Disclaimer: I don't own the mentalist, does Bruno Heller take bribes?

A/N thanks for the reviews, I have no homework today, yay! Could get a bit dark, some rigspelt fluff etc etc etc, based on what happened to me during a free period, planned most of this in biology, anyways I am rambling, enjoy =]

Grace sat in chemistry trying to make sense of the equations in front of her. She couldn't focus, and her head was aching which didn't help, she kept on thinking about Wayne, who was sitting two places away from her. Finally the bell sounded and she packed up her books, not listening to the teacher, she looked at her timetable to see what she had next, a free period! She sighed in relief this was what she needed.

'Hey, Grace' someone said

She turned around, it was Wayne

'Yea?' she said

'What do you have next?' he asked

'Free period, what about you?'

'Same, uh, would you like to hang out for a bit, we could go down to the park or something?' he said nervously

She smiled 'Sure, I'd like that'

He scratched his head nervously

'Shall we go now, unless you want to go somewhere that is' he said

'No, we can go now, but can we go past my locker?'

'Yea, of course' he said

They went past her locker and she dropped off her folder. They continued on to the park which was a fifteen minute walk away.

'So why did you move from Iowa?' he asked, making light conversation as they walked

'Dad's job, he is an accountant and he is often over here anyway and he got a promotion so he just moved us, how long have you lived in California?'

'All my life, I lived in Davis before Sacramento though'

'Why did you move?'

'Dad as well, his work'

'What does he do?'

'Mechanic' he said, it was half the truth, but Grace could tell he was keeping something back; she didn't want to be rude, so she didn't ask.

They arrived at the park which was empty so they went to sit on the swings. She drew patterns in the bark with her shoe, while she waited for something to break the ice.

'So, my sister said that there was a new girl in her class, Autumn Van Pelt, is she your sister?'

'Yea, she is a freshman'

'Cool' he said

They sat in awkward silence for a while, sneaking glances at each other when they thought they weren't looking. Grace noticed his muscular body, he could easily get any girl she wanted, yet he was choosing her, she decided to give him a go, if he asked

Rigsby couldn't help but notice how long her legs were, it was like they were going on forever. Her red hair was stunning, she could get guys lining up around the block if she wanted to, yet she seemed shy, god he had known her for a mere two days, yet he knew he was in love with her. He decided to speak up, but she beat him to it.

'Oh my god, class starts in five minutes!' she exclaimed jumping off the swing, grabbing her bag and running towards the road

'Whoa, Grace, there is a bus that usually stops by around now, we can get that back to school' he said getting his back and following her.

They sat on the bus stop, both wanting to get close to each other, but both were unaware that the other did, they sat there for a further 5 minutes, but still no bus.

'What day is it?' he asked

'Tuesday, why?' she said

'Shit' he said getting up and started running back towards school.

'Wayne, what's happening?' she said running after him

'The buses run differently on Tuesday and Thursday' he said as he stopped for her to catch up 'I'm so sorry'

She ran up to him

'It's ok; we are going to get detention, aren't we?' she said

'Yea, probably, sorry' he said apologising again

'We may as well just walk back, we are already late'

He smiled, that meant he got to spend more time with her

They walked back down to school, the atmosphere light, enjoying the mid autumn sun, and each other's company.

'Grace, can I ask you something?' Wayne asked

'Yea, sure, what is it?'

'Um, well, junior prom is coming up in December and I was wondering if you would be interested in going with me?'

She smiled

'I would love to' she said

He looked like he had been hit in the face

'Really?' He asked surprised

'Yea. Course, I want to' she said

They had the school in their sights and they quickened the pace to try and lessen the detention they knew was coming. As they walked Grace grabbed his hand and looked him in the eyes, he stared back like she was an angel.

'What do you have?' she asked, like what they were doing was the most normal thing in the world

'Um, English, you?'

'Same' she said smiling

They walked up the stairs into class, which was well underway when they came in. The teacher turned round and glared at them.

'Mr Rigsby, Miss Van Pelt, would you be so kind to explain to me where you have been?' she said

'We were at the park, lost track of time and tried to bus back, but the buses run on a different schedule today' he explained, hoping for the best

'I'm afraid that's just not good enough, both of you have detention after school, I expect you both to be there'

They nodded their heads and went to sit at the two desks that Teresa and Patrick had saved for them. She noticed Teresa and Patrick passing notes to each other, when suddenly it came Grace's way. She read the first few notes written by Teresa and Patrick

Where are they? The first one read in Patrick's handwriting

I'm not sure the next one read in Teresa's untidy scrawl

Do you think he will take my advice and ask her to prom

Dunno, knowing Wayne, he will think about it but chicken out

You have no faith

Gee thanks

You are very welcome

Shut up

Yes ma'am

I'm serious

Oh I know, would you go to prom with me?

I'm not going to prom

Why not

I don't want to

Not even as friends?

Can I go in my trackies?

By all means

Then very well

The next part of it was directed at her

Did he ask you?

Yes

What did you say?

Yes of course

So, do you like him?

I guess...

SPILL!

He asked me and I said I would and then as we were walking I grabbed his hand and he looked at me like I was sent from heaven

Awww cute

So... what about you and Jane

Nothing to say

Whatever, I will get it out of you, mark my words

I would love to see you try

Just then the note was whisked out of her hands by Mrs Darren

'Unless you, Miss Lisbon want to join Miss Van Pelt in detention, and unless you want another one Miss Van Pelt, I highly suggest you stop passing notes' she scorned, throwing the paper back onto their desks

This convo is not over Grace wrote while the teacher wasn't looking

I know Teresa wrote back

An hour later Grace sat in detention with Wayne writing lines. I will not be late 100 times, she was up to line 87 and her wrist ached, she hoped that her dad wouldn't be home before her, she couldn't imagine what he would do. Finally she reached 100, she got up and handed her paper in, at the same time Wayne did.

'I don't want to see you back' the teacher called as they walked out the door

'Did you wait for me?' Grace asked

'Um, yea, I was going to ask if I could walk home with you, the others would left by now and my I-pod is broken so I have no music'

'Sure' she said smiling, glad he did wait

They walked talking about school, teachers and music until Wayne turned off onto his own street, Grace continued onto hers. Her stomach dropped when she saw her dad's car in the drive way, this was only going one way, and it wasn't going to be good. She carefully eased the door open, trying to make as little noise as possible, but it didn't help, seeing that her dad was sitting, watching the door as she came in.

'Where have you been?' he asked gruffly

She knew better than to lie to him

'Detention, I was late to class' she explained, she could hear whimpering in the background

He stood up suddenly.

'Why the fuck were you so late, were you being a slut in the bushes like your sister?' he yelled

She noticed that there was scotch bottles on the coffee table, this was going to get worse before it got better.

'No, I had a free period, I went to the park with friends' she said, trying to make a beeline for any door she could, but he had her cornered, she felt herself bump against the wall, she braced herself for what was about to come.

'So you could smoke, drink, fuck, do weed, I'm not fucking stupid' he said as he slapped her 'That all you got, slut,' picking her up by her throat then slamming her against the wall before she fell to the ground. He kicked her in the ribs, the stomach, winding her. She rolled onto her back, but he kicked that too. 'Slut' he said as he walked away.

Grace lay there in the foetal position, telling herself this wasn't happening. She heard someone walking towards her; she prayed he wasn't back for more.

'Are you ok?' she heard Autumn ask

She rolled over; Autumn had a bleeding lip and a black eye.

'Yea, I guess what did you do?'

'He saw me walking home with mats, I got pushed over into a bush and then they pushed a guy in with me, he saw us in the bush, I think you can guess what happened next'

'What did he do to Hayley?' she asked, guessing that she was the source of the whimpering.

'She saw him beating me, can you help me with tea, moms drinking again' she explained

'Sure, just give me a minute'

She pulled herself up and looked in the mirror, she had a red hand print on her cheek and red marks on her neck, and she didn't want to think about her ribs. As she walked over to the kitchen she saw Hayley with Joel and Matt, and her mom drinking vodka straight out of the bottle, she drank when her dad was angry and beat them, sometimes she would just sit in her room and just drink their money away, Grace had grown up a long time ago because of this, she had looked after her siblings and her mom when she was too drunk to do otherwise. Grace thought about all the other girls in her class, they had no idea how easy they had it.

A/N well, this could've gotten up a hell of a lot quicker if I hadn't been distracted by solitaire. Got a bit darker than expected, I will work on my other fanfic now, if solitaire will let me, next chapter of this will probably be the crime part of it dun dun dun! keep watching for it and more of this =]