I passed my chemistry test; my teacher came to me before homeroom to let me know. He said he was so proud of how far I've come in the short time I've been at Anchor Beach. I got a B-, which is way higher than I was expecting. Taylor came to me at my locker while I was texting Stef and Lena to let them know.
"Someone looks happy." She smiles at me.
"I got a B-, and it's all down to you!" I hug her.
"That's amazing, hang on," She goes through her backpack and pulls out a party popper, she pops making the streamers go all over my hair. "It's been in my bag all week; I knew you'd pass."
"You're so cute, thank you so much for helping me, Taylor. I honestly couldn't have done it without you."
"Don't be dumb, you worked hard, it was nothing to do with me."
"Well thanks anyway." We walk to homeroom together. "This means I get to do my first book report for Timothy. I actually feel like a real person for a change." We laugh. "Is it weird that I'm this excited about extra credit?"
"A little, but it's cute." She smiles.
We sit down next to Jude in homeroom, I tell him the good news and he congratulates me, but he seems kind of off. I'll have to wait until lunch to ask him what's going on because Timothy is talking about something. At the end of homeroom, he gives Jude and I book to write about, it's called 'Ender's Game'. Jude's seen the movie version, so he has a slight advantage, or maybe it's a disadvantage.
After math class, I try to track down Jude to find out what's going on with him, and just as I see him walking out of the cafeteria, Jason stops me.
"Oh, hey, how are you?" I ask him, trying to keep my eye on Jude but I lose him.
"I'm good, how about you? How's it going with the adoption papers?" I sit down with him.
"Uh, yeah pretty good. Well, I have to see my birth mom, to get her to sign the papers. But it'll only be like ten minutes and then I never have to see her again so, you know, silver linings."
"Yeah, so you're okay?" He asks.
"Yeah, I'm great actually. School's good, home's good, and if tonight goes well I'll be getting adopted tomorrow," I take a breath. I don't want to get my hopes up again but I'm hopeful this time.
"You're seeing her tonight?"
I nod. "But I'll be fine, I just can't wait to officially be Gracie Adams-Foster." I've never actually said that out loud before, it sounds right.
"It suits you, I'm happy for you." He puts his hand on mine.
"Thanks, Jason, it means a lot."
"I have to tell you someth-"
I spot Jude again. "Sorry, Jason. Can it wait until later? I have to talk to Jude." I get up and navigate through the cafeteria to follow Jude, I stop him outside. "Hey, is everything okay? You've been acting weird all day."
"I'm fine, just tired," He brushes me off.
"Is it Noah?"
"No, Gracie I'm fine." He seems like he's mad at me.
"Jude?"
"Sorry, I've gotta go." He walks off on his own. Did I do something to upset him?
Stef picks Lena and me up from school at the end of the day and drives us to the prison where Cordelia is being held, the other's took Lena's car home. They're trying to make sure I stay calm and don't freak out, but I'm not nervous at all. There's nothing she can say or do that can ruin my life right now, I know she'll sign those papers. I'll make sure of it. We walk into a small room similar to the one where I talked to Rachel. And a woman sits at the table in a grey jumpsuit.
"Wow, I'd recognize you anywhere." I walk in and sit down opposite her. I look like her, we have the same olive skin tone, I'm slightly paler though. But our hair and eyes are the same too. She looks tired and worn down, but that only makes us more alike.
"Hi. I'm Stef, one of Gracie's foster moms." Stef insisted on coming in with me.
"So, you've been taking care of my baby girl, thank you." She shakes her hand.
"Why didn't you want me?" I cut to the chase. I don't want to be here any longer than I have to be.
"Oh Gracie, I did, I wanted you more than anything. I was just a kid when I had you. My parents were overprotective, they wanted me to give you up for adoption." Maybe if she had, my life might have been a little better than it was. "We compromised, and I let them raise you as their own."
"How did mo- Maria die? Edward told me she died giving birth to me but that wasn't true."
"He told you that?" She looks genuinely shocked. "She had cancer, for most of my childhood actually, she died when I was seventeen."
"You still left me though, you could have stayed and helped out with me. Maybe he wouldn't have killed himself," I blame her.
"He kicked me out, I got pregnant again and he couldn't handle it, so I moved to Tijuana to stay with a friend and I miscarried." A tear forms in her eye.
"What about my dad? My real dad."
"He wanted nothing to do with you, or me." She starts crying. "He's in prison now." She's had a rough life, I guess we also have that in common.
"So, Edward became my legal guardian, why didn't Maria?"
"She didn't want to sign the birth certificate. I thought maybe it was because one day she wanted to give you back to me, but my dad told me after she died it was because she didn't want to be responsible for you if you..."
"If I turned out like you?" She nods. "Maybe you should just sign the papers." I take the forms from Stef and slide them across the table to her.
"Before I do, I have to ask, is there any chance of us having a life together?" There's so much hope in her eyes, a hope I relate to. But I can't give into it.
"I don't think so, I'm happy in my situation and I don't want anything to change unless it's for the better." She nods to me; I can see Stef smiling at me out of the corner of my eye.
"I understand. Thank you for coming to see me." She signs page after page until she's done. "I'm very happy for you, Gracie."
"Thank you."
