage and became judges to the people around us of our own little costume contest.

Phoebe pulled out her flask of SoCo and she, Tristen, and I took turns sipping. As we continued to near the entrance, a recognizable feeling washed over me. I suddenly remembered then that I hadn’t eaten in some time. I reached around myself to grab my bag for a quick snack, but realized I left it in the backseat of Marilyn.

Tristen noticed and touched my arm. “Hey, you okay?” he asked.

“Yeah. Yes, I’m fine. I just forgot I left my purse in Eric’s car.”

“Did you need some money or something? I can buy you something to eat if you’re hungry.” He seemed concerned…and to have read my mind.

“No it’s okay. I have money. But yeah, let’s go grab something really quick before we get inside,” I said, eager now to put something into my mouth. I knew where this would lead if I didn’t. And I wasn’t going to let anything ruin the night, including my ridiculous urges to eat unsuspecting house pets.

I informed Phoebe and Eric of our plan to grab a quick bite before we headed over to the row of food booths.

“What are you in the mood for?”

I quickly read over my options. Hotdogs, corndogs, nachos, and beer. Of course, my stomach was craving all of the above, but my mind was thinking there was no way I was going to eat like a Hungry Hippo in front of Tristen.

“Are you hungry?” I asked. His answer could affect my choice. If he chose to eat, it could take all eyes off me and allow me to eat a little more.

“Yeah, I can eat. I’ll get whatever you get. Your call.”

Great. While he was being a gentleman and allowing me to choose, I was hoping he would decide for me. “Um…let’s go for hotdogs.”

“Okay, two hotdogs coming up.” My mind was wishing it was three hotdogs for me.

“Here.” I reached in my back pocket for a twenty.

“Grace, are you trying to make me look bad?” he asked playfully as he took my twenty out of my hand.

“No, not at all. I can pay for my own things, you know.”

Tristen folded the twenty and reached around my body. As he reached down and stuffed it back into my back pocket, my heart pounded so loudly in my ears that I couldn’t even hear the band playing in the background anymore.

“Keep it. Dinner is on me,” he said. His voice was low and sexy. All I could do was nod as he took my hand and led me to the hotdog booth.

He ordered two hotdogs and a large Sprite. My mouth began to water as the smell of cooked pig intestines swirled around my head.

“Cheers.” We tapped our hotdogs against each other and took a bite. I had never really eaten outside of what Mom cooked for me every day. Why would I? There was constantly food in our house. Every once in a while I would grab something extra during lunch or maybe grab some fries at the food court in the mall. Honestly it never really hit the spot compared to Mom’s home cooking. But Mom was completely against any fast food joint. She would say that it was unhealthy and that she would rather die a thousand deaths before she would ever bring it home for dinner. A little dramatic if you asked me, but I got her point. It was insulting to her if I would ask for something outside of what she cooked. We would sometimes order take out from a few fancy restaurants around town that Mom did approve of, but she wouldn’t dare allow us to eat it without adding a little something extra herself.

This hotdog, however, was quite delicious. Although, it really wasn’t doing anything for me. After the last bite, my stomach growled at me for more. I decided to ignore it and wait until we could get back to Marilyn so that I could munch on the snacks Mom made for me. Or at least I hoped to ignore it.

We made it back to our spots in line just before we reached the entrance. Eric and Phoebe were in front of us, Eric’s arms wrapped around Phoebe’s waist.

Tristen looked over at them and then me. “You gonna be okay?” he asked into my ear.

I shivered when I felt his warm breath. “Yeah. You?”

“I’m a little scared,” he admitted.

“Really? Do you need me to hold your hand?” I teased.

“No! But I think you will grab mine at some point.”

“Oh yeah? You don’t think I can handle this?”

“No. I don’t. I think you’re gonna scream.”

That was an insult. “What?” I asked, playfully but serious.

“You heard me. I think you’re scared.”

“Well, we’ll see who’s scared when we get in there.”

“I’ll be right behind you. Watching your every move,” he threatened.

I shrugged my shoulders and smiled. “Okay, but you’re gonna be disappointed.”

He smiled back as we entered the most extreme haunted house in America. Smoke immediately clouded our vision as we walked into strobe lights and darkness. A bloody-faced creature jumped out within the first two seconds, prompting Phoebe to jump, which in turn caused Eric to squeeze her tighter. He was such a sucker.

We walked slowly in a single file line through scenes of a graveyard, a bloodied operating room, and a room filled with fake dead animals hanging on chains. Screams filled my ears from the girls ahead of us. Vampires, Michael Myers, and deformed monsters jump out at us from all sides. The smell of the smoke machines and Halloween makeup filled my nose. I smiled at this, remembering just why I loved Halloween.

Occasionally, the line slowed down and we would come to a halt. Seeing as the space is quite small, we waited, breathing down the person’s neck in front of us until the line sped up again. Normally this would make me a little uneasy…unless Tristen was behind me.

He leaned down to whisper in my ear. “You scared yet?”

My neck tingled and I smiled. The lack of light and sense that we were practically alone, since no one was paying attention, gave me a boost of confidence. I turned my head to look him in the eyes. We were so close at this point that all I had to do was pucker up and his lips would be on mine. The smell of his clean cologne filled my head.

I gave him my sexiest smile and he returned it. I suddenly felt his hand, slowly intertwining his fingers with mine. My breath caught and I became completely lost in the moment. My heart pounded under my shirt when I realized this could finally be it. Our first kiss.

His other hand reached up to caress my arm, slowly sliding up and down. I allowed myself to fall back a little into his chest as I prepare for the moment I had been waiting years for. He held me up with his body, strong and firm.

As I counted to three in my head and closed my eyes, I heard the man behind him.

“Hey dude, line’s moving!”

Tristen turned around. “Oh, sorry.”

Oh damn it to hell!

Right at that moment, my stomach growled again and a pain shot through me. I instantly hunched over, swallowing the yell that wanted to escape my throat. Tristen grabbed hold of my waist and hunched over with me.

“Grace, you okay,” he asked, concern in his voice. I inhaled deeply and focused on his touch instead.

The man behind us yelled. “Hey dude, can you please walk ahead? Ya’ll are holding us back!”

I felt Tristen turn around quickly. “Hey DUDE, chill okay? Give us a minute!”

I grabbed on to his jeans and tugged, hoping that he understood that I was trying to tell him to calm down. He turned around immediately.

The pain escalated and I knew I couldn’t stand up straight just yet. I peeked over to my right and noticed an exit door. I grabbed Tristen’s leg again, fighting to move my way closer to it. In that moment, Tristen swooped me up effortlessly into his arms and we moved out of the line. Eric and Phoebe were a ways ahead of us, and I knew they would wait at the end till we got out.

He carried me through the door and found a curb to sit on. He never let me go. I buried my face in his neck and began to pray for this horrible pain to subside.

“Grace, tell me what’s wrong. Does your stomach hurt? Do you need some medicine? Tell me what you need?” His voice was soft and full of genuine worry. I was in so much pain, but mortified at how this must have looked. Oh my God! I was the girl who passed out in the haunted house because she couldn’t take it. At least that’s what people were thinking as they walked by.

I finally managed to say something between my stabbing pains. “I need Marilyn.”

“You need Marilyn? Grace I don’t know—”

“My purse.”

“You need to get to the car? He caught on quickly. “Got it.”

Within an instant, Tristen was up and power walking with me in his arms towards the end of the haunted house to meet Phoebe and Eric. Just as I thought, they were waiting, and sucking face of course.

“Hey, we need to get to the car. Now,” Tristen huffed.

Eric pulled his keys out of his pocket and bolted for the car. Phoebe, Tristen and I quickly followed.

“Gracie what’s wrong?” Phoebe asked, worry filling her voice. I knew she was concerned, she never called me Gracie.

I couldn’t talk.

“I don’t know what happened. She just collapsed in there so I got her out as fast as I could.”

“There’s blood on your neck Tristen, Is that fake or coming from Grace?” she asked, panic creeping through her voice. Phoebe turned my face away from his neck to get a better view.

“Shit! Gracie, your nose is gushing!”

I reached up slowly to see what she was talking out. “What?” was all I managed to ask before everything went black.

“Grace. Grace. Please wake up. Can you hear me sweetheart?”

My eyes fluttered open and horror flushed over me when I saw a man covered in blood and gore hovering in my view. Was I having one of my morbid dreams? I sucked in a breath of air and jumped a little, slowly realizing that I was not dreaming and that Tristen’s beautiful face was underneath the Halloween makeup. 

“What happened?” I asked.

“You passed out. How do you feel? Here,” he said as he rubbed a cold, wet cloth on my forehead. I turned my head, taking in the coolness; it being apparent then that I was lying down in the back seat of Marilyn.

My mouth was dry. As I imagined a cold glass of water, Tristen brought a bottle of water to my mouth, slowly spilling a little at a time into it. How did he know what to do and when to do it all the time?

I heard Phoebe’s voice. “Is she awake?”

“Yeah, she’s awake. Grace, tell me what you need.”

I reached around with my hand in search of my bag. I knew exactly what I needed. It was the only thing on my mind.

Of course, Tristen sensed this and handed me my purse. I reached in and grabbed one of the Ziplocks of treats Mom made for me. I began to eat, feeling a thousand times better before I even swallowed, and a million times better knowing Tristen was right next to me.

“Oh she’s fine, thank God.” Phoebe said in relief.

“How do you know, babe?” Eric asked curiously.

“Because if she doesn’t eat,” she turned to give me the stink eye, “she gets faint and sick.”

I managed to give her the finger in between bites.

“Is that true? Do you get sick if you don’t eat?” Tristen asked.

I nodded my head, only wanting everyone to just stay quiet and let me eat. Tristen smoothed my hair out of my face. His expression remained the same, still and serious. Concerned. Phoebe continued to give me the stink eye. Over the past few weeks, she had also noticed changes in me.

Although she didn’t quite know to what extreme my body had been changing, she noticed that there was a change in my eating habits. I explained to her at some point that Mom had been monitoring me to make sure that everything was okay. She naively believed the whole hormones story and never really asked any more questions as to why I had been eating so much. She did, however, witness me becoming extremely fatigued and sickly because I needed food when we were studying at my house. It was very hard to not pig out in front of her, but I managed to get by without seeming like a hungry maniac. Luckily, I was able to come up with an excuse to end our study session early so that I could devour as much food as humanly possible.