Eli picked up one of the dozen tapes from the small cardboard box, and dropped it into the yellow envelope.
He silently prayed that his hard work over the last couple of days would pay off, that he'd get some kind of recognition…...or even better than that, a record deal!
Eli reached for his note pad and pen; and began scribbling down a quick note, and the names of the songs on the tape.
He had a good feeling about this- not only had recording his own tape taken his mind off of Grace, it had also made his future a lot clearer.
ELI I think, along the way, I kinda forgot what my dream was. But now, I know I want to work for it- I mean really WORK for it. No interruptions or setbacks this time round, I am going to work my hardest and get what I've always wanted!
Eli rubbed the back of his neck; he'd been up late every night recording the last of his songs with the equipment Kevin had loaned him.
Sleep was no longer in his vocabulary.
And his work wasn't over yet; he still had to post the tapes he'd made to a few companies, drop a few of them off at nightclubs and bars around town; see if they wanted him to play a gig……but Eli didn't mind the hard work.
All the songs on the tape held a special place in Eli's heart. He'd fed off the anger, pain and angst he'd built up over the last few weeks, and written it all down to create a few damn good songs (well at least he thought they were damn good!)
Eli glanced down at his watch; it was 11:00 in the morning, and he knew a few café's and bars that would be open now- where he could drop off his tapes.
Eli picked up the small cardboard box, grabbed his coat and keys and headed out the door- feeling optimistic about scoring a few gigs!
But just as Eli closed the door to his apartment, he heard the phone ring.
Eli paused for a moment, and then decided against walking back inside and answering it- it couldn't be anywhere near as important as scoring a gig!
Jessie hung up the phone, sighing heavily and cursing Eli under her breath.
"Any luck?" Katie asked as Jessie hung up the pay phone.
Jessie glanced up at Katie, giving a weak smile and a solemn shake of her head.
"Oh" Katie said quietly.
KATIE a lot of things have been going on with Jessie's family. I'm not going to pretend I understand; because I don't!
All I can do is be there for her- be the shoulder she can cry on, or the hand she needs to hold.
"He's been so selfish lately!" Jessie said bitterly.
Katie rubbed her arm soothingly "Jessie, it'll be ok," she said softly, and Jessie looked up to meet her eyes.
"I don't think so," she whispered.
Katie looked at her curiously, but didn't say anything; if Jessie had something to tell her, she'd tell her in her own time.
Jessie sighed, and whisked a loose piece of hair from her brow "did I tell you how sorry I am that I didn't sleep over last night?" Jessie said, smiling weakly; this was a lame effort to divert the conversation.
Katie returned the smile, and linked arms with her as they walked down the corridor, making their way through the busy crowd of students to get to their English class.
"Oh, I think about 60 times" Katie said, squeezing Jessie's arm.
"Well I'm sorry" Jessie said, remembering the rushed phone call she'd made and the vague excuse she'd told Katie.
"Ok, make that 61 times" Katie smiled, and they unhooked arms once they were outside their classroom; "Jessie, you don't have to explain-" Katie said with a warm smile.
"-But you do have to stop apologising!" she added, and Jessie nodded her head meekly.
JESSIE I wanted to tell her. But what happened with Grace—that's something that has to stay private, just between her and me.
Jessie looked up into Katie's beautiful brown eyes, her face kind and understanding.
But Jessie still felt as though she owed her an explanation, though she couldn't find any words that could possibly explain it.
"Jessie-" Katie saw as Jessie searched for words.
"Yeah?" Jessie whispered.
"I mean it, you don't have to explain" Katie said quietly, and a smile broke out on Jessie's face.
Katie and Jessie both walked into the classroom.
JESSIE no matter how sorry I feel for Grace and Eli. I can't help but count my lucky stars that I have someone like Katie in my life!
KATIE we have a complicated relationship. But not as complicated as Grace and Eli- I feel sorry for them.
Grace ran a hand over her arm, where she could feel the bandage through the sleeve of her shirt.
She wasn't quite sure how she'd gotten through last night. All she could really remember was tangling herself in Jessie's arms as hot tears ran down her cheeks.
She and Jessie must have been sprawled out on the bathroom floor for a good hour before her body yearned for sleep, and Jessie had helped her walk into her room, and get into bed.
The morning was just as hazy- Grace vaguely remembered Jessie standing above her, and helping her get out of bed and get dressed- making sure she wore a long sleeved shirt to hide the bandage.
Grace couldn't even remember coming down for breakfast, or the car ride to school.
And she wondered if Lily had asked if everything was all right with her- because surely, if Grace looked half as bad as she felt, Lily would have known something was wrong!
"Grace?"
Grace turned around slowly, still groggy from lack of sleep, her eyes sore from pouring over with tears- and on top of all that, having gone through an entire school day- she wasn't exactly perky!
"Grace?" Jessie said again, walking towards her- she didn't look nearly as bad as she had last night. Her eyes weren't swollen and red- instead they were dark, with small bags forming beneath them.
Her face was it's usual creamy colour again, not a ghostly white.
And her stamina seemed to have come back- and Jessie remembered as she had to practically carry Grace's limp body into bed, and help her get dressed the next morning!
"Hey" Grace murmured, giving a faint smile.
"Were you ok in school today?" Jessie asked, standing beside Grace as they waited for Rick to come pick them up.
Grace gave a meek nod, and tucked a piece of invisible hair behind her ear- "I'm feeling much better" she said softly, and Jessie was glad to hear it.
"I tried calling-" Jessie paused for a moment, making sure she had Grace's attention "-I called Eli today" she said softly.
Grace looked at Jessie, her golden hair shining- "Really?" Grace said flatly.
"Yeah, he wasn't home- but I was thinking we could go over there-" Jessie began, but stopped abruptly as she saw her father wave his arms frantically from across the school parking lot.
"Um, dad's here" Jessie nodded towards her father, and Grace turned to look.
"I'll talk to you about 'this' later" Jessie said, and gently took Grace's hand as she led her across the parking lot to her father.
"Hey you two-" Rick smiled, and then lost his expression as he looked at Grace "-you ok" he asked her, looking intently at her drained face.
Grace looked up and smiled at Rick "Yeah, dad has me working crazy shifts!" Grace smiled, and Rick creased his brow.
JESSIE you know your feeling ok when your well enough to make up a believable lie!
"Well maybe you should talk to Lily and you're dad about maybe not working so often?" Rick said as he opened the door.
"Maybe" Grace said, smiling weakly as she climbed into the back seat.
"Hmmm" Rick walked around to the other side of the car and got in, looking in the rear vision mirror at the bags forming under Grace's eyes.
"You know- I can still remember my first job-" Rick began.
Jessie squeezed Grace's hand, and shot her a quick glance- Jessie rolled her eyes and Grace gave her a smile.
"- My boss was so tough and mean……it was practically child labour with what he had me do and what he payed me…….." Rick droned on as they drove to pick up Zoë.
