Chapter Two - It Isn't The First Time

Ryland

I have been staying in a hotel with my mom for the last couple of weeks since we moved here, only until our house is ready, which will be tomorrow. I will be happy to have my own space back. It is a lot sharing one hotel room with my mom. Neither of us has much privacy. 

I am sitting in my car outside the hotel, thinking about Gracie. Tonight isn’t the first time I’ve seen her. I have seen her a couple of times since we got into town. She never noticed me until tonight. I can’t explain it. The second my eyes fell on her for the first time, I was drawn to her. It makes me sound like some crazy stalker, but that isn’t the case at all. Any time I have seen her, she has been laughing and smiling with her friends, but I could sense straight away that she isn’t as happy as she seems to the rest of the world. I can see the sadness that surrounds her. She is keeping secrets. What secrets I don’t know, but she is. 

A broken person can always tell when someone else is broken. I am broken, and I can see it in her, too. The only reason I know her name is by accident. I heard one of her friends call for her. Gracie will see me sooner than she thinks. After being lost in my thoughts for a while, I head inside. 

“Hello, son. Did you have a good night? Did you stay out of trouble?” my mom asks, raising her brow at me. 

“It was fine. I did not get into any trouble.” I reply, annoyed. 

She nods. “Okay, make sure it stays that way. We can’t keep moving because you can’t behave.” 

I get myself into a lot of trouble, I am not denying that. It would be nice if my own mother had a little faith in me. I don’t ask to move. I mean, I could go to another if or when I get expelled. It is her who chooses to move to another town, rather than moving me to a new school. 

I roll my eyes. “I know, Mom. Will you get off my back?” 

I don’t give her the chance to say anything else. I head to the bathroom to shower. I stay in the shower longer than I need to in the hope that she will fall asleep. I love my mom, she raised me on her own, but she can be a pain in my ass sometimes. 

I step out, dry off and change into my pjs. When I return, I notice she is still awake. 

“Have you eaten? Or do you want me to order in?” 

“I am fine. Go to sleep. We have a busy few days ahead of us.” 

She nods and gets herself into bed. I climb into mine. The sooner I get my own room again, the better. I never understood why we didn’t stay in the old house until the new one was ready. My mom was told when she bought the new house that the current tenants weren’t moving out for a few weeks. She still insisted we come to this damn town. I hate small towns. Everyone knows everyone’s business. 

I take my cell out and decide if I can find Gracie anywhere. I am curious about the life she lives. I start by looking at a couple of people from the party who added me on F******k. I wanted to see if any of them had her. It takes time, but finally, she comes up in my friend’s suggestion. I won’t add her, not now.

I go onto her page, hoping it isn’t private. It isn’t. I click into it and look through it. There isn’t much on it. She doesn’t seem to post often, something unusual for people our age. There are a couple of posts and about ten photos. I click the images to zoom in on one of them. I notice the sadness in her eyes, the same one I have seen whenever I have seen her. 

“What is your story?” I whisper. 

I knew straightaway she was different from everyone else. I can’t explain why. She is beautiful, even with the sadness behind her pretty brown eyes. I don’t get pulled in by girls. I prefer only to have fun with them, use them for my needs. With Gracie, something is different, something is drawing me in like a moth to a flame. I make sure my alarm is set for tomorrow before setting my cell aside. 

Tomorrow is my first day at my new school. I dread it. I hate school. It isn’t for me. It is the reason I always get myself expelled. Three schools in the last two years, not so good. Why my mom keeps insisting I go back, I don’t know. Nothing ever changes. I told her I would rather work than go to school. 

It isn’t like I can’t do the work. I am not stupid. I can do the work easily. I just hate it. This new school isn’t going to be any different. It is my last year, and I will turn eighteen soon, which means I can leave if I want to. No one can stop me. 

Tomorrow is going to be like every other first day, pointless and a waste of my time. The only thing to look forward to is the new house. I hope to run into Gracie tomorrow. I know she goes to the same school I am starting since she was at the party tonight. There aren’t any other high schools around here. The next one is miles away and private. She doesn’t seem like the private school type. 

With Gracie around, I will have something to occupy myself with. I wonder if she is still thinking about what happened and about who I am. She probably will be because it isn’t every day you have an encounter like ours with a stranger. I will find out tomorrow when I see her reaction to me at school. She will either come up to me or run away from me the same way she did earlier. 

Gracie was attracted to me. It is why she couldn’t keep her eyes off me and why she tried to disappear from me. Hopefully, my behaviour hasn’t freaked her out too much. I don’t want that. I don’t plan on backing off, though. I can be very persistent when I need to be. 

I need to be at school half an hour before classes start tomorrow to see the principal and be told the rules. Rules are pointless for me because I don’t follow them. I break them. The principal wants me to get a buddy to show me around, someone who will be in my classes. How old am I? Ten? I don’t need someone to escort me around. I can find my way. Whoever I get stuck with won’t last long. I will put them off escorting me within the first hour. It is usually a good boy/girl type they get to do these things. I will become a bad influence on them. The principal will learn the hard way. If I can request someone, that may be a different story. I could ask for Gracie. Hmm, that is an idea. I wouldn’t mind her escorting me around all day. 

Gracie may not like the idea, but I sure do. I smirk to myself at the thought. I am going to try. I will tell them I know someone whom I will feel comfortable with. The principal doesn’t need to know we are strangers. My first day may not be so bad after all. 

“Goodnight, Ryland. I hope you have your alarm set.” 

“I do. Goodnight.” I reply, rolling my eyes. 

“Good, then get to sleep.” My mom replies firmly.

I make myself comfortable for the night. Tomorrow is a new day, a fresh start. Yeah, right, it may be a different town, but everything else will be the same. The sooner I hit eighteen, the better.