~A Once and Again Series~
The Way We Are
Wow, thanks for the reviews! And for reading my little story. :) You guys encourage me to keep it up! Lots of love ~Taintedlove
Chapter Four//Loosening the Knot
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"So, did you meet with your counselor?" Grace asked, snuggling closer to Eli on his bed.
Eli sighed, "Yeah." He tightened his arm around her, "And so now I have another person on my back bugging me about making decisions about my future."
Grace gave him a sympathic look. "You'll figure it out."
Eli sighed again, "And if I don't... my parents will figure it out for me!"
"Well..." Grace started, and paused as they heard a knock on the door to the attic. They sat up, making space between their bodies.
"Yeah?" Eli called out. "Come on up."
Lily came up the steps to the room. "I have some laundry," She announced holding up a small pile of Eli's laundry.
Grace turned her head away and rolled her eyes.
[[Grace - Our parents are so... watchful. They always seem to know when Eli and I are alone, and they interrupt us whenever they can. It's just... *clenches hands*... so frustrating!]]
"Oh, Grace!" Lily faked surprise. "I was wondering where you had gone off too."
Grace turned her face back towards her mother, "I was just up here."
"Don't you think it's getting late?" Lily asked, handing Eli the clothes.
"Not really," Grace said with a shrug.
Lily wasn't expecting that reply, and paused for a second to collect herself. "Well, don't you have any homework?"
"No, it's all done," Grace said.
"Well," Lily looked at her feet briefly. "Uh, goodnight Eli."
"Goodnight," Eli said back.
"Uh, Grace?" Lily said as she began to turn back to the steps, "Can I talk to you for a moment?"
Grace reluctantly followed her mother out of the room.
[[Grace - I don't understand why they are so... uptight about it. Can't they see they can trust us?]]
Lily waited until they had entered Grace's room, and she shut the door behind them. "Grace," Lily began.
"I know what you're going to say," Grace said, interrupting her.
"What's that?" Lily asked, a bit of a challenge to her voice. She crossed her arms and waited.
"You're going to say that I should just stay in MY room, and Eli in HIS..." Grace said angrily. "But, mom... we're dating! You can't just expect us to never be together... alone."
Lily tilted her head slightly, studying her daughter. "Grace, if Eli didn't live in the same house as you, would you be in his room at 11:30 at night?"
"But he does live in the same house as me!" Grace argued. "We can't change that!"
"I know the situation is weird for you two and Rick and I are still a bit unsure of how to deal with having dating kids living together..." Lily sighed, "I mean, do we need rules, Grace?"
"Rules?" Grace echoed.
"Yes, rules," Lily nodded. "I mean, you and Eli are taking too much freedom in this situation."
"We're just spending time together!" Grace cried. "And we're not even alone that much! There's always Jessie or Zoe or you or Rick around! In fact, you and Rick are very careful to make sure Eli and I are NEVER alone!"
Lily frowned, "Grace, we're just unsure on how to deal with you two..."
"Just let us be! We can deal with ourselves," Grace insisted.
Lily sighed, her shoulders dropping a bit, "But, Grace... you're so young."
[[Lily - She's so young.]]
"So?" Grace asked.
"You're so young... to be in such a serious relationship," Lily finished.
[[Grace - My mom just doesn't understand... not at all. Why can't she trust me and Eli? We'll do whatever's right... for us.]]
"I love him," Grace said fiercely.
"I know you do," Lily put a hand on Grace's shoulder, "But, Grace... it's just you're so young still to be... so attached to someone else. Your whole life revolves around him."
"It does not," Grace said weakly. She sighed. "Or even if it does... it's worth it! He's worth it."
"I just want you to be a kid," Lily said gently. "Have fun. Do the things a teenager would do. You don't have to stop seeing Eli. I just want you to start seeing yourself."
Grace took this in. Lily kissed Grace's forehead, and left, knowing that Grace had enough to think about for now.
* * *
"Want to go to JDs?" Eli asked at lunch on Monday.
Grace shrugged. She looked down the hall at the cafeteria doors. They hadn't eaten in the cafeteria since school started a few weeks ago. She barely talked to her friends, and when she did... it was different. It just wasn't the same as it used to be.
"Or Mickey D's?" Eli offered.
Grace shook her head, "I was thinking I could check in with my friends today. You know, eat with them."
"Oh," Eli said, getting it. "Well, did you want me to come with you... or--?"
Grace shrugged, "Maybe I should go by myself. I mean, I haven't really talked to them in a while, and it might be better..."
Eli nodded, and Grace gratefully kissed him on the cheek. She was glad he understood.
Jessie passed by in the hallway, on her way to the lunch room, her head hanging down a bit.
"Jess!" Eli called, and Jessie looked up, surprised she had walked right by them without noticing. "Want to go out to eat?" Eli asked his sister.
Jessie hesitated, "With you two?"
[[Jessie - *looks to the side, rolls eyes* I know exactly how that would be. I sit there and watch them be all drooling over each other.... just like I do at home.]]
"No, Grace isn't coming," Eli told his sister. "So, you want to go?"
Jessie brightened, "Okay."
"Bye," Eli said to Grace, leaning in to give her a quick kiss.
"Bye," Grace said back when his lips had left hers. She watched Eli and Jessie go down the hall. Then she walked to the entrance of the cafeteria. It was time to see what she could do about her friends.
* * *
"I love this song," Jessie said cheerfully, turning up the radio.
Eli smiled fondly at his sister, and began to back Lily's car out of the parking spot. "So, you think your friends will figure out where you went?" He asked his sister, realizing he hadn't let her stop and say goodbye to her friends.
Jessie shrugged, losing her smile.
[[Jessie - Right now, I don't exactly have... friends.]]
"I haven't met any them," Eli commented, continuing with the subject, as he sensed something was up. "You never talk about them."
"I don't have friends," Jessie said icily.
"None?" Eli asked, a bit surprised. He hadn't really paid much attention to his sister's life lately, but he had thought she must have made some friends...
"All my old friends are back at the middle school," Jessie said wearily. "And I don't even talk to them anymore."
"But you don't have any friends here?" Eli asked. He glanced at Jessie's slumped figure out of the corner of his eyes as he drove along.
"No... not really," Jessie admitted.
"Why haven't you said anything?" Eli asked. He reached over and flipped off the radio. Silence filled the car.
[[Eli - Have I been this blind to my sister? Why didn't I see...?]]
Jessie turned, shooting him a dark look, "What was I supposed to say? I'm a loser and nobody likes me?"
"You're not a loser," Eli said quickly.
Jessie sighed, and looked out the window. "You have to say that, because you're my brother... you don't know what it's like for me... at that school. Nobody sees me. I'm practically invisible."
Eli glanced at Jessie, who looked so sad.
[[Eli - Why didn't I notice?]]
* * *
"Hi," Grace said as she approached her friend's lunch table.
"Hi," Julie said, a bit surprised at Grace's unexpected appearance. She looked over Grace's shoulder. "Where's Eli?"
"He went out to lunch," Grace answered. She unsurely sat down in an empty seat at the round table.
"Oh!" Sarah said, compassionately, "Are you guys having problems?"
"You didn't break up, did you?" Ashley added.
Grace shook her head, setting down the hot lunch she had purchased before coming over to the table. "We're fine."
"That's good," Julie said, but Grace felt like her heart wasn't completely in it.
"Yeah," Sarah added with an energetic head bounce, "We were just saying the other day how you two are like the perfect couple... even if it is weird..."
"Weird?" Grace asked, munching on a french frie.
"Well," Sarah said slowly, realizing maybe she had gone too far. "I just meant with the whole parents being married thing."
"Yeah, is that weird?" Ashley asked.
Grace shrugged, "Sometimes."
"Hi guys."
Grace looked up as Diana arrived at their table. Diana saw Grace and gave her a tiny smile, "Grace, right?"
Grace nodded.
"Did you bring it?" Julie asked as Diana sat down in the empty chair next to Grace.
Diana grinned across the table at Julie. "Oh course!" Diana dug through her backpack and pulled out a CD.
Grace watched as the CD exchanged between Diana's hands to Julie's.
"You're the best!" Julie cried, examining the cover.
Grace ate another french frie.
[[Grace - I don't know what's wrong... it just doesn't feel the same between me and my friends.]]
* * *
"Oh, excuse me."
Grace moved to the side as a girl with springy curly brown hair and a long green dress brushed by her. Grace watched as the girl tacked a piece of paper onto the school announcements board. "What's that for?"
The girl turned, seeing Grace watching her. She gave her a friendly smile. "Mr. Morris asked me to put up an announcement for the fall play tryouts."
"The play?" Grace asked.
The girl nodded, "Yeah. I've been in every play the school has had since I was a freshman. Mr. Morris is cool. And this year we're doing an original play written by a friend of his."
"That's cool," Grace said.
"Are you an actress?" The girl asked, eyeing Grace.
Grace shrugged, "I'm not sure what I am."
The girl smiled, "I'm Cynthia McCormick."
"Grace Manning."
Cynthia nodded at Grace, "I bet you're an actress."
Grace smiled shyly and turned back to her open locker. "I don't think so."
"Have you ever been in a play?" Cynthia asked.
Grace laughed, "Yeah, I played a cat in a kindergarten play."
"You should tryout," Cynthia encouraged. "It wouldn't hurt to try."
Grace hedged, "Well... I'm really busy..."
Cynthia drew a pen out of her purse. She poised it above the play tryout signup sheet. She smiled at Grace and waited for the go-ahead.
"Alright," Grace resigned. "I think I just might tryout."
Cynthia was pleased and wrote Grace's name on the list.
Grace looked at her name on the sheet, and smiled.
[[Grace - Acting? Pretending to be someone else? Yeah... I think I can do that. *smiles, raises eyebrows* I might even enjoy it!]]
* * *
"You're trying out for the play?"
Grace nodded, grabbing a dinner roll from a basket. She added it to her plate. "Yup."
Eli studied her from across the table, "I didn't realize you... liked acting."
"It's something new," Grace said cheerfully. "It might be fun."
Lily smiled at her daughter, pleased by Grace's new ambitions.
"What about you, Eli?" Rick asked.
Eli looked over guiltily, "What?"
Rick took a sip of his water, "Have you given any thought to joining an extra-curricular this year?"
"Why?" Eli asked slowly.
Rick looked over at his son, "Well, for one thing, it would look good on your college application."
"I already have 'basketball' to put on it," Eli reminded his father.
"I know," Rick said, "But it looks good to have a... variety of extra- curriculars to list."
Eli angrily stabbed at his pasta. He silently avoided his father's eyes.
Rick looked at Eli intently, but seeing his son wasn't going to talk, he looked down at his own plate, his face twisting into a frown.
[[Eli - He never gives up!]]
* * *
The Way We Are
Wow, thanks for the reviews! And for reading my little story. :) You guys encourage me to keep it up! Lots of love ~Taintedlove
Chapter Four//Loosening the Knot
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*
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"So, did you meet with your counselor?" Grace asked, snuggling closer to Eli on his bed.
Eli sighed, "Yeah." He tightened his arm around her, "And so now I have another person on my back bugging me about making decisions about my future."
Grace gave him a sympathic look. "You'll figure it out."
Eli sighed again, "And if I don't... my parents will figure it out for me!"
"Well..." Grace started, and paused as they heard a knock on the door to the attic. They sat up, making space between their bodies.
"Yeah?" Eli called out. "Come on up."
Lily came up the steps to the room. "I have some laundry," She announced holding up a small pile of Eli's laundry.
Grace turned her head away and rolled her eyes.
[[Grace - Our parents are so... watchful. They always seem to know when Eli and I are alone, and they interrupt us whenever they can. It's just... *clenches hands*... so frustrating!]]
"Oh, Grace!" Lily faked surprise. "I was wondering where you had gone off too."
Grace turned her face back towards her mother, "I was just up here."
"Don't you think it's getting late?" Lily asked, handing Eli the clothes.
"Not really," Grace said with a shrug.
Lily wasn't expecting that reply, and paused for a second to collect herself. "Well, don't you have any homework?"
"No, it's all done," Grace said.
"Well," Lily looked at her feet briefly. "Uh, goodnight Eli."
"Goodnight," Eli said back.
"Uh, Grace?" Lily said as she began to turn back to the steps, "Can I talk to you for a moment?"
Grace reluctantly followed her mother out of the room.
[[Grace - I don't understand why they are so... uptight about it. Can't they see they can trust us?]]
Lily waited until they had entered Grace's room, and she shut the door behind them. "Grace," Lily began.
"I know what you're going to say," Grace said, interrupting her.
"What's that?" Lily asked, a bit of a challenge to her voice. She crossed her arms and waited.
"You're going to say that I should just stay in MY room, and Eli in HIS..." Grace said angrily. "But, mom... we're dating! You can't just expect us to never be together... alone."
Lily tilted her head slightly, studying her daughter. "Grace, if Eli didn't live in the same house as you, would you be in his room at 11:30 at night?"
"But he does live in the same house as me!" Grace argued. "We can't change that!"
"I know the situation is weird for you two and Rick and I are still a bit unsure of how to deal with having dating kids living together..." Lily sighed, "I mean, do we need rules, Grace?"
"Rules?" Grace echoed.
"Yes, rules," Lily nodded. "I mean, you and Eli are taking too much freedom in this situation."
"We're just spending time together!" Grace cried. "And we're not even alone that much! There's always Jessie or Zoe or you or Rick around! In fact, you and Rick are very careful to make sure Eli and I are NEVER alone!"
Lily frowned, "Grace, we're just unsure on how to deal with you two..."
"Just let us be! We can deal with ourselves," Grace insisted.
Lily sighed, her shoulders dropping a bit, "But, Grace... you're so young."
[[Lily - She's so young.]]
"So?" Grace asked.
"You're so young... to be in such a serious relationship," Lily finished.
[[Grace - My mom just doesn't understand... not at all. Why can't she trust me and Eli? We'll do whatever's right... for us.]]
"I love him," Grace said fiercely.
"I know you do," Lily put a hand on Grace's shoulder, "But, Grace... it's just you're so young still to be... so attached to someone else. Your whole life revolves around him."
"It does not," Grace said weakly. She sighed. "Or even if it does... it's worth it! He's worth it."
"I just want you to be a kid," Lily said gently. "Have fun. Do the things a teenager would do. You don't have to stop seeing Eli. I just want you to start seeing yourself."
Grace took this in. Lily kissed Grace's forehead, and left, knowing that Grace had enough to think about for now.
* * *
"Want to go to JDs?" Eli asked at lunch on Monday.
Grace shrugged. She looked down the hall at the cafeteria doors. They hadn't eaten in the cafeteria since school started a few weeks ago. She barely talked to her friends, and when she did... it was different. It just wasn't the same as it used to be.
"Or Mickey D's?" Eli offered.
Grace shook her head, "I was thinking I could check in with my friends today. You know, eat with them."
"Oh," Eli said, getting it. "Well, did you want me to come with you... or--?"
Grace shrugged, "Maybe I should go by myself. I mean, I haven't really talked to them in a while, and it might be better..."
Eli nodded, and Grace gratefully kissed him on the cheek. She was glad he understood.
Jessie passed by in the hallway, on her way to the lunch room, her head hanging down a bit.
"Jess!" Eli called, and Jessie looked up, surprised she had walked right by them without noticing. "Want to go out to eat?" Eli asked his sister.
Jessie hesitated, "With you two?"
[[Jessie - *looks to the side, rolls eyes* I know exactly how that would be. I sit there and watch them be all drooling over each other.... just like I do at home.]]
"No, Grace isn't coming," Eli told his sister. "So, you want to go?"
Jessie brightened, "Okay."
"Bye," Eli said to Grace, leaning in to give her a quick kiss.
"Bye," Grace said back when his lips had left hers. She watched Eli and Jessie go down the hall. Then she walked to the entrance of the cafeteria. It was time to see what she could do about her friends.
* * *
"I love this song," Jessie said cheerfully, turning up the radio.
Eli smiled fondly at his sister, and began to back Lily's car out of the parking spot. "So, you think your friends will figure out where you went?" He asked his sister, realizing he hadn't let her stop and say goodbye to her friends.
Jessie shrugged, losing her smile.
[[Jessie - Right now, I don't exactly have... friends.]]
"I haven't met any them," Eli commented, continuing with the subject, as he sensed something was up. "You never talk about them."
"I don't have friends," Jessie said icily.
"None?" Eli asked, a bit surprised. He hadn't really paid much attention to his sister's life lately, but he had thought she must have made some friends...
"All my old friends are back at the middle school," Jessie said wearily. "And I don't even talk to them anymore."
"But you don't have any friends here?" Eli asked. He glanced at Jessie's slumped figure out of the corner of his eyes as he drove along.
"No... not really," Jessie admitted.
"Why haven't you said anything?" Eli asked. He reached over and flipped off the radio. Silence filled the car.
[[Eli - Have I been this blind to my sister? Why didn't I see...?]]
Jessie turned, shooting him a dark look, "What was I supposed to say? I'm a loser and nobody likes me?"
"You're not a loser," Eli said quickly.
Jessie sighed, and looked out the window. "You have to say that, because you're my brother... you don't know what it's like for me... at that school. Nobody sees me. I'm practically invisible."
Eli glanced at Jessie, who looked so sad.
[[Eli - Why didn't I notice?]]
* * *
"Hi," Grace said as she approached her friend's lunch table.
"Hi," Julie said, a bit surprised at Grace's unexpected appearance. She looked over Grace's shoulder. "Where's Eli?"
"He went out to lunch," Grace answered. She unsurely sat down in an empty seat at the round table.
"Oh!" Sarah said, compassionately, "Are you guys having problems?"
"You didn't break up, did you?" Ashley added.
Grace shook her head, setting down the hot lunch she had purchased before coming over to the table. "We're fine."
"That's good," Julie said, but Grace felt like her heart wasn't completely in it.
"Yeah," Sarah added with an energetic head bounce, "We were just saying the other day how you two are like the perfect couple... even if it is weird..."
"Weird?" Grace asked, munching on a french frie.
"Well," Sarah said slowly, realizing maybe she had gone too far. "I just meant with the whole parents being married thing."
"Yeah, is that weird?" Ashley asked.
Grace shrugged, "Sometimes."
"Hi guys."
Grace looked up as Diana arrived at their table. Diana saw Grace and gave her a tiny smile, "Grace, right?"
Grace nodded.
"Did you bring it?" Julie asked as Diana sat down in the empty chair next to Grace.
Diana grinned across the table at Julie. "Oh course!" Diana dug through her backpack and pulled out a CD.
Grace watched as the CD exchanged between Diana's hands to Julie's.
"You're the best!" Julie cried, examining the cover.
Grace ate another french frie.
[[Grace - I don't know what's wrong... it just doesn't feel the same between me and my friends.]]
* * *
"Oh, excuse me."
Grace moved to the side as a girl with springy curly brown hair and a long green dress brushed by her. Grace watched as the girl tacked a piece of paper onto the school announcements board. "What's that for?"
The girl turned, seeing Grace watching her. She gave her a friendly smile. "Mr. Morris asked me to put up an announcement for the fall play tryouts."
"The play?" Grace asked.
The girl nodded, "Yeah. I've been in every play the school has had since I was a freshman. Mr. Morris is cool. And this year we're doing an original play written by a friend of his."
"That's cool," Grace said.
"Are you an actress?" The girl asked, eyeing Grace.
Grace shrugged, "I'm not sure what I am."
The girl smiled, "I'm Cynthia McCormick."
"Grace Manning."
Cynthia nodded at Grace, "I bet you're an actress."
Grace smiled shyly and turned back to her open locker. "I don't think so."
"Have you ever been in a play?" Cynthia asked.
Grace laughed, "Yeah, I played a cat in a kindergarten play."
"You should tryout," Cynthia encouraged. "It wouldn't hurt to try."
Grace hedged, "Well... I'm really busy..."
Cynthia drew a pen out of her purse. She poised it above the play tryout signup sheet. She smiled at Grace and waited for the go-ahead.
"Alright," Grace resigned. "I think I just might tryout."
Cynthia was pleased and wrote Grace's name on the list.
Grace looked at her name on the sheet, and smiled.
[[Grace - Acting? Pretending to be someone else? Yeah... I think I can do that. *smiles, raises eyebrows* I might even enjoy it!]]
* * *
"You're trying out for the play?"
Grace nodded, grabbing a dinner roll from a basket. She added it to her plate. "Yup."
Eli studied her from across the table, "I didn't realize you... liked acting."
"It's something new," Grace said cheerfully. "It might be fun."
Lily smiled at her daughter, pleased by Grace's new ambitions.
"What about you, Eli?" Rick asked.
Eli looked over guiltily, "What?"
Rick took a sip of his water, "Have you given any thought to joining an extra-curricular this year?"
"Why?" Eli asked slowly.
Rick looked over at his son, "Well, for one thing, it would look good on your college application."
"I already have 'basketball' to put on it," Eli reminded his father.
"I know," Rick said, "But it looks good to have a... variety of extra- curriculars to list."
Eli angrily stabbed at his pasta. He silently avoided his father's eyes.
Rick looked at Eli intently, but seeing his son wasn't going to talk, he looked down at his own plate, his face twisting into a frown.
[[Eli - He never gives up!]]
* * *
