Thanks for the reviews! This is one of my favorite chapters. I was actually inspired by the song Christy, Are You Doing Okay by The Offspring. Next chapter will be in Ricky's point of view, and it'll explain some stuff that happens in this chapter.

Ricky, Are You Doing Okay?
Grace

"Beep! Beep!"

That beeping was not the beeping of the alarm clock. Instead it was the voice of Grace's older brother, Tom. Tom was fourteen, with shaggy brown hair that reached the tips of his ears. Grace glared into her brother's chocolate brown eyes, throwing her pale pink pillow at his face. Tom let out a cry and reeled backwards, covering his face with his hands. Grace laughed, knowing that Tom was only pretending to be hurt. She looked over at the alarm clock on her desk, and her eyes widened at the time. It was only 5:45! Grace glared at Tom, really feeling angry now.

"Tom! It's 5:45! Why did you wake me up?" Grace demanded, sitting up in bed and shoving her pink comforter off her.

"You needed... to get ready... for your d-date with R-Ricky." Grace let out an angry squeal, throwing her other, identical pink pillow at her brother as he retreated out of her room.

Grace's eyebrows scrunched together as she called after him "It's not a date!" Well, I wish it was...

Looking at the vanity mirror on her desk, Grace realized with a sudden stab of fear that she did need to wake up this early. Her hair stuck out wildly in all directions, making her look like something out of a horror movie. Since Ricky would be getting a ride home with Grace and her mom, Grace wouldn't have time after school to put on any new make-up or change her clothes. She needed to look perfect, and needed to remain looking perfect for the entire day.

Quickly Grace got out of bed and snatched up her bright red brush. She smoothed her sleek blonde hair with just a few strokes of the brush before turning to her closet. Pulling open the doors, she was greeted by an assortment of bright, welcoming colors. And a whole bunch of decisions. Dozens of questions swarmed through her mind. Which would she not want to wear for the next couple of weeks? Which wouldn't show if it got dirty? Which would Ricky like?

Eventually she decided an a bright orange blouse, blue jeans and a matching orange belt. It was casual, yet perfect for the sudden warm weather they were faced with. After choosing her outfit, she brought it into the bathroom, where she'd finish getting ready for the day. It'd obviously take a couple hours, with the way her hair was still even after she smoothed it out.

-0-0-0-

"That had to be the most boring class, ever."Grace and Ricky walked to lunch side-by-side, Grace carrying her pink lunch box and Ricky with his wallet in hand. Ricky nodded, a twinge of a smile on his lips. Grace felt her heart race at the sight of that. She loved Ricky's half-smiles, smiles, grins, all of it. They always made her get butterflies, tickling at her stomach and threatening to make her lose her breakfast.

"Yeah, well, Mr. Clarkson is a boring teacher," Ricky commented dryly. "At least we have lunch to look forward to afterward."

"Yeah," Grace replied with a soft laugh. "So, what are you buying today?"

Ricky shrugged. "Burger, fries, same old."

The two continued walking in silence, but that ended as soon as they reached the cafeteria. Conversation buzzed around them at full-force, laughter and shouts echoing across the room. Ricky walked off to the lunch line while Grace turned and walked toward one of the booths. The booths seated four, but recently it had only been Grace and Ricky sitting there. Grace was new and didn't have many friends at all, and Ricky was... well, Ricky.

Grace had heard the whispers. People laughed at Ricky behind his back, calling him weak and useless for not talking to anyone. "They don't know anything about him..." Grace whispered angrily to herself. But then again, do I even know anything about him?

Grace pondered on this thought as she took a bite of her peanut-butter-and-jelly sandwich. She was careful to make sure no jelly dripped down onto her blouse. So far, she'd gone to the bathroom after each of their classes they'd been in already. If there was a strand of hair out of place, Grace fixed it in a panic and hoped that Ricky hadn't noticed it before. Wow, she was obsessed. Grace sighed, staring down at her sandwich. What was it about Ricky that made her act so... different? She never acted like this about a guy before.

A tray smacked against the table, jolting Grace from her thoughts. She looked up, seeing Ricky sitting down across from her. Grace smiled, he smiled back, not as half-hearted as usual, actually. The two sat in silence for a moment, shyness overcoming Grace and in her mind surely Ricky too. It was eventually Ricky who broke the silence.

"I just want to thank you," he said quietly, not meeting her eyes. "For inviting me over tonight. You have no idea how much I appreciate it."

"You don't need to thank me," Grace replied with a soft smile. "It's my pleasure, and my mom's too. She loves when we have company over, that just makes more for her to cook. My dad's happy about it too, and-"

Grace stopped at the sound of a scream across the cafeteria. Eyes wide, she leaned to the right to see past Ricky, but the only thing she saw was a young girl named Adrian, shouting furiously at another boy named Jack about something. Grace rolled her eyes and sat back, but Ricky had not yet turned around. That was when she saw it.

A huge bump was situated near the top of the back of Ricky's head. It looked as if it had a scab on it, and dried, crusted blood stuck to some of the boy's hairs. Grace squinted, trying to get a better look, when Ricky all of a sudden whirled around. Grace shot back in her seat, noticing an angry look beginning to form in Ricky's eyes. He glared at her, making Grace suddenly feel horrible. Her eyes fell back to her sandwich.

"Why were you staring at me?" Ricky demanded.

Grace replied, "There... there's a big bump on your head, it looks bad, Ricky. Maybe my dad can-"

"It's fine," Ricky said, clenching and unclenching his fists. "I fell last night, okay? I fell down the stairs and hit my head on the corner. My parents were asleep, so I took care of it myself."

Something about the puzzle didn't really fit. "Wouldn't everything hurt if you fell down the stairs."

Ricky laughed bitterly, jabbing a french fry into the ketchup. "Ha, well, a lot of stuff does hurt."

The two didn't speak for the rest of the lunch period. Even throughout the rest of the day, Ricky purposely avoided Grace. All of this was like a slap in the face to her. What had she done wrong? She had just been concerned for Ricky, for her friend. Why was he so mad at her? Grace kept her head bowed, and all throughout the rest of her classes she found herself looking across the room at Ricky. Ricky would already be watching her, and as soon as their eyes met he'd look away. Grace found herself feeling horrible for the rest of the day, until the moment she and Ricky were waiting for her mom to pick them up.

It was then that Ricky finally spoke to her. "Grace, I'm sorry for snapping at you."

He wasn't looking at her when he said this. Grace's eyes fell to her shoes, and she didn't say anything. Ricky placed a hand on her shoulder, clearly trying to get her attention. Grace smiled at the touch, at the feeling of butterflies running wild in her stomach. Finally she looked up at him, meeting his dark brown eyes. His gaze was sincere and warm, and Grace found the urge to snuggled against him, to feel his arms wrap around her.

But Ricky lifted his hand from her shoulder. Grace bit her lip so the disappointment wouldn't show. The van was pulling to the curb, and Grace and Ricky walked toward it quickly. As she hopped into the front seat, the feeling that something was wrong wouldn't shake from Grace. Something was wrong, or something was going to go wrong.

-0-0-0-

"So, how long have you lived here, Ricky?"

"My whole life, sir."

"Do you plan on getting a job anytime soon?"

"When I'm older and can get a learner's permit. I'm only eleven, sir."

"That was my next question. Anyways, how many girlfriends have you had, son?"

"Dad!"

Grace found her face turning as red as the Kool-aid in her glass. That was how the whole dinner had gone. Her father had shot question after question at Ricky. Grace ducked her head, moving the corn around on her plate to distract herself. She looked up at Ricky, mouthing to word "Sorry," to him. Ricky smiled, in fact it looked as if he were enjoying the whole thing. Grace was surprised. How could anyone enjoy her father's innterogation?

"Answer the question please, Ricky," Grace's father said calmly. He had his hands folded, elbows propped on the table. Grace's mother quickly scolded him for that, and her father sat up straight in his seat.

Ricky chuckled at the question. "Sir, I'm only eleven. I don't seriously date or have girlfriends."

Grace's father nodded, seeming to be pleased by the answer. Grace, feeling as if the question and answer session was over, found the courage to lift her head. It was a good thing that Tom was at the neighbor's house tonight, or else it would've been much, much worse. Just thinking of all the things her brother would've said made Grace lose her appetite.

"One more question."

"Dad!" Grace glared at him from her seat. "Ricky didn't come here to be on your little game show."

"You're right, he came here to see you." Her father leaned back in his seat. "I'm done, I'm done. Just having a little fun. It's nice to have new people over for dinner. I apologize if I seemed rude to you, Ricky."

Ricky didn't say anything. Instead he touched the back of his neck, then looked at his finger. His eyes widened slightly and, much to Grace's confusion, he turned to Grace's father and snapped, "Well, you did seem very rude to me, sir. I didn't expect to be interrogated like some criminal."

Ricky stood up. "Excuse me."

As Ricky stormed out of the room, Grace turned to glare at her father. He looked just as confused as she felt.

"See what you did!" Grace accused, standing up and beginning to follow Ricky. "You're always doing this, can't you just... just..." She shook her head. No matter how angry she was at her father, she had to go see what happened with Ricky. She strode out of the room and into the hall, where she saw Ricky grabbing a piece of tissue out of the box on a table.

"I am so, so sorry, Ricky," Grace said as she came over to him. "I told him not to do this. I'm really sorry if he insulted you."

Grace, about to say more, stopped suddenly. A trickle of blood was running down Ricky's neck, some already dripping to the carpet. It stained the handsome dark blue t-shirt he'd been wearing, and she could see the sheen of the blood in his hair. Had the wound she'd seen at lunch opened? That had to have been it. Grace grabbed Ricky's shoulder, trying to spin him around to face her. Ricky was strong, though, and he stood rooted in place. He didn't turn to face her.

"Ricky, what's wrong? You're bleeding." Ricky still remained silent. Grace's eyes stared at the back of his head, at the soft flow of blood coming from his head. Finally, Ricky turned around. Grace could see the pain in his eyes, and she couldn't help it. She pulled him into a hug. Ricky grew stiff and still at the touch, but he didn't pull away. The two stood there in a picture that would look awkward to a passing bystander. They'd see a little blonde-haired girl, hugging a bleeding, dark-haired boy that looked more scared then a deer in the headlights.

Finally, Grace released her embrace. Ricky was looking at the small blood stains on the carpet. Grace was looking at him. She knew, deep down in her heart, she knew that Ricky had lied to her earlier. He hadn't fallen down the stairs. There was something else.

"Grace," Ricky said, breaking up the silence. "I... could you ask your dad to drive me home? I have some stuff to finish."

Grace nodded mutely, and went to deliver the message to her father. Grace's dad walked Ricky out of the house, not saying anything about the blood on the carpet or the tears in Grace's eyes. Grace watched the front door, blinking the tears away. Why was she crying? Did seeing Ricky hurt so badly have that effect on her? What had happened, why had they both become so emotional over a little blood?

It goes deeper then that, Grace decided. I need to find out what, though. I need to get Ricky to talk to me about what really happened.

Those were the thoughts going through her mind when her mother pulled her into a gentle hug.