Chapter 3
The next morning Grace woke up to the blaring of her alarm clock. She flipped slowly, trying to push the off button but missed several times before accomplishing her goal. She made a groaning noise and sighed heavily as she threw the covers off of herself. She had only gotten about 2 hours of sleep last night. The events that occurred the night before kept playing over and over in her head. She had so many questions...her mind was racing. "Grace hunny? You better get up and start getting ready." Lily told her as she cracked the door open and popped her head in.
"OK Mom." She replied, trying not to sound bitchy, but it was kinda hard when she was so tired that she could hardly keep her eyes open. Her mother didn't say anything else, but instead closed the door leaving her alone with her thoughts again. (("Why did he do that?...Maybe he has feelings for me. NO! I'm so stupid. Why would he want me when he has Carla? Was I really too close to Mike last night? I mean I did just meet him...but I didn't even do anything. All he did was put his arm around me....")) "Urggh" She growled. "I can't let myself think." She decided with a sigh.
Grace wasn't in the mood to get dressed up today, she decided to be lazy. After getting dressed in a simple pair of jeans and a tee shirt she grabbed a pair of sneakers from her closet. Swinging the bedroom door open, she walked out and came face to face with Eli who was also just leaving his room. "Ohh.." She sounded surprised as both of them froze.
"Hi." He mumbled moving his hands from one place to another, unsure when to put them.
"Hi." She nodded and they stood silently, neither knowing what to do. The silence was interrupted by Jessie leaving her room and entering the hallway.
"Ohh...umm..." She didn't know what to say either. "I was just... umm going downstairs." She told them nervously as she walked between them and ran down the stairs. Grace watched her behavior with confusion.
"She saw." He finally revealed and she looked at him, surprised that he actually referred to IT...the kiss.
"Oh." She whispered with a nod. "Look...I don't think we should be weird now...I mean you obviously had other things on your mind yesterday. It was no big deal right? Just a little slip...a mistake." She rambled on, telling Eli exactly what she knew he wanted to hear. Eli looked down for a second and frowned a little. (( Confused. "Why does he look...disappointed."))
(("The truth is...I think I wanted to do it." Looks unsure and confused.)) Eli nodded. "Yeah...OK." He agreed.
"OK." She let out a relieved breath. "So...no weirdness right?"
"Right." He nodded. (("How the hell am I not supposed to act weird when I wanna kiss her every time I see her ... this is sooo wrong. It'll just avoid her for the rest of my life.")) "OK then...I forgot something in my room." He pointed over his back, then turned quickly and reentered his room.
(("So much for no weirdness.")) She sighed as she made her way downstairs.
Later the day
Grace was in her last class, Chemistry. She rolled her eyes as the teacher rambled on about something...she wasn't really listening. Every time she was bored her thoughts would go back to all the questions that she still had. "Grace.." She heard a hushed called. "Grace!" the voice repeated as she looked around the room and spotted Carla standing at the doorway. She mouthed the word bathroom and pointed at her bathroom pass, she obviously needed to talk to Grace about something important. (("How am I supposed to face her after what happened?")) Grace had been avoiding Carla all day, but she figured this would be a good way to stop herself from thinking more. She only had about 20 minutes left of class, but that was 20 minutes too long. "Mr. Fuller? Can I go to the bathroom?"
"Well,... I don't know. Can you?" He joked and the class laughed a little.
"May I use the bathroom?" She sighed trying not to roll her eyes and forcing a smile.
"I suppose." He replied, "Take the pass." Grace grabbed the yellow piece of laminated paper that the cheap school considered a pass and entered the hall way. She found Carla standing by the lockers right outside her class.
"Hey." She beamed with excitement. "So...what did you think?"
"Think?" Grace questioned, nervously.
"OF Mike. Did you like him?" She wondered as they began walking down the hall towards the bathroom
"Yeah. He's really great." Grace nodded and smiled. (("This is why she pulled me out of class?")) "We had a lot in common."
"I knew it. I told you you'd love him." Carla laughed. "I gave him your number."
(("Why?" Upset work.)) "Really? Did he ask for it?" She questioned trying to sound excited. Mike was a great guy and she hadn't been lying when she said she liked him, but she had other things on her mind right now. Mainly Eli.
"Yeah. He's totally into you...he wants to see you again before he goes back home." She told her and Grace nodded. "I should get back...I've been gone for 15 minutes. You're a hard girl to find."
"Oh yeah." Grace agreed as she watched Carla walking towards her class. Taking a breath, she leaned against the lockers and closed her eyes.
Later that night
"Kids! Dinner's ready." Lily called as she set a bowl on the table and Zoey put out the place settings.
"What are we having?" Grace questioned as she entered the dining room.
"Just macaroni...nothing special." Lily smiled and wiped her hand with a cloth. "Can you go get Eli... I think he's in the garage working on his room"
"Sure." She agreed, trying to sound indifferent. When she got outside, she paused at the closed door and knocked. The radio was on inside and she figured he couldn't hear her. Opening the door a little and she found Eli painting in the bathroom. Rick had given him the job of painting the entire thing while he was away, then he would help Eli move his things in when he came back from his business trip. He and Rick had started working on the garage a few months before when it was getting to crowed in the house. "Hey." She smiled softly as she turned down the radio and noticed that he was covered in paint. "You know that's supposed to go on the wall." She laughed.
"Really? And all this time I was painting myself." He joked as he continued to paint and Grace watched him for a few minutes. "Did you want something?"
"OH yeah. Dinner is ready." She told him.
"OH good. I'm starving." He replied as he put the brush down. "I'll be right in."He told her and she nodded and turned to leaving.
"Grace." He called, standing in the doorway and she turned.
"Yeah?"
Eli was quiet for a minute. (("Tell her how you feel!.. Tell her...Tell her...")) He shuffled his hands nervously. "Nevermind." He sighed. (("Chicken")) Grace cringed inwardly before turning to leave.
10 minutes later
Grace, Jessie, Zoe and Lily are sitting at that table shoveling food into their plates. "Oh good Eli." Lily smiled. "Get your food while there's still some left." She joked as Eli pulled out his chair and sat down.
"So. How was everyone's day?" Lily questioned.
"I learned how to make snowflakes out of paper." Zoe told them.
"Snowflakes? It's March." Jessie pointed out.
"So...It's cool." Zoe defended. "Mom when how many days until the wedding?"
"31 days sweetie." Lily replied with excitement.
"You haven't even picked the band yet." Grace pointed out.
"I know...as soon as Rick gets home we're gonna listen to a few." Lily explained.
"Why don't you let Eli's band play?" Jess suggested and Eli looked at Lily.
Lily shrugged her shoulders. "I'll ask Rick...but i kinda figure Eli would rather enjoy the night with us instead of having to play."
"Yeah. That would probably be better." Eli nodded, because it was obvious that Lily wasn't very interested in that idea.
"Grace i forgot to ask you. How was your date last night?" Lily questioned.
Grace looked up uncomfortably, as Jessie and Eli looked down at their plates. "It was fine. I guess."
"You guess? Well, did you like him?" She pressed, but was interrupted by the phone's ringing.
"I'll get it! It's probably dad." Jessie called as she pushed her chair back and ran into the kitchen. "Grace it's for you." Jessie announced as she entered the dining room a second later with the phone in her hand.
"Is it Carla? Tell her I'll call her back." Grace replied as she took a drink from her cup.
"I think it's Mike." She replied glancing at Eli, who's lips curved downward.
"Oh. OK." She smiled as she stood and took the phone, walking into the kitchen. "Hello?"
"Grace! Hey. What's up?" He sounded excited.
"Nothing. I was just eating dinner."
"Oh sorry about that." He apologized.
"No it's fine. How are you?" She questioned as she looked out into the dinning room. Eli was watching her intently. She squinted her eyes a little as if to ask Eli what was wrong.
"I'm good. You?"
"Fine." She replied turning away from Eli. (("I never know what to say to guys that I know are interested in me...not that it happens often.")) "How much longer are you here?"
"Just a few days." He told her. "I was thinking that we could hang out again or something."
"Yeah...but I have play practice everyday for the next week. So I don't know when I'm gonna have free time." She told him solemnly.
"Well...how about I come watch your play practice?" He questioned, hopefully.
"That would be...great." She tried to sound cheerful, but for some reason it didn't feel right.
"OK. I'll see you then." He told her before hanging up. After placing the phone back on the hook, Grace reentered the dinning room. Everyone was staring at her.
"What did he want?" Eli was the first to ask, but his tone came out more harsh that he had intended.
"He was just wondering if I wanted to hang out before he went home."
"And?" Lily pressed.
"And I said yes...but I can't because I'm starting play practice" Grace sighed taking her seat once more and glancing at Eli, who seemed to perk up a little after hearing that. "But he's gonna come to my practice tomorrow." Grace finished and Eli's smirk disappeared. He didn't look very happy as he pushed his food around in his dish.
"That's great Gracie." Lily smiled, glancing at the miserable looking boy beside her. "Eli?" Lily questioned and paused for a second waiting for him to answer. He didn't; so Lily continued. "Are you feeling OK?"
"I'm fine." He forced himself to look up and smile at Lily, reassuring her. "I'm just a little tired...I've been having some trouble sleeping lately."
"OH that's too bad." Lily sympathized. "You should try my Tylenol PM, it's excellent for insomnia."
"Thanks, but I'm sure I'll be fine." He replied as he went back to eating silently. And the conversations at the table continued.
Grace studied Eli carefully. She couldn't figure him out. One-second he was happy and smiling and joking around with her and the next he was miserable. She knew it probably had something to do with the kiss...but this wasn't the first time he acted liked this. She figured it was the result of his father constantly nagging him to get a job and 'make something of his life.' He never said anything about it, but Grace knew it bothered him. Grace shrugged her shoulders lightly and continued with her meal.
A/N: Site the online petition to get seasons 2 and 3 on DVD! Petition site:
The next morning Grace woke up to the blaring of her alarm clock. She flipped slowly, trying to push the off button but missed several times before accomplishing her goal. She made a groaning noise and sighed heavily as she threw the covers off of herself. She had only gotten about 2 hours of sleep last night. The events that occurred the night before kept playing over and over in her head. She had so many questions...her mind was racing. "Grace hunny? You better get up and start getting ready." Lily told her as she cracked the door open and popped her head in.
"OK Mom." She replied, trying not to sound bitchy, but it was kinda hard when she was so tired that she could hardly keep her eyes open. Her mother didn't say anything else, but instead closed the door leaving her alone with her thoughts again. (("Why did he do that?...Maybe he has feelings for me. NO! I'm so stupid. Why would he want me when he has Carla? Was I really too close to Mike last night? I mean I did just meet him...but I didn't even do anything. All he did was put his arm around me....")) "Urggh" She growled. "I can't let myself think." She decided with a sigh.
Grace wasn't in the mood to get dressed up today, she decided to be lazy. After getting dressed in a simple pair of jeans and a tee shirt she grabbed a pair of sneakers from her closet. Swinging the bedroom door open, she walked out and came face to face with Eli who was also just leaving his room. "Ohh.." She sounded surprised as both of them froze.
"Hi." He mumbled moving his hands from one place to another, unsure when to put them.
"Hi." She nodded and they stood silently, neither knowing what to do. The silence was interrupted by Jessie leaving her room and entering the hallway.
"Ohh...umm..." She didn't know what to say either. "I was just... umm going downstairs." She told them nervously as she walked between them and ran down the stairs. Grace watched her behavior with confusion.
"She saw." He finally revealed and she looked at him, surprised that he actually referred to IT...the kiss.
"Oh." She whispered with a nod. "Look...I don't think we should be weird now...I mean you obviously had other things on your mind yesterday. It was no big deal right? Just a little slip...a mistake." She rambled on, telling Eli exactly what she knew he wanted to hear. Eli looked down for a second and frowned a little. (( Confused. "Why does he look...disappointed."))
(("The truth is...I think I wanted to do it." Looks unsure and confused.)) Eli nodded. "Yeah...OK." He agreed.
"OK." She let out a relieved breath. "So...no weirdness right?"
"Right." He nodded. (("How the hell am I not supposed to act weird when I wanna kiss her every time I see her ... this is sooo wrong. It'll just avoid her for the rest of my life.")) "OK then...I forgot something in my room." He pointed over his back, then turned quickly and reentered his room.
(("So much for no weirdness.")) She sighed as she made her way downstairs.
Later the day
Grace was in her last class, Chemistry. She rolled her eyes as the teacher rambled on about something...she wasn't really listening. Every time she was bored her thoughts would go back to all the questions that she still had. "Grace.." She heard a hushed called. "Grace!" the voice repeated as she looked around the room and spotted Carla standing at the doorway. She mouthed the word bathroom and pointed at her bathroom pass, she obviously needed to talk to Grace about something important. (("How am I supposed to face her after what happened?")) Grace had been avoiding Carla all day, but she figured this would be a good way to stop herself from thinking more. She only had about 20 minutes left of class, but that was 20 minutes too long. "Mr. Fuller? Can I go to the bathroom?"
"Well,... I don't know. Can you?" He joked and the class laughed a little.
"May I use the bathroom?" She sighed trying not to roll her eyes and forcing a smile.
"I suppose." He replied, "Take the pass." Grace grabbed the yellow piece of laminated paper that the cheap school considered a pass and entered the hall way. She found Carla standing by the lockers right outside her class.
"Hey." She beamed with excitement. "So...what did you think?"
"Think?" Grace questioned, nervously.
"OF Mike. Did you like him?" She wondered as they began walking down the hall towards the bathroom
"Yeah. He's really great." Grace nodded and smiled. (("This is why she pulled me out of class?")) "We had a lot in common."
"I knew it. I told you you'd love him." Carla laughed. "I gave him your number."
(("Why?" Upset work.)) "Really? Did he ask for it?" She questioned trying to sound excited. Mike was a great guy and she hadn't been lying when she said she liked him, but she had other things on her mind right now. Mainly Eli.
"Yeah. He's totally into you...he wants to see you again before he goes back home." She told her and Grace nodded. "I should get back...I've been gone for 15 minutes. You're a hard girl to find."
"Oh yeah." Grace agreed as she watched Carla walking towards her class. Taking a breath, she leaned against the lockers and closed her eyes.
Later that night
"Kids! Dinner's ready." Lily called as she set a bowl on the table and Zoey put out the place settings.
"What are we having?" Grace questioned as she entered the dining room.
"Just macaroni...nothing special." Lily smiled and wiped her hand with a cloth. "Can you go get Eli... I think he's in the garage working on his room"
"Sure." She agreed, trying to sound indifferent. When she got outside, she paused at the closed door and knocked. The radio was on inside and she figured he couldn't hear her. Opening the door a little and she found Eli painting in the bathroom. Rick had given him the job of painting the entire thing while he was away, then he would help Eli move his things in when he came back from his business trip. He and Rick had started working on the garage a few months before when it was getting to crowed in the house. "Hey." She smiled softly as she turned down the radio and noticed that he was covered in paint. "You know that's supposed to go on the wall." She laughed.
"Really? And all this time I was painting myself." He joked as he continued to paint and Grace watched him for a few minutes. "Did you want something?"
"OH yeah. Dinner is ready." She told him.
"OH good. I'm starving." He replied as he put the brush down. "I'll be right in."He told her and she nodded and turned to leaving.
"Grace." He called, standing in the doorway and she turned.
"Yeah?"
Eli was quiet for a minute. (("Tell her how you feel!.. Tell her...Tell her...")) He shuffled his hands nervously. "Nevermind." He sighed. (("Chicken")) Grace cringed inwardly before turning to leave.
10 minutes later
Grace, Jessie, Zoe and Lily are sitting at that table shoveling food into their plates. "Oh good Eli." Lily smiled. "Get your food while there's still some left." She joked as Eli pulled out his chair and sat down.
"So. How was everyone's day?" Lily questioned.
"I learned how to make snowflakes out of paper." Zoe told them.
"Snowflakes? It's March." Jessie pointed out.
"So...It's cool." Zoe defended. "Mom when how many days until the wedding?"
"31 days sweetie." Lily replied with excitement.
"You haven't even picked the band yet." Grace pointed out.
"I know...as soon as Rick gets home we're gonna listen to a few." Lily explained.
"Why don't you let Eli's band play?" Jess suggested and Eli looked at Lily.
Lily shrugged her shoulders. "I'll ask Rick...but i kinda figure Eli would rather enjoy the night with us instead of having to play."
"Yeah. That would probably be better." Eli nodded, because it was obvious that Lily wasn't very interested in that idea.
"Grace i forgot to ask you. How was your date last night?" Lily questioned.
Grace looked up uncomfortably, as Jessie and Eli looked down at their plates. "It was fine. I guess."
"You guess? Well, did you like him?" She pressed, but was interrupted by the phone's ringing.
"I'll get it! It's probably dad." Jessie called as she pushed her chair back and ran into the kitchen. "Grace it's for you." Jessie announced as she entered the dining room a second later with the phone in her hand.
"Is it Carla? Tell her I'll call her back." Grace replied as she took a drink from her cup.
"I think it's Mike." She replied glancing at Eli, who's lips curved downward.
"Oh. OK." She smiled as she stood and took the phone, walking into the kitchen. "Hello?"
"Grace! Hey. What's up?" He sounded excited.
"Nothing. I was just eating dinner."
"Oh sorry about that." He apologized.
"No it's fine. How are you?" She questioned as she looked out into the dinning room. Eli was watching her intently. She squinted her eyes a little as if to ask Eli what was wrong.
"I'm good. You?"
"Fine." She replied turning away from Eli. (("I never know what to say to guys that I know are interested in me...not that it happens often.")) "How much longer are you here?"
"Just a few days." He told her. "I was thinking that we could hang out again or something."
"Yeah...but I have play practice everyday for the next week. So I don't know when I'm gonna have free time." She told him solemnly.
"Well...how about I come watch your play practice?" He questioned, hopefully.
"That would be...great." She tried to sound cheerful, but for some reason it didn't feel right.
"OK. I'll see you then." He told her before hanging up. After placing the phone back on the hook, Grace reentered the dinning room. Everyone was staring at her.
"What did he want?" Eli was the first to ask, but his tone came out more harsh that he had intended.
"He was just wondering if I wanted to hang out before he went home."
"And?" Lily pressed.
"And I said yes...but I can't because I'm starting play practice" Grace sighed taking her seat once more and glancing at Eli, who seemed to perk up a little after hearing that. "But he's gonna come to my practice tomorrow." Grace finished and Eli's smirk disappeared. He didn't look very happy as he pushed his food around in his dish.
"That's great Gracie." Lily smiled, glancing at the miserable looking boy beside her. "Eli?" Lily questioned and paused for a second waiting for him to answer. He didn't; so Lily continued. "Are you feeling OK?"
"I'm fine." He forced himself to look up and smile at Lily, reassuring her. "I'm just a little tired...I've been having some trouble sleeping lately."
"OH that's too bad." Lily sympathized. "You should try my Tylenol PM, it's excellent for insomnia."
"Thanks, but I'm sure I'll be fine." He replied as he went back to eating silently. And the conversations at the table continued.
Grace studied Eli carefully. She couldn't figure him out. One-second he was happy and smiling and joking around with her and the next he was miserable. She knew it probably had something to do with the kiss...but this wasn't the first time he acted liked this. She figured it was the result of his father constantly nagging him to get a job and 'make something of his life.' He never said anything about it, but Grace knew it bothered him. Grace shrugged her shoulders lightly and continued with her meal.
A/N: Site the online petition to get seasons 2 and 3 on DVD! Petition site:
