| Chapter Thirteen |
| February 14th was a day that would go down in history. Okay, so maybe historians weren't going to write books about it, but Grace would remember today for the rest of her life. It was definitely a five exclamation point day. It all started around 10 o'clock in the morning. Grace woke up to find that she wasn't in her bedroom. She couldn't remember how she had ended up in Lynn's living room. Briefly, a feeling of panic rose in her chest, but then she remembered earlier that morning. She'd arrived at 5 am to help Lynn and Paul pack up the last of their stuff. They were leaving on their five day cruise to?somewhere. After they were all set to go, Lynn took Grace aside. Seeing how tired Grace was (she'd gone to sleep very late -- spider solitaire was extremely addictive!), Lynn refused to leave until she knew Grace wouldn't be driving. "You could fall asleep at the wheel," she said with a shake of her head. "I'll be fine. I drove here." "And thank God you're okay," reaching into her pocket, she pulled out a key, "promise you'll sleep in one of the guest bedrooms." Grace refused at first, but Lynn said she wouldn't leave until Grace agreed. "Are you sure you don't mind?" She was too tired to argue anymore. Lynn shook her head and placed the key in Grace's hand. "Don't forget to lock up when you leave. Justin's out of town, so there won't be anyone here all week." "I will. Have a nice trip." "See you soon, honey," Lynn briefly hugged Grace. As the limo pulled away, Grace contemplated leaving anyways, but her conscience got the best of her. But she refused to sleep in a guest bedroom; it just seemed weird, so she slept on the sofa. And now here she was, with frizzy hair and crumpled clothes. The house was eerily quiet; she didn't know how Lynn and Paul could live in such a huge house. Even when Justin was around, the place seemed too big. But, she supposed, if she had a lot of money, she'd buy a big house too. Oh, that sounded so crass. Sitting up, she pulled her handy dandy sweater closer around her. Not that it was cold, it just seemed like something to do. Should she leave? She moved to get up, but out of the corner of her eye she saw Paul's pride and joy, his Panasonic - 50" Widescreen HD-Ready Plasma TV. It was a TV-aholics dream. "Why not?" she thought and reached for the remote control on the coffee table. Flipping through the channels, she made herself more comfortable on the sofa. Being here was probably better than being at home with Mindy. How depressing would it be to watch her receive gifts from her boyfriend? There would probably be roses from a few of her ex's who hadn't quite gotten over her. Mindy loved Valentine's Day; according to her, it was like a second Christmas. Grace hated it. During her teen years, she'd often referred to February the 14th as "Lock yourself in your room and stuff your face day". Nothing like Valentine's Day to make a fat girl feel fatter. Ugh, she was whining again. What did it matter that she was alone on the official day of love? She had family and friends who loved her; she didn't need a boyfriend. Lies, lies, lies. She continued flipping through the channels. It was like the TV had turned against her. Every stupid channel was showing a romantic movie. Even the sci-fi channel! "I though we were old friends. See if I ever watch you again," she grumbled to the television set. Blushing, she glanced around the room. Nobody had heard her. She was alone. Alone, alone, alone. "If you don't stop whining, I'm going to leave," she said to herself. She was going crazy! See what this contrived holiday did to her? Deciding it was better to watch a movie than continue talking to herself, Grace settled on She's All That. It was one of her favorite movies, but today all she could do was roll her eyes at everything. She repeatedly called out, "As if Rachel Leigh Cook looks ugly just because she has glasses and a unibrow!" and "How many guys in high school look like Freddie Prinze Jr.?" It was actually making her feel a little better. By the time the movie was over, Grace was feeling extremely giddy. When Never Been Kissed began a few moments later, she was ready for another round of movie bashing. "I never had an English teacher who looked like Michael Vartan," she remarked, "I went to the wrong high school." "I know what you mean. My English teacher was an old, balding guy." She couldn't help it; she let out a scream. Justin's eyes widened, and he took a protective step back. "Uh?sorry," he stuttered, obviously shocked. Grace buried her head in her hands. She was embarrassed beyond belief. "You scared me." She took a few calming breaths, "I'm sorry I screamed." Stepping back into the room, albeit hesitantly, Justin ran a hand over his head, "I didn't mean to scare you." He licked his lips nervously. Shifting his from foot to foot, he said, "I thought the house was empty." She explained why she was in his house, finishing with, "I thought you were out of town." "I am," he paused, "that is, I'm leaving today." "Oh, I guess Lynn must have been confused. She thought you'd already left." The tips of his ears turned pink, but only briefly. "Wanna hear a secret?" His voice sounded conspiratorial. Grace's heart did a flip, he was adorable when he was being wicked. Not that he wasn't adorable all the time. "Sure." "I told her I was leaving last night. I was actually staying over with?a friend." His grin told her just how friendly his friend was. He wasn't so adorable anymore. "Oh." "So anyways," he said when she didn't say more, "I'll be seeing you." "Wait!" He paused, brows quirked in interest. "Huh?" She wasn't quite sure what she wanted to say. "Umm?," say something, she hollered to herself, you look like an idiot, "Would you like to watch TV with me?" "I'd love to, but I have to pack." "Oh." She should have that word tattooed on her forehead. Then, in a moment of inspiration (and insanity), she replied, "I could help. I'm an expert checklist maker?uh?yeah." Dork, dork, dork. Justin thought about it momentarily and shrugged his shoulders, "Sure, why not." Forgetting that she should pretend to be calm, Grace leapt off the sofa. This was the best Valentine's Day of her life. The jury was out on whether that was a good or bad thing. |