Page 28 of Fall From Grace

He met my eyes and I started crying again. “Don’t be upset with Grace,” he couldn’t help but say before he walked down the stairs and out the door.

I stepped backward the moment he was gone not knowing what my parents were going to say to me. Only Dad didn’t even turn around to face me. He got to the steps before he fell to his butt and cried. I was frozen in place and couldn’t believe I was watching and listening to my father cry. Mom was still beside me but even she was crying. I wondered if her tears were for the fact that she was disappointed in me or that she was sad to see my relationship ruined with Noah because of these new feelings I had for him.

“How could he?” Dad yelled through his tears. “You’re my baby, Gracie.”

“Dad,” I whispered, crying with him. “We didn’t mean to make anyone upset.”

He turned his head and looked at me. “It’s the fact that you’re only thirteen Grace and you’re still growing! You can’t make decisions like that with your body randomly or even under my roof!”

“Nothing you’re thinking happened,” I told him. “I’m sorry, I’m truly am.”

I was. I felt terribly guilty and sad that I disappointed them like this. I had two parents that looked at me like I could do anything, which was one of the reasons I excelled in school. My parents gave me everything and I returned it with heartache.

Even now, I wanted to beg them to forgive us so that I could keep spending time with Noah out of school. But I didn’t because I knew now was not the time. The damage was done. I would just have to wait and see what tomorrow held.

“Go to bed, Grace, I don’t feel like talking about this tonight,” Dad said, standing up and going downstairs.

“Mom,” I pleaded as she started walking.

“I know you and Noah care for one another, but understand your dad, and understand me, it hurts because you’re getting older and there’s nothing we can do to stop it.”

15

Grace age 13

Noah age 13

When it rains, it pours.

N.P.

I slept in that Saturday morning and didn’t wake until something slobbery and warm slid over my cheek repeatedly until I opened my eyes. A black puppy with blue eyes wagged his tail at me and I raised up. “Oh God, where did you come from?” I asked and scooped him up in my arms. He kept trying to get to my face and I laughed until I saw Mom standing in the doorway watching me.

“Your dad picked him up at the shelter today and brought him home for you,” she said, stepping into my room and sitting down at the edge of the bed.

“I don’t understand.” I kept petting the little black monster. “I did something I shouldn’t have and you guys finally let me have a puppy?” I asked in disbelief. I’d wanted a pet my whole life and this was how I got one?

Dad stormed in my room next. “I’m sure this little guy will bark his head off when we get unexpected visitors at night.” I sighed, so that was what he was for. My guard dog. “They said he was most likely a Husky and German Shepherd mixed,” he added before leaving the room. His ears made him look like a German Shepherd. I rubbed my thumbs on the inside of them.

“His puppy pads are downstairs, it’s your job to teach him how to use them until you can train him to go outside.”

I nodded quickly. “Um, Mom.” She sighed as soon as I said her name. “Do you think you and Dad are going to let Noah come back over again? He’s spent half his life over here at our house!”

“Stop trying to make us feel like the bad ones, Grace.”

“I know.” I looked down at the puppy. “I’m sorry. It’s just… I feel like Noah needs me in his life, especially right now…”

“I don’t know, your Dad’s really upset. Give him time.”

_____

My heart hurt. My stomach protested to food. I felt guilty that I hurt my parents. I felt lonely and sad that I couldn’t just walk over and talk to Noah, who I knew I’d feel at ease next to. I’d sit on the porch with Gus—the name I gave the Husky mix. I couldn’t stay outside more than a couple of minutes at a time because it was too cold out. Noah wouldn’t come over today, he wouldn’t make things worse for me, and for someone that had always cared what my parents thought of him, I knew this must be making him feel guilty too.

Which meant I probably wouldn’t see him until Monday at school.

Only that wouldn’t be the case. Sometimes things happen that you’d least expect, then there were the things that happened that you tried to prevent. The ones that kept you up at night in fear of them becoming a reality.

That night, the sirens pierced through my dreams. Normally, nothing could hardly wake me but the sound was deafening through my room. The first thing I thought was it was going to Noah’s house. In my head, I told myself I was wrong, and in order to prove myself that, I just had to see which house the ambulance pulled into.