Chapter 17: Part 2
Grayson pulled into the parking lot of the beach and stopped the car. I was excited to be at the beach, but then I realized something. "Um, Grayson," I said. "I don't really have beach attire clothing."
Grayson reached in his backseat and grabbed a bag of clothes. "Lucky for you, I always keep extra pairs of clothes in my chair." He handed me the bag. "I never know when I'm going to escape to the beach."
We got out of the car and went straight to the washrooms. I went into the girls' bathroom and quickly got changed out of my stupid dress and into Grayson's clothes -a pair of shorts and a tank top. Since Grayson was a lot more muscular than me, the shirt was low cut under the armpits and it was a bit too long for me.
I got out of the washroom where Grayson was waiting. "How can you still wear your jacket?" I asked Grayson. "It's hot."
"It's always hot where I am," Grayson joked.
"Funny," I said with an eye roll. "So, what are we going to do?"
"A few things," Grayson said. "But first......." He looked over my shoulder and cursed. "We need to go."
"Wait, what?" I asked. "We just got here."
"And now, we have to leave," Grayson said, grabbing my hand and pulling me in the opposite direction that we came from. But he stopped immediately. Devon was blocking his way. "Move."
Devon crossed his arms. "Not likely. My cousin didn't say hi to you yet."
"Hello, Grayson," a voice said from behind us. My guess it was Dedrick.
Grayson turned around. "What do you want?"
"Revenge, simple stuff," Dedrick said nonchalantly. "And I heard that your pretty friend is more than a friend."
"Just let it go," Grayson said. "I didn't mean for anything to happen."
"Yet it did," Dedrick said. "You got me arrested and almost killed Devon."
Grayson took a threatening step towards Dedrick and narrowed his eyes. Wow, he showed no fear. "I'd do it again in a hear beat," he said.
Dedrick glared at Grayson. "Say that again. I dare you."
"Grayson, let's just leave," I said, pulling on his arm. Grayson, however, didn't move. I could see the hatred in his eyes and it was frightening me a bit.
"You do not want to get on my bad side," Dedrick said. "Trust me on that."
"I thought I was already on your bad side," Grayson pointed out with an arrogant smirk.
Dedrick glared at Grayson. "I happen to know your one and only weakness. You better keep your eye on her." After that, he walked passed Grayson, bumping into his shoulder roughly. Grayson just watched his and Devon's retreating figures before walking in the opposite direction. I followed him but he didn't even look at me as he made his way to the car.
"Grayson," I said. "You okay?"
"Just get in the car, Poppy," Grayson snapped. I did not expect that reaction. Him snapping at me was one thing, but calling me Poppy instead of Flower? I was shocked nonetheless but I got in his car anyway.
The ride to my house was silent. I sensed Grayson was very angry about running into Dedrick, mainly because of the way he snapped at me and how hard he was clenching the steering wheel. His knuckles were basically turning white.
When Grayson pulled into the driveway of my house, he uttered words I never expected him to say. "We need to break up."
I looked at him. "What?"
Grayson looked at me with a cold look in his eyes. "We need to break up."
"Why, because of Dedrick?" I asked. I didn't want to break up with Grayson. He was the first boy to ever care for me.
"He'll hurt you, Poppy," Grayson said. "Is that really what you want? To be hurt again?"
I crossed my arms. "I'm not helpless after what happened. Why does everyone keep thinking that?"
"I don't think that," Grayson said. "What Ben did to you will be nothing compared to what Dedrick will do to you if we stay together."
"Whatever he does, I can handle it," I told Grayson.
"Trust me, you can't," Grayson said. "I've seen things he did to people before the crash. Ruthless, brutal, almost murderous. I'm not giving you a choice, Poppy. It's to protect you."
"Poppy?" I asked. "What happened to 'Flower'?"
"Just go," Grayson said.
I scoffed and got out of his car. I couldn't believe how snappy he became all of a sudden. And I couldn't believe he broke up with me. We weren't even together for a week. It made me feel really stupid.
"Where have you been?" Mom asked when I walked inside. "I did not appreciate you leaving dinner to go somewhere with your boyfriend."
"Ex-boyfriend," I corrected. "He just broke up with me so you got your wish. You didn't approve of it and now, we aren't together."
"He broke up with you?" Tony asked. "Why?"
"It doesn't matter anymore," I said. "All that matters is how stupid I feel for trusting someone when I wasn't ready."
"This is all on you, Poppy," Mom said. "You told me he wouldn't hurt you and look what happened."
"Are you serious?" I asked. "No matter what I do, you always find something wrong." Normally, I wouldn't say that to Mom but I couldn't handle it anymore. I've been holding it in for years and it was time for the truth to come out. "If I get a B in biology, you wonder why I didn't get an A, even if I try my hardest. You want me to be a doctor, but I don't even want to be one. I'm squeamish, you know. Treating someone with an infection will just make me vomit. Not only that, but I want to do something I love. I want to be an astronomer. I love astronomy. That's the only class I get an A in but you don't care because it has nothing to do with being a doctor. You're letting Tony be what he wants to. You helped him afford his education. You supported everything he did, nut nothing I did. I like Grayson a lot, but you didn't seem to care. Instead, you didn't approve of it because he's a 'bad influence'. His brother isn't all that great, you know. He dates every single one of Grayson's friends that are girls and breaks there heart in the end and they wouldn't go anywhere near Grayson. Grayson was the best thing that happened to me, but now it's ruined. Are you happy?" I turned around and went upstairs after seeing the shocked look on Mom's face.
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A/N: My updates are probably going to slow down a bit because the end of the school year is coming and I have a lot of exams coming up. I'll try updating fast though.