Turning Grace (5 page)

“Honey, you should really sit and get started on studying. You don’t want to be working all night long,” Mom insisted.

I finally made the decision to sit down, gazing into my mother’s eyes as I sat. Why would she do this to me? I couldn’t shake the feeling of sabotage.

Tristen looked over at me and smiled, clearly oblivious to what I was thinking, but completely in awe of my mother’s “southern hospitality”.

“Okay, you kids get started on your work while I fix your plates. Tristen, what would you like to drink?” Mom asked as she walked over to the fridge.

“I will take water, please.” He was so polite.

“I will take my usual, Mom. Oh, hey,” I looked over to Tristen. “You should try my mom’s famous pomegranate juice.”

“Oh darn! I only have enough for one glass,” she said immediately as she poured the last drop into a glass. I looked at her face, confused. I could have sworn she said she made a fresh pitcher last night.

“Well, you can have mine,” I said to Tristen.

His brows furrowed. “No, you love it. You should have it.” He smiled wide showing his gloriously white teeth. I blushed and looked over to my mom who had a smile on her face as well. Maybe she would see that he was a good guy worth fighting for.

A pain shot across my stomach and I winced. I looked over at the food and began telling myself that I could do this. I could eat a normal amount of food. I couldn’t understand why I felt so unbelievably hungry over the past few days, but I forced myself to push those thoughts out of my head. I had to focus on keeping my secret from Tristen. At least for now. There was no way that a girl who could eat pounds of food in one sitting was at all attractive.

“Here you go, kids,” Mom said while setting our glasses on the table. She then took our plates and began filling them with a sample from every dish. My serving seemed noticeably larger than Tristen’s. Hopefully
he
didn’t notice. 

“Here, you can try some. I promise that you will love it,” I said, reaching over to hand Tristen my glass. Before Tristen could grab hold of it, Mom fell into my arm and the glass slipped out of my hands. It smashed onto the kitchen floor, sweet, sweet juice splattering all over.

“Oh…oh my God… Gracie I am so sorry!”

“Are you okay, Ms. Watkins?” Tristen asked, reaching out a hand to keep her steady. I couldn’t help the grin slowly sweeping across my face for Tristen’s concern.

“Yes, thank you Tristen. My foot must have caught the leg of the chair. I’m okay.” She stood up, seeming a bit embarrassed for her clumsiness. Mom was never usually clumsy. She was always very poised and well-coordinated. I have never known my mother to clumsily miss her footing or anything even close.

“I’m so sorry, Gracie. I will make some more tonight. Let me just clean this up and you two can continue on with your studying. Eat up.” She grabbed a kitchen towel as we took out our books and notepads.

Tristen began eating some of what was on his plate. I, on the other hand, was fighting the urge to sneak my plate off into the bathroom to swallow everything whole. My stomach was beginning to cave inward and I knew it was only a matter of time before the room would start spinning and I would feel queasy.

I watched as Tristen casually grabbed a chicken tender and took a bite while he thumbed through his textbook searching for the chapter we were studying. I opened my textbook, and mimicked his casualness. The salty, fried, delicious creation melted into my taste buds and I briefly closed my eyes in pure satisfaction. I focused on chewing instead of swallowing it whole; that was until my stomach felt as though it was reaching into my throat to grab and pull it down. I peeked over at Tristen, who was now reading over his notes. I could do this.

Mom finished cleaning up the horrible death of my favorite juice and left the room. I swallowed hard, thinking of something clever to say to Tristen.

“So, what did you guys do today in class?”

He beat me to it. Thank God.

“Oh, we just went over some of the stuff from earlier in the week. So…where were you today?” I asked. A little forthcoming, but I deserved to know considering he tortured me all day long.

He was in the middle of chewing his food and gave a throaty chuckle as if he were letting me know he was sorry he couldn’t answer right away. I studied his jaw line as he chewed quickly to answer my question. It was strong and softly curved into his chin.

He swallowed and smiled.

“Sorry. Uh…I had to go to a doctor’s appointment,” he said, rubbing the back of his neck.

“Oh…are you okay,” I asked, genuinely hoping there was not something wrong.

“Yeah, I’m fine. It wasn’t my appointment.”

I suddenly realized who it was for as I put two and two together, remembering that Sonny was not at school today either.

“Oh. Well…good,” I said, trying hard not to sound disappointed. Of course he would support his girlfriend at the doctor.

There was a moment of silence. I grabbed my notes out of my bag to begin our study session. Between trying to focus on not swooning over him the entire time we were sitting there and not trying to stuff my face with every last morsel on the table, the last thing I wanted to talk about was Sonny and her ailments. Although, picturing her being diagnosed with some horribly disgusting disease would brighten up this moment.

“Mind if I look over your notes?” he asked.

“Sure, go ahead. I’ll look over yours to see what you’re missing.”

Tristen scooted his chair over to mine and my pulse quickened. We were now a few inches apart and I could smell his sharp, clean cologne. It smelled like heaven.

We compared notes and I began to explain the definite integral. This was a cake walk for me, but there was something about watching him concentrate on learning that made my heart race. He seemed so lost, but listened carefully, as I slowly explicated the problems in a simpler fashion. His eyebrows came together when he was confused, but his face lit up like a Christmas tree when he finally understood the concept. It was satisfying and sweet, pushing out most of my thoughts about the food that was tempting my every desire. My stomach was still screaming at me to eat more, but it seemed for now my sensibly small bites were satisfying it.

A few hours went by, and we continued our quest for Tristen to pass the test. Mom came in and out of the kitchen from time to time, looking over in our direction and giving us a smile. I knew better and figured she was checking to make sure we weren’t making out… or that Tristen’s hands weren’t down my shirt.

Then, his phone rang. He pulled it out of his pocket and glanced at it before silencing the sound. I knew who it was.

“Do you need to go?” I asked, praying that he would say no.

“Oh, no. It’s nothing.” He shook his head and looked back down at his book. I wasn’t quite sure why he was refusing to even say Sonny’s name. Everyone knew about them; it wasn’t a secret. Whatever the reason was, I was grateful for it.

While we wrapped things up, Tristen briefly called his mom to let her know we were finished and that he was ready to be picked up. We sat in the living room and waited.

“Halloween is coming up soon,” he announced.

That one statement alone gave me butterflies.

Halloween was my favorite time of the year. It boggled my mind to think that some people actually didn’t celebrate Halloween. How could you not?  Not that I sat at home and held séances, but it was an exciting holiday to me. People were allowed to be whoever they wanted to be. Children scurried from door to door collecting one of the most important things in their little lives; candy. And it was free! People made plans to attend Halloween parties, spend time with their children trick or treating, roam the streets and work together to randomly scare others who walk by, and some even opt
ed to just sit home with friends or family to watch gory, scary movies all night. Which is what Phoebe and I did every single year to celebrate. To me, blood, gore, and axe murderers were thrilling. And with the fall breeze in the air, the leaves turning colors, and the moon lighting up the darkness in the night, it was better than Christmas in my opinion.

“I know,” I said with a stupid grin. “It’s my favorite.”

Tristen smiled wide and laughed. I wasn’t sure if he was laughing at me. I was sure my ridiculous grin had something to do with it.

“Do you have plans?” he asked.

“Phoebe and I usually go haunted house hopping. Then we come home and watch horror movies till the sun comes up. It’s sort of a tradition,” I explained, suddenly feeling embarrassed. I realized that in Tristen’s world, he probably attended parties all night long with the cool kids. And Sonny.

“That actually sounds like fun. We normally go to a party. It’s getting kind of boring now. It’s always the same people, getting drunk and sitting around. I haven’t been to a haunted house since I was a kid.”

“Really?” I asked, surprised. He had been deprived.

“Yeah. I mean, we always end up going to the same places. And no one ever dresses up anymore. Who wouldn’t want to be someone different for a night?”

Did he just read my mind?

“Well, you can come hang out with us.” The words were out of my mouth before I can stop them. Was I insane? We had one study date, and now I was asking him to ditch his friends, his clique, his
girlfriend
to hang out with me and a girl he barely knew. He barely even knew me! And this wasn’t even a date! Oh my God.

He raised his eyebrows and smiled. As he opened his mouth to say something, a car horned outside. I slumped into the couch, mentally running outside and smashing that car into pieces.

“That’s my mom. So, thanks for helping me. I needed this more than you know.”

“Oh I know,” I smiled. “You would have needed a miracle to pass that test.” We stood up and headed toward the front door.

“Well, thanks for the vote of confidence,” he chuckled. I opened the door and he stopped to face me in the doorway.

“Hey, it’s okay. Mrs. Turner is tough.”

“No really. Thanks Grace.”

I felt the heat flush my face and ears, hoping it wouldn’t show. “You’re welcome.”

He smiled and leaned in to give me a hug. My body froze, struggling to keep my composure. My legs could turn into Jell-O at any minute and I could fall to my knees. I hugged him back and took one big whiff of his scent.

He pulled away too soon, and walked down the steps of my porch as I slowly shut the door. Before I could shut it all the way, he yelled out my name.

“Hey Grace!”

I opened the door. The butterflies in my stomach were having a party.

“You look beautiful today!”

I thought my heart had just fallen out of my butt.

He smiled wide, flashing his flawless teeth and turned around to disappear into his mother’s car. I watched them drive down the street and turn at the corner. When I closed the door, I fell back into it, letting every moment of today sink into my mind. And chuckled at the cliché movie moment I was having. Sure, he tortured me today. Sure, my mother tried to sabotage my date. Sure, I fought the battle between food and my stomach. Sure, I made a complete fool out of myself for pretty much asking him out. But I didn’t care. The only thing that mattered to me at that moment was that he reacted. He reacted and it was the reaction that I wanted. It was the reaction that proved that there was something. The reaction that proved he thought about me more than just a study buddy. It was the reaction that meant war. 

With that mission accomplished, my next mission was to confront my mother.

My stomach made a loud gurgle and I looked down at it.

Okay, food…then Mom.

Chapter 5

The Threat

I peeled myself away from the front door and the thoughts of Tristen’s sweet smile and headed towards the kitchen. All of the plates were still pretty much full. During our study session, I managed to ingest enough food to hold me over, without convincing Tristen that I was some kind of freak. I paced myself and daintily picked the smallest pieces on the plate. It was tough, but I managed. Now I was beginning to starve again, and I needed some food…now.

I sat down at the dinner table and without any thought, dug into every dish. It was cold and dry, but I could still taste the delicious herbs and spices. Before I knew it, everything was gone and I wanted more.

“Still hungry, Gracie?” Mom walked into the kitchen as if she read my mind. I looked over at her, still pissed from her behavior that afternoon.

I nodded and looked away.

She walked over the refrigerator and before she pulled out the dish covered in aluminum foil, I could smell the roast.

“I knew you would want more.” She uncovered the container and a whiff of tender meat whipped around my head. I needed it...

“Mom, you can just bring that over here. I don’t mind it cold,” I said, trying not to sound anxious. She looked over at me in confusion.

She stared at me for a moment before walking over to the silverware drawer. She pulled out a fork and brought the dish over to the table. I watched every movement, every step she took, anticipating the moment I can savor the glorious pot roast. She set it down in front of me and I dug into it, not able to hold off any longer.

Without a word, she left the room and headed upstairs. Was she mad at me? At the moment, I didn’t really care. Food was more important. But I knew I needed to finish up quickly and go have a talk with her.

When I finished, which was all too soon, I prepared my speech and headed upstairs to her bedroom. I needed to know why she tried to sabotage my study date. Why would she purposely try to embarrass me in front of Tristen? Maybe she was unaware of my sudden uncontrollable yearning for food. But how could she forget the episode just the night before? And about that…I needed to ask her what was wrong with me. She was a doctor, she should at least have some idea as to why I had been feeling…different lately.

And what about the pomegranate juice? I knew she said she made a fresh batch last night. How could it have all been gone? I had never seen her drink it before. As a matter of fact, I could remember her saying it was too sweet for her, and that she prefered something less sugary.

I made my way to her bedroom and knocked on the door. When she didn’t answer, I slowly opened the door into darkness. She was asleep. Great. I closed the door quietly and headed into my bedroom, making mental notes of all of my questions. I will just have to ask her in the morning.

The following day, I awoke to the smell of bacon, sausage, and the usual aromas of a breakfast feast. Before I knew it, I was throwing the covers off of me and heading down the stairs. I was starved.

I entered the kitchen to find dishes full of my much loved breakfast foods…and a note. I grabbed a piece of bacon and the note.

Gracie,

I had to head out early to work. As you can see, breakfast is made and lunch is already in your bag for school.

I will see you this afternoon. Please be sure to eat your breakfast and your lunch today.

I love you.

Mom. 

Huh…well she certainly didn’t have to worry about me finishing breakfast.

Phoebe smacked me on the arm when I met her in our usual spot for our walk to school. “Why didn’t you call me last night after your date!” she yelled.

“Ouch!”

“Sorry,” she apologized.

“Phoebe! I was just tired.”

“So, did you guys…you know,” she wiggled her eyebrows up and down.

It was my turn to smack her on the arm. “No! It wasn’t like that.”

“Ouch!” she smiled and smacked me again. “So what was it like?”

I rubbed my arm, again, and smiled. My heart began the race as the memory of sitting so close to Tristen flooded my mind. “We just…studied.”

“That’s it?” Phoebe asked. I knew she would be disappointed. In her mind, Tristen would have walked into the house, thrown me on the kitchen table, and had his way with me. Although that scenario didn’t sound too bad, my version would have included the food laid out over everything. Maybe he would be feeding some to me? I smiled again.

“And you’re okay with that?”

“Okay with what?” I lost my train of thought.

“G, you had the hottest guy in school, the guy that you have been daydreaming about for like, ever, at your house…and you didn’t make a move?” This was preposterous to Phoebe. She was not some easy chick, but she would have at least made it to first base with him.

“Well Phoebe, not all of us have the guts that you do. I couldn’t just make out with him right there in my kitchen…when my mother is keeping one eye on us.”

“Oh, right. Mom was there. So, was there at least some flirting going on?” She sounded defeated, but hopeful.

“You can say that.” I smiled. “He told me I was beautiful.”

Phoebe shoved me. “Get out!”

I wanted to punch her for hitting that same arm for the third time, but I couldn’t help the grin creeping across my face. Tristen Miles thought I was beautiful.

“So, are you guys gonna hang out again?”

“He asked me about Halloween.”

“Is he coming with us?” She could not contain herself any longer.

“Well, I sort of asked him to. I’m sorry, Phoebe. I know it’s normally just me and you. It just kind of came out. He probably won’t even—”

“No! It’s perfect. Eric wants to come hang out with us too. It’ll be a double date!”

A double date. A date. A real date with Tristen. This concept sent the butterflies in my belly on a rampage and I held on to that thought as we approached our day at school.

The day dragged on, as usual, but I could not help the sappy grin across my face. I didn’t see Tristen until calculus. We walked through the door almost at the same time. When we were nearly touching each other, he leaned in and whispered into my ear, “Good luck”. The smell of his minty breath cooled my senses and the feel of it sent tingles down my spine. Those two words flowed through me like silk as I fought through the urge to fall into his arms.

“Good luck,” was all I could manage to respond.

I was happy. I knew Tristen was going to ace this test and it was because of me. I will have saved him from failing and from getting kicked off the swim team. It would be because of my weird math genius that he will be in a great mood today.

After roll call and about thirty minutes of answering lingering questions students had regarding the material, Mrs. Turner handed out our tests and started the clock. This test was a piece of cake, and I knew I could probably ace it with my eyes closed. I was the top in our class, and knew everyone hated me in some way because math came so easily to me. For a moment, I wondered why I never started tutoring sessions for students. It would have been a great way to make some cash on the side.

Half way through completing the test, a sharp pain shot across my belly. My reflexes forced me to clench onto my stomach and I winced. Julie, the cute little red head who sat next to me, looked over in my direction and noticed my pained expression.

“Grace,” she whispered. “You okay?”

I turned to her, nodded, and glanced back down at my paper. I was getting the hunger pains again. I looked up at the clock. Only thirty more minutes till lunch. Clenching down tighter onto my belly, I tried to force myself to only think about this test.  The definite integral. I just explained this to Tristen last night, this was simple.

But as I prepared to work out the equations in my mind I…I couldn’t. I couldn’t figure it out. I couldn’t remember how the do the problem, or even what the definite integral meant. It was as though my mind became confused, unable to understand. And as if that weren’t bad enough, the numbers and letters began to intertwine into one and I could no longer make out what it said. I glanced out onto the rest of the classroom, watching everyone else struggling to answer the questions. But not for the same reasons.

They began spinning. I closed my eyes, took a deep breath, and looked back down at the test. That didn’t help. The pain worsened and I hunched over. I squinched my eyes together, trying hard to focus. My head began to throb and my eyesight was blurring. I caught a glimpse of my book bag on the floor from the corner of my eye. Suddenly, the faint aroma of roast beef and turkey made its way to my nose. It seemed I suddenly developed x-ray vision. As if I could see straight through my book bag. I could see the sandwich and the rest of my lunch inside a paper bag, waiting to be eaten. My mouth watered and I forced myself to return my focus to the test.

“Five minute warning,” Mrs. Turner said from her desk. My head shot up. How did twenty-five minutes already fly by? I was only half way done!

I glanced over at Tristen. He looked pretty confident. I wasn’t sure if that made me feel better or worse.

Okay, I can do this
, I told myself. I set my elbows down on the desk and ran my fingers through my hair. Something felt weird. I pulled my hands back down and gasped. A chunk of my hair was in my palm. I quickly tightened my hand into a fist to hide it. I looked around to see if anyone else noticed. I had to get out of there. I grabbed my bag and my test and made my way to Mrs. Turner’s desk.

“I’m sorry Mrs. Turner. I have to go.” My voice was hoarse.

“Grace, are you okay?”

I ignored her as I made my way to the door. The bell rang right before I made it there and as I reached to turn the knob, darkness overcame me.

~ ~ ~ ~

My eyes fluttered open. The smell of alcohol was burning my nose.

“There you go. Wake up for me Grace.” A soft female voice spoke into my left ear. I looked over to see Nurse Nancy sitting next to me waving something around my nose. I didn’t want to be rude, but the smell was about to make me gag. I gently pushed her arm away and she got the hint.

“How are you feeling, dear?” Nurse Nancy was a stout woman. She was older and had a quality about her. Like she was once very beautiful, but it seemed the years had not been kind to her. She knew her work well and seemed to have been doing it for a long time. She knew when a student was faking an illness and would kick them out of her office in a heartbeat. But if they really were ill, she was kind and sweet and very nurturing.

I stared up at the ceiling for a moment before attempting to sit up. I had to pull myself together. There was a slight pain in my stomach, but not quite as bad as before. My hands shot up to my head, feeling around to make sure my hair was all still there. To my relief, it was.

“Wh…what happened?” I could barely speak. The sterile paper I was lying on crunched as I sat up.

“You fainted,” Nurse Nancy said as she jotted something down on her documents in front of her. “Do you faint often? Did you recently fall injuring your head? Do you feel nauseous at all?”

I shook my head no to all of her questions, trying hard not to move too much. It was still throbbing, but not too bad.

“Did you eat breakfast this morning?”

“Yes,” I mumbled.

“Well, sometimes if we are really hungry and don’t eat, or if we don’t eat enough, we can began to feel bad or queasy or even faint. I don’t see any other signs that point to this being something serious. Maybe you just didn’t eat enough this morning. I had an IV hooked up to you for a little bit while you were out, just to get some fluids in you.”

“Did you call my…mom?” I asked. I knew she would freak if she didn’t know something like this happened.

“We did call your mother. She is actually in the front office getting you checked out for the day. You should go home and rest a little. Get a good meal or two in. But take it easy for the rest of the day. I don’t think you have a concussion, but just in case. I’m going to update your mom in a minute and recommend making a doctor’s appointment, just to make sure your fainting spell today isn’t anything more serious.”

She closed what I was assuming to be my file and walked over to me. She took my vitals before heading towards the door.

“I am going to let your mom know you are awake.”

I nodded and she left the room.

Well this was wonderful, I didn’t finish my test. This would be the first time in the history of my schooling that I was not able to finish a test or possibly flunk it. I had never made a mark lower than a B in my life! And in math! Out of all—

Oh.My.God. I passed out…in class…in front of Tristen.

I dropped my head into my hands and fought the urge to cry. I couldn’t decide what was worse…falling and showing my holey granny panties to the entire school a few years ago…or fainting in front of Tristen. I pictured myself passing out, probably hitting the ground hard, arms and legs completely sprawled out with my mouth wide open, tongue hanging out, and drool oozing onto the floor.

Yeah…I guess both instances were just as mortifying as the other.