Running Heartbeat

Australia

         I was running. The rain hit my face and my feet splashed through the puddles on the street. Headlights of oncoming cars shone in my eyes, but I kept going. I steadied my breathing as I rounded a corner. A hill appeared in front of me, a group of seventeen-year-old boys stood under an over-hang of a small store. They called to me as I flew passed. “Shut the fuck up.” I thought as I reached the top. I slowed myself to a stop after I passed the stop sign; the two mile marker. I glanced at my watch. Seven minutes.

“Stop daydreaming Gracie” My mom called “We have packing to do!”

I sighed as I threw my notebooks into a brown box, along with my soccer medals, cheerleading trophies, track certificates and a variety of other sports awards. My mom though I was socially awkward when I was little, so I’ve mastered every sport girls were allowed to participate in. The only one that really stuck was running. I ran away from everything, so it became my weapon. No one could ever catch me, even if they tried.

         “Ready Gracie? The moving van is here.” My mom asked as she skipped past my room.

         “Yeah, I’m coming.”

Sometimes I wished I lived in my mom’s world. She always seemed so happy. The real world rarely offered happiness. Soon our flight had landed and we were arriving at our new home. It was just my mom and I, so it was relatively small. She had said it has two bedrooms and two baths. She gave me the master.

         “I don’t like being in the front of the house. It’s too far away from the woods,” she had said.

Like I said, my mom’s a little off, ever since my dad died. Him being gone basically threw her into an alternate universe. I never argued, unless it was something life threatening. Last summer, for example, when we lived in Australia, she wanted to camp out in the middle of nowhere and have no contact with the modern world. I loved my mom, but that was not happening. Her newest interest was finding a way for people to colonize Antarctica. Alex, one of my best friends, had suggested speeding up global warming. My mom didn’t talk to her for a week, that’s how well that went over. I climbed out of my car that I had parked behind my mom and the moving van and reached into the back seat to grab my bag. I turned around, and with my insane timing skills, slammed into someone who was running and we both fell to the ground.

         “Oh, I-!” my hand flew to cover my mouth. A boy about my age sat, in shock, at my side. His long dark hair blew slightly in the Hawaiian breeze and his bare chest glistened with sweat. After he figured out what happened, he smiled.

         “Sorry, I didn’t see you there.” he stood up, then offered me his hand. “You okay?”

         “Yeah, I’m fine. I’m so sorry. I should have looked where I was going.”

         “Don’t worry about it. No one’s hurt.” He glanced at the moving van, then at my crazy mother dancing on the front lawn.

         “Moving in?”

         “Yeah.” I watched his eyes follow my mom. “Don’t ask. She’s a little out there.”

         “That’s all I needed to know,” he laughed. “I’m Ethan, Ethan Reivers.”

         “Nice to meet you Ethan. I’m Grace Sawyer. That’s my mom, Jayne.”

         “Is she... okay?”

         “Yeah, well I’m not all that sure. She has lived in her own world ever since my dad died fourteen years ago.”

         “I’m sorry to hear that.”

         “Yeah, thanks. But she’s happy. Maybe the world she sees is better than this one.”

Ethan smiled. “Maybe.... listen, I live just down the block over there, twenty-five Palm Tree Court. When you’re all settled in, why don’t you come over?”

I smiled. “Thanks Ethan. I’ll talk to my mom. Who knows what her plans are.”

He laughed. “See you around Grace.”

         “See yah.” I watched him jog away then walked past my eccentric dancing mother and into my new house. I placed my bag on the four-poster bed that had already been moved into my room and sighed as I walked over to the window seat that looked over the road below. I saw a runner off in the distance, probably Ethan, and received the familiar urge. I quickly grabbed the rest of my stuff from my car and ran back to my room. In seconds, I wore a pink adidas sports bra, white shorts and running sneakers. My strawberry-blonde hair was up and out of my face and my iPod was in its running strap around my arm.

         “I’m going for a run mom!” I called as I flew past her into the warm morning. It was almost noon, the sun not yet at its highest point in the sky, and I was already sweating. I took off in the direction Ethan had left and didn’t slow my pace until I reached a hill. When I came to the top, I slowed my pace further until I came to a stop. The view was insane. Off in the distance, the waves of the ocean crashed into the shoreline, then crawled back, calling to all on-lookers.

         “Beautiful, isn’t it?”

I gasped, and turned around. It was Ethan, and another boy with sandy blonde hair.

         “God Ethan, you scared the shit out of me!”

         “Sorry. I didn’t know you would be up here. Kevin and I were going to meet here and head to the beach. You run?”

I saw him look over my outfit.

         “Yeah, I love it. There’s something about having the wind in my face and my problems at my back.”

         “I know the feeling.”

I smiled, then noticed the other boy, who I assumed was Kevin, starring at me.

         “Hi.” I said. I had always been sociable, since my mom had forced me to be when I was little.

         “Hey.” Kevin said, “So you’re Grace.”

I eyed Ethan. Had he already told his friends about me? We had met literally minutes ago.

         “Yepp. I’m Grace. Sorry to disappoint.”

         “Trust me, you didn’t” Kevin and Ethan laughed as I blushed.

         “So you guys were headed to the beach?” I changed the subject.

         “Yeah, the waves are insane today. You surf?”

         “No, probably the only sport I haven’t tried.”

Kevin and Ethan exchanged glances.

         “And I’m not learning. Not today at least. My mom may be crazy, but she’s not stupid. She’d definitely question why I’m soaking wet and smell like sea water.”

         “Fine.” Ethan smiled “but before school starts up in the fall, you will surf like the rest of us.”

I smiled. It was reassuring to have friends already, though I missed Alex and Caitlyn. They would want to know all about today; I’d have to call them when I got home.

         “Did you ask your mom about coming over later?” Ethan asked as I turned to go.

         “Oh, no I forgot. I’m sure she’ll say yes. Twenty-seven Palm Tree Court was it?”

         “Twenty-five.” Ethan smiled. “See you later.”

I smiled. “Nice meeting you Kevin.”

         “You too Grace. See you tonight.”

         “Bye guys.”

I took off down the hill; I could feel their eyes on my back. I was back in my front yard two minutes later. The moving van was gone and my mom was nowhere to be seen. I jogged up the front steps and into the house to find my psychopathic mother passed out on the newly purchased couch. I quietly slipped past her and went upstairs to shower and change. After a quick shower, I put on a white and grey tank top and matched it with hot pink shorts. I looked through four boxes before I found my gold flip-flops. I hated unpacking, so I normally lived out of brown moving boxes for weeks. I found a hair clip and pulled my wet hair out of my eyes. I looked at my phone for the time. 4:56. Ethan said to come over around 5:30, so I had some time to kill. I opened the box closest to me and emptied the contents onto the floor. I cringed at the sound of breaking glass and picked up a broken picture frame. My heart sank as I looked at the photo. It was the most recent picture of my father. My third birthday party. In my hands I held my last gift from him; a pair of running shoes I would later grow into.

“You’re a runner Gracie. You where born with speed and agility.

No one can stop a runner; no one will dare to try.

But if anyone reaches you, slow down and take a look.

They may be worth the change in pace.”

Those were the last words to me. The very last thing I heard coming out of his mouth before the accident, and they always stuck to me like glue. I set the frame aside and wiped away a tear that had subconsciously formed in my eyes. I glanced at my phone again. 5:38. I was late, Ethan would think I wasn’t coming. I stood and grabbed my keys and a light sweatshirt. My mom was still dead asleep, so I left her a note.

Mom,

         I went to a friend’s house I met today. His name is Ethan. I’ll give you the details when I get home if you’re up. I have my phone and keys. I’m here in seconds if you need me.

Love you xoxo

Gracie.

I left the note on the counter and quietly left. It took me ten minutes longer to get to Ethan’s house than I thought it would, granted I drove by it four times. It was 6:00 before I knocked on the door and was admitted inside.

         “Hey Grace! I didn’t think you were coming.” Ethan greeted me.

         “Yeah, sorry I’m late. I kinda lost track of time.” I apologized.

         “Don’t worry about it. You’re here now.” Ethan smiled, then turned to his small group of friends. I took notice that I was the only girl in the room.

         “Hey, guys. This is Grace. She just moved into the Fields’ old place.”

         “Hi Grace.” the group of boys replied in unison.

         “Hi.” I smiled.

         “Come sit over here, with me.” Ethan said, leading me to a couch on the side of the room. “You need to tell us about you. All I know is that you’re seventeen, an insane runner, your dad passed away when you were little and your mom’s a little crazy. There has to be more to you than that.”

I laughed. “You’ve got me pretty well covered.”

         “Oh, come on. There has to be something else to your life than all that.”

There was. I could list off a ton of things I had done. Like when I was eight, I got so mad at my mom for wanting to move again, I ran away. The police found me two days later, curled up under the slide at the neighborhood playground.

         “Uhh, not really.”

         “Where are you from?”

         “South Carolina, originally. I moved to New Mexico when I was five, then Maryland when I was eight. After that I moved to England when I was twelve, then Australia when I was fifteen and now I’m here.”

         “Why did you move around so much?” Kevin wanted to know.

         “Did you miss the part about my mom being psycho?”

Everyone laughed.

         “Australia huh?” Ethan smiled and looked at me.

         “What?”

         “I think that’s a pretty good nick name for you.”

         “You are going to call me Australia?”

         “Yepp. What else is interesting in your life?”

         “Nothing. I’m a total bore.”

         “What have you never broken anything?”

         “I broke my arm ice skating when I was eleven.” I decided to leave out that I wasn’t really ice skating, but running away again, and slipped on the ice in the process.

         “Anything exciting happen to you recently?” a brown-haired boy named Garrett asked

         “Define exciting.”

         “Won any contests, gone to any concerts, met anyone famous?”

         “No, no and-no. I told you I’m not very exciting.”

Ethan was starring at me while I answered all their questions. He looked away though, when our eyes met.

         “Let’s play rock band,” someone finally suggested. I was relieved the focus was taken away from me and my questionable childhood. We played rock band for about an hour, then Ethan’s mom brought some food down. I left at about 11:30. Ethan helped me into my sweatshirt and walked me to my car.

         “Glad you came Australia.”

I smiled. “I can’t believe you are going to call me that. But I’m glad I came too.”

Ethan smiled too. “What are you doing tomorrow?”

         “Probably unpacking.” I made a face, which made Ethan laughed.

         “Mind if I come help?”

         “I think you’d ask me if I was on something if I refused help.”

         “Probably.”

         “Okay, my house. 11:00am.”

         “Sounds great. See you then.”

         “Bye Ethan.”

         “Bye Australia.”

I rolled my eyes as I opened my car door and started the engine. I smiled and waved to Ethan, who was standing in the driveway, and drove away in the direction of my house.

Reminisce On Memories

         My alarm clock woke me the next morning at ten. I rolled over to find my mom sitting on the edge of my bed. I almost fell to the floor when I noticed her.

         “Jeez mom, are you trying to give your only daughter a heart attack?” I said sitting up.

         “Sorry sweetie. But I wanted to hear all about last night.” she smiled, revealing her perfectly white and straight teeth.

         “You couldn’t have waiting until I was up?” I laughed.

         “You are up Gracie,” she laughed too.

I loved my mom. She has always been my best friend. I tell her everything and she tells me what’s going on in her life. We’ve been told she looks more like my twin sister than my mom. She’s been asked a number of times why she hasn’t remarried.

         “I don’t need another husband. I have my Gracie. And when I die, I will like forever with my Edward.” she always says.

I smiled and told her about my night with Ethan and his friends. When I was finished, she asked four hundred questions, all of which I answered laughing. It was almost eleven when she asked her last one.

         “When do I get to meet him?”

I glanced at the clock. “CRAP! He’s coming over at eleven to help me unpack!”

         “Well then you better get up and get dressed girlie. It’s about eleven now.” my mom kissed my forehead and left me to get up. She closed the door on her way out and I could hear her dragging something down the stairs moments later. I smiled to myself as I got out of bed. I didn’t even want to know what she was going to do today, or what she was dragging with her. I quickly changed out of my over sized tee shirt and into blue soffe shorts and a white baby-doll tank. I threw my hair up in a bun, not even bothering to brush through it. Next thing I knew, I heard my mom’s footsteps again, followed by the sound of someone else’s. There was a knock on my door moments later.

         “Gracie.”

         “You can come in Mom.”

The door opened, revealing my mom with Ethan at her side.

         “Ethan’s here.”

         “Thanks mom. Hey Ethan.”

         “Hey Grace.”

         “I’ll leave you guys to yourselves. I’ll be out back if you need me sweet.”

         “Okay.”

My mom left and after the sound of her steps faded, we could hear her singing in the back yard.

         “Your mom is...”

         “Strange. Odd. Different. Yeah, tell me about it.” I pulled a few large boxes into the middle of the room.

         “I was going to say awesome. She reminds me so much of you.”

I laughed. “Yeah, she’s pretty great.”

Ethan smiled and glanced around my room. He noticed the broken picture frame on my dresser. I watched as he walked over to it and picked it up. Ethan then sat down on the window seat, starring at the photo.

         “Your dad?” he finally spoke.

         “Yeah. That was my last birthday with him.” I sat down next to him and took the frame. “The last time I heard him speak, actually.”

I felt a tear roll down my face. To my surprise, Ethan reached over and wiped it away.

         “Don’t cry Grace.”

         “I’m sorry. It’s still kinda hard to talk about.”

         “I know. My dad died before I even turned one. He had skin cancer.”

         “Oh, Ethan I’m so sorry.”

         “Yeah, thanks. But at least you have memories of your dad. I was too little to understand my father was never coming back.”

I looked down. “Sometimes not knowing is better. Sometimes I wish I was younger so I wouldn’t have all the painful memories.”

Ethan placed an arm around my shoulders and pulled me close.          

         “I would give anything for those memories. For remembering every time he made me laugh. The look on his face when he gave me a present.” he pointed to my picture. “I would give anything for the memory of that day.”

I shook my head as a few more tears escaped my eyes.

         “I would gladly give up that memory. This was the day he died.”

         “Oh-Grace. I didn’t know.” Ethan apologized. He took my hands in his and gently turned me to face him.

         “No, I know. It’s okay. It’s just. I haven’t talked about all of this in a really long time.”

         “You don’t have to tell me.”

         “I know, but for some reason I feel that I should. You told me about your dad. I think, if we are going to be friends, you should know about mine.”

Ethan nodded, and turned quiet to let me speak, but he never let go of my hands.

         “My dad left my party that day to go to work. He worked at night sometimes so he could stay home with me during the day. He never came home the next morning. My mom called his work, but they said he never came in. She didn’t know whom else to call, so we waited. I didn’t really understand what was going on, just that my dad wasn’t there, and he was supposed to be. I remember sitting on my mom’s lap by the phone, the running shoes he gave me in my small hands. The phone rang later that morning and my mom started crying. It

took her a while to tell me that my dad was never coming home.”

         “Do you know how he... died?” Ethan asked hesitantly.

I nodded. “When I was old enough, I was told he was hit by a drunk driver, both died at the scene. It was such a mess, it took the EMT’s a while to identify the bodies.” 

         “Oh, Grace...”

Ethan held me in his arms while I cried. My mom was still singing in the backyard, and the sun was still shining., but it was dark in my eyes. Memories of my dad always brought me down.

         “Grace, sweetheart, please stop crying. I know it’s hard, but I don’t think your dad wants you to spend your life behind a curtain of tears.” Ethan soothed me.

         “I’m sorry. I shouldn’t have laid all that on you like that.”

         “No, I’m glad you did. I feel like I know so much more about you now. Please Gracie, know that you can tell me anything, okay?”

I nodded and wiped away my tears. “You called me Gracie.”

Ethan smiled. “Sorry, let’s get to the unpacking, Australia.”

I laughed, “I thought you forgot.”

         “About the nickname, or the unpacking?”

         “Honestly, both.”

Ethan stood and threw a pillow at me.

         “Never.” he smiled and moved over to the boxes in the middle of the floor.

         It took us about an hour and a half to get bored with unpacking all my stuff. I only had a few boxes of clothes left, so we decided to quit for the day. We were lying on my floor, starring at the ceiling when Ethan suggested we go to the beach.

         “Sure, let’s go tell my mom we’re leaving.” I hopped up and Ethan followed me downstairs and into the back yard. My mom was in the shade of a few palm trees, surrounded by mountains of stuff I had never seen before.

         “Uhh.. Mom?.. what are you doing?”

         “Oh, hey Gracie. I’m building a sundial. It’s not really–does that look right to you–  maybe it goes this way–”

I laughed. “Okay mom. Ethan and I are going to head down to the beach.”

         “You finished unpacking already?” my mom looked up at us. She wore her favorite red Chanel sun glasses and a large floppy white hat.

         “Sorta. As close as we’re going to get before we kill ourselves.”

         “Well we wouldn’t want that.” she laughed “Okay sweet. Be home in time for dinner. Ethan, you’re welcome to join us.”

         “Thanks Mrs. Sawyer. I’d be happy to.” Ethan smiled.

I saw my mom cringe at the sound of her own last name. It was still painful for her to hear that she was married; Married to a man that was now dead.

         “Jayne, Ethan. Please, call me Jayne.”

         “Okay, Jayne then. Thanks for the invite.”

I knew that Ethan understood why my mom wanted him to call her that. He

seemed to understand everything about me and my life.



         We left my mom to her sundial and made our way to the beach.





         Ethan and I stayed at the beach until dark. He told me more about his dad, from what his mom had said about him. He didn’t cry though. I was such a baby. As we watched the sun sink into the warm waves, my mind wandered back to my dad. Could he see me right now? What did he think? Was he proud? What about mom? There were so many questions that I wish I could ask him. I laid down in the warm sand and stared up at the sky. A few moments later, Ethan copied me.

         “He’s up there you know.” Ethan whispered

         “What, can you read minds or something?”

         “That would sound more impressive, but sorry, no. You just got really quiet all of a sudden. I figured you were thinking about him.”

         “You’re right. I was.”

         “You were? As in past tense. So what are you thinking about now?”

         “If he’s met your dad. And if they’re watching us right now.”

         “I’m sure they are.”

         “You’re always so sure about everything. How do you know?”

         “I don’t Grace, really. I just have this feeling that they’re there. Watching our every move and protecting us in their own way.”

         “Like guardian angels.”

         “Yeah, like guardian angels.” Ethan laughed suddenly.

         “What?” I demanded, sitting up.

         “Hmph. Nothing. Just imagining my dad, and yours, with wings.”

I laughed too, and gently pushed him over into the sand, then got up and jogged off down the beach. Moments later, I was tackled to the ground.

         “Get–off–me!” I half laughed, half gasped for air as I tried to roll over. Ethan’s massive, muscular body caged me in.

Ethan laughed as well, and shifted so I could roll over to face him.

         “I hope my dad’s not watching now.” he said.

         “Why?” I was confused.

         “The last time I was with him, I was barely running around in diapers. Now I’m about to kiss a girl.”

I blushed and closed my eyes.

My day of remembering ended with a kiss from Ethan Reivers.

         We walked back to my house in the middle of the street, laughing and shoving each other around, for a homemade meal and the viewing of my mom’s sundial.

Blue Skies and Butterflies

         The weeks that followed that day were bright. My mom was constantly singing as she worked around the house, and Ethan was always around. We often woke up early and went for runs along the beach and he was in the process of teaching me to surf, as promised. The sun never seemed to set over the Hawaiian beaches that summer, which ended all too soon. All of a sudden it was the last night before school started and Ethan and I were with a group of friends on the beach, watching the waves roll in. I lay on my stomach, staring into the dwindling fire, and Ethan sat beside me, absent-mindedly playing with the brown bead attached to my blue and white-stripped bikini. Kevin and Garrett were silent as well, and Matt stared off into the darkening sky. After a while, the stars began to twinkle and the fire went out, so we packed up all our stuff and walked silently to our cars. I said good-bye to Matt, Garrett and Kevin and climbed into the front seat of Ethan’s blue pick-up truck. He climbed in moments later and started the engine. We drove in ear-piercing silence back to my house. Ethan put the car in park out front, curbside, and cut the engine.

         “I can’t believe it’s over.” I whispered.

         “Me either.”

We didn’t speak again for a while. I looked down at my hands in my lap. My frayed jean shorts looked white against my tanned skin. Suddenly, Ethan’s hand was over mine.

         “You nervous about tomorrow?”

         “No, not really. I mean, I have you. And Kevin, Matt and Garrett... I just wish we had more summer left.”

         “Me too. There are so many things we didn’t get to do.”

         “Like what?”

         “I should have taken you to Kai Cliffs. You can jump off the top into the water. There’s an old cave in the woods we could have camped out in.”

         “My mom would have loved that.”

         “Something tells me you would have too.”

I smiled, and let go of his hand to get out of the car.

         “Where are you going?” he asked, sticking his head out of the window.

I walked around the front of the car and stopped at his rolled down window.

         “To tell you good-night. My mom is probably wondering where I am. After all, it’s a school night.” I made a face and Ethan laughed.

         “I always like when you do that. What crazy project is your mom working on now?”

         “I don’t know. Something about building a freshwater pond in the back yard.”

         “Your mom and her ideas.”

I laughed. “You love my mom.”

         “Yeah, I do. I think it’s because I see so much of her in you.”

         “Good-night Ethan.”

         “Night Australia.”

I backed away from the car and waved until Ethan was out of sight. Then I walked into my house to find my mom sitting at the kitchen table, sketching something.

         “Hey mom.”

         “Hey Gracie. How’s the boyfriend?”

         “He’s good. About as excited for school as I am.”

         “You’ll be fine Gracie. You always are at new schools.”

         “I know. Night mom. Love you.”

         “Night love.”

I left my mom to her drawing and made my way up to my room. It took me about an hour to find something that I actually wanted to wear. I finally settled on a blue short-sleeved tank, with the word “LOVE” sprawled across it in dark blue letters, and jean shorts. I found my school bag and threw in a few pencils and a calculator and placed it on the back on my desk chair. I walked over to my window seat and sat down, staring into the street below.

         “I miss you dad.” I whispered. “I always do at times like these.”

I had told Ethan that I wasn’t nervous for tomorrow, and I wasn’t... really. There were a few butterflies in my stomach, but something told me there were going to be more by morning.

         “I love you, dad. Help me out tomorrow. I’ll be thinking of you.” I reached up and grabbed the chord to my blinds. I pulled it down until I heard a small click, then let it go, the blinds falling until they hit the window sill. I changed out of my bathing suit and shorts and pulled my pajama shirt on over my head. Then turned out the light and climbed into bed, since there was nothing else I could do beside sleep until morning came.





         “Gracie. Come on sweetie. It’s six o’clock. You have to get up now.” I heard my mom whispering to me, I just chose not to listen.

         “Gracie, come on. It’s time for school. You need to get up or you’re going to be late.”

         “Mhmm.” I mumbled so she knew that I was at least alive.

         “Grace Marie. If you are not dressed and downstairs in twenty minutes, I’m going to come up here and drag you from your bed, force feed you and send you to school in your pajamas.”

I heard her stand and walk away, then after the slight click of the door shutting. I unwillingly rolled over and looked at the clock. 6:02.

         “Mhmm.” I groaned.

It took a few moments for my eyes to adjust to the bright light my mom had turned on. It took five minutes for me to actually get out of bed. I was dressed ten minutes later and staring out the front window at the sunrise.

         “Don’t you love the early morning.” my mom said cheerfully, coming up behind me and placing her hands on my shoulder.

         “You just took ten minutes trying to get me out of bed. Do you really think I love early mornings?” I laughed as she gently squeezed my shoulders.

         “Hmph.” she laughed too, “Come on Gracie, I made waffles, with fresh fruit I grew in the garden.” she skipped out of my room and down the stairs.

         “Since when did we have a garden?” I asked, then followed her.

         “Since I planted one.” she called from the bright kitchen. I took my seat at the breakfast bar and she placed a plate in front of me, piled with a waffle and strawberries.

         “Of course. You have so many projects, I can’t even keep track anymore.”

I ate, watching my mom twirl around the kitchen, making more food than the two of us could eat in a week. We talked and laughed, like we were two seventeen year olds on spring break. After breakfast, I quickly brushed my teeth, washed up and applied my make-up; mascara, eyeliner and lip gloss. Then I quickly kissed my mom good-bye and I was off to school. The butterflies had definitely increased since last night. 

         As I pulled my 1997 Camry into the school parking lot, I felt eyes follow me. I took the next available parking spot: next to a blue convertible. There were three girls in it, along with two guys surrounding the car. They unwillingly moved out of the way for me. I kept my pink ray bans on as I grabbed my school bag, keys and got out of the car so they couldn’t see my eyes. I slammed the door shut and started to walk away, when one of the girls called to me.

         “Hey, you’re the new girl.. Uh.. What’s your name?”

I turned around, “Grace Sawyer.”

         “Right right. Girls this was the girl I told you about.”

A brown haired girl wearing barely any clothing spoke after her friend finished.

         “Right, the girl that was always running with Ethan. You know, Ethan is way out of your league. You should just quit now and return to–where are you from?”

         “Australia. I’m from Australia.” I knew these girls. Well, not really. But they were the stereotypical ‘popular’ girls, that every guy in the school wanted, but had no chance in getting. Every school had them; I don’t know why I thought this one would be different. A boy with long curly black hair smiled and looked over my outfit.

         “I have a boyfriend.” I mumbled glaring at him.

         “Oh, really?” A blonde girl piped up. She had to be the gossiper of the group. “Who?”

         “I don’t think you need to know. We’re not friends.”

         “We could be,” the black haired girl who spoke first said.

         “No, we couldn’t. I have to go.” I turned on my heel and walked away. I heard them laughing, probably making fun of something I said. Whatever. I entered the main building and looked around for the office. I was staring at my schedule when a pair of tanned hands covered my eyes. I started laughing.

         “Ethan, I can’t see.” I giggled.

         “That’s the point sweet. How did you know it was me?”

         “I don’t know anyone else here, who else would it be?”

         “Good point. Anyway, I thought I’d take you around school, show you where everything is. Where to first?”

         “The office. I need my transcript and stuff.”

         “Right this way then.” Ethan smiled and took my hand, leading me to the office. I don’t know why, but the butterflies in my stomach where increasing as I neared the doors.

         “Australia... Australia...”

         “What Ethan?” I snapped.

         “Woah. I just wanted to know if you were okay, you’re shaking.”

I blushed. “Sorry love, I’m just more nervous than I thought I guess.”

Ethan gently squeezed my hand. “Everything will be okay. You’ve had to start over how many times before?”          

         “This is my fifth.” I nervously smiled. “Peace of cake.”

We walked into the office and I waited in front of the counter until the secretary was free.

         “Hello. Can I do something for you?” she asked politely.

         “Yeah, I’m new this year. I was told to come here and get my paperwork.”

         “Okay, well welcome dearie, what’s your name?”          

         “Grace Sawyer.”

         “One moment Grace.”

We waited while she went into the back room to search for my stuff. I could feel Ethan standing behind me, his steady breath on my neck. Moments later, she returned, handed me a folder and we left. The door clicked behind us and Ethan spoke.

         “See, easy.”

         “Yeah. Easy.” I smiled weakly.

         “What’s you’re first class?”

         “AP English.”

         “Smart ass.” Ethan poked me in the side.

         “Hey!” I laughed.

         “I’m just kidding. You have Mr. Hakulaki. He’s awesome, one of the best.”

         “Okay, what do you have?”

         “AP physics.”

         “Yeah, and I’m a smart ass.”

Ethan smiled.

         He was standing at my locker when last bell rang for us to get to class. The front door of the building opened and the three girls I had my first conversation with walked in. My luck, their lockers were all next to mine.

         “Hello Ethan.” the brown-haired girl swooned over him. It made me sick. Now I know why I was ‘out of his league’. This chic had a thing for him. I muffled a laugh. Boy was she in for a surprise.

         “Hey Vicky.” Ethan moved to the other side of me.

         “So nice of you to show our new classmate around.”

I looked at Ethan, who rolled his eyes, then back at Vicky.

         “Yeah. I guess.” he mumbled.

         “We had such a pleasant conversation this morning, didn’t we Grace?”          

         “Sure, if you want to call it that.” I said. My nervous stomach felt like it was going to explode.

Vicky smiled. “I think she likes you Ethan.” I felt like I was going to puke as she battered her fake eyelashes at the boy behind me.

I felt Ethan’s breath on my neck again as he muffled a laugh. “I should hope so. She is my

girlfriend.”

I tried not to laugh out loud as Vicky’s jaw dropped.

         “Did I leave that out of our ‘pleasant conversation’ this morning? My bad.” I smiled warmly. The butterflies had disappeared as I slammed my locker shut and turned to walk away.

         “See yah ‘round Vicky.” Ethan said. He took my hand and we walked off to class.