𝐒𝐞𝐯𝐞𝐧 || 𝐆𝐫𝐚𝐲𝐬𝐨𝐧 𝐇𝐚𝐰𝐭𝐡𝐨𝐫𝐧𝐞

Five

❥ 𝐈 𝐍𝐄𝐕𝐄𝐑 𝐑𝐄𝐀𝐋𝐈𝐙𝐄𝐃 𝐇𝐎𝐖 𝐁𝐈𝐆 𝐎𝐅 𝐀 𝐏𝐎𝐎𝐋 𝐇𝐀𝐖𝐓𝐇𝐎𝐑𝐍𝐄 𝐇𝐎𝐔𝐒𝐄 𝐇𝐀𝐃. The pool was at least 15 feet deep, but the width didn't let down either.

My room faced directly towards the pool, and I always had heard when Grayson came out in the late of the night to swim. Frequently, it's become most days.

Diving into the pool, the cold water sent shock waves up my skin. To say this pool was clean was an understatement. There was not one leaf or piece of dirt floating around.

I wasn't big on swimming, but I needed this. There was so much stress, and after my phone call with Grayson this morning, I didn't just want to forget, I needed to.

Grayson and Jameson were on their way back to Hawthorne House, but they had already filled us in on some important details concerning Sheffield Grayson.

Sheffield Grayson couldn't care less about his only son, and I wanted to strangle him for it.

My heart almost split in two at the thought of Grayson Hawthorne staring back at his father, who couldn't care less about him. He considered him a waste a space, and Grayson was anything but that.

"EMG!"

Rising to the surface, I was met with a concerned looking Xander Hawthorne. "What?"

"Jesus," He said. "I thought you were drowning."

"I'm not," I placed my hands on the concrete and pushed up, sitting down on the patio next to Xander. "and for the life of me, can you stop saying EMG?"

"No! It's a perfectly practical nickname." I couldn't help but smile at him. Xander had the ability to make anybody laugh in the hardest times, and I knew I'd taken that for granted. The world needed more people like him. "I have news though."

The tone shifted in his voice, which captured my attention. "What is it?"

"I think we might need to go on a little road trip."

I raised my eyebrows. "Why? What—"

"Mother Hawthorne left us a clue," A voice none other than Jamesons said. Looking past Xander, I saw Jameson, Avery, and Grayson walking towards us.

So I guess they were back. Fun! More awkwardness.

"You swim," Grayson said, his tone too neutral.

"No time for that, we have a clue!" Jameson looked at Avery who was looking at me. "Come on Heiress, tell her."

"We need to go on a ski trip."

"In case you forgot, we can't leave Hawthorne house for—" More than three days. Realization hit me as I remembered me and Avery's conversation from earlier today.

"We sorted it out with Alisa," Avery said. "If we make good time, we'll be back by tomorrow night."

Xander smirked. "I've always loved the mountains."
—
❥

Packing hadn't taken too long, and despite my inability to overpack, we were on the road by 11:30 PM. Riding in a limo to the mountains was probably the weirdest thing I had ever done, but I wasn't going to complain. Avery and Jameson were canoodling in the back while Grayson and Oren were in the front talking business.

Me and Xander were dead set in the middle of the car, and I watched in awe as Xander passed another level of candy crush.

"Oh.. my.."

"I'm just too good, don't sweat it." Xander patted me on the back like I was a child. I swatted his hand away quickly. "What! You've been glaring at me this whole ride!"

"Oren," Avery spoke up from the back. "When will we be there?"

I saw Oren look at his phone before he said, "Just under an hour."

"We should play a game!" Xander exclaimed. Audible groans came from all around the car and Xander held a hand up to his heart, clearly offended.

"I'm in," Jameson said.

"Truth or Dare?" Xander suggested. "Actually, we can't really do any dares that aren't dangerous so we'll just do truth or truth."

"I will not be participating." Grayson finally spoke.

"Oh, yes you will." Watching Xander and Grayson squirm was always a pleasure, but my mind was somewhere else. My father, Skye Hawthorne, Grayson. And eventually, the noises around me drowned out as I fell into some sort of sleep.
—
❥

"Wake up!"

I opened my eyes to be met with Xander Hawthorne yelling in my face. He was so close to me that I actually felt like I couldn't breathe. "Get away from me!"

"For the record," Xander backed up. "I'm very offended you missed truth or truth. We had a good tea sesh."

"You'll manage," I retorted.

The car door next to me opened and Oren was holding out his hand to me. I took it, smiling appreciatively. Oren was my favorite person in the whole world.

Like everything Hawthorne, the Ski House was exceptional. True North was one of the richer mountain slopes, and I'd be lying if I said I wasn't tempted to figure out what other houses Tobias Hawthorne had.

Actually.. Avery had.

Walking into the house, the first thing I took note of was the scenery. The marble tables at a freaking lodge? Shit.

"Isn't it amazing?" Jameson whispered in my ear. I rolled my eyes.

"I think I need a restraining order from you."

Jameson looked offended. "That's downright rude, older Heiress sister." I noticed Avery visibly stiffen out of the corner of my eye.

"I'm going upstairs." Avery said.

"I'll second that," Grayson and Avery looked at each other before hurrying up the stairs, like they were two little kids with a secret game to play.

I turned around to look Jameson straight in the face. "What was that for?" Jamesons eyes pleaded innocent, but I knew this boy well enough to know he was anything but.

"I don't know what you're talking about."

I wasn't going to be apart of his games. "If you want my sister's attention, don't treat her like a puzzle to be solved. She's worth more than that." His face contorted into something sad before I headed toward the stairs.

This is gonna be one hell of a trip.
—
❥

a/n:

short chapter but I had to upload this now to say THE HAWTHORNE VAULT UNLOCKS TMRW?? IT BETTER BE GRAYSON AND PHONE GIRL POV