‘Let Grace go.’
‘As you wish.’
Ben and Daniel stared at each other for a minute until Ben decided to release me. Tears filled my eyes. One of the girls, Natalie, rushed over to me and held my hand.
‘Come on Grace let’s go.’ She spoke to me so soothing and so kind.
Through tearful eyes I looked at her, but words would not come out of my mouth. I was just speechless, so I nodded to show I had heard her. Natalie put her arm around me and guided me away from the locker area. The rest of the group followed apart from Daniel who was still staring at Ben. We moved swiftly outside but the tears I was holding back began to fall and soak my puffy cheeks. I had never been in a situation like this before and never imagined that I ever would be, it felt so surreal. It was only in magazines and dramas on television that I had seen a situation like this: starting to develop feelings for two different guys.
‘You ok Grace?’ asked Natalie.
‘Yeah, I think so, just shook up.’ I managed to mumble, not wanting to give anything away.
‘Ben is normally a strange guy, but he has never acted like this before. We all get to feel uneasy around him. Don’t worry though, Daniel will have words to make sure he keeps well away from you.’
Chapter 4.
O utside was still warm and hazy with a slight gentle breeze. I felt the air brush against my red cheeks which helped to cool them down. We waited for Daniel to catch us up, however what was only five minutes seemed like fifty. I felt bad as I didn’t want Daniel to get hurt but really needed to go; I needed to get to my Grandma’s house.
Daniel burst through the double doors, his fists were still clenched and his face red with fury. He marched straight towards us breathing heavily.
‘Hey Daniel, calm down now, it’s over with,’ said Natalie.
‘I know it is, but he just winds me up. He had no right to act like that. I wish I could just knock his teeth out so that the rest of his life he would have to suck food through a straw.’
‘Now, now Daniel, there is no need for that. It is against our rules to act out of character.’ Dominic placed a calming hand on his shoulder.
Daniel looked at me. I felt uneasy as this was not a side that I had expected to see from him, but as soon as he saw me his fists relaxed and his face returned to normal. He smiled and hugged me so tightly that I nearly couldn’t breathe; it was nice to feel his embrace.
‘I am going to walk you to your Grandma’s,’ he whispered gently into my ear.
‘You really don’t have to,’ I murmured back.
‘Well I am going to; I need to make sure you are safe at all times now.’
‘Thank you.’
I felt so grateful towards Daniel, he did not have to do this for me. This sounds crazy but I think I was already falling for him. Maybe it was just full on infatuation as I had never been in love before and didn’t even know what love was. Still, whatever it was I felt in this moment, I liked it and I did not want it to go away. All I hoped for was for Daniel to feel the same way as me. I couldn’t tell him; I’d scare him off. But I was also developing an infatuation towards Ben as well. I couldn’t make up my mind who I liked more.
‘I really need to go now.’ I was going to be late to my Grandma’s.
‘Sorry,’ Daniel let go of me but then gently placed his hand in mine.
‘Wow this feels really nice,’ I thought to myself, his hand was soft and warm.
‘Ok guys, I will catch you all up, I am going to walk Grace where she needs to go. Just in case Ben decides to make an appearance again.’
‘No worries dude,’ called Dominic. ‘Why don’t you just meet us this evening at the skate park? I would rather you keep a safe eye on Grace than worry about her.’
‘Cheers dude,’ smiled Daniel, Bashfully.
I giggled to myself. It was funny to see Dominic embarrass Daniel in a friendly and light-hearted way but it was nice that Dominic encouraged Daniel to put me first before his mates. They had only just met me, but it felt like I had known them all for ages. I took a deep breath and bit my lip. I knew my grandma would not approve of me bringing a guy to her house so I would have to come up with a good excuse for Daniel to leave once we got there. All the while Ben was also mixed up in my thoughts.
I loved walking to my Grandma’s house, I had discovered a short cut the day when I went to look around the college. It was down a heavily overgrown old railway track. There was a concrete pathway where the train railings use to be and tall trees and hedges that had not been cut back in years. I wouldn’t have liked to take this route at night, but it did make the trek a lot quicker.
I felt as if someone was following us. I looked over my shoulder towards the overgrown hedges and the trees with their branches nearly hitting the ground, thinking I saw Ben disappearing into each shadow.
Oh my god, I am becoming obsessed with Ben, I am imaging seeing him everywhere I go. I really need to get a grip of myself before I go insane.
I would not quite admit it to myself, but I was kind of hoping Ben was nearby. I
