Chapter 12: Just Friends
Violetsaregrace (22:01) Franky?
Frankyfitzfuck (22:02) ABOUT FUCKING TIME! So when are you and shitface getting married?
Violetsaregrace (22:03) Don't be silly; we're not getting married!
Frankyfitzfuck (22:03) Good, because you would make me Maid of Honour and I don't want that. Ever.
Violetsaregrace (22:05) Yes, you would be! Rich and Alo as bridesmaids obviously!
Frankyfitzfuck (22:05) But Rich'll be the groom?
Violetsaregrace (22:05) No... Rich is the bridesmaid, not the groom.
Frankyfitzfuck (22:06) Not together? STILL FUCKING NOT TOGETHER?
Violetsaregrace (22:07) We're just friends, Franky!
Frankyfitzfuck (22:07) But last night?
Violetsaregrace (22:07) Just friends.
frankyfitzfuck (22:08) Shit, you two really are idiots.
Waking up late for college is extremely disorienting and I don't recommend it to anyone! Also, is it possible to have a hangover lasting more than twenty-four hours? I didn't think so, but the slight throbbing in my head is definitely giving me a good argument.
Oh, fishsticks, why is my hair so uncooperative today? And I need to start a mental list of everything I need to remember to take to classes today. My French essay… Another frizzy error in my less-than-perfect hair… French essay, my Shakespeare essay – I did finish that, didn't I? I did, I did, because I finished that before Rich…
No, no, no, I actually really don't have time to think about him right now in this chaos. Even if it is pretty calming to me, like a mother duck taking care of the little duckling – if that's even a good enough comparison to this situation. No, it doesn't make sense. I am standing still trying to think of a better comparison instead of making an attempt to actually get to college on time – priorities, Gracie!
Okay, my hair will have to do like this. I'm sure I can persuade my Mum with hugs to fix my hair for my recital tonight. The recital! The recital is tonight and I should be lovely fresh this morning for my big day, but instead I feel like a pink elephant still resides in my head with one of his feet still raised in a menacing fashion to tease me with loud noises and pain.
I run down the stairs, finding my Father tapping his foot and staring at his pocket watch (he insists it makes him look more important), I smile breezily at him as if I was taking my time getting ready.
"You're late." I keep smiling, standing on tip-toe to catch his cheek with a kiss.
"Barely. I think my alarm had a malfunction this morning." Or perhaps I snoozed it five times.
Either way I manage to get the door open and get him to lead the way to our car.
"Princesses should be early risers!" I hear my Mum helpfully call from the dining room.
"So true!" My Dad shouts back to her like it's their new way of saying goodbye or something.
"Thanks, Mummy." I say with only slightly gritted teeth, before following my Dad outside.
The car ride starts off in the usual manner with him fiddling with the radio, commenting on every single station that he doesn't like and eventually landing on a track that he deems to be 'appropriate wake up music that starts the day in a productive way' before we finally set off. It's a very short car ride of about five minutes so he usually insists I walk to school as he only takes the car for 'status' purposes, but today is obviously an exception considering how late I was running.
"New mantra for today, Grace; repeat after me," I close my eyes for a second, seeking some kind of patience for this. "Full concentration, no procrastination equals excellent examinations."
"Full concentration, no procrastination equals excellent examinations." I repeat in a less motivated voice than his.
"Very good! Remember that when you're frolicking with your friends today please." I nod my head, staring out the window as I finally assess how good a day it'll actually be. I mean, I have Mini and Liv now so whatever actually happens with Rich it can't be that bad. And that phone call… Well, it's made my palms slightly less clammy than they probably would have been today otherwise.
It was… enlightening.
"Rich?"
"Uh…hi." We both said nothing for a little while as we were both obviously hoping the other would say something first.
"Yes, Rich?"
"Uhm… Yeah, sorry about my Mum."
"Don't say sorry, I love your Mum." There was more sighing and mumbling on his end, but I just waited it out to see why he actually rang me up.
"How are you doing?"
"Better. Thank you for taking such good care of me last night." As soon as I said this I realized how it could be taken, seeing as we almost (maybe? I'm still not entirely sure) kissed last night, so I simply held my breath and waited for his reply.
"I-it's okay. I just wanted to make sure, you know, that… I mean, you were wasted last night, so we're still friends now, yeah?"
I can't really remember how I felt when he said that to me. Happy? Sad? Heartbroken? As far as I remember I'm the one who told him I wanted to be friends again, he said… What did he say again? Oh, yes, that he wasn't sure he could be? I don't get why he couldn't be then and he could be now.
All of a sudden though it didn't matter how those words went through me, because I was – I am – determined to make our friendship work. I will survive without Rich being mine in a romantic way, but I won't survive him not being mine in any way at all. All great love stories are about sacrifice and so if I want a great story, I'll have to sacrifice my feelings for him.
It'll be okay.
"Of course, silly! I meant what I said, Rich. Just forget everything I said; I want us to be friends." I only had to force half of those words to sound as excited as they did.
"Cool."
"Cool!"
"Ballet-bug, I shall see you tonight at the big performance!" I remove my head from where it was leaning against the window and grin at my Dad.
"Yes, I'm so excited for it!" And so is the now annoying pink elephant by the feeling of my head as it continues to thump every so often. Honestly, , shoo!
"And," He clears his throat meaning that his next question must be about my friends as he always gets so uncomfortable discussing them. "Who else will be attending this recital?"
"Well, it's you and Mum -,"
"Yes?" He elongates this slightly as a clear sign that he wants me to hurry up.
"Alo, Liv and Mini." I say that list so quickly that you could mistake it for me saying superfragilisticexpialidocius. (I can proudly say and spell that word!) My Dad looks at me with a scrunched up nose clearly not happy with some aspect of that.
"No Hardbeck?" I look down at my lap before shaking my head. He will be off with his super cool girlfriend at his super cool concert. I shouldn't even be upset; I don't really have a right to. He's come to so many of my recitals and regardless of whether or not it's to do something with Jade – it's Napalm Death! This is his favourite band of all time. I can't really be upset by that. There will be loads more recitals in the future, so seriously, I need to more positive about this whole thing… He still has the ticket though.
He still has the ticket! That doesn't really mean anything other than I need to get it back from him today as I need to give one of them to Mini or Liv. Of course I could easily get another two tickets from my teacher, but how bad would it be to have one empty seat amongst my seats? I'm a sell-out star, not Peter Jackson's King Kong! Sorry Kongy, but your original was galaxies better!
"No. Daddy I really need to go actually…"
"Right, well, good… I shall see you later then. Have a productive day." I fail at hiding my slight glare when he comments on how it's good that Rich will not be attending. Rich always seems to be the one that he has the biggest issue with. It must be because Rich was unfortunately not blessed with functional manners and pleasantries - Alo at least attempts that.
My parents should be grateful actually that despite my three closest friends I've managed to remain the princess that they always wanted. Frankie with her unwavering attitude towards anything female, Alo with his less hygienic and more… natural lifestyle and Rich with his Richness, it's a wonder that I'm me. They must be petrified that one day I'll come home with a Mohawk and a male jacket on – although how cool would an androgynous look be for a day?!
"An extraordinarily productive day!" I smile, letting him kiss my forehead as I exit the car.
And a productive day is what I shall have. I mean so many productive things like handing in essays, retrieving my ticket from Rich and of course the recital itself. How's that for a Monday?
"That French class totally inspired me on what you should say to Rich next time you see him!" Mini says with one arm outstretched in a slightly overdramatic fashion, whilst pulling me out the door from our French class that we just had.
I immediately begin to blush, I hadn't even been thinking about Rich (that much) today. Although now it's lunchtime I guess I will be thinking about him as he'll be sitting right opposite me... along with Jade. It's perfectly okay though; Mini and Liv have agreed to sit with all of us at lunch!
"Mini, shush!" I say in a poor attempt to get her to stop saying 'Rich', especially as we're approaching Alo, who looks like he combed his hair today to get it looking less chaotic.
"Voulez vous coucher avec moi?" Mini asks in a very seductive manner causing me to blush even more and make drastic shh-ing noises. Liv cackles at my side and this unfortunately perks up Alo's attention.
"Don't you agree, Alotosis?" Mini asks with a cocked eyebrow as we reach where he's stood. Despite the awful nickname that she's picked out for him today he looks overwhelmed by the direct communication she's giving.
"Uh... what?" I smile a little; it's so nice that finally they're giving him some well-deserved attention.
"If a girl came up to you and said 'voulez vous coucher avec moi', you would definitely want to shag her, right?" I can practically hear Alo gulping at this entire sentence.
"Yes... I have no fucking clue what you just said, but yeah. Definitely! Definitely times -,"
"Okay, Als, calm down a bit." These wise words came from Liv as poor Alo looks like he's about to pass out from excitement.
"Settled then," Mini begins in a very business-like manner. "You should most definitely use it on Rich."
I scrunch up my face, not daring to look at Alo, as I have no idea whether Rich would've told Alo or not about my infatuation for Rich, but I'm kind of hoping he didn't so I would just like to not look at Alo's face right now and live in complete denial about whether he knows or not. Oh dear, I confused even myself with that sentence!
"You've already noticed?"
I de-scrunch my eyes very quickly.
"Noticed what? What have they already noticed?"
"You and Richaroo – the ongoing saga. Christ, your sexual tension has been going on longer than Harry Potter."
"Alo!" I chirp, before quietening down. If Alo thinks that then... No, no, it always goes back to Jade. He has Jade. However Alo is Rich's bestest friend he must know a little something about it, mustn't he?
I let myself smile for just a second. I still need Rich's ticket.
"Where is Rich? I need to go see him." This was greeted with a whooping noise from the three around me.
"Confessing your love?"
"Or just a bathroom quickie?" I give a small disgusted look at Liv and Mini who said those two things in respective order before looking at Alo hopefully.
"He's being boring and stayed in class to study History or something."
"Right, I'll be back in a bit then. You go start eating without me!"
Alo looks like I just gave him a winning lottery ticket or maybe a new cow. He must be thrilled to spend some private time with both Mini and Liv. The girls look slightly more... indifferent to it though.
"Don't do anything I wouldn't do!" Mini calls.
"Seriously that's not a lot, Mins." Liv states with a snigger that is greeted with a light hit from Mini and a truly reddening expression from Alopops.
"I'm just going to get a ticket back from him!" They all look less than convinced. Drats, but its okay because it is 50% true anyway.
I quickly walk away before they can say anything else that's embarrassing, because you really never know when my Dad is going to magically appear from behind a corner. And think about how horrible that is to lead a life! I'm just constantly living in the fear that my Dad will appear and give me some lecture on the best study techniques or chewing gum!
When I reach the History classroom door I just peek in to make sure the teacher's not sitting there (a spy for my Father!) and instead all I see is Rich talking animatedly with no-one other than Jade. I freeze. I wasn't prepared for this. Of course if it is really as innocent a conversation as I told everyone it was then what is the issue in me walking in there right now?
I sigh; about to turn away when I hear the distinctive syllable that is my name.
"Grace?" Rich asked in a tone of complete annoyance and disgust.
"Stop saying her name! Just answer the question!" Jade sounds equally annoyed and I really wonder how they can be discussing me with such hatred. What have I done?
"Fine, I don't like Gra- her. We're just friends and not even proper friends. She's just this girl that latched onto us when we were too stupid to say no, okay? Nothing else!"
I stop thinking. I stop doing anything apart from staring at them. She looks happy with his response and she moves forward to embrace him. As he moves forward too, the thing directly in his line of vision is me standing there stupidly behind the glass. I don't read his expression, because that painful second of eye contact is enough to get me running off towards... I don't know where.
I still can't think. All I know is that I am excelling in my multitasking skills – running and crying, a combination I never thought would be so effortless.
A/N: No excuses, no promises. I just present you with the slightly shit chapter that is sadly on another cliffhanger so let's hope I don't disappear for a century like last time! And hopefully you still all care PLEASE PLEASE PRETTY PLEASE xoxo