The call ended a while ago, and I couldn't stop thinking about it. Samantha was really back, and she was about to make the kids know who she was. I know her. When she wants something, she doesn't stop until she gets it.
"Sorry about that, Grace," I said. Both of Samantha's calls had ruined my whole day. I was more than just pissed now. "That was her just now."
I whispered, "I'm worried."
"Don't be," Grace whispered. "Harry, it'll be fine. Who knows if she'll even come?"
I whispered, "I don't know."
I ran my hands through my curls frustratedly and looked up at Grace, "But thank you, Grace. For just being here. I don't know how I would've handled this if you weren't here."
Gracie sent me a sweet smile. "It's no problem, Harry."
"Thank you."
"Right." Grace nodded. She changed the topic, "Have you eaten all your ice cream? What do you want to do next?"
"Grace? Harry?" We heard an all-too-familiar voice ask.
"Oh Geez," Gracie covered her face, hiding herself from her mother.
"Harry! She's supposed to be in school!" Erin was here. She put her hands on her hips as she glared at me. "What's going on here? You are supposed to be at school!"
Gracie put her hand over her face. "Mum, please don't do this here. There are people around."
"Harry, care to explain?" Erin crossed her arms over her chest, glaring at me. I gulped. Damn it, what was she going here? "You know that Grace is supposed to be in school! How could you let her ditch?"
"I'm sorry—"
Erin was mad. "How many times have you ditched school, Grace? I can't believe this."
I replied, "This is the first time, I swear. I just felt bad for her, Erin. She didn't want to go so I took her out to eat ice cream with me."
"I don't care! She is supposed to be in school! You can't let her push you around like this, Harry!" Erin said. "I'm so disappointed in you both."
Gracie asked. "What are you even doing here? Don't you have work?"
"I'll be asking the questions, young lady." Erin sent her daughter a glare. If looks could kill, we'd both be dead by now. "You are coming with me right now and going to school."
Grace said, "It isn't his fault. I was the one who convinced him."
"I believe you. You're too nice to her." Erin shook her head at me. "You're letting her get her way. You're not supposed to let her skip school."
"I know, and I'm sorry." I apologized, standing up. "But neither of this is her fault. It's all mine. I'm sorry, Erin."
Grace said, "No, it's obviously mine. He encouraged me to go."
"It's . . It's fine." Erin sighed, helping Gracie get up. "Just go to work, Harry. Grace can come with me. I'll drop her to school. We'll see you in the evening."
* * * * *
GRACE
I was back from school. I was supposed to have a super fun day with Harry but my Mum ruined everything.
I ended up going to school and barely hung out with anyone today. It sucked because today was supposed to be a day with just Harry and I, having fun, just the two of us.
I suddenly remembered that Harry told me to keep the picture in a safer place. I was already in my room, I had arrived a few minutes ago. I bent down and opened the drawer I had left the picture in.
The picture wasn't there.
My jaw dropped. No, I'm sure it's somewhere here. There's a lot of stuff in this drawer, it's probably hidden somewhere underneath.
I started to panic. I quickly tucked some of my hair behind my ear and frantically looked for the picture. I still couldn't find it and only imagined the worst.
Maybe I was looking in the wrong drawer? It had to be somewhere, I'm sure I just misplaced it. I slammed the drawer shut in a hurry and opened the one underneath.
That one was completely empty. I sighed, opening the next two drawers. Nope, it was neither of them. It was the first drawer, but the picture wasn't in there.
I went back to looking through the first drawer. I roamed my hands around everywhere. I felt gadgets, I felt bracelets, I felt jewelry, I felt hair ties, I felt a charger, I did not feel a picture.
"Looking for something?"
I jumped at the sound of Gemma's voice. I shut my drawer immediately, turning around to face her. I slowly shook my head, "N-No, I am not."
"Really? Are you sure you're not looking for this?" Gemma gave me a look, lifting up the picture that I was searching for. The picture of Harry and I on our date.
My lips parted at the sight that was in front of me. Gemma, Harry's sister, was holding the picture of Harry and I. I couldn't believe my eyes. I was speechless. "H-How did you get that?"
Her voice was slow and intimidating. She reached for the door handle and shut the door, causing me to take a step back. Gemma said, "It's not important how. We need to talk about this picture. I was waiting till you'd come back from school."
I narrowed my eyes. "You were snooping in my stuff? This is an invasion of my privacy!"
Gemma said, "You really think that's the issue here? We have a much bigger problem, Grace."
My voice was shaking. "I swear I can explain."
Questions were rushing through my mind. Gemma had found the picture. How long ago did she find it? Did she show anybody else?
I was more than just panicking. If I handled this one situation wrong, my whole life could be ruined.
"Listen, Grace. I'm not going to jump to conclusions. I'm not like that. So, I waited for you to come home so you could give me an explanation." Gemma said, sitting down. "Trust me, I need an explanation because this looks very bad."
All I could say was, "It's not what you think. It's not what it looks like, I swear."
"Oh really? Because hm, it looks like the night where Harry went on that 'dinner' and you went on that 'date' and you two seem to be well, together." Gemma put air quotes around the two words. "You need to explain right now, Grace. I don't think you understand how serious this really is."
"H-Have you talked to Harry about this?"
Gemma answered, "No, I wanted to speak to you. Tell me what the hell is going on, Grace. I'm trying so hard to stay calm right now."
"I. . . " I fumbled on my words. I couldn't make up a story, there was no way she'd believe something I made up anyway. "That night, we were bonding. We were spending quality time together. He took me to a place where he took all of his children and accepted me as his own."
Gemma raised an eyebrow. "Then why did you need to be so secretive about it?"
I sighed. "Because Harry wanted this to be something special for the both of us. He's the only father figure I have in my life. My Mum and he have only been married for a little while, and he wanted to have a special bond with me."
Gemma whispered. "That doesn't explain his arm around you, how you were dressed, the way he's looking at you. You better tell me the truth."
"I am."
Gemma whispered, concern written all over her face, "Is there something inappropriate going on between you and my brother?"
"No, nothing inappropriate going on between us." I lied. "Not like that, at least. Harry doesn't touch me like that, not against my will."
"In this picture, it seems as if you two are on a date. I can't even deal with this right now, Grace. This is extremely bad." Gemma looked at the picture once more. "How long has this been going on? This is wrong on so many levels!"
I begged of her to keep her lips sealed, "Nothing is going on, Gemma. You are misunderstanding the situation! Please, please don't tell my Mum, please don't tell Anne, don't even tell Harry about this. It will make them worry and make a big deal out of something that's not real."
Gemma didn't believe me. "Obviously something's going on, Grace! The lies, the sneaking out, this picture! I was skeptical at first but now I am on the verge of just telling somebody!"
"You're wrong—"
"Do you know how bad this is?! You're a teenager, Grace." Gemma whispered. "He's a grown man. You're not even eighteen!"
"He doesn't hurt me, all he's done is care for me. He's been the father that I never had. You've got it all wrong." I told her. "Please don't look at me like that, Gemma. It's all nothing but special bond. You want to know where he took me? The place your Mum would take you and Harry as kids. He took me there because he was accepting me as his kid, and the reason he didn't tell anybody was because he wanted it to be something between us, a father-daughter bond."
Gemma asked, "He took you . . there?
I hoped she believed me. "Yes, he did. He reached out to me and insisted that this would be something between us two. He didn't tell my Mum because he wanted to make sure I accepted him as my stepdad and wanted this to be just between us."
Gemma blinked. "Really?"
I stepped back. "Mhmm."
Gemma began. "But—"
"I swear," I breathed. "It's nothing alarming at all. You don't need to be suspicious, because there is nothing to suspect. You don't need to worry, because there is nothing to worry about. That picture was simply taken out of context and the story behind it is completely harmless."
Gemma seemed to be believing me. "Are you sure? I mean, I can't not say anything."
I panicked again. "Gem, please. This picture was taken out of context, like I said. All we did was talk about his family. He told me about his children, his childhood, and told me that he wanted it to be between us so the two of us would have a special bond. He was worried about this big change in my life, he wanted to show me that he was accepting me and that I wasn't alone so he simply reached out."
Gemma sighed. "You are making a bit of sense now. I suppose I shouldn't tell anyone. I have been jumping to conclusions, haven't I?"
I sighed in relief. I nodded, "It's okay. Let's just keep this conversation between us."
Gemma nodded. "Yeah. I'm sorry for saying all of this. I really started to believe you when you told me about where he took you. I mean, that's a special place to our whole family and I do believe you. I'm sorry for snooping in your things. It wasn't my decision."
I thanked her. "Thank you for believing me. But, who's decision was it then?"
Gemma explained. "I would never come here in your room and just invade your privacy. It was accidental, I swear. I was doing Bella's hair and I didn't have a hair tie, so your Mum told me to go and look in a drawer in your room. I was only in here for a bit, I was trying to find the hair tie but then, well, you know."
I gulped. "You haven't told anyone else, have you? Just because that would make them worry about something that they don't need to worry about."
She shook her head. "I haven't. And I won't. I understand this. I'm going to go downstairs now."
I pulled her in for a short hug. "Thanks, Gemma."
I felt like flipping my hair. I handled that pretty well, didn't I?
"Is everything okay in here?" We turned around to see Harry outside my room sucking on a banana.