| Chapter Twenty-one |
| When Grace made it back to her apartment, she did what any another mortified, heartbroken girl would do: she threw a pity party. Or so her mother would say if she could see her youngest daughter sitting in the dark and inhaling a pint of rocky road. Grace had even put her bathrobe on just because she felt it completed the pitiful picture. That’s how Mindy found her. “Good God, what happened to you?” Mindy flipped on the light and took in the sight before her. She’d never seen Grace like this, not even when Dawson’s Creek was canceled. She shook her head, knowing that a certain cheesy pop star was responsible. “I’ll kill him,” she said darkly. With a short laugh, Grace assured Mindy that there was no need for such drastic measures. “He didn’t do anything. It was all me.” Mindy took a deep breath, her hands on her hips. “Give me a minute,” she said before disappearing into her bedroom. Bemused, Grace busied herself with shoveling more ice cream into her mouth. She was probably going to regret eating so much, but right now, she could care less. In fact, she was planning on eating the other pint in the freezer. “Okay, we’re ready,” Mindy said, appearing in the doorway with her hands full. She’d put her own bathrobe on over her work clothes. “For what?” “Bonding time,” coming back into the room, she set everything down on the coffee table. She took a seat next to Grace, making herself comfortable. Grace saw her slip something behind her back. “What’s that?” “We’ll get to that later. Okay, I have the essentials,” Mindy leaned forward so that she could point to everything, “Angry chick music mix CD, autographed copy of Men are from Mars, Women are from Venus, the number to Pizza Hut, and tissues, just in case.” “Thank you, but I’m really not in the mood. I’d-” Holding up her hand, Mindy interrupted, “Don’t say you want to be alone. It’s not the truth, and you know it.” Grace disagreed. She needed to think things through, and it’d be easier if she was alone. She opened her mouth to argue, but again Mindy cut her off. “I know exactly what you want to do. You want to go back to feeling sorry for yourself. That, my friend, is just a bad idea all around.” “What do you suggest then?” “Tell me what happened, and I’ll help you figure out why it’s his fault. Then we can discuss why men suck while we listen to Alanis.” Knowing there was no arguing with her stubborn friend, Grace conceded with a small “ok.” “Now tell me what’s wrong.” Grace did. She spilled everything even the kiss on her birthday. By the time she finished, she was blushing and couldn’t look Mindy in the eye. Her roommate was silent for a long while. She was chewing on her fingernails, something Grace knew meant she was deep in thought. “Wow,” she said finally. “I don’t know what came over me. I have this horrible habit of just blurting things out, and it seems to be worse when he’s around.” Mindy was still uncharacteristically silent. She simply stared at Grace as though she was foreign creature. “I really wanted him to kiss me,” she said, mostly to fill the silence. Mindy seemed to snap out of her trance. She took Grace’s hands in her own. ”I’m so sorry, Grace. I really am.” Mindy’s concern was going to drive Grace to tears. She refused to cry; it wouldn’t solve anything. Still holding Grace’s hands, Mindy asked, “Did he say why he couldn’t? Maybe he has a cold sore.” She laughed lightly, hoping to lighten the mood. Grace missed the joke completely. She’d been thinking about it all afternoon, and she’d come up with the only explanation that made sense. “I think it’s because he doesn’t like me. I mean, come on, look at me. I’m not exactly his type. Did I ever tell you about the girl I met at his birthday party? She was beautiful! That’s the type of girl he likes.” She buried her face in her hands and mumbled, “I’ve ruined everything. Why couldn’t I just leave well enough alone? He was actually my friend. That should have been enough, but of course, I had to go and want something more.” She looked up, expecting sympathy from her friend. Instead, she received a rather annoyed look. “Are you done whining?” She had been whining, hadn’t she? “I can’t help it. Everything’s so-“ “Stop right there. Grace, I’m all for bashing men, but don’t you dare start saying you’re not good enough for him. If anything, he’s not good enough for you.” “But-“ “Nope.” “I’m-“ “Nope.” “You’re annoying me.” Mindy grinned, “Good. I’d rather have you annoyed than in your ‘oh woe is me’ mood.” “How do you know I’m not right? You don’t think it’s possible for a world famous celebrity to prefer skinny models?” “It’s possible, but it’s also possible for a one-note hack pop singer to see beyond looks and see how wonderful you are.” Grace was more than a little shocked that Mindy was defending Justin. “I thought you wanted me to get over him.” “Not if you’re going to just give up because of one mistake. ” “But-“ “Don’t you dare start with all that again.” “I was just going to point out that Justin did turn me down.” Mindy was thoughtful for a moment, “I know but if you think about it, that doesn’t really mean anything. ‘I can’t’ can be taken in a lot of ways. Things would be different if he’d said something like ‘Well, gee golly, I don’t like you like that, Grace. I like chicks with big boobs and no IQ.’” Despite herself, Grace laughed. “I guess you have a point.” “Of course I do,” she replied smugly. “So what should I do?” Shaking her head, Mindy replied, “I can’t tell you that. You dug the hole, now you have to get out of it. My job was to make sure you just didn’t wallow in self pity at the bottom of it.” She paused and added in a soothing voice, “Everything will turn out fine. Even if you two are meant to be just friends, it’ll all work out.” “Thank you, Yoda.” Laughing, Mindy was her usual boisterous self when she asked, “So do you feel better yet?” “Much better.” Grace still wasn’t sure what was going to happen, but talking to Mindy had helped. She wasn’t going to quit her job, which she’d been seriously considering earlier. Mindy grinned, and pulled a DVD from behind her back, “Good, now it’s time for the movie.” “Movie?” She took the case from Mindy. “Love Killz 2?” “The perfect ‘God, I hate being in love’ movie. This girl Lola is getting married, but she still loves all her ex’s, so she does what any sensible girl would do: she kills them. Oh my God, you won’t even believe what she does to her high school sweetheart!” “How romantic,” Grace said sarcastically. “Just imagine everyone one of them if Justin right after he said ‘I can’t’. It’ll make your day.” “This sounds kind of weird.” Mindy shrugged, “It’s all a part of being a girl in love.” |