Falling From Grace (61 page)

“Oh please.
 
And what qualifies you as Aphrodite?
 
Other than your looks?”

Lark smirked, not caring that she really shouldn’t know how beautiful she was due to her blindness.
 
“Is there any other reason necessary?
 
Now come on, let’s go before we’re late for school.”

The three of us stumbled outside, having said quick goodbyes to Dad and Janice who both stared in shock as I left the house for the second time in a dress.
 
As we joked about what the reactions would be when we got to school, I caught sight of someone standing by Stacy’s car.

“Graham,” I breathed.

Lark’s head lifted up and Stacy stopped laughing.
 
“Get off my car, Princess.”

He backed away, his hands held up as though Stacy were holding up some kind of weapon.
 
He looked all three of us up and down, a lazy smile on his face.
 
“You ladies look nice.”

Stacy made a confused sound, Lark’s face lit up, and I felt my heart crack a little.
 
“What’s up?” I asked casually, fearful that at any moment, a black Charger or motorcycle would appear and then I’d be stuck in the middle of some ridiculous testosterone driven war.

He laughed, and shrugged his shoulders.
 
“I saw that your owner wasn’t here, so I thought I’d stop by to see if you needed a ride.
 
When I got outside, I saw that your friends were here, so I figured it was safe to at least say hi.
 
Hi.”

Ignoring the swipe at Robert, I smiled at him.
 
And it felt good.
 
It felt very good.
 
“Hi back.”

Graham looked over at Lark and Stacy, and then at me again, and grinned.
 
“Are you guys the three Graces?”

Stacy slapped her forehead, the sound visibly pleasing Graham.
 
“
That’s
who we should have been!
 
The three Graces!”

Lark shook her head.
 
“Nope.
 
We don’t meet the personality requirements.
 
Well…
you
don’t, anyway.”

Not wanting to have to listen to another argument between the two of them, and not wanting to have it happen right in front of Graham, I quickly changed the subject.
 
“What time is it, Graham,” and pointed to his watch.

He glanced at it, “It’s a quarter to eight.”

“What?
 
We’re late! Come on, let’s get going guys.
 
Robert expected us fifteen minutes ago,” I groaned, my voice tinged with nervousness.

Stacy nodded, and fumbled for her keys inside of her bag.
 
Lark, who always sat in front, waited while I said my goodbyes to Graham.

“I guess I’ll see you at school,” he said, not trying to hide the sadness in his voice.

“I guess.”

I watched as he stalked away towards his car, and then I climbed into the backseat of Stacy’s.
 
I leaned my head on the window, and wondered when had everything become so difficult.
 
I waved as we passed him getting into his car, but he didn’t see me.

The ride to school was quiet.
 
Stacy kept opening her mouth like she was going to say something, but then closed it.
 
Lark didn’t speak at all.
 
I just wondered what else could go wrong today.

As we pulled up to the school, I scanned the parking lot for Robert’s car.
 
It wasn’t there.
 
Neither was his motorcycle.
 
My gaze travelled to Lark’s reflection in the rearview mirror.
 
Where is he?

She shrugged her shoulders.
 
I don’t know.
 
I haven’t seen him since yesterday when he brought you home.

I frowned.
 
He didn’t tell you that he was meeting with Sam?

Lark’s eyes widened and then narrowed into suspicious slits.
 
No.
 
He knew I’d start in on him about it.
 
But damn him for leaving like this, and without saying anything.

My head jerked at her thoughts.
 
What do you mean, leaving?
 
He said he was meeting with Sam and that he’d be waiting for me here at seven-thirty.

Lark frowned.
 
His meetings always end up with him leaving.
 
Sam has probably taken him on one of his duties.
 
Ugh, that means that we probably won’t be seeing him until Monday.
 
She grunted and slouched in her seat, apparently not pleased with the idea.

It was my turn to frown as I realized that this would be the first weekend that Robert would be away.
 
He had spent a few nights away before, but never more than one at a time, and I had discovered that I didn’t sleep as well when he was gone.
 
If he was going to be away for three nights, I’d be a complete zombie by the time he came home!
 
I closed my eyes and tried to reassure myself that I was going to be alright.

After parking, the three of us climbed out of the car, our enthusiasm for the day’s events thinned a bit, and walked towards the school’s entrance.
 
Everyone was in costume.
 
This year’s theme had been widely interpreted, as it had been intended.
 
There were people dressed up as actual number threes, while others came as famous trios.
 
Chips, Dip, and Salsa were dressed up as the three stooges, and three of the girls in our class were dressed up as the three witches from Macbeth.

As the bell rang for class, Lark unfolded her walking stick, sighing as she did so.
 
It was a pain for her, to have to pretend that she needed it when I knew she did not, but her obvious impairment necessitated it, and so she begrudgingly started swinging it back and forth as she started walking, waving a nonchalant hand back at us as she did so.

Stacy quickly opened up her trunk and peered in.
 
“Uh-oh.
 
I don’t know where your shield is.
 
I think we might have left it at Lark’s house.
 
That’s okay, though.
 
I think all you have to do is say who you are.
 
It’s not like people are going to know you’re missing your shield, after all.”

I couldn’t argue the point with her there.
 
We were the only ones dressed as Goddesses, so I simply nodded and waited as she locked up the car.
 
We headed off to homeroom at a leisurely pace, grateful for the return of Mr. Frey’s penchant for sleeping during class.
 
It appeared that his being awake the day of my soliloquy had been a fluke, and there would be no more repeat performances.

The day, as it was, passed slowly for me.
 
I hadn’t appreciated the fact that with Robert in school, I had something to look forward to.
 
The classes that we shared together dragged without him there, and the classes that we didn’t share made me dread leaving because I knew he wouldn’t be outside of the door, waiting for me.
 

Lunch, as well as third period with Stacy offered a respite from the nagging feeling of loneliness that plagued me throughout the day.
 
I hadn’t expected that I would feel so…lost.
 
It was overwhelming.
 
By the time the last bell had rung and it was time to head off to the gym for the homecoming assembly, I was feeling quite depressed.

“Snap out of it, Grace.
 
You act as though he’s your life force or something,” Stacy quipped as we walked to the gymnasium.
 
“He’s probably just taking a skip day and hanging out at the mall or something.
 
Besides, he’s just a guy
—
no offense, Lark
—
and guys really aren’t reliable.
 
I should know.
 
There are five of them in my house.”

Lark was silent, her thoughts for me alone.
 
You’re not the only one worried.
 
I can’t hear him.
 
I can never hear him when he’s with Sam.
 
It’s one of the reasons why he gets on my nerves.

I frowned, wondering if she felt the same way when it was my thoughts she couldn’t hear.

I know why
you
protect your thoughts, Grace.
 
I don’t understand why Sam and Robert are protecting theirs or how they’re doing it.
 
Maybe it’s because Sam is winged.
 
I don’t know.
 
I just know that it irritates me because I don’t know, and I like to know everything.

Well, she was right on that account.
 
She did like to know everything.
 
“So when exactly is the prize for best costume supposed to be awarded?” I asked, looking for anything to change the subject…of either conversation.

“Tonight, after the game at the carnival that the boosters are throwing; the announcement is supposed to be made there.”
 
Stacy fiddled with her prop bow as we sat down in the bleachers, intentionally trying to distract herself from something.
 

“What are you doing?” Lark hissed at her as the tip of the bow hit her arm for the third time.
 
I knew that she was more concerned with the damage that her body would do to the bow than the other way around, and the questions that that might bring up, but Stacy made the proper assumption and put the bow on the floor.

“Sorry.
 
I just don’t want Sean to see me.”

Sean was Stacy’s twin, and older brother by two minutes.
 
Those two minutes meant a lot in Stacy’s family, because that left the role of the baby of the family to fall on the shoulders of the only girl, and the five brothers were very protective of their baby sister.
 
“He’s already told me that he’s telling Mom when we get home, so I don’t care what you two say, I’m not going home until after we win the prize money.”

Lark’s sightless eyes glared across the court at someone sitting high up atop of the bleachers.
 
His face looked similar to Stacy’s; his jaw was square, and his forehead was slightly wider, but they shared the same honest eyes, and the same sarcastic twist to their lips.
 
I watched as the perturbed look on his face suddenly changed to one of…apprehension?

What are you doing to him?
 
I could tell by the way Lark was smirking that she was up to something.

I’m showing Sean just what will await him if he tells his mom about Stacy’s costume.

I gasped.
 
Isn’t that kind of against the law?

Lark turned her head towards me, her expression one of annoyance.
 
Look, I’m an angel in form and function, but I’m not one in behavior, okay?
 
And no, it isn’t
against the law.
 
It’s me trying to save our friend here a little trouble from her parents that she doesn’t need.
 

Suddenly Lark’s head turned, her focus right back on Sean.
 
Her brows furrowed in confusion, her eyes widening and narrowing as thoughts that were obviously troubling ran through her mind…and then her mouth opened, shocked.
 
She turned to look at Stacy, who could have been my reflection, our faces both concerned for her strange behavior.

“Why didn’t you tell us that you used to have cancer?” Lark blurted.

Stacy’s face showed her surprise and also the pain of a silent betrayal.
 
She turned to look at her brother, and whispered, “Who told you?
 
I’ve never said anything to anyone.
 
I don’t even think about it now.
 
Only my family knows…”
 
Her head whipped back to Lark.
 
“How did you find out?”

Lark’s lip trembled, and I could see her struggle, the flash of pain in her eyes as she fought the truth from coming out.
 
She stood up, and with methodical steps, slowly left the two of us in the gym, her stick mindlessly waving back and forth with no purpose whatsoever.
 
Stacy grabbed her bow and rushed after her while I followed.

Lark, where are you going?
 
I sent my question out to her, hoping that she’d answer it, but I couldn’t hear her response.
 
Stacy and I both stopped in the parking lot, neither of us knowing where Lark could have gone off to.
 

“Where did she go?”
 
Stacy turned to face me, her eyes full of tears.
 
“I don’t understand.
 
Why did she leave?
 
How did she find out, Grace?
 
Did you know?”

I looked in her eyes, and I couldn’t say anything.
 
The truth was not mine to tell.
 
Stacy’s secret hadn’t been Lark’s to tell either.
 
I just didn’t know what the consequences were for Lark if she couldn’t tell Stacy the truth.