Ch.3 Secrets
I lied down and closed my eyes. I tried to go to sleep but I couldn't. I kept wondering if she was lying to me. I wondered if Mr. Dimitri knew that he crossed a line. I wondered what he knew and what was being kept a secret. I had all of these questions and I wanted answers. I questioned whether Grace would do something like this. It seems as if her and me had grown apart. I started to blame Mr. Dimitri for the gap between Grace and me. In the back of my mind, I knew that he could give her something that I couldn't. But it felt like he was stealing . . . her away from me. I didn't want her to be closer to him. I guess, in a way, I was jealous of their "relationship."
Before I knew it, my alarm clock was going off. I only slept for a couple of hours. I got up, got dressed, and made the bed. The day started out as normal. I tried to block out the day before. I wanted to forget that it happened. I started to cook the breakfast when Grace came down. All of those feelings and questions from the day before came right back to me.
"Good morning." She said putting something in her book bag.
"Morning sweetie. You want some breakfast?" I said looking at the eggs in skillet.
"No. I think I'll just skip breakfast. I have to be at school kind of early."
"Oh. Do you want me to make you a lunch?" I said wanting her to be that little girl that depended on her mother.
"No. I'm just going to buy my lunch today." She said as she grabbed her book bag and started towards the door. "Bye Mom."
"Grace, wait." I said as she turned around. I knew that she wanted to leave early just so she could avoid the awkward situation. "Look, Grace. About yesterday I-uh I wanted to . . ."
"Mom, I really need to be there. I got to go." She turned around and headed towards the door. Not even looking back she said, "We can talk about it later." She opened the door and then closed it. I knew that I couldn't hold it in. I had to tell someone. Someone who just might understand it and help me with it. So I picked up the phone and dialed Judy's number.
"Hello." Judy said.
"You just wake up?" I said knowing that she did.
"No. I've been up." She said.
" I'm sorry. Can you meet me for some coffee?" I asked hoping that she would say yes.
"Sure, But, why. I mean, couldn't you have called later and asked me this." She said hinting at me to let her sleep a little more.
"No. I will tell you all about it there."
"About what."
"This big thing. I can't tell you now. Meet me in two hours."
"Fine. I got to go. Bye Lily."
"Bye." I said hanging up the phone. I turned around and realized that Zoe was right behind me.
"Hi Mom." She said with this big smile on her face.
"Hi honey. Did you sleep good?"
"Yea. Grace woke me up though." She said in that sweet, innocent little voice.
"She did?"
"Yea. She kept going in and out of her room. I think she was looking for something." Zoe said as she got out some orange juice and a cup.
"Did she find what she was looking for?" I said hoping to get some answers out of her.
"She had a book in her hand the whole entire time. Sometimes she would go into the bathroom and look at herself in the mirror." She said as she spilt the orange juice that she was trying to put in her cup. "I'm sorry Mom."
"It's ok Zoe." I said grabbing a wash cloth and washing off the table with the juice on it. Zoe drank the juice that got in her cup, she then put the cup on the counter.
"Bye Mom." She said hugging me.
"Bye sweetie." I said hugging her back. She then grabbed her book bag and went out the door.
