~A Once and Again Series~
The Way We Were
Chapter 27//Selfish Notions
"So, they are like really good, and they even got a gig," Grace said to her mother in the kitchen before school.
"That's great, honey," Lily said, finishing up making Zoe's lunch. "Zoe! Hurry up, or you'll be late!" She called.
Grace leaned forward, resting her hands on the island as she talked to her mother. "It's this Friday... at a really cool coffee bar place. And I really want to go."
"Oh!" Lily said, understanding. She looked up at her daughter, unsure. "I'll have to think about it... what time is it at?"
"Uh, 10... but it's not a school night, so I thought it would be cool." Grace nervously awaited her mother's answer. If she didn't get to go to Eli's band's first gig, she'd be crushed.
"Well, why don't we all go?" Lily said, smiling. "I'm sure Rick and Jessie will be there too... it will be fun."
Grace's shoulders slumped at this, but she knew better than to try and fight it. She forced a smile, "Yeah, fun."
"What's fun?" Zoe asked, coming into the room.
"Oh, we're going to Eli's band, Anti-in..." Lily looked to Grace.
"Anti-inflammatory," Grace supplied.
"We're going to their gig on Friday," Lily told Zoe. Zoe smiled. Grace looked away with a sigh.
[[Grace - Now it's turned into another 'family date'... Eli and I won't even be able to kiss or anything, with our parents there..... *sighs*]]
* * *
"Don't you wish the snow would melt sooner?" Eli asked, coming up behind Grace on the school lawn. He began to lean in to kiss Grace, but she turned and waved at her mother, who was still parked at the curb. Eli noticed Lily watching and stopped. "So, when do you think we should break it to them?"
"I don't know," Grace said, the thought of it tiring her. "I guess it doesn't really matter... since they already thought we were dating earlier, but--- I just want to keep us secret for a while... have this for myself, and not have to share it with my family yet.... does that sound selfish?"
"No, not at all," Eli said. He turned his head, watching Lily drive around the corner, and then turned back to Grace, kissing her softly.
Grace kissed him back, his touch warming her in the slightly chilly February air.
"Grace!"
Grace and Eli reluctantly broke, and looked at the newcomer.
"Hi Carla," Grace said, smiling at her friend, even though Carla had interrupted a nice moment.
Eli looked at Grace in confusion, and Grace realized she hadn't mentioned her new friendship with Carla to him yet.
[[Grace - I didn't purposely not tell him.... it just didn't come up. I.... *confused look* I kind of didn't want to tell him either... I didn't know what he'd say. I mean, Carla's a very out-there girl.]]
"Uh, Carla, this is my boyfriend, Eli," Grace introduced them.
"Hey," Carla said, waving at Eli. "I like your hair."
Eli touched his spiked hair lightly and smiled unsurely at Carla. "Uh, thanks."
"So, Grace... I brought that CD you wanted to hear. We could go listen to it in the language lab," Carla said, turning her attention back to Grace.
"Now?" Grace asked, surprised. She looked up at Eli, who looked slightly confused by Carla's sudden appearance in Grace's life.
[[Eli - She never mentioned a friend named Carla... And I've heard of Carla... she's not like Grace's other friends.]]
"Yeah! We still have--" Carla checked her watch, "Seven minutes before class. We could listen to maybe two whole songs."
Grace looked back at Eli, who shrugged. "I should probably try and find Markie anyway."
"Okay," Grace said hesitantly. She started to follow Carla, but stopped, "So, I'll see you at lunch?"
"Yeah, lunch." Eli agreed. Grace and Carla left, laughing together over something. Eli watched them go, scratching his head.
* * *
"So, he's cute!" Carla said as they sat in the language lab, with the headphones on, listening to the CD.
"Huh?" Grace asked, pulling the headphones off her ears.
"Your boyfriend!" Carla cried, not bothering to remove her own headphones... just talking over the loud music. "He's hot!"
"Thanks," Grace said, with a smile.
"So, your parents are dating?" Carla asked loudly.
Grace nodded. She looked at the clock, and pointed out the time to Carla. Carla took off the headphones and took out her CD from the computer drive. They left the lab.
"So, he might be your stepbrother someday?" Carla continued.
"Yeah..." Grace said softly.
"Are you still going to date him after your parents get married?" Carla asked, snapping her gum.
"Of course!" Grace cried. Then, as an afterthought, "Why wouldn't I?"
Carla shrugged, "I dunno... it just might be weird, is all."
"It's already weird." Grace said, stopping as they reached her classroom.
"I'll see you at lunch," Carla said as she began to move down the hall.
"I'm eating with Eli," Grace informed her.
Carla shrugged with a wicked grin, "So, I don't mind if you kiss in front of me..."
Grace watched her disappear down the hall and escaped into her classroom, just as the bell was ringing.
* * *
"I thinking of getting a job..." Lily said to Rick as they had lunch together.
"You already have a job..." Rick reminded her.
Lily took a bite of her sandwich. "I know, but the bookstore doesn't have enough money to support me anymore."
They sat in silence a few more moments. Then Rick said, "Actually, my office is hiring."
"Architecture?" Lily asked with a smile.
"Well, it's for a secretary. You know, just answer phones, and take down messages..."
"I think I could handle that... but I was thinking of maybe getting back into doing editorial work, like I did in college and after college before I met Jake," Lily explained.
"Oh," Rick said, slightly disappointed.
[[Rick - Yeah, it would be nice to have her be working in the same office as me... but if that's not what she wants... then.....]]
"But, maybe I should think about... can I think about it?" Lily asked.
"Yeah, sure," Rick said, with a hint of a hopeful smile.
[[Rick - then... she should do what she wants, and not what would make me happy.]]
* * *
"Jake, have you seen my purple pendant necklace?" Tiffany asked, as she walked into the kitchen area.
"The one with the odd smell?" Jake asked, his nose wrinkling up.
Tiffany smiled, "Yeah. But it supposed to smell like that. It's supposed to help with the morning sickness."
"You're having morning sickness?" Jake asked, concerned.
"Just a little," Tiffany said.
"Well, here, sit down," Jake said pulling out a chair at the table for her, "I'll make you some tea. That's what Lily used to always do for her morning sickness. And then, I'll find that necklace..."
Tiffany sat down with a surprised smile, and watched as Jake rushed around the kitchen, making her tea.
[[Tiffany - I know that he isn't ready for this... he just got out of a marriage, and I wasn't supposed to be anything special... I know that. And I seriously thought of moving back to Madison, with my mother... so he wouldn't have to deal with me-- this burden on him -- but I guess I just wanted him to be a part of this. I wanted to still have him as long as he was still having me.]]
* * *
Grace carried her tray over to where Eli sat, and noticed in surprise he wasn't alone. As she got closer she saw that Carla was already sitting at the table with him.
"That's a really cool guitar," Carla was saying. "My Dad was huge on guitars... so I'm like an expert."
"Really? What--" Eli said. He looked up and noticed Grace joining them. "Hey."
"Hi," Carla said, taking a bite out of her apple.
"Hi," Grace said, sitting down next to Eli and across from Carla.
"So, Eli was telling me about his gig on Friday," Carla said. "I'm so there."
"Yeah, I forgot to tell you," Grace said, turning to Eli, "My mom said it was okay... but of course she's coming, and Zoe too..."
"Yeah, my Dad and Jessie are coming too, so..." Eli sighed, looking into Grace's eyes. They shared a moment of understanding.... knowing that they both wished their families wouldn't be there so they could just be free to be a couple.
"It's like the Brady Bunch!" Carla said, breaking the moment.
"What?" Grace asked, opening her milk.
"Two divorced families coming together with their kids... making one big happy family. Yeah, and on the show, didn't the older daughter and the older son date?" Carla said, stealing a few fries from Eli's plate.
"No..." Grace said with a laugh, "I'm pretty sure that never happened."
Carla shrugged.
[[Grace - Brady Bunch.... uh, not quite.]]
* * *
"This is it?" Lily asked as she parked in the Butane Coffee Shop's parking lot. "It looks a little run-down."
"Mom!" Grace said, rolling her eyes, "It's fine."
Lily opened the car door, "Oh, there's Rick!"
Lily and Zoe rushed off to meet Rick and Jessie and Grace slipped inside. Eli and the band were setting up on stage. Grace made her way to the front, and paused a few feet back as she noticed a girl curled up on the edge of the stage, talking with Eli animatedly... Carla.
Grace forced herself to continue walking, not knowing why it bugged her so much to see her boyfriend and her newest friend getting along.
[[Grace - I guess I just wanted to keep Eli to myself as long as I could... and I also wanted to keep Carla to myself, as weird as that sounds.... she's just a really cool girl, and I don't know how to feel about the two of them being friends. I thought he'd hate her, or she'd hate him--- I didn't picture this.]]
"Grace!" Carla called. She hopped down off the stage, and greeted her, all filled with energy.
"Hey." Grace said with a tight smile.
"Where's your folks?" Carla asked, looking past her.
"Uh, my mom's outside still," Grace explained.
"Oh... wait till you see this!" Carla said, and lifted the edge of her shirt, exposing a fresh tattoo on her belly. It was a black cat. "I got it last night. Isn't it cool? Eli said I should have gotten a tiger-- that it'd match my personality more, but I think black cats have a little-- " Carla growled, scratching the air, "--in them."
Grace looked at the tattoo and at Eli, who say on stage. "Eli said that?"
"Yeah, but he doesn't know what he's talking about-- right?" Carla said, lowered her shirt. "Oh, so that's your mom?"
Grace turned, "Yeah that's her... and Eli's dad, and my sister and Eli's sister."
"Aw!" Carla said, slightly sarcastically, "They are so Brady Bunch!"
Grace nodded, looking at her mother and Rick who were sharing a kiss, and at Jessie and Zoe, who were laughing together. She looked back up at the stage, hoping to share a few words with Eli before the band started playing, but he was already at the mike. Carla grabbed Grace's hand and pulled her into a booth.
Grace noticed Jessie looking over at her, and Grace knew Jessie was wondering why Grace wasn't sitting with them. But Grace just didn't want to be a part of the 'Brady Bunch' at that moment. Grace leaned back, absorbing the music, looking up at her boyfriend with love.
* * *
"Woo-hoo!" Carla called out after Anti-Inflammatory played their last song, clapping furiously. Grace clapped too.
"I'm going to go see Eli," She told Carla, as the band began to pack up.
"Wait!" Carla said, grabbing Grace's arm, "Aren't you going to introduce me to your family?"
"Oh, yeah, I guess," Grace said. She led the way through the crowd to where her mother sat with Rick and the kids.
"Oh, Grace!" Lily cried out, smiling at her daughter. She looked over Grace's shoulder.
"Oh, Mom... this is my friend, Carla." Grace said.
"Hi Carla," Lily said, "Nice to met you."
"You too." Carla reached out, taking a few skittles from Zoe's bag on the table. Zoe looked at Carla in anger. But than her expression changed as she noticed something on the Carla's belly.
"Is that a tattoo?" Zoe asked, looking admiringly at the girl who had just stolen her last skittles.
"Yeah," Carla said, lifting her shirt to show the whole tattoo. Grace looked on in disbelief... how could Carla show her tattoo right in front of Grace' mother??
"Oh, that is so cool!" Zoe said, looking at Lily. "Did you see it mom?"
Lily nodded, looking a little put-off.
"That's where I would put my tattoo...when I'm old enough to get one." Zoe said.
"Oh, the place I got mine done, never checks about your age... they don't care. You give them enough money and they put anything on you... no questions." Carla said, and Zoe smiled, delighted.
Lily and Grace looked at Carla, horrified... Grace, because she couldn't believe her friend would say something like that in front of her mother... and Lily because she couldn't believe Grace had a friend like this.
"Oh, Grace, we should go catch Eli before they leave!" Carla said. "I know you want to tell your boyfriend how proud of him you are!"
Grace's mouth dropped open at Carla's slip.... but then again, she had never told Carla that she and Eli were a secret.
[[Grace - Of the million ways I imagined sharing this news with them-- - this was never how I saw it happening...]]
"Grace?" Lily questioned. She and Rick shared a look.
"I'll be back," Grace said as Carla pulled her towards the stage.
[[Grace - And now it's out there, and it's not a secret anymore...they know....]]
* * *
The Way We Were
Chapter 27//Selfish Notions
"So, they are like really good, and they even got a gig," Grace said to her mother in the kitchen before school.
"That's great, honey," Lily said, finishing up making Zoe's lunch. "Zoe! Hurry up, or you'll be late!" She called.
Grace leaned forward, resting her hands on the island as she talked to her mother. "It's this Friday... at a really cool coffee bar place. And I really want to go."
"Oh!" Lily said, understanding. She looked up at her daughter, unsure. "I'll have to think about it... what time is it at?"
"Uh, 10... but it's not a school night, so I thought it would be cool." Grace nervously awaited her mother's answer. If she didn't get to go to Eli's band's first gig, she'd be crushed.
"Well, why don't we all go?" Lily said, smiling. "I'm sure Rick and Jessie will be there too... it will be fun."
Grace's shoulders slumped at this, but she knew better than to try and fight it. She forced a smile, "Yeah, fun."
"What's fun?" Zoe asked, coming into the room.
"Oh, we're going to Eli's band, Anti-in..." Lily looked to Grace.
"Anti-inflammatory," Grace supplied.
"We're going to their gig on Friday," Lily told Zoe. Zoe smiled. Grace looked away with a sigh.
[[Grace - Now it's turned into another 'family date'... Eli and I won't even be able to kiss or anything, with our parents there..... *sighs*]]
* * *
"Don't you wish the snow would melt sooner?" Eli asked, coming up behind Grace on the school lawn. He began to lean in to kiss Grace, but she turned and waved at her mother, who was still parked at the curb. Eli noticed Lily watching and stopped. "So, when do you think we should break it to them?"
"I don't know," Grace said, the thought of it tiring her. "I guess it doesn't really matter... since they already thought we were dating earlier, but--- I just want to keep us secret for a while... have this for myself, and not have to share it with my family yet.... does that sound selfish?"
"No, not at all," Eli said. He turned his head, watching Lily drive around the corner, and then turned back to Grace, kissing her softly.
Grace kissed him back, his touch warming her in the slightly chilly February air.
"Grace!"
Grace and Eli reluctantly broke, and looked at the newcomer.
"Hi Carla," Grace said, smiling at her friend, even though Carla had interrupted a nice moment.
Eli looked at Grace in confusion, and Grace realized she hadn't mentioned her new friendship with Carla to him yet.
[[Grace - I didn't purposely not tell him.... it just didn't come up. I.... *confused look* I kind of didn't want to tell him either... I didn't know what he'd say. I mean, Carla's a very out-there girl.]]
"Uh, Carla, this is my boyfriend, Eli," Grace introduced them.
"Hey," Carla said, waving at Eli. "I like your hair."
Eli touched his spiked hair lightly and smiled unsurely at Carla. "Uh, thanks."
"So, Grace... I brought that CD you wanted to hear. We could go listen to it in the language lab," Carla said, turning her attention back to Grace.
"Now?" Grace asked, surprised. She looked up at Eli, who looked slightly confused by Carla's sudden appearance in Grace's life.
[[Eli - She never mentioned a friend named Carla... And I've heard of Carla... she's not like Grace's other friends.]]
"Yeah! We still have--" Carla checked her watch, "Seven minutes before class. We could listen to maybe two whole songs."
Grace looked back at Eli, who shrugged. "I should probably try and find Markie anyway."
"Okay," Grace said hesitantly. She started to follow Carla, but stopped, "So, I'll see you at lunch?"
"Yeah, lunch." Eli agreed. Grace and Carla left, laughing together over something. Eli watched them go, scratching his head.
* * *
"So, he's cute!" Carla said as they sat in the language lab, with the headphones on, listening to the CD.
"Huh?" Grace asked, pulling the headphones off her ears.
"Your boyfriend!" Carla cried, not bothering to remove her own headphones... just talking over the loud music. "He's hot!"
"Thanks," Grace said, with a smile.
"So, your parents are dating?" Carla asked loudly.
Grace nodded. She looked at the clock, and pointed out the time to Carla. Carla took off the headphones and took out her CD from the computer drive. They left the lab.
"So, he might be your stepbrother someday?" Carla continued.
"Yeah..." Grace said softly.
"Are you still going to date him after your parents get married?" Carla asked, snapping her gum.
"Of course!" Grace cried. Then, as an afterthought, "Why wouldn't I?"
Carla shrugged, "I dunno... it just might be weird, is all."
"It's already weird." Grace said, stopping as they reached her classroom.
"I'll see you at lunch," Carla said as she began to move down the hall.
"I'm eating with Eli," Grace informed her.
Carla shrugged with a wicked grin, "So, I don't mind if you kiss in front of me..."
Grace watched her disappear down the hall and escaped into her classroom, just as the bell was ringing.
* * *
"I thinking of getting a job..." Lily said to Rick as they had lunch together.
"You already have a job..." Rick reminded her.
Lily took a bite of her sandwich. "I know, but the bookstore doesn't have enough money to support me anymore."
They sat in silence a few more moments. Then Rick said, "Actually, my office is hiring."
"Architecture?" Lily asked with a smile.
"Well, it's for a secretary. You know, just answer phones, and take down messages..."
"I think I could handle that... but I was thinking of maybe getting back into doing editorial work, like I did in college and after college before I met Jake," Lily explained.
"Oh," Rick said, slightly disappointed.
[[Rick - Yeah, it would be nice to have her be working in the same office as me... but if that's not what she wants... then.....]]
"But, maybe I should think about... can I think about it?" Lily asked.
"Yeah, sure," Rick said, with a hint of a hopeful smile.
[[Rick - then... she should do what she wants, and not what would make me happy.]]
* * *
"Jake, have you seen my purple pendant necklace?" Tiffany asked, as she walked into the kitchen area.
"The one with the odd smell?" Jake asked, his nose wrinkling up.
Tiffany smiled, "Yeah. But it supposed to smell like that. It's supposed to help with the morning sickness."
"You're having morning sickness?" Jake asked, concerned.
"Just a little," Tiffany said.
"Well, here, sit down," Jake said pulling out a chair at the table for her, "I'll make you some tea. That's what Lily used to always do for her morning sickness. And then, I'll find that necklace..."
Tiffany sat down with a surprised smile, and watched as Jake rushed around the kitchen, making her tea.
[[Tiffany - I know that he isn't ready for this... he just got out of a marriage, and I wasn't supposed to be anything special... I know that. And I seriously thought of moving back to Madison, with my mother... so he wouldn't have to deal with me-- this burden on him -- but I guess I just wanted him to be a part of this. I wanted to still have him as long as he was still having me.]]
* * *
Grace carried her tray over to where Eli sat, and noticed in surprise he wasn't alone. As she got closer she saw that Carla was already sitting at the table with him.
"That's a really cool guitar," Carla was saying. "My Dad was huge on guitars... so I'm like an expert."
"Really? What--" Eli said. He looked up and noticed Grace joining them. "Hey."
"Hi," Carla said, taking a bite out of her apple.
"Hi," Grace said, sitting down next to Eli and across from Carla.
"So, Eli was telling me about his gig on Friday," Carla said. "I'm so there."
"Yeah, I forgot to tell you," Grace said, turning to Eli, "My mom said it was okay... but of course she's coming, and Zoe too..."
"Yeah, my Dad and Jessie are coming too, so..." Eli sighed, looking into Grace's eyes. They shared a moment of understanding.... knowing that they both wished their families wouldn't be there so they could just be free to be a couple.
"It's like the Brady Bunch!" Carla said, breaking the moment.
"What?" Grace asked, opening her milk.
"Two divorced families coming together with their kids... making one big happy family. Yeah, and on the show, didn't the older daughter and the older son date?" Carla said, stealing a few fries from Eli's plate.
"No..." Grace said with a laugh, "I'm pretty sure that never happened."
Carla shrugged.
[[Grace - Brady Bunch.... uh, not quite.]]
* * *
"This is it?" Lily asked as she parked in the Butane Coffee Shop's parking lot. "It looks a little run-down."
"Mom!" Grace said, rolling her eyes, "It's fine."
Lily opened the car door, "Oh, there's Rick!"
Lily and Zoe rushed off to meet Rick and Jessie and Grace slipped inside. Eli and the band were setting up on stage. Grace made her way to the front, and paused a few feet back as she noticed a girl curled up on the edge of the stage, talking with Eli animatedly... Carla.
Grace forced herself to continue walking, not knowing why it bugged her so much to see her boyfriend and her newest friend getting along.
[[Grace - I guess I just wanted to keep Eli to myself as long as I could... and I also wanted to keep Carla to myself, as weird as that sounds.... she's just a really cool girl, and I don't know how to feel about the two of them being friends. I thought he'd hate her, or she'd hate him--- I didn't picture this.]]
"Grace!" Carla called. She hopped down off the stage, and greeted her, all filled with energy.
"Hey." Grace said with a tight smile.
"Where's your folks?" Carla asked, looking past her.
"Uh, my mom's outside still," Grace explained.
"Oh... wait till you see this!" Carla said, and lifted the edge of her shirt, exposing a fresh tattoo on her belly. It was a black cat. "I got it last night. Isn't it cool? Eli said I should have gotten a tiger-- that it'd match my personality more, but I think black cats have a little-- " Carla growled, scratching the air, "--in them."
Grace looked at the tattoo and at Eli, who say on stage. "Eli said that?"
"Yeah, but he doesn't know what he's talking about-- right?" Carla said, lowered her shirt. "Oh, so that's your mom?"
Grace turned, "Yeah that's her... and Eli's dad, and my sister and Eli's sister."
"Aw!" Carla said, slightly sarcastically, "They are so Brady Bunch!"
Grace nodded, looking at her mother and Rick who were sharing a kiss, and at Jessie and Zoe, who were laughing together. She looked back up at the stage, hoping to share a few words with Eli before the band started playing, but he was already at the mike. Carla grabbed Grace's hand and pulled her into a booth.
Grace noticed Jessie looking over at her, and Grace knew Jessie was wondering why Grace wasn't sitting with them. But Grace just didn't want to be a part of the 'Brady Bunch' at that moment. Grace leaned back, absorbing the music, looking up at her boyfriend with love.
* * *
"Woo-hoo!" Carla called out after Anti-Inflammatory played their last song, clapping furiously. Grace clapped too.
"I'm going to go see Eli," She told Carla, as the band began to pack up.
"Wait!" Carla said, grabbing Grace's arm, "Aren't you going to introduce me to your family?"
"Oh, yeah, I guess," Grace said. She led the way through the crowd to where her mother sat with Rick and the kids.
"Oh, Grace!" Lily cried out, smiling at her daughter. She looked over Grace's shoulder.
"Oh, Mom... this is my friend, Carla." Grace said.
"Hi Carla," Lily said, "Nice to met you."
"You too." Carla reached out, taking a few skittles from Zoe's bag on the table. Zoe looked at Carla in anger. But than her expression changed as she noticed something on the Carla's belly.
"Is that a tattoo?" Zoe asked, looking admiringly at the girl who had just stolen her last skittles.
"Yeah," Carla said, lifting her shirt to show the whole tattoo. Grace looked on in disbelief... how could Carla show her tattoo right in front of Grace' mother??
"Oh, that is so cool!" Zoe said, looking at Lily. "Did you see it mom?"
Lily nodded, looking a little put-off.
"That's where I would put my tattoo...when I'm old enough to get one." Zoe said.
"Oh, the place I got mine done, never checks about your age... they don't care. You give them enough money and they put anything on you... no questions." Carla said, and Zoe smiled, delighted.
Lily and Grace looked at Carla, horrified... Grace, because she couldn't believe her friend would say something like that in front of her mother... and Lily because she couldn't believe Grace had a friend like this.
"Oh, Grace, we should go catch Eli before they leave!" Carla said. "I know you want to tell your boyfriend how proud of him you are!"
Grace's mouth dropped open at Carla's slip.... but then again, she had never told Carla that she and Eli were a secret.
[[Grace - Of the million ways I imagined sharing this news with them-- - this was never how I saw it happening...]]
"Grace?" Lily questioned. She and Rick shared a look.
"I'll be back," Grace said as Carla pulled her towards the stage.
[[Grace - And now it's out there, and it's not a secret anymore...they know....]]
* * *
