RAMSEY

(I decided to try a second chapter of this AU version of Grace being God's chosen instrument.)

X-X-X-X-X

12-8-03, Monday

"Dude, no offense, but your sister is like a pathetic fluffhead."

Luke tries not to laugh, but a small chuckle escapes his lips as he and Grace watch Joan and her fellow cheeleaders walk by. Their rapid fire gossip about cute guys, girls they can't stand and a sale at the mall fades as they continue walking down the hall. Joan didn't acknowledge her brother, but Luke expected that. It's awkward having a geek brother when you are trying to fit in with the cool and popular crowd. Besides, Joan and Grace haven't got along ever since Joan tried to find out for her friends if Grace was "a big lezbo".

Luke comments, "On the other hand, now that Joan is a cheerleader, she has to maintain at least a C plus average, so her grades have slightly improved."

"That's a helluva incentive to get a better education." Grace replies while thinking of her own incentive to do better, which occurred when Street Sweeper God told her to stop wasting her potential. That caused Grace to invite Luke to join her and Adam in their study group for AP Chem. By a long chain of events that led to Kevin Girardi getting a car with handicap controls and curiously, the arrest of the fire chief for arson.

Luke says, "Anyway, back to our science fair project, I was thinking of doing something with Heisenberg's uncertainty principle…"

Suddenly there appears Adam being slammed into the lockers, followed by Steve Ramsey who punches Adam in the guts and across the mouth. Grace doesn't hesitate to launch herself between the two guys…

"Leave him alone!"

"Stay out of this, Grace." Ramsey warns as he draws back his fist again.

Luke starts forward to help. He is not a violent person by nature but his friendship (okay, attraction) for Grace is a strong motivator. He only wishes he had paid more attention when his dad tried to teach him self-defense.

"Ramsey!" the strong voice of Gavin Price calls out in warning. (Ramsey hesitates and then lowers his fist.) "In my office now, Mr. Ramsey…as well as you and you."

Grace and Adam, being the 'you and you', follow along. Luke watches them depart and experiences a rare moment of gratitude for the school's vice principal. The three students arrive in the office and Ramsey goes in first with Price while the attendance lady, Mrs. Girardi, helps Adam with his bleeding lip. Grace collapses onto the bench near the door and waits her turn. She barely notices the unknown chubby girl sitting next to her.

"The Crystal Ball – an excellent dating opportunity." the chubby girl says.

Grace takes the offered flier, the same as the others plastered all over the school, and gulps a little nervously. "Uh, thanks for the invitation, but I think school dances are pathetic. I really wasn't planning to go."

"You definitely should go, Grace."

"Oh…it's YOU. So this is an assignment?"

"A suggestion, but a strong one."

"Okay, I guess I could go stag…"

"Dating opportunity, remember?"

Grace sighs heavily. "Then, I guess I can go with Luke. I think he was working up the courage to ask me."

"Actually, I want you to go with…him." Chubby Girl God says as Ramsey storms by them.

Price calls out, "This is your last chance, Mr. Ramsey!"

As Adam follows Price into his office, Grace reacts, "You've got to be kidding me. Ask out Ramsey after he just beat up my best friend? Rove would hate my guts for betraying him like that."

"I wouldn't ask if this wasn't important, and you need to decide right now."

Grace groans, mutters something about pushy deities, and hurries after Ramsey. She finds him at his locker, venting his anger by beating on it over and over.

"Now there's something we have in common."

"What do you want, Grace? I'm not in a mood to talk over old times."

"Hey, I get it. This place can really frustrate you. I've beaten up my own locker more than once. But I've never turned a friend into a punching bag."

"Adam and me ain't friends any more."

"No kidding. But why do you keep hurting him, Steve? We use to be friends."

"That was a long time ago, stuff changes…"

"And life sucks, and Arcadia High is one step away from being in hell, but that still doesn't excuse beating up on a guy who would never fight back. Why do you have to pick on him?"

"I don't know. He goes around thinking he's so much better than others because he's an 'artist'. Some artist. He twists up tinfoil and welds crap together and people think he's some kinda genius. This is the same guy I use to help blow up model airplanes with firecrackers. Some genius."

Grace wonders if it is her imagination, but did she hear a touch of wistfulness in that statement? Grace recalls how the three of them use to hang out together when they were younger – before Adam's mom killed herself and Steve's mother divorced his dad and married a jerk who couldn't stand his stepson.

"Maybe you could find a better outlet for all of that angry energy. Like…the semiformal?" Grace says as she hands Ramsey the dance flier.

Ramsey glances at the flier and snickers. "You want to go with me to the semiformal? I thought you sang in the other choir, Grace."

"Maybe…I sing in both."

"Huh, that's kind of hot – if it were true. But what's the real reason?"

"Okay, you and I both know school dances are lame: 'The Crystal Ball'? Oh, please. But, if the two of us went together, think how we would shock the local yokels. We might even be able to stir up a little trouble. Sound like fun?"

Ramsey smiles as he thinks how the rest of the school would react to the two of them on a date at a school dance. "Okay, you got a deal, but…you have to wear a sexy dress."

Grace's stomach turns but she hides her distress. "A-And you have to promise to leave Adam alone."

"So, that's what this is really all about. Okay Grace, you and me this Thursday, but don't be surprised if I expect more than just a few dances…"

X-X-X-X-X

That evening around the Polonsky dinner table there is the usual silence. Rabbi Polonsky is still focused on his day, going over counseling sessions with members of his flock, thinking of tomorrow's appointments, etcetera. Besides, dinner conversations in this house too often lead to arguments. How many times can he suggest to his wife that she is drinking too much? (Actually, for her, this evening hasn't been that bad - yet.) And Grace, the simplest question can lead to the most unpleasant arguments at a time of the day when he just would like to relax...

"Dad, can I have money to buy a new dress?"

Aaron Polonsky pauses, his forkful of chicken and rice halfway to his mouth. "Did you say 'dress'?"

Grace doesn't make eye contact as she rushes through the next part. "Yeah, there's this dumb dance at school this Thursday, and...I'm going."

Even Sarah Polonsky pauses in her drinking to react, "You're going to a dance? With...a boy?"

"Of course with a boy."

"Who?" the Polonskys ask in unison.

"Remember Steve Ramsey?"

"Steve? I haven't heard you mention him in years. So...the two of you like each other again?" Aaron asks.

Grace shrugs. "He's just someone to go with. So, the dress?"

Sarah gets a little weepy eyed as she stares at her daughter. "Aww, my little girl on her first date. Tomorrow, I'll take you to the mall to pick out a nice dress, get some makeup and perfume..."

Grace listens in horror to these plans. Her nightmare is a trip to the mall with her always at least half drunk mother for all the world to see - like Joan Girardi, who would spread it around all over school or at the very least...tell Luke.

"Mom, no. I want to do this myself. Please, I'm not a kid any more. I can pick out my own clothes."

Rabbi Polonsky understands all too well why Grace wants to shop on her own. "Sarah, she has a point. Grace has her own taste, her own style and we should trust her to choose. Grace, I'll let you have one of my credit cards and you can buy whatever you like for this special occasion."

"Thanks Dad." Grace says with relief as she tries to ignore the hurt look in her mother's eyes.

X-X-X-X-X

"Hey Rove, you in here?" Grace asks as she enters Adam's shed. She spots him at his work desk, sketching. Grace gives him a careful once over, noting the slight bruising near his mouth. "That doesn't look too bad."

With a wince, Adam briefly lifts his t-shirt, revealing a massive amount of bruising. "Steve always likes to get in close and work the body."

A look of sadness crosses Grace's face. If she were a different type of girl, and Adam was a different type of guy, she would be giving him a gentle hug of comforting. "Yeow, that looks painful. So what set him off this time?"

Adam shrugs and again winces. "I was coming out of art class, Ms Jankow was complimenting me on my latest project, and as soon as she went back inside, Steve was all over me. I never saw it coming."

"I'm sorry you had to go through that. Steve still beats you up about...two or three times a year? I bet you'd do anything to get him to stop."

"Cha."

"Well, I wanted to tell you before you heard it from anyone else, I'm going with him to the semiformal this Thursday." (Adam stares at Grace, dumbfounded.) "I can explain..."

"You don't have to. Grace, no, you can't do this. I don't want you to make a sacrifice like this to help me."

"Rove, we have two and a half more years of high school to go. That's like eight more beatings, if you're lucky. Next time, who knows what will happen? If I can do anything to help mend fences between you two..."

"Grace, you can't. Steve isn't like he was when we were kids. He's gotten mean - really mean. He fights all the time, he's mad as hell at everyone and it's true what people say about him and guns. You can tell, the only time he seems even halfway calm is after he's been shooting down at the old abandoned dump. Grace, he's dangerous!"

"Yeah, I know Steve isn't like the way he was, and by the way, he was a bit mean and violent even when we were kids. But, I think there's some of the guy we use to know and like still in there. A lot of his trouble is that he doesn't have anyone on his side. After his parents' divorce, he had a hard time adjusting and drove away all of his friends - mostly us, but we can change that. It's worth the risk if I can get him to stop hurting you."

"No Grace, you could get hurt. I won't let you..."

"Won't let me? Since when do you dictate how I live my life? I'm doing this Rove, and there's nothing you can do to stop me."

X-X-X-X-X

Luke hangs up the phone and returns to the living room to join the rest of the family for the end of movie they were watching: 'The Quiet Man'. Luke resumes his seat but his attention strays from the John Wayne classic as he is thinking of his conversation with Adam. The lights go up and Will retrieves the film from the VCR.

Joan moans, "Thank God that's over. It was so borrring!"

Helen responds, "You didn't like it, sweetheart? I thought it was very romantic."

Kevin adds, "And, it wasn't in black and white."

"Okay, it wasn't the dullest film we've ever watched on movie night, but it was close. It was even better than that 'McClintock' movie we watched a couple of months ago with the same actors, but even so..."

Will interrupts, "Who was on the phone, son? Anything important?"

"Uh, maybe. That was Adam Rove and he was worried..."

Joan jokes, "Why, did he run out of weed?"

Luke replies, "He's not a stoner."

"Yeah, right."

Helen asks, "What was bothering Adam?"

"He was concerned about our...friend, Grace Polk."

Joan asks, "Is this about her asking Steve Ramsey to the semiformal?"

"You knew?"

"It was all over school by the end of the day. You would have to be a total on the outs loser not to have heard... Oh, never mind."

Helen asks, "Grace Polk is going to the dance with that awful Ramsey boy?"

Will asks, "Who's Ramsey?"

Joan replies, "He's like this total psycho. He's always getting into fights, back talking teachers and I hear he has like this arsenal of guns..."

"Guns? Helen, is this true?"

"I don't know about the guns, but Ramsey has been in trouble with Principal Chadwick and Mr. Price since the day I started at Arcadia High. It's only December and he's been suspended twice. One more time and he will be expelled."

Luke pleads, "Dad, can you help? Grace is my friend, and I'm worried for her safety."

Will replies, "Normally I wouldn't interfere in something like this, but if an angry, out-of-control teenage boy has access to guns... Okay Luke, I'll do a background check and if anything too alarming shows up, I'll have a word with Grace's parents."

"Thanks Dad."

Helen states, "Okay, let's clean up this mess."

Kevin says, "I've got the popcorn bowls."

Will and Helen grab the various drink glasses and follow Kevin to the kitchen. Joan lingers, watching Luke with a smirk on her face as he sweeps up crumbs from the sofa...

"So, Grace is your 'friend'? Are you really concerned or just jealous?"

"I don't know what you mean. Of course I'm concerned - we all know Ramsey's reputation, and of course Grace is my friend. We are in the same study group, we are partners for the science fair..."

"And you like her. I've seen the way you look at her when she's over here studying with that weird Adam guy. You practically drool over Grace Polk, though God knows why."

"I do not. Do I? I mean, I like Grace - as a friend and a study partner. She has an interesting viewpoint to life and is a lot smarter than most people realize, but I'm not...you know."

"I'm glad, Dog-boy. Your love life is already destined to be pretty pathetic without you crushing on a lesbian!"

X-X-X-X-X

12-9-03, Tuesday.

Grace walks along, lost in her thoughts and enjoying the crisp night air. There are times when only being alone, away from the prying eyes of the world, that she can be calm. Today was a particularly stressful day at Arcadia High as the news about her and Ramsey had reached everyone's ears. People were freaking out, especially when they saw the two of them strolling down the halls together like they were a couple. Stares and whispered comments followed them everywhere and Grace had to admit, she liked stirring up the complacent attitudes of the gossipy kids at school. Ramsey also seemed to enjoy how much they were shocking the others and for the first time in years, he and Grace seemed to be genuinely getting along. It was nice to have someone on his side for a change.

The day did have a lot of drawbacks for Grace. Rove was mad and worried about her plan to go with Ramsey to the dance. The assumption that she was taking this risk just for his sake had him overwhelmed with concern and gratitude for Grace's friendship. This left Grace feeling guilty for she never would have considered doing this if it weren't for God's assignment, which is something she cannot share with Rove. Oh, she tried to tell him the truth once, but Cute Boy God popped up and talked her out of it, saying that Adam already had enough burdens for him to carry. And then there was Luke... Outwardly he seemed the same as always, talking about their science fair project and how as head of the decorating committee he was obligated to attend the dance, but Grace could sense a subtle shift in his attitude. Between the lines Grace could detect concern, maybe a little jealousy and...disappointment in her? Hey, who was he to judge who she went out with? Luke Girardi has no claims on her, even if she did kind of, sort of wished he did.

As Grace approaches her house, she feels her mood shifting again. She really isn't up to facing the usual family melodrama - not tonight. She missed dinner, explaining over the phone to her father that she was attending an anarchist's meeting. Rabbi Polonsky was use to this and made no objection as he suspected Grace's desire to avoid her homelife was a stronger motivation than politics. Grace is hungry as the only food at the meeting was some 'cookies'. (All organic, gluten free, high fiber, vegan, etc. In other words, hocky pucks with a hint of cinnamon.) She spots Ramsey's truck - he is a few months older and already has his license. Grace startles Ramsey by suddenly hopping into the passenger side...

"Dude, are you stalking me?"

"Grace...! Jeez! No...I just thought you might want to hang for awhile."

"So you sit out here staring at my house? Or did you knock on the door?"

"I was just waiting for you to get back. There was no light on in your bedroom, so I figured you were out."

Grace recalls that Ramsey, as a former close friend, had been in her house lots of times and knew where her bedroom was. "Was there nothing good on TV?"

"Look, if you want me to go..."

"Got money for burgers?"

"Yeah..."

"Then let's roll."

X-X-X-X-X

The gun bangs loudly followed by a puff of smoke. Grace shouts with joy as the old Coke bottle shatters - no matter that she was aiming for the tin can next to it...

"Woo! I can see why you like doing this. It's a helluva stress release."

Ramsey grins and Grace seeing that, grins back. "Try rapid fire. You won't hit much but..."

Grace needs no further encouragement. Quickly, she begins squeezing off round after round until the clip is emptied. She pauses as her ears adjust and the echoes of the shots stop rebeverating in the old junkyard. As predicted, she fails to hit a single target.

"Now that was fun, but don't bullets like these cost a lot of money?"

Ramsey shrugs. "Even more than normal. I can't buy ammo at my age, so I have to get them through a guy I know who charges me an extra handling fee. That's why I don't do this as often as I want. Like you said, it relieves the stress."

"I remember when we were kids, you use to have an old .22. What happened to it?"

Ramsey takes back the pistol and disassembles it for cleaning. "I outgrew it. I included it with a wad of cash when I traded for the 9mm."

Grace sits on the edge of the old refrigerator that Ramsey uses for a storage locker. She watches for a moment as he carefully, almost lovingly cleans the gun. "Is it true you use that to shoot squirrels?"

Ramsey laughs. "Is that what they say? What would I want with a bunch of dead squirrels?"

"Then this is just for target practice? You don't have any other reason for the gun?"

"I'm not some psycho, Grace - if that's what you're worried about. I'll admit, I...get mad, a lot, and I don't always think straight..."

"So you can see how people might be worried...especially when you add in this!" Grace says as she pulls a pint of cheap whiskey from the old fridge.

"It's not even open. I've been saving it for a special occasion."

"Like our date? Because if you think..."

"No Grace, I would never offer you booze. I've known the truth about your mom for years."

Grace glares for a moment and then blushes. "You know? How do you know?"

"Becky told me."

Grace mind flashes back to her younger days. At one time they were a group of four: Adam, Steve, herself and her best girl friend, Becky. When they were eight, Becky came for a sleepover at her house and Sarah Polonsky promised she would not get drunk. It had been a successful evening with Grace's mom only drinking a moderate amount of wine. But the next morning, when the two young girls hurried down to the kitchen for their promised pancakes, they found Mrs. Polonsky passed out. Becky stopped talking to Grace after that and her family moved away a couple of months later. Grace never blamed Becky for ending their friendship. They were just kids, and Becky didn't know how to react, or what to say about such a disturbing adult situation.

"You've known all of these years and you never said anything?"

Ramsey shrugs. "We've all got family crap to deal with. My step-dad rides my ass all of the time, my real Dad barely talks to me, and...doesn't really like me. They're all just waiting for me to fail so they can gloat and kick me to the curb for being such a loser. One day...one day they'll be sorry."

"Then why don't you fool them and not be what they expect? Steve, it's not too late to turn your life around and be a decent guy - a winner."

"Of course it's too late, Grace. Price won't leave me alone, and sooner or later he's going to expel me from school and then my life will really be over."

"If that's your biggest fear, then you sure are heading down a strange path. It's like you are running toward a cliff that you know is coming. Stop. Reverse course."

"Do you think I haven't tried? Do you think I like being such a...jerk? I try to keep my temper under control, but it's like the fuse is always lit and I don't know what will set me off next. I wasn't even able to work this out in my head when I was in crazy camp."

"You were in Gentle Acres?"

Ramsey becomes flustered at having let slip too much information.

Grace hastily adds, "Hey, we're sharing secrets. No judgments from either of us about anything. So, weren't they able to help you at all at that dumb camp?"

Ramsey shrugs. "I spent a lot of time talking with my therapist, 'Dr. Dan', but that just gave me new things to be pissed off about. The only thing that seemed to work was the medication they gave me."

"You're not still taking it?"

"It calmed me down, but it also made life...fuzzy. I felt disconnected from everything, including myself. I couldn't live like that."

"Did you ever ask for a milder dose?"

"Huh?"

"Yeah, a bit less so it will take the edge off of your temper without you being overly 'fuzzy'."

Ramsey returns the pistol to the old fridge and secures it with a chain and lock. He is silent for a couple of minutes while he contemplates Grace's words.

"Milder dose..."

X-X-X-X-X

12-11-03, Thursday night.

While the Crystal ball was going on, Will Girardi was contacting the F.B.I. to reveal evidence of massive corruption in Arcadia's city government. Through a long chain of odd coincidences that began when he looked into Steve Ramsey's background, all that he needed to bring down those crooked politicians just sort of fell into Will's lap.

Glynis Figliola, knowing that Luke wasn't going to the dance with Grace, took the bold step of turning down Friedman's invitation so that she could ask Luke. Since they were both going anyway, Luke accepted but to Glynis' annoyance, he spent much of the night wistfully staring at Grace.

Adam and Friedman went stag to the dance and hung out for awhile talking about in turn art then science. They each overcame their varying degrees of shyness and asked for dances with a few of the girls who were without dates. They found to their surprise that working as a team, they could be moderately successful with the ladies.

Joan Girardi spent the night hanging with the popular crowd, enjoying the envious stares as she danced with her boyfriend, the wrestling team captain, Dax Hibbing. It was odd, but her attempt to find out about Grace's sexuality led to her and Dax meeting and dating. At first it was just so he could make his girlfriend Libby jealous, but he quickly realized he liked Joan a lot better than that clingy loon he had been stuck with for much too long. That night Dax and Joan slipped out of the dance early so they could go to a motel near the airport where Joan lost her virginity.

As for Ramsey and Grace, their appearance didn't freak out the other students as much as predicted. Grace wore a dress, but it was a modest black one with silver trim. Ramsey wore a suit but refused to wear a tie. They found they enjoyed hanging out together, and even the dancing wasn't the ordeal Steve feared it would be. At the end of the dance (which included no drama about whiskey for Steve was warned the medication he is now on does not mix well with alcohol), Steve drove Grace home and walked her to her door. It was Grace's first kiss.

To Be Continued.

Please review.