Chapter 5 (Phoenix's Perspective)

I shoved open the door to Grace's bathroom, immediately regretted it once my eyes landed on her. "Can you hurry—?" I started before my eyes widened. She was only wearing a towel around her torso.

"Get out!" she screamed and I immediately slammed the door, practically running out of her room. My face was warming up and I quickly returned to my place on the couch beside Leo, who glanced at me curiously.

"What happened up there?" he asked.

Nothing, just walked in on your sister getting out of the shower. "Oh, nothing," I lied as my breathing returned back to normal.

A few moments later Grace announced her presence by clearing her throat. I looked at her before immediately looking away as the image of her decked in just a towel filled my mine. Stop, I scolded myself, that's weird. I stood up and brushed off my pants, turning to face the pretty girl standing before me.

"A wild Grace appears," Leo noted, earning a glare from his sister.

"Can we go?" she asked and I could tell she was uncomfortable. Just great. As soon as you get the girl to actually leave the house with you alone (though done with a bribe), you had to mess it up by walking in on her in the shower. Perfect.

"Yeah," I responded quietly, mentally cursing at myself.

"Don't forget my fries!" Leo called as we approached the front door. I made a note to buy him some fries.

"Look, I didn't mean to walk in—," I started as soon as the door locked in place.

"Don't mention it...ever," she insisted as she pulled open the door to my car. I simply stared at her and sighed. Now she probably thinks I'm some lurking creep who enjoys walking in on girls in the shower.

"Fair enough," I mumbled as I walked around the car.

+ + +

After ordering the food, I detoured to the nearby park where we used to play as children. One time in specific, Grace was going across the monkey bars and I grabbed her feet and pulled her down. She fell, hit her elbow, and started crying. I scanned the park with a small smile on my face. Good times. I was a horrible person. As I pulled into the parking lot, I noticed the confused and annoyed looks that I was getting from Grace. I got out of the car, turning to find her still remaining in her seat. I nodded at her to get out and she slowly did, opening the car door at a snail's pace. "Why are we here?" she asked.

"Because you haven't had fresh air in two days," I informed her. She took a deep breath before exhaling noisily, drawing my attention.

"Ah, that's enough fresh air. Now get in the car and take me home," she insisted.

"Get away from the car, Grace," I began. I started opening the bag, allowing the smell of the fast food infiltrate her nose. "I'm going to eat your food if you don't."

With a grunt, she followed me to the picnic table, glaring at the small children. Just the Grace I know and love. "We're just going to go to McDonald's," she mimicked me. "And then we'll come straight home."

"I also said I was going to leave you alone forever. You didn't actually believe that, did you?" I asked as I sat on the other side of the bench, watching her. She ripped the bag away from me but I didn't really mind. I began checking to see which drink was mine. She gave me the bag soon after I slid her soda her way.

"I hoped," she mumbled and I wanted to sigh. Sometimes I wonder if she really does hate me. I'd ask but I don't think she'd give me an honest answer. She'd probably say something like 'yes I do, now leave me alone forever.'

"So how are you?" I decided to go with. She stared at me as if I'd said something stupid.

"You know, for a supposedly silent trip, there's been a whole lot of talking," she replied as she sipped her drink. I stared at her, admiring her beauty.

"I'm fine, thanks for asking. I mean, I'm tired because of football conditioning. Speaking of conditioning, Aaron was there," I blurted, cutting to the chase. She probably won't sit here and listen to me for too long so I might as well say what I need to say before we have to leave. However I should've gone about it some other way because she visibly stiffened.

"I don't understand why you couldn't have attempted to pressure me into speaking to you in the car," she retorted, catching me off guard. I expected her to get up and insist on fighting me.

"You could've hit me in the car. In public, someone would call the cops," I lightly joked. "So what happened on Friday?"

"I don't want to talk about it," she informed me bluntly. This is kind of what I expected. We're not best friends so I have no right expecting her to tell me all of her business. But it doesn't hurt to try.

"Did he try anything?" I asked, waiting patiently for an answer.

"No," she responded curtly. I looked at her, narrowing my eyes. Is she telling the truth? She's not fiddling her thumbs so maybe she is.

"Then what happened?" I continued to question her. Something had to happen.

"What part of 'I don't want to talk about it' don't you understand?" she retorted in annoyance.

"The entire thing," I explained. "I mean, you don't run out of a house crying because he complimented you. Something bad happened." Maybe if you tell me, I can handle it.

"Why does it matter?" she replied in exasperation. She ran her hands down her face as she sighed loudly.

"It just does," I answered because 'I care about you' wouldn't have sufficed with her.

"Well, for one thing, you were right. He's a jerk," she grumbled and I wanted to nod. Okay so maybe we're getting somewhere.

"What did he do?" I inquired as I slowly sipped my drink.

She gazed at her meal, shrugging. "It doesn't matter. I'm over it."

"You consider staying in your room for two whole days being over it?" I asked, raising my eyebrows.

"I honestly do not see why it's bothering you so much," she answered, shaking her head. Because I care about you, Grace, and I'm not going to let some idiot guy make you feel bad about yourself. So maybe if you stop being so stubborn and actually tell me what he did, I will stop bothering you...for now.

"Tell me what he did and I'll stop pestering you about it," I responded.

"Let's just say that I didn't have a chance to begin with," she admitted as she started gathering her food. I stared at her with furrowed eyebrows. What does that mean? Her face was growing red and her lower lip was quivering. Is she about to cry? Oh no. She sniffled quietly as she stood up, walking towards the car.

"What's that supposed to mean?" I asked as I shot up from my spot on the bench. "Grace? Don't just walk away! What's that supposed to mean?"

"He liked Avery!" she practically screamed. I felt my stomach clench as I stared at her. I wanted to tell her that Aaron didn't deserve her and that she can do so much better, and that he's nothing but a stupid boy who can't see what's right in front of him. I wanted to tell her that she was great and that any guy would be lucky to have her. I wanted to say all of these things and more but I couldn't bring myself to do it.

"Oh," was all I managed to say.

"Yeah, oh," she retorted. "Now can we go home?"

I looked at her as she clutched the McDonald's bag to her chest. I felt the urge to hug her because I know that's what she needed. But if I did hug her, she'd probably shove me away and tell me never to touch her again. I opened the door for her, watching as she got in and buckled her seat-belt. I sighed as I walked around the car. Maybe if I wasn't so mean to her when we were kids, she wouldn't mind hugging me. Or maybe she'd even enjoy hugging me.

+ + +

On Monday, I was informed by a reliable source (Avery) that Aaron was completely aware that Grace had a crush on him. Yet he still proceeded to ask her to hook him up with her older sister. I stared at him from across the parking lot, shaking my head in anger. And here, ladies and gentlemen, is a piece of trash at it's finest, hanging with it's trash friends, looking like trash and behaving like trash.

When Chemistry came around, I saw Grace sitting at her table, the one she usually shares with Aaron, with a nervous look on her face. She was nibbling on her lip as she rolled her hands together anxiously. Her bag was on the seat beside her but I've seen Aaron move it on more occasions than one, so if that's her way of keeping him away it's not going to work. I could tell the thoughts running through her mind. She's probably been dreading this class all day, thinking thoughts like: 'How can I politely have Aaron switch seats?' And she probably came up short because that's just the type of person Grace is. She's too sweet to reject people but luckily, I'm not.

I approached her, noting that she had placed her head on the table. I grabbed her book-bag and placed it on the floor between us. She slowly raised her head, turning to look at me. The expression on her face shifted from worry to relief and I suddenly felt a jolt of triumph course through me. She's actually happy to see me. Maybe I am getting somewhere. "Are you okay?" I asked as she massaged her temples.

"Yeah," she nodded, watching as Aaron unloaded his book bag in the back of the class. "I'm fine."

"You didn't want that jerk to sit next to you again, did you?" I asked for clarification while wearing a look of disgust.

She shook her head quickly. "No, not at all," she answered. "But that doesn't mean I want you sitting there," she retorted as an afterthought.

I felt a grin find its way to my face and she narrowed her eyes. She's totally grateful that I'm sitting here. I leaned forward and squinted a bit, assessing her face. She wore a cute, innocent look on her face as she stared at me. "Well, that's too bad, because I'm not moving." I reached my hand out and thumped her lightly on the nose, receiving a glare in response.

We were assigned some work in class that I intended on doing last minute just because I didn't feel like doing it now. Grace, however, got started on the packet as soon as it was placed on her desk. If I felt like bothering her, I'd call her a nerd but I decided against it. I'm trying to get on her good side and I think I'm doing a pretty good job so far.

I turned to look at her, planning to start a conversation. What should I say? I got caught up in staring at her when I realized that I'd been watching her for a good three minutes. Oh no, that's so creepy. She seemed to notice my gaze because she slowly turned to look at me. "What?" she asked.

"Why didn't you tell me that Aaron knew?" I blurted. Stupid, stupid, stupid.

She scoffed and offered me a flat look. "Sorry, Phoenix, that I don't report every occurrence of my life to you. Sometimes I forget that we're best friends," she sarcastically noted.

Well I can't change the topic now so I might as well roll with it. "So he knew you liked him, yet he asked you to hook him up with Avery?"

She drew circles along the top of the desk with her fingers as she sighed quietly. "Yeah, that's what happened."

"Remind me again, why did you like him?" I inquired.

"Remind me again, why do you think I need to explain myself to you?" she retorted as expected. I genuinely didn't feel she'd create a list of amazing things about Aaron. I probably would've projectile vomited across the room had she attempted to.

"Look, I'm just trying to understand his thought process," I informed her, knowing she felt like I was prying into her personal business.

"I don't know, and I don't want to talk about it anymore, especially not with you," she retorted and I wanted to groan aloud. Shot down...yet again.

+ + +

"I'm exhausted and hungry," Leo informed me as we walked to the locker rooms. I made a noise of agreement as I watched Aaron saunter across the field to the changing rooms. "Look, I know you want to hit him or beat him up or whatever and trust me, I do too, but just leave it."

I looked at Leo and shook my head. "Alright."

We pushed our way through the locker room and I stopped beside a bench, removing my gear and placing it down neatly. Leo was practically chugging down the contents of a water bottle. Once he finished he looked at me and pointed towards the showers. "I'm going to go rinse off. I'll be out in ten."

"Whatever," I muttered as I grabbed my duffle bag from the locker, plopping it down beside my stuff on the bench.

"You ever talk to a girl and, don't get me wrong, she was hot but her sister was just so much hotter?" I heard Aaron say a few feet away. I glared at the floor as I continued to listen.

"Yeah, all the time," his friend James responded.

"I'm talking cheerleader hot," Aaron spoke before briefly looking around. When he noted that Leo had left, he grinned widely. "Leonardo's sister."

"Grace?" James asked curiously.

"No, idiot, Avery," Aaron replied. "Grace likes me, though."

"Are you talking to her?" James inquired.

"I just said that Avery was hotter," Aaron retorted, shaking his head. "I asked Grace to give Avery my number, though."

"Think she will?" James asked as he shoved his shirt into his bag.

"Yeah, she's so desperate for my approval," Aaron laughed and I dropped my helmet on the floor. The two looked over at me and Aaron's laughter slowly died.

"You forgot Carson was in here, didn't you?" Frederick noted with a laugh.

"What?" Aaron asked as he looked between me and Fred.

"He's practically in love with Grace," Frederick laughed as he shook his head.

"Carson man, we're just playing around," Aaron chuckled awkwardly. He took a step towards me and I shoved him, causing him to fall back against the locker. He regained his balance before shoving me back.

"I forgot my towel," Leo announced as he reentered the room. By this point, I had already punched Aaron a couple of times and vice versa. "What's going on, Fred?"

"Washington said some stuff about your sister," Frederick informed Leo and I heard him sigh over the sound of Aaron's back hitting the locker.

"Which one?" Leo asked.

"Which one do you think?" Fred asked with a snort.

"Grace?" Leo asked with a sigh. I managed to get Aaron on the ground, punching him twice before Leo and Fred grabbed me and pulled me off of him.

"What's going on in here?" Coach Bannon asked as he shoved open the locker room door. Aaron was getting up off of the floor and I was rubbing my knuckles along my pants. "Washington, Carson- come with me."

I received plenty of scolding on the walk from the locker room to the principal's office, not to mention the yelling I received from the principal herself. An hour later and I barely got off the hook from suspension (by bringing in some of the guys that witnessed the brawl). However I did receive two weeks worth of detention, which was fine with me.

I left the office and Leo was waiting outside with my stuff. Shoving it towards me, he shook his head. I grinned at him despite the stinging of my lip. "You're not going to tell me that I need to control myself?"

"Frederick told me what Aaron said," Leo noted. "Thanks for defending her."

"Yeah," I muttered. "What else did Frederick say?"

Leo looked at me and shook his head. "Nothing new, just that you're in love with my sister."

I looked the other way. Tell me something I don't know. "Oh."

"You know she's off limits, right?" Leo asked me and I nodded. It's not like she'll ever like me.

"Yeah," I mumbled. "I know."

+++

"What did you do, Phoenix?" Mrs. Jacob asked as soon as I entered the house. She was sitting on the couch watching television alongside Avery, who looked between me and Leo curiously. "Come in the kitchen."

"What happened?" Avery asked, following behind us.

"Phoenix fought Aaron," Leo explained briefly and Avery laughed loudly.

"I've got to get Grace," she announced just as Mrs. Jacob told me to sit down at the island.

I winced slightly as Mrs. Jacob wiped at my lip. "Hold still." She grabbed my chin, quietly mumbling about me always getting hurt.

"What's wrong with your face?" Grace inquired as she stared at me. I wanted to laugh but repressed the urge, seeing as Mrs. Jacob would probably yell at me for making the split on my lip bigger.

"Gracelyn!" her mom hissed. "Don't be so rude!"

"Sorry," she muttered. "What happened?"

"Grace," I smiled before wincing slightly. Mrs. Jacob told me not to move as she wiped at my face. "Glad to see you care."

"I don't," she retorted almost immediately."I mean, I don't think...that...you're— just tell me what happened."

"I got into a fight," I explained, cringing as a wipe pressed against my lip, causing it to sting.

"Stop moving," Mrs. Jacob insisted yet again as she held my chin lightly between her hands.

"You explain," I told Leo, who was eating chips.

"Some things were said in the locker room after practice. Before I could do something, Phoenix attacked," Leo explained in short.

"Attacked who?" Grace asked, looking between the two of us.

"Aaron," Leo muttered.

"What?" she asked, leaning forward slightly as if it was surprising.

"Aaron," I repeated, grateful that Mrs. Jacobs finally finished. "Thanks, Mrs. J."

"Stay out of trouble, Phoenix," she told me as she handed me an ice pack. I held it against my cheek.

"Are you serious?" Grace asked him with wide eyes. I nodded, shivering at the cold against my face. "Why would you do that?" She ran her hands through her hair and Leo looked at her as if she was stupid.

"Because he's a d—jerk, that's why," Leo decided to go with a different vocabulary word.

"But that doesn't give you the right to fight him!" Grace responded.

"He said some things that would make you want to fight him, too," Leo noted with a scoff.

"Yeah, like what?" Grace continued, placing her hands on her hips. I looked at Leo and we mentally agreed that it's better left unsaid. "Like what?"

"Look, it doesn't matter," I told her with a shrug. "It's handled."

"Yeah, you obviously did a good job at handling it," she retorted, assessing my injuries. I chuckled briefly, looking at Leo with a grin.

"Yeah, if you think this is bad, you should see what I did to him," I nodded triumphantly.

"What's the punishment?" Avery piped from beside Leo.

"Well, I managed to get out of suspension," I informed them.

"Barely," Leo laughed.

"How'd you do that?" Avery asked with furrowed eyebrows.

"By having a few kind members of the team vouch for me that Aaron started it," I answered. "I have detention for the rest of this week and next week, but it was worth it."

Grace rolled her eyes while staring at me. Her arms were crossed over her chest and she scoffed. "You're unbelievable."

"No thank you?" I called after her as she walked up the stairs. I'll have to read her diary to find out how she really feels about me defending her.