Make it Count

Chapter Eight P.2

It was after midnight when we finally talked Katie and Laura into speaking to each other. They were in the car, hopefully clearing things up, while the rest of us played a game of truth. It wasn't nearly as interesting as it would've been with Katie, but we managed.

It was my turn to ask a question, and I already knew what I was going to ask, "Greyson..."

He looked up from the floor, eyes narrowed as he waited for my question to come.

"Who is Kathy?"

Ethan and Dre stopped their side conversation to gauge Greyson's reaction.

Greyson shook his head and his dark hair fell messily across his forehead, "This is stupid, I'm leaving," he began to get up from his spot but I quickly reached up and clutched his hand.

His critical glare snapped down to meet my eyes, I took in a deep breath, "Don't go. You invited us here, you said you would prove you're not shallow. Your reaction to this person clearly shows that you're not, but I've told you the things you asked, so, please. Answer my question."

"She's my aunt." He said through gritted teeth. I released his hand, nodding.

"Why is she sorry for?" I asked, forgetting about the other people in the room. I wanted to know this, more than I wanted to win the prize for the scavenger hunt, more than I wanted to forget this whole experience with them, I wanted to know.

He smiled, but it wasn't a sweet smile, it was a malicious one, one that was deadly, "That's not how the game works, Alexandra. You get one question, and I answered. Now I'm done." And with that, he walked off, going outside.

"Don't let it get to you too much. If you were anyone else, he would've ripped off your head for mentioning her." Ethan told me.

"What do you mean 'if I were anyone else'? What did she do?"

"That's his story to tell, not mine. He'll tell you if he wants to. If he trusts you."

I laughed, because he would never trust me. After Friday, after the final day of the scavenger hunt, we'd never talk again, right? We'd never talk after tomorrow.

"Let's ditch this stupid game, just talk. Max, what's your story?" I said. I scooted closer to fill the gap Greyson had created when he left. As much as Greyson got under my skin, I liked his friends. I was still convinced they hadn't gone through all that much, but I liked them. The least I could do was listen to them.

Max gave me a tired smile, "Where do I even start?"

"How about the beginning?" Dannie quipped from beside him. She was staring at him like he was the only person in the room. I made a mental note to ask her later what her feelings were toward him, because you don't just look at anyone like that.

"Yeah, okay," he nodded and immersed us in his life story, "My folks passed away when I was real young. I don't really remember them much, so it's not sad or anything, but I went in to foster care. For years I was shipped from house to house, alcoholic foster father to flirtatious foster sister. I moved probably 20 times. My foster family now is a scruffy middle aged man with a drinking problem. He comes home everyday and pushes me around..." he said more, and I listened, but I was also drowning in my guilt. Max got abused on the daily by a man he barely knows because his parents were in the crossfire of a drunk driver. And I was the bitch telling him he hadn't gone through anything.

When he finished, he looked at me, his eyes were glossy. I thought he might cry but he ran his hands down his face and his eyes were clear again, "What about you, Alex? What's your story?"

"Deadbeat dad who left, bum mother who's always off screwing some guy or getting money for drugs. A string of guys that meant nothing. My mom remarried a while back, to a guy named Micky, he would hit me and my brother," I left out the part about him touching me, "but then my brother, Oliver, he went to college, he didn't want to. Didn't wanna leave me, but I told him that he had to get away from here. So he left, and soon, so did Mickey, but not before getting one last beating. He jumped me one day, left me bloody and bruised in the street. Oliver found me, luckily. He was on his way visiting home for the weekend. He drove me to the hospital and I had to have surgery because he gave me internal bleeding..." and raped me.

After that everyone took a turn sharing their stories, Dannie, Dre, Connor, Mira, Ethan. But Greyson never came back inside, never shared what he'd been through. It bugged me in a way I couldn't understand.

Katie and Laura came through the door after a whole. I watched Laura as she sat down next to me and crossed her legs, she looked terrified, but also happy. If that makes sense.

Katie was grinning to herself.

"I uh.. I have to go.. my dads worried." Laura mumbled. Her hair had gotten completely messed up and her jeans were unzipped. I eyed her suspiciously.

Mira yawned, "Yeah, I should probably get home too,"

We all agreed to call it a night and were saying our goodbyes when I spotted Greyson outside, "I'll be right back, guys," and tiptoed out the door.

Greyson was standing in front of the lake, his shoulders rising and falling peacefully as he watched the water move with the wind. I didn't want to scare him so I placed a hand gently on his shoulder and whispered, "Hey,"

He turned only enough to see that it was me, and when he did, he remained silent.

"I just wanted to say I'm sorry. For what I said- what I've been saying about you guys. It's obviously not true. So, umm, sorry for pushing you to tell me things you didn't want to tell me."

He shook his head, "Whatever."

I don't know why, but I smiled at his response. Max was right, if I were anyone else, he would have torn me to pieces for the things I said to him, but he didn't, and I was determined to figure out why. "Goodnight, Greyson." I gave him one last look before I slowly walked to the car. It had gotten considerably cold, for October in Arizona, and I was shivering from my thin clothing.

Dannie and Max were standing just outside the car doors, talking to each other quietly. Dannie was blushing like crazy and Max couldn't stop smiling. Not wanting to interrupt, I snuck past them and closed myself into my car.

"He's asking her out." Mira noted when I buckled my seat belt.

I smiled, "I could tell."

She twisted her fingers nervously, "Do you think... no, forget it. Never mind."

"No, what?"

"Do you think Ethan likes me? At least a little bit?"

"Mira, that boy was staring at you like he'd never seen another naked body before when you jumped into the water. He likes you more than a little bit." I told her, and it was true. Ethan had been watching her ever since the beginning of the week, it had just come to my attention now.

She grinned and sat up at the edge of her seat to look at me, "Greyson was looking at you like that, too, you know. When you were skinny dipping, he couldn't take his eyes off you..."

"Mira," I scoffed, "Greyson is a teenage boy and I was naked, of course he's going to stare. But he doesn't like me, trust me. In fact, I think I'll be lucky if he doesn't hate me."

"Hey, you heard what Max said. There's something different about you to Greyson. I just have no idea what it is or what it means."

Yeah, that makes two of us.

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Man, I love writing. You can make anything happen, in anyway, however you want. It's like magic!

Okay, but, what do you think is Greyson's big secret? What about Katie and Laura, what do you think happened while they were talking?

In the next chapter, we'll get to see if they win or lose the scavenger hunt! And don't think I've forgotten about Travis... he's going to make another appearance very soon!

-XOXO Hadley