Chapter Nine
Grace
The next morning, I wake a full hour before the alarm blares through the building. I sit up, rubbing sticky sleep from my eyes with my thumbs, letting out a groan when I think about the argument Harry and I had yesterday.
As I drag my half-asleep body into the bathroom to splash some cold water on my face and brush my teeth, I think about how getting into a fully-fledged argument with him wassoooonot part of the plan.
I pace into the bedroom, looking at the sunflowers in their gorgeous yellow vase, which matches the petals. That was such a beautiful gesture from him, and it ended with …
Crap.
I brush my teeth harder than I normally do, as though I can scrape away plaque and the past just as easily.
He said I was the one who played him, which is just plain crazy.
And when he got so angry at me merely mentioning Adam’s name, it just confirmed that something is going on there.
Is he paranoid Adam’s going to tell me something bad about him?
But then, if that’s the case, why even bother hiring him?
Or was he just jealous?
I spit the toothpaste in the sink and rinse my mouth. There are too many fricking questions and not enough answers.
I return to the bedroom and sit at the desk, opening my laptop and navigating to my blog-post page and the horoscope page, viewing them side-by-side.
My horoscope for today, as always, is pertinent as pertinent can get.
You’re extremely popular this week and now it’s time to choose between two paths. Will you follow your heart, even if it’s led you astray before? Or will you follow your head, even if you know you sometimes overthink yourself into a corner? Be brave and trust in your decision. You can do this.
There are no prizes for guessing what my two paths are. To be with Harry Hadley or not to be, that’s the question …
Yesterday, after the argument, I marched back into the dorm and wrote a long, scathing blog post about Harry. My fingers flew across the keys quicker than I could think, almost, the sort of outpouring I guess novelists must dream about. The words justcame.
But, when I was done, I stared at it, reading over some of the most twisted and bitter sentences.
‘He sucks you in with his charm, but then turns into a full-on jackass and reminds you he can break your heart any time he likes.’
I decided I wouldn’t publish it during the camp, so I scheduled it to release the day the camp finishes.
Let that be my parting shot to the delectable douchebag!
I spin in the office chair, my gaze resting on the sunflowers every so often. During that whirlwind romance with Harry back when we were kids, I shared more about myself than I ever had before … and I ever have since. The only person I’ve talked to about my childhood and emotional stuff like that is Kelly.
Otherwise, I keep that stuff to myself. The same way men don’t seem to like my adventurous nature, they also don’t seem too psyched when I start talking about personal stuff.
Not that I’ve ever found a man I want to talk like that with.
Except for Harry.
The other thing that happened yesterday, after the argument, was that Adam approached me in the gym. I was on the running machine, sweat coursing down me like my body was trying to drown itself, breathing through clenched teeth as though I could outrun the argument.
The freckled man wrung his hands together as he approached, a hard-to-read smile on his lips. “Uh, Grace,” he said. “Can I ask you something?”
“Sure,” I huffed, jumping and placing my feet either side of the running pad, the treadmill whirring around with a slight buzz. I pressed a button and stilled the mechanism. “What is it?”
“I was just wondering if we could have lunch together tomorrow?” he said.
