Free Turning Grace by J.Q. Davis Page B

left over pasta.
    Before I got out of the cot to open the door, it swung open.
    “Grace?”
    I paused, not quiet believing who was standing in the doorway.
    “Sonny?”
    She smiled and walked in, shutting the door behind her. I wasn’t sure if I was frightened or nervous. This couldn’t be good.
    “Hi Grace,” she said in a soft, almost too kind voice. I pulled my eyebrows together, trying to understand why she was in here.
    She sashayed over to the chair next to the cot. I watched her intently, expecting her to pull out a shank to attack me with. I braced myself.
    “How are you feeling?” Her question almost sounded genuine, which confused me even more. I was silent, hesitant to answer her. Finally I said, “Better.”
    “Good. You had us all worried.”
    Us? Who was she talking about? I glanced over at the door, planning a quick escape in my head. There was no way she was being serious. She had to have a shank hidden somewhere.
    “It’s okay silly.” She smiled, sensing my hesitation. “I just came to see if you were feeling well.”
    I was considering a thank you, but couldn’t let the words come out of my mouth. She sat back in the chair and began looking around on Nurse Nancy’s desk. She found a nail file and proceeded to file her nails. Was this some kind of joke?
    “When I heard that you passed out in class, I was really concerned…for several reasons. The first reason was that I was worried you might have hurt your head.” She giggled and shook her head. I knew that wasn’t true.
    “The second reason was that I thought I might have missed the free show you were giving everyone.” Her eyes lowered down to my legs. “But then I saw that you were wearing jeans, not a skirt. So…I didn’t miss much.”
    I knew this was going to get ugly. I grabbed onto the cot tightly, resisting the urge to swing.
    She continued filing. “The third reason was that I would miss my chance to ask you how last night went.” She looked up from her nails and stared straight into my eyes. I let go of the cot, feeling defeated. Crap. Of course she knew about last night. I was so caught up in the sweet moments Tristen and I shared that I didn’t even think twice about seeing Sonny the next day in school.
    “So, how did it go?” She leaned over in the chair as if awaiting the juiciest gossip she had ever heard.
    I took a deep breath, trying to somehow conjure up a lie. I could tell her that it didn’t happen. If I did that, and if Tristen had already told her that he came over last night, then he would look like a liar, which made no sense. It seemed like my only option here was to be honest.
    “It went fine. We studied,” I said, shrugging my shoulders. It was the truth, anyway. We did study.
    “Right.” She nodded slowly. “You helped him for his test today. I tried to call him, but he wouldn’t answer, which is weird ‘cause he always answers the phone for me. Why do you think he didn’t answer?”
    I knew that she did try calling, and he silenced her call. I was asking myself the same question when I saw him do it. The impromptu meeting with Sonny was becoming annoying.
    “Sonny, I…I honestly don’t know,” I said. I made sure to give her an irritated tone so she would get the hint.
    She sat back in her chair and stared back at me. There was a moment of silence and I started to wonder when the hell she would get to her point.
    She finally spoke. “Okay, Grace. Listen.” Her voice was low. “I’m only going to tell you this one time, and one time only. Tristen doesn’t need your help. He will never need your help. I know you have this…crush… on my boyfriend. If you think for one second that you have any chance in hell of somehow stealing him from me or trying to pry into our relationship, you are sadly mistaken. He is mine. He has always been mine.”
    She stood up from her chair and took a step toward me. I sat up firm, gripping onto the cot again. She lifted her perfectly manicured finger