A guy was standing at the gate and as Grace came out, he stepped forward and hugged her. Ava felt frustrated, she couldn't understand why she felt upset when she saw her with someone else. She walked away from there followed by her other friends.
"Lucas! What the hell are you doing?" She said as she pushed him away.
"Can't I hug my sister?" He said in a teasing voice that sounded disgusting to her.
"You know I don't like it." She said and started walking.
"And you know I love creating trouble for you." He said and started following her.
"I just wanted to check if you were dating anyone, but you aren't, cause no one came forward to push me away." He said and she was stressed out, already because of Ava and now he also came to increase the stress.
"Why are you here?" She asked him in a frustrated tone.
"I need money." He said, turned his head towards her, and continued, "Mom told me to take it from you."
"You know I don't have such a good job." She said and just wanted him to go away for she didn't have any extra money.
"I don't care, I need it by tomorrow or you have to talk to mom." He said and suddenly handed her his phone. She knew that he had already dialed her number so that she couldn't refuse at all. She took a deep breath and answered the phone.
"Hello, mom..." She said in a calm voice.
"How many times do I have to tell you don't call me that when your dad isn't around. I'm not your mother." The lady on the other end said and was offended.
"Yes, aunt," She said in a low voice.
"I sent Lucas to you because he needed money and you clearly know you have no right to refuse. I raised you for so many years so now you have to pay back." She said in an ordering tone. Grace was helpless because if she said no one more time, they'd tell her father about it with several fake rumors and he'd become even more distant from her.
"I'll do it." She said helplessly.
"Good, now get lost." That lady said harshly and ended the call.
"Having fun, now," Lucas asked sarcastically as he tilted his head. "You'd better not offend me, Grace." He said and started walking.
"I gotta go to a part-time job." She said and he stopped walking and turned around.
"Just get out of my sight." He said with dark expressions.
She walked away quietly and was now missing her mother. Mia, the lady she talked to on the phone, was her stepmother, whom her father married after her mother passed away from a long term disease. Lucas was Mia's son and hated Grace as much as Mia did. Although she said that she raised her but she never treated her like her own daughter and asked her to do all the work and used to beat her. Her father used to stay away from home due to his work and thus didn't know what was happening to her. He believed what they told him about her but still loved her no matter what. When he told Grace to go away from home to study, she smiled and agreed to his request even though she knew that they wanted to throw her out. Grace didn't have many friends even as a child cause either they bullied her because she didn't have a mother or Lucas told them lies about her to scare them away. Thus she became habitual to staying alone and Ava was a light in her dark life. But she was afraid of getting close to her for she feared that Ava will get hurt because of her, just like everyone else around her did.
She went to the cafe and asked her boss if she could work overtime that day because she had a gap of a few hours in both of her jobs. He agreed but was kind of worried because she looked listless. She worked for a long time and when it ended she went straight away to the grocery store. She asked her boss lady if she could do extra work to get more money that day and she agreed and told her to do the organizing work that day. She agreed and started doing the work. Although she was tired already she still did it and had to lift a lot of heavy stuff. She got off work at midnight that day and was completely tired but had earned the money that he had asked for.
As she got out of the store she got a call from Lucas. She answered the call and found out that he was in a bar and was completely wasted. She rushed to the location that his friend sent her. As she reached there, she found him sitting on a table with his head dropped. She walked up to him and tried to wake him up. His friends greeted her and went outside. In all that chaos, what she didn't notice was that Ava and her friends were also in that bar. Ava noticed her entering and kept her eyes on her. She noticed that she was going towards the guy who came to the college earlier that day. She was kinda upset after seeing her worry about someone else and walked out of the bar after telling an excuse to her friends.
Lucas woke up and pushed Grace away after he realized the situation. He slowly got up and was swaying so she supported him but she pushed her again. She fell on a table and was hurt. The waiter supported her and she thanked him. She followed Lucan who was now about to go out.
"Lucas, wait for me." She said and supported him.
"Get away bitch." He said and slapped her.
"What is wrong with you?" She asked and was calm because it was his normal behavior.
"Dad doesn't pay attention to me because of you, he doesn't give me any money. Why the hell didn't you just die along with your mother?" He said and kicked her.
He walked out of the bar and his friends, who were still outside took him with them. She was on the floor and had tears in her eyes. Her arms were hurt and her ankle was sprained. She ran away as someone tried to approach her. Ava returned a few seconds later and her friends told her about what had happened earlier.
"Oh man, that nerd has some shitty past," Harry exclaimed as he laughed after Emily narrated the whole incident to Ava.
"So you mean, he's her brother?" Ava asked and couldn't believe what she had imagined.
"Yeah, and he slapped her so hard that she fell on the floor. Poor girl must have been hurt badly." Elijah said and couldn't believe how someone could do this to their sister.
"He even cursed her that she should have died with her mother," Harry added.
"Maybe he's her stepbrother," Emily said suddenly and they agreed.
"I gotta go," Ava said suddenly and rushed out of the bar.
Ava ran around that area to find Grace but she was nowhere to be seen. She got tired after running for a long time and started walking slowly to catch her breath and didn't know where else to find her when suddenly she heard the sounds of someone sobbing. She followed that sound and it led her to a dark alley. She used her phone's flashlight to see clearly and saw Grace squatted on the floor, leaning against the wall and crying uncontrollably. Her knees were bruised, her hair was messy, her eyes red and feet was swollen. She rushed up to her and wiped away her tears."Oh, Grace are you okay?" She asked as she caressed her cheek but she didn't reply and just hugged her tightly. Her heart skipped a beat but she hugged her back and just caressed her back to calm her. Grace stopped crying after some time and pulled away from the hug. Ava whipped her tears away and smiled at her softly, a smile that seemed to take away all her pain."Nerd, you made a mess of yourself by cry
"Open your shirt." Ava said with a straight face and Grace was shocked. She backed away a little and her face started to burn up."Are you blushing?" Ava asked and came closer to her face. Grace covered her face and looked away. Ava laughed and opened the first aid box."I'm just gonna apply for some medicine on your bruises." Ava said and flicked her forehead.She slowly removed her shirt after she kept pursuing her and looked away from her. Ava was shocked as she saw her arms. There were several marks on her body and it seemed as if she had scratched her arms several times. She reached out her hand to touch them but she backed away. As Ava looked at her face, she noticed that she was embarrassed and was on the verge of tears so she took her hand back and applied for medicine on her wounds without saying anything.She applied medicine to the cotton and dabbed it on the bruises. There was complete silence yet they could hear each other's hearts beat like
Grace and Ava were sitting on the sofa afterward for neither of them was able to sleep so they decided to talk for some time. They talked about college stuff and friends etc. Well, it was Ava who was talking mostly and Grace was just listening to her quietly."Grace, do you have a crush on anyone?" Ava asked suddenly and she flinched."N...no" Grace replied immediately. "What about you?" She asked her and was nervous to hear her response."I do actually." Ava said with a smile and Grace's heart dropped. "You know right, the topper from our class, Daniel. He's so cute." She told her and she nodded with a smile, although her mind was in a mess. "But I don't dare to tell him yet." She added."You should tell him, maybe it'll work out. Grace suggested and she smiled."Let's watch a movie," Ava suggested after some time."We have to go to college tomorrow." Grace reminded her."Oh yeah, you'll go there with a broken foot," Ava said sarcast
Ava became kinda busy after that day and didn't visit Grace that often but she used to call her every night to ask if she was fine and if she needed anything. Grace always gave her a positive response and never complained about anything for she didn't want to depend on her too much. They used to talk for a long time and sometimes fell asleep midway.Grace went back to college after three days when her foot healed properly. She wore a hoodie to cover her scars and because it was kinda cold weather so no one bothered to question her. Ava knew that she was coming and was waiting for her at the gate. For some reason, she asked her to come half an hour earlier."You didn't have to wait for me," Grace said as she reached near her."Here," Ava said and handed her a bag."What is this?" She asked in confusion."Breakfast. Let's eat together." Ava said and suddenly grabbed her hand. She pulled her to the cafeteria to eat their food together there."H
Days went by and Grace used to hang out with Ava and the others at college and sometimes they used to visit her at the cafe. She became pretty familiar with them and didn't feel so uncomfortable now.The day of the trip was arriving closer and they all were very excited about it. It was a week-long trip. They were going to the nearby city which was famous for its beautiful tourist attractions. They were going to trek for three days and camp at night. Afterward, they were going to explore the city for two days, and in the last two days, they were free to do anything they wanted, which was allowed because the students requested the organizers, and in the end, they were told to assemble at the given place. They were going to reach the city by bus.The day of the trip finally arrived and they were all assembled at the college, early in the morning, waiting for everyone to arrive. They had their luggage collected at one place and were just talking, Grace and Emily were sitt
The road trip was quite fun, they all were chatting and singing the whole time. The students asked the driver to stop at multiple places to take pictures and short breaks.While they were resting at a place, Daniel, the guy whom Ava had a crush on, approached her and gave her a bottle of water, she didn't refuse and took it. She was quite confused for she found him cute and he was her type of guy but at that point, she didn't feel anything for him. She felt as if something was missing but couldn't figure out what. He talked to her for some time and then went back to his friends.Grace saw this all from a distance and was feeling sad. She thought that she already prepared herself for this but it didn't decrease her pain. She felt a strange pain in her heart that started to break her, bring back all the pain that she kept ignoring. But a part of her was happy for her and she was trying to believe it but that pain kept increasing slowly.The break ended and they we
They waited for an hour or so at the hotel to rest for some time and also placed their luggage in the hotel rooms and then went trekking in the jungle. They were organized into groups and each had a different instructor with them. Ava, Grace, and their whole gang along with David and a few of his friends were in the same group.They reached the mountain on which they had to trek by buses and then started the exciting journey. They explored a lot in the jungle and were shocked by seeing new creatures and things and also took a lot of breaks throughout the day for they got tired pretty easily.They were walking up a steep rocky path and were quite tired after walking for a long time. The instructor told them to be careful for the rocks were kinda slippery. Grace was out of breath but they still had a long way to go. She looked up at the high point where the instructor was about to reach, she took a deep breath and continued walking. She didn't realize and her foot slippe
Ava sat up and was breathing heavily, she couldn't believe her ears and how Grace felt for her. She didn't know how to react. She felt a strange pain in her heart as she heard Grace cry in front of her and when she said that she fell in love with her a part of her seemed to be happy but she didn't know why. She stood up and walked out of her tent, looked around but Grace was nowhere to be seen."You looking for her?" Emily asked and walked from behind the tent. She was there the whole time for she wanted to tell Ava how Grace felt but Grace herself confessed everything but gave up in the end and ran away."Where's she?" Ava asked desperately."What are you gonna do? Find her and then what? You aren't planning to give her an answer at all right?" Emily asked her and stepped closer to her."Just tell me where's she!" Ava almost shouted."I'm not going to until you answer my questions," Emily said and was damn serious at that point."I don't kn