Chapter Four - It Can't Be

Ryland 

I am on my way home since school is finished. I offered to give Gracie a lift, but she had something to do after school. I was disappointed when she said she wasn’t heading up straightaway. I would have waited, but I needed to rush home to help my mom move us in. She has movers aiding her most of the day. I did offer to stay out of school to help, but of course, she said no. I am eager to sleep in my own bed. The hotel's beds weren’t the most comfortable. 

I put the address into my satnav before I started driving. I have only been to the house once when we viewed it. I am not familiar with the area. It isn’t too far from school, it turns out, because I am arriving in no time. I hate moving. It is so much work. I hate getting new neighbours. My mom is one of those people who tries to make friends with everyone. It works for her, but it annoys me. I don’t like meeting new people. They are all the same, judgmental. We are never around long enough to truly get to know anyone, so it is pointless. 

I pull up outside and see the movers are still here. I groan. I hoped everything would already be sorted and I wouldn’t need to do much. It makes me seem lazy, but doing all this moving malarkey over and over again gets annoying. 

Mom smiles when she sees me get out of the car. “Good, you are here. You can help with the last of things.” 

I stop from rolling my eyes and nod. “Okay.” 

“Thank you, son. After that, you can get your room organised. You will have your space back,” she smiles. 

I return the smile. “I can’t wait.” 

I know I give my mom more challenging times than she deserves. She works hard to make a good life for us. She has always done her best for me, never blaming me for the hell she has been through. It can be overbearing at times. My behaviour has nothing to do with her. It is down to my past, a lot of which my mother is not aware of. 

I help the movers with the rest of the things. We are done within an hour, quicker than I expected. 

“Mom, I am going to sort my room.” 

“Okay. Do you want Chinese food for dinner? We aren’t quite equipped to cook yet.” She laughs. 

I nod. “Chinese food is fine.” I head up to my room. 

I make my bed first. I am tempted to climb into it, but I have too much to do. I don’t have many things. I realised a long time ago that there is no point in owning too much. The more you own, the more you need to take with you or leave behind when we move again. I get a lot done before taking a break. 

I sit on my bed and go onto F******k, adding Gracie as a friend and hoping she will accept my request and not decline it. She had enough of me today. Well, she acted like she had enough. I know she secretly enjoyed being around me, no matter how much she denies it. To my surprise, it takes her only a moment to accept it. I smirk and open a message to her.

Hey, brown eyes. Are you missing me yet? xx

Hey, can you stop calling me that? My name is Gracie. No, I am not missing you. I think you miss me, though.  

I don’t believe you, brown eyes, but okay. Yes, I do miss you. I think you should come and hang out with me xx

I can’t. I am sorry. I have too much to do. I will see you at school 

Your loss. See you at school, Gracie xx

She doesn’t reply after that. I didn’t say anything else to her either. I return to what I am doing. I want to get everything done before dinner. 

****

I am in my bedroom, getting ready for bed. I head over to close the blinds of one of my windows. I realise I can see right into my neighbour’s room from here. Why would they build houses like this? There isn’t any privacy between the homes. Taking hold of the cord, I am about to pull the blind down, but something catches my eye in the window across from me. I see a female standing in the room, her back to me. She is in a cute PJs set. I watch her for a moment. Something about the person seems familiar to me, even from the back. I look closer and realise who it is. It can’t be, can it? Gracie! 

I can’t see her face, but my gut tells me I know it is her. I smirk to myself. It's time for me to mess with her a little. I grab my cell and find her on Messenger again. She is going to freak out when she reads the message. 

Cute pjs, sweetness ;) xx

I step away from the window. I want to make sure if she turns around, she can’t see me, but I can still see her. She glances around frantically, looking out of the window, checking her closet and even under her bed. Everything she could, she checked. Does she honestly think I would be in her closet or hiding under her bed? I can’t help but laugh as I watch her. I have never seen something so hilarious in my life. I see her grab her cell, her fingers moving at the speed of light. I soon received a message back.

WTF? How do you know I am in my pjs? Are you some creepy ass stalker? What is wrong with you?

I have made her paranoid enough. 

Turn around xx

I move into full view just as Gracie turns around, and she looks straight at me. The shock on her face is priceless. I can’t help but look smug and wave. She turns her attention back to her cell, and I wait for what she is going to say next. 

What the heck????? 

Meet me outside, and I will tell you xx

Fine! I will be there in two minutes! 

I set my cell aside, slip my shoes on and head outside. My mom is already in bed, sleeping. By the time I arrive, Gracie is pacing back and forth on the small piece of grass between our houses. An oversized hoodie covers her. 

“Fancy running into you here.” I laugh.

“Why are you even here? Who do you know that stays in the house?” she asks, finally stopping her pacing and stands in front of me. 

“I don’t know anyone in that house, well, except my mother. It is my house. I moved in today.” 

“You are messing with me, right?” she whines.

I can’t work out if Gracie is mad or confused, maybe a mix of both. I don’t understand why she would be mad. I didn’t know she stayed here. I know she enjoys having me around, even if she will not admit it. 

I step into her personal space. “No, I am being honest with you. I am your new neighbour. It looks like you are not getting rid of me so easily.” 

She lets out a small giggle. “I guess I will have to get used to having you around.” 

“Yes, you will. You will enjoy having me around.” I say and place my hand on her hip. 

Gracie winces. It has nothing to do with the way I am touching her. It is the sort of noise you make when you are in pain. 

“Gracie, are you okay? Have you hurt yourself?” 

She quickly takes a step back from me. Panic floods her face. “Um, no, I am fine. I should get back inside.” 

Gracie tries to rush away. I am not going to allow that. There is something wrong with her. I reach for her, grasping her hip gently and turn her back to me. 

“Gracie, you are lying. Did someone hurt you?” 

“I told you I am fine.” She states firmly. 

She uses all her strength to pull away from me and rushes into her house. I didn’t have a chance to stop her this time. I stand here, watching as she disappears. I have a strong feeling that she is lying. She is hurt, but I don’t know if she had an accident or if someone hurt her. 

Sighing, I head back inside and to my room. I look over at her place and see she has now closed the curtains. I strip down and climb into bed. I open a message to her again. 

I am sorry if I was coming across as pushy outside, but I know you are lying. I know you are hurt. I also know you won’t tell me what happened since we barely know each other. Just know that if you need to talk, I am here, without judgment, brown eyes xx 

I will be the first to admit I am an asshole, but it doesn’t mean I don’t have a heart. I hate knowing anyone is hurting in silence. I know first-hand what it is like. 

Thank you, I appreciate that, but I am fine. I am clumsy at times. No one hurt me. I hurt myself by accident x

Somehow, I don’t believe it, not with the way she worded it. To me, those are works someone uses to hide what truly happened to them. It isn’t my place to push. If she doesn’t want to tell me, I can’t force her. 

Okay. Can I give you a ride to school tomorrow? I know you have your own car, but what is the point in taking both? X 

Yeah, that will be fine. I am going to try to sleep. See you in the morning. Goodnight xx 

 I will see you at 7:30 am? Goodnight, rest well x

I leave the conversation there and try to get myself settled down for the night. I am happy she has agreed to let us ride to school together. Maybe if we spend some time together, she will begin to open up to me. I knew from the moment I set my eyes on her that she was hiding something. Now, I have a bad feeling it is worse than I first thought. I hope I am wrong, but I don’t think I am.