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Wanna grab a coffee or something?
.:. insert picture of Grace and Adam, walking alongside each other through the school front yard.:.
Grace:
Man, Rove's a real mess. I look at him, or rather at his hood, which he has pulled deeply over his dark-haired head as we're walking out of the school. This is his mother's suicide all over again. Only now it's worse because it's his own fault. So, what am I supposed to do? Lamely, I ask, 'Wanna grab a coffee or something?'
I take his silence as a no. His steps pick up speed, it seems he has finally found a new purpose, a place he has picked as his next target. His steps become almost too fast for me to catch up with. 'Rove, where are you going?' I ask him.
He stops and looks at me, as if he sees me for the first time. Somehow it's as if he had forgotten that I was walking next to him. His voice is icy, bitter. 'What do you care? Why are you still here anyway?' I look back at him, my gaze piercing into his, just so I can make him understand that I'm not only Joan's friend. I answer, 'Joan has Luke, Kevin, her parents. You have ' I pause. 'Well, me.' As an afterthought, I add, 'Take it or leave it.'
In a tone of voice that hovers between anger, self-pity and capitulation, I hear him say, 'You know, Grace, just leave me alone, okay?'
He picks up his step again and walks away, his head bowed, his shoulders slumped. For a split second I consider going after him, but maybe he's right, he needs some space to sort out all the emotions and bring some order into the confusion. I let him go while an uncharacteristic feeling of deep sympathy and pity rushes over me. I try to shake it off, because, well, I'm Grace, the rebel, the detached one. Or maybe that's just who I'd like to be. Or try to be, at any rate.
I adjust the strap of the bag on my shoulder and walk off. Home sounds like a good idea, but a little voice inside of me tells me I should touch base with Luke about Girardi first.