Chapter 6 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; judgemental. 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, 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 Facebook, 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.