**again, please excuse any errors**

FLASHBACK LATE '90s - Continued

Something was wrong with Jeremiah Simmons.

Gracie was one hundred percent sure of it, she just had no idea what exactly had transpired. He'd become different with her for the past two days, different in a good way, but still different.

He'd ask her for help with his classwork, telling her he did not understand the material. Of course, a star-struck Gracie didn't even take time to question Jeremiah's sudden change in character, she was just glad he was talking to her. He even seemed to be interested in her.

Weeks passed and things between the two of them were better than ever. Even his little crush on Kayla seemed to be no more and as the annual Winter Ball school dance approached, Gracie was not surprised yet still elated when he asked her to be his date.

Looking back, Grace wondered why she never even took a minute to really wonder why Jeremiah had changed so suddenly.

She saw the way being in his presence changed her, the way she was more at peace, happier, lighter. Years later, she would see the same look on her son when he was around Tasha.

Finally, after a fantastic evening spent dancing and eating, Jeremiah and Gracie ended their Winter Ball with Gracie sneaking him inside her house. Silently, they made their way up the stairs, careful not to wake her mom and siblings, they thanked God her dad was away on a business trip.

Once inside her large room, Jeremiah took in the place. Gracie was too anxious about what was bound to happen between them to notice his eyes training on her possessions as if he was looking for something.

"S-So," she stammered, already getting hot and bothered. "What are we going to do now?"

Jeremiah smiled slowly, "Now Gracie, we're gonna have fun."

.

Gracie was happier than she could ever remember being. She had finally had her first kiss, with the perfect guy too. Happy was an understatement.

At seventeen years old, she believed with all her heart that Jeremiah Simmons was it. They'd finish senior year together, attend the same college or at least colleges of close proximity, then after that would get their own place and get engaged in their mid-twenties.

Finally, they would have two or three kids, two boys and maybe one little girl. Gracie had everything planned out, from her wedding gown to the type of house they'd live in.

For once in her life, she was really happy. So happy she didn't notice that she was living in a bubble, the bliss was bound to fade away, a sharp needle was going to burst her round world of nothing.

At first, she really didn't notice that her possessions were going missing. She couldn't find her favorite golden necklace, but she told herself she probably had just misplaced it and it would turn up the next day. Soon enough, some of her favorite earrings went missing as well.

Still, she had always been a person to lose her stuff, it wasn't much of a weird thing for her to misplace her things. Plus, her mind was so occupied with her relationship with Jeremiah that she couldn't dwell on her material things for too long.

Even when she seemed to lose money, or when her expensive shoes where nowhere to be found, or also when she swore she couldn't find any of her designer skirts.

She put all of that in the back of her mind, not dwelling much on it, it's wasn't as though all of those things couldn't be replaced, surely her dad would be happy to buy her more clothes if she asked.

Despite her vanishing stuff, everything was going perfectly in Gracie's life. Her grades were looking good, her friends were in support of her relationship with Jeremiah, and of course, the man of her dreams was everything she could have ever imagined and more.

Gracie was even hinting at Jeremiah that it was time for them to meet each other's parents, subtlety letting him know that they needed to advance their relationship to include their families.

He very much opposed to that, stating that her parents would hate him because he was a black guy. Gracie stated that she didn't care, her parents would learn to love him because she loved him and that was enough.

But Jeremiah never obliged to finally meeting her parents-the two had to keep sneaking around for two more months.

They were together for three months, then two months later everything came crashing down.

It all happened quickly, almost too quickly that Grace felt as if she'd been sleeping the whole time she was in a relationship with him. She figured, after everything that day, that God truly did have a great sense of humor and he sure enjoyed setting into motion the perfectly coincidental chain of events that led to her heartbreak.

Or maybe God was truly just looking after her. It was better that the heartbreak would happen so early in their relationship rather than later. At least she still had college ahead with all the hookups, parties, and functions those years would bring.

Yet the sound of her heart shattering when her eyes witnessed a boy, the one boy that was supposed to be kissing her lips, so close to kissing another girl's, would hunt Gracie even beyond college.

Like a horrendous cliche, that life-hunting day started out like any other.

Wake up, brush teeth, shower, change, eat, chat with overbearing mom, get inside the car, try to not get into an accident-Gracie has mastered the art of her routine. Hell, she even enjoyed it. It brought purpose and order to her life, just like her relationship with Jeremiah Simmons.

Little did she know.

The day continued normally, like always she impatiently awaited for Art class when she would be seating next to the consistent presence in her life for the past five months.

As third period rolled around, her anticipation was met with disappointment when she walking into Art class and Jeremiah was nowhere to be found. The last she'd heard of him was the last night when she sneakingly called his home phone, faking to be a partner in a school project when his mom has picked up. They talked for twenty minutes before he told her he needed to go finish his school work.

If things couldn't get any more disappointing, the art teacher decided that he would assign a pop quiz about color and shadows or something that Gracie cared nothing about. Either way, she thanked the heavens she had reviewed the material the night before.

Quickly scribbling the answers on the quiz, she answered the five questions in record time and turned the page in before deciding on taking a bathroom break.

Being on her period plus unable to know where her boyfriend was really frustrated Gracie because of her need to be in control as much as possible-yes, she absolutely was a control freak.

Clearing her mind from any thoughts about where Jeremiah could possibly be mid-afternoon on a school day without even giving her a heads up the night before on the phone, Gracie entered the empty restroom.

After peeing, she spent some time washing her hands as she looked at herself in the mirror. Her pale skin, light hair, and blue eyes reminded her of how different she was from Jeremiah.

Before she could exit the bathroom, Samantha, her relatively close friend of hers, stormed inside the bathroom. Tears were streaming down her red face, an indication of the sadness she was feeling.

Gracie inched closer to Samantha, a concerned look on her face. "What's wrong, Sam? What happened to you?"

The brunette stopped crying momentarily, looking up to see Gracie's concerned eyes, which made her breakdown once again.

"Sammie, please talk to me. Whatever happened I'm sure we can find a solution to it." Now Gracie's arms were around Samantha's shoulders as she walked her over closer to the restroom sink.

"Y-you've been busy, I didn't want to disturb you but now it's too late either way."

Gracie was confused above everything else, she didn't understand what Sam was talking about or why she was saying that it was too late to tell her.

"What did you want to tell me? Why is it too late?" She passed her friend a tissue.

"Thank you," Samantha said as she took a moment to blow her nose. "He broke up with me... Charles broke up with me."

Gracie made a face that screamed a surprise that was 100% not real, she also added, "What?! There's no way!"

When in fact there absolutely was a way.

Gracie knew that her "boyfriend" Charles was not interested in anything about Samantha except for her popularity around school thanks to her family's name. Charles' fear of losing status was the only reason he'd still entertained a relationship with Sam, while in fact he was infatuated with another girl.

Samantha's eyes were once again tearful so Gracie passed her more tissue and rubbed her shoulders. This moment was bound to happen one day or the other, Gracie thought.

"I know, right?!" Sam all but yelled with more tears streaming down her face. "Apparently he was so horny for that fucking bitch Michelle he decided to leave the only good thing to happen to him."

Gracie was about to correct Sam on calling Michelle a bitch because Michelle was the sweetest, but decided against it. She knew it wasn't the time nor place.

Samantha sniffed and blew her nose again, before looking at her face in the mirror and drying her tears. "How dare that thing steal my man? And what does Charles even see in that ugly blac-basic bitch?!"

Gracie stood still for a second. She knew what Sam was about to say and by the way she was looking at everything but Gracie's eyes, Sam was also very aware of how close she'd gotten to pissing of Gracie who didn't tolerate any type of discrimination.

So Sam tried to get back on Gracie's side and she had just the thing. "I mean, I feel you'd understand me since you just went through this as well."

Gracie was on the verge of leaving the bathroom, barely even listening to her supposed friend any longer.

"What do you even mean?" She legit was not interested in whatever Samantha had to say but she just couldn't be alright rude-so she just asked, hoping she could leave and head to class sooner than later.

Now Sam's demeanor seemed to shift drastically. Total confusion blurred her face coupled with shocking realization seconds later after staring at Gracie's clueless face.

"Wait... you're telling me you don't know??"

"Know what, Sam? Just spill it out."

Sam paused once again. Now her own situation didn't feel so bad in her eyes, at least Charles had confessed to her of his feelings for Michelle and had just broken up with her.

"Oh no, honey..." Samantha started soothing Grace's shoulders, though the girl was still clueless. "I don't know how to tell you this, Grace."

Now, Grace was beginning to feel annoyed. "Just tell me, Samantha, really."

So Samantha did, "Jeremiah," she started, observing the change in Gracie's expression move from annoyed to concerned. "He's been with Kayla."

"What does that even mean?" Gracie hadn't fully internalized what Samantha was saying. "He's been with Kayla? Kayla as in Kayla Jefferson??"

Samantha just nodded. She would never admit this, but she was a little happy that Gracie's bubble was bursting as well, Samantha didn't have to be the only one suffering anymore.

Crack. A piece of the world Grace was living in shattered.

Since Gracie didn't say anything, Samantha spoke up, "They are actually there right now, in that fucking room like they are sneaky or something." She sucked her teeth, fixing her hair.

Crack, crack, crack, crack.

Gracie was now having difficulty breathing, it felt like the world was finally ending-God had come to place eternal judgment on humans and Gracie was not ready.

"I mean, like everyone knows they're fucking... except you, I guess." Samantha sighed.

"A room?" Gracie asked, her voice a mere whisper.

"Yeah, Ms. Smith's old room, it's empty now. They were discovered there by this guy and he spread the wor-"

Instead of listening to more of Samantha had to say, she just walked out of the bathroom heading straight to the room where Jeremiah and Kayla were.

If he was going to play her like that it would end on her own terms.

Meanwhile Jeremiah and Kayla...

"I already told you, Kayla. There is nothing between her and me, there never was."

Kayla crosses her arms in disbelief. "So what was all that with her? Y'all being all in each other's faces and whatnot?"

Jeremiah's finger was still playing with Kayla's hair. The way he looked at her, Gracie saw it all. Jeremiah had never been in love with her, Kayla had his heart, his eyes said it all.

The last piece of her heart shattered. They didn't even have the decency to completely shut the door, so Gracie could hear most of what Jeremiah was saying from her position outside the empty classroom.

"You know how much my parents were struggling with the bills last month? I had to help them, but you know how it goes: none of these racist ass jobs would hire me."

Kayla's face changed into one of sympathy. "Oh, Jeremiah... What'd you do?"

And all Gracie wanted to do was punch the girl square in the face. Now it all made sense, and it was time for shit to be spilled on all the walls.

Gracie put on a smile and opened the door so she could walk in. "What your little Jeremiah did is steal from me, because as much as he tries to be the good guy he's nothing but a fraud. A pathetic and useless fraud."

Jeremiah and Kayla were startled, Kayla more than him. She seemed frightened, sorry even. She was probably feeling bad for being part of the cause that their relationship would end, but Gracie didn't give a damn-Kayla was going to suffer as well.

Gracie almost lost it when Jeremiah insisted on holding Kayla even when she was trying to move away from him. His hands were possessively over her shoulders, a clear sign to Gracie that he would not allow her to mess with Kayla.

"Gracie," Jeremiah's voice had moved from sweet to serious really quick. "I'm sorry you had to find out this way, but this is the truth."

One moment of silence passed between the three. With Gracie's smile never faltering, Jeremiah staring at her with no emotion, and Kayla at anywhere but Grace, almost hiding under Jeremiah's shoulder.

Then a long laugh escaped from Grace's lips. "Wooow, this is priceless." Taking a seat on the wooden teacher's desk, she settled herself directly in from to them as they were over six feet away in the middle of the room. "You know, I guess I was a dumbass for falling from you."

Jeremiah was about to say something but Gracie would not allow him to talk. "I'm doing the fucking talking, J. And y'all are just gonna have to listen."

"I've always been alone. Whether it be in my family, at school, with my friends-alone is what I've been, all my life."

She smiled, almost sinisterly. "But then you came in. I'm not gonna lie, I had my own problematic thinking. You know, but that's just a product of growing up in such an environment. You know, blacks aren't really celebrity here. But I thought that you were different." She tried to stop it, but tears fell nonetheless.

"I thought that since you were there, everything would change, that I wouldn't have to be so alone after all. And things did change, for once I was happy. I saw the red flags, vanishing clothes, jewelry, and shoes, but I gave you the benefit of the doubt. Because I was not gonna be that rich white girl accusing her poor black boyfriend of stealing. Yet here we are..."

Jeremiah and Kayla were still silent. Kayla wanted nothing more but to get away from that room, not knowing what that crazy-ass girl would do. She wasn't trying to start anything, she hadn't even kissed or gone after Jeremiah like the rumors were saying. He was the one that had been begging her to meet in the classroom so he could talk to her.

Admittedly she had feelings for Jeremiah, yet she would never kiss or do more with another girl's man even if the relationship was not sincere.

So Kayla decided to speak up, "Grace, Jeremiah, and I haven't been doing anything. I'm sorry for the rumors and how this looks but it's the truth."

"Oh? So you guys have been in this room doing what? Talking?"

Kayla nodded quickly. "Yes! Exactly, just talking, that's it." She wanted no trouble and had always felt like Gracie was not fully stable.

Grace sighed and looked at Jeremiah. "What do you say, Jeremiah? Is she right?"

Jeremiah looked down at a wide-eyed Kayla who was urging him to say things that would appease Gracie. "No, Kayla. I have to tell Grace the truth. I love you, you know that, she gotta know now."

"Y-you love her?" Crack, crack, crack, crack.

Jeremiah stared straight at Grace. "I do, I love her. I'm sorry, Grace. I know what I did was wrong, but it wasn't out of selfishness or just cause I wanted to play you. My family needed me, and I stole your stuff for money. I'm sorry, I don't expect you to forgive me or even understand me but it's the truth."

Jeremiah felt good about finally being honest about everything, it had been hard lying for those months. Yet he'd tried to get a job in every place in town and none had offered him employment, and things were getting so bad that something had to be done. Bills were pulling up.

He added, "I found a job in town Monday and I'll repay you over the next months."

The tears could not stop falling no matter how much Gracie tried to dry her eyes.

"Y-you know what hurts the most?" Crack, crack, crack. "That I defended and stood up for you when people brought up stuff about black people. I seriously defended you and called them out for being racist, but now I see. They were fucking right, cause apparently, you are just another failure, money-hungry black guy."

Leaving the room, Gracie cleaned her face and got herself under control before heading to her third period class.

...

A/N: Thank you for reading! It was fun to write about the complicated past between Tasha's dad and Steven's mom. Hope you enjoyed and please vote if you would like, I would greatly appreciate it :)