49: I'm Just Gonna Leave

Grayson Fucking Adams. Damn.

He still hasn't gotten bored of my number. No wonder Oliver didn't want him to have it. The daily texts to tell me something stupid Oliver did continue without fail. It's the highlight of my day, Oliver, however, doesn't enjoy the bonding that's going on. He's just mad he's getting called out on his 'being perfect'. Boohoo, Oliver Grey isn't that great. I like 'em better with some faults.

"Have you come up with a prank yet?"

We're at Grayson's house again for senior skip day. The exciting ritual where all the seniors skip and all the teachers know about it. We're just rowdy like that. The group I've somehow inserted myself in, or Oliver inserted me in, is all here. Maddy and Ryder are cuddled up on the big couch where Tyler is also sitting. Grayson sits in the big recliner, a beer between his fingers making him look like a dad. And Oliver and I are on the smaller couch, cuddled.

The twins were going to a friends house for the weekend. I was told to pick them up on Monday morning, after a two night sleepover. Something about a birthday extravaganza for Peter, their best friend since essentially birth. They went to Grey gala daycare together, and now, school.

It feels more like my birthday extravaganza, since it's coming up at the same time. Peter and I were born one day apart, and a couple years.

I turn to face Grayson, my muffin floating in mid air since he decided chucking it at me would be the right call. Oliver, ever the jock, thankfully catches it for me and gently hands it over. He glares at Grayson in the process. It's early, Oliver brought us here right after dropping off the boys. I was given specific instructions not to eat until we got to Grayson's. We're all eating muffins for breakfast together.

"No, but it's gonna be epic."

"Like our little electric break?" He laughs.

"Okay, look, it wasn't on purpose," The redness in my cheeks brightens as I remember our little interaction.

Grayson shrugs his shoulders, his goofy smile making me realize he doesn't hold grudges, "I just want some partial credit for the prank."

"Wait, the electric break was you two?" Maddy looks between the two of us confused, then she settles on Oliver, "Did you know?"

He nods his head, "But not what happened."

Grayson smiles around the room, obviously excited at the fact that he has something new to share to his friends. Being a talker is one of his most redeeming qualities. I've heard what he had for dinner three times now, and it's 8:30am. He said it each time someone walked through the door, Oliver and I were unlucky to be the first ones here. But that's what makes Grayson Adams so popular, he's an open book. A good looking football playing open book.

His eyes land on mine, "Do you want to tell it or should I?"

I fear his head might explode if I don't let him tell the story. So, I shake my head give him a little hand motion that lets him know he should go ahead and start.

Oliver leans down to my ear, "You shouldn't have let him do that."

I furrow my eyebrows and look to Oliver, who's really close since he didn't move back after whispering in my ear. His arm is already around me and so I'm pressed up against his chest. I'm about to ask how bad it could be to let Grayson tell the story. He seems like a good story teller. But then Grayson speaks up.

"Once upon a time. In the olden days, long ago. It was sophomore year, and things took a turn."

I didn't want to break eye contact with Oliver, but the accent that Grayson was trying to do, and epically failing at, said otherwise. I look to Grayson to see him standing center stage, everyone looking at him like this isn't the first time Grayson has put his Shakespeare pants on. I look back to Oliver, mid laugh, to see him smiling at me. He shrugs his shoulders and whispers 'I told you' close to my ear. I shake my head and lean into Oliver, excited to hear how Grayson remembers our little encounter.

-*-

I'm wearing all black today on purpose. Not only to try and divert attention from my sunken face, but to be able to hide in the shadows. The twins are a lot of work, and it's only been two months of us dealing with life on our own.

Our father, the only family we had left, technically still had claim over us. He was still our guardian on paper. But I hadn't seen him in years. Not even a peep from him. And so, I was left to deal with myself and two young boys by myself. It felt ridiculous, unfair, and whatever other word that explains this situation.

My hair is flat from the amount of times I've run my hands through it in stress. So, I grab the black beanie I had in my backpack and slide it on before making my way into the school. I look like I might rob the place, but thankfully I'm too good of a student to ever be a suspect. Too bad they don't know what's coming.

I finally came up with a prank. Having a life changing moment two months ago halted my plans for pranking. The prank is for me, not for anyone else. It's more of a much needed shut down for myself. If it works, I won't have school for a week. And right now, that's all I need to keep going. On the off chance it doesn't work, well, let's not go there. It's meticulously planned for there to be no screw ups. Every scenario has been tested and accounted for.

No one seems to notice me as I walk through the crowded halls filled with sleep deprived and coffee fueled teenagers. They're all in their own little worlds. The nerds rushing to class ten minutes early, the jocks throwing a football across the hall, the cheerleaders begging for attention. And me, walking alone, trying to get through the day.

I wonder if anybody ever does look at me. Hazel the Prude, a nobody in the world of high school. Suddenly, dressed in all black. I always feel like there's a pair of eyes on me, like someone is always watching what I do. Unconsciously, I grab my silver chain, the one I always wear, and rub it between my fingers a few times. I'm just going crazy from stress, no one cares what I do.

Getting through the day was easy, hiding out in the closet for an hour, was not. I thought I was going to die from the smell of disinfectant and rat poison. On a concerning note, why is there so much rat poison?

I crack the door open from the closet and look around. The darkness gives the school a haunted feeling. I walk out, and start making my way to the electrical unit. It's in a closet-like room inside the administrative offices on the other side of the school. For now, everything was going to plan.

I'm maybe halfway to the other side of the school when a running figure comes at me. In a moment of panic, I take out my pepper spray. I close my eyes tightly and spray when the footsteps are close. The loud 'shit, Hazel' that resounds afterwards tells me I sprayed a friend, not an enemy.

A friend that knew I was here.

I open my eyes and look at my thought-to-be attacker, that was somehow still sporting a goofy smile, though his hands were covering his burning eyes.

"Grayson Adams?" I whisper, "The hell you doing running up to people like that?"

He laughs a little, his hands still holding onto his eyes, "I was trying to find you, duh."

"No one knows I'm here."

"No, I was told," He interrupts himself, his hands falling from his face, "Never mind. What you up to?"

I furrow my eyebrows at Grayson. His eyes are puffy and he still hasn't attempted to open them. I look behind him, expecting someone else to show up. Some cheerleader, or maybe a friend of his, but no one else was here with us.

"I'm just gonna leave," I start walking past Grayson.

He's ruining the plan. Running into Grayson Adams and spraying him with pepper spray wasn't one of the many scenarios I thought of. Damn me, I wasn't thorough enough. My solution was to just leave Grayson there, hopefully he'd forget I ever saw him or he saw me. I doubt he'd be up to sharing with the school that he was at school with Hazel the Prude, after hours.

"Hazel, you can't. I can't see."

I stop in my tracks, walking back to be face to face with puffy-eyed Grayson Adams. Gosh, he's right. I can't leave him like this, a cripple in the dark. I roll my eyes before grabbing his hand and pulling him along. Of course I run into Grayson Adams, the most popular guy in school, today, of all the days.

"Wow, your hands are soft," He comments.

"Uhh, thanks."

I look to Grayson, his goofy smile contrasts with his red eyes. He has his eyes open now, although he keeps squinting or closing them shut. I relax, knowing I haven't completely blinded one of the star players on the football team. Grayson smiles wider somehow when he catches me looking and nods his head as a way to say 'you're welcome'.

"So, are you gonna tell me what we're doing now?"

"We're not doing anything," I point between the two of us, "Me, I'm pulling a prank."

Grayson mumbles something under his breath, sounds like he's mad that he lost. I don't know what he could've lost other than his sense of sight, but I guess the man has other troubles than being blind. I don't ask him what he's thinking about, just continue guiding Grayson down the hall where the offices are.

I open the door for Grayson and he makes his way in, turning the lights on like an idiot. I quickly slide into the office and slam the switch off.

"Are you dumb? Don't turn the lights on!" I whisper yell to Grayson.

"I couldn't see."

"You can't see with the lights on anyway, dimwit."

Grayson crosses his arms and tries to look mad. His squinted red eyes help some, but he looks to be more in pain than anything else. He has a small smirk on his lips as he speaks.

"And who's fault is that, Hazel."

I roll my eyes and start walking towards the electrical units, "Shut up and move."

Grayson whispers 'Kinky' but follows along as he's told. His hands are on my shoulders so he can follow along as he's meant to. After turning on the lights I don't think I can trust him. The man is gonna get us caught.

"You're shutting off the lights," Grayson tells me, realizing what my little prank is.

We make it to the closet and I open the door, making my way in with Grayson tagging along. He tries to squint more to see if he can figure out what all the flashing lights and big levers mean. Grayson sighing and shaking his head gives away his confusion and lack of sight. I turn and pat his arm, my silent form of an apology.

"Not just shut off the lights, break the lights."

After some very precise cutting and disconnecting and stealing, the power in the school finally shut off completely. The air conditioner shutting off leaves us in a more deadly silence than before. The light of the security cameras shuts off. It's still and abandoned.

I turn to see Grayson holding up his hand for a high five. His goofy smile plastered on his face. He looks proud of what I did. But we haven't gotten away with it yet. We still have to get out.

"Come on," I grab Grayson's hand to guide him, "The cop will be here any second."

"Cop?"

"The air conditioning turning off, he'll want to check it out."

"How long do we have?"

I'm about to speak up when a bright flashlight shines through the window that faces out towards the school hallway. I duck, pulling Grayson down with me. The door opens and the cop points his flashlight right on us.

"Hey," The cop says angrily, "What are you two doing here?"

-*-

"And then I, the knight in shining armor, saved the day by sneaking us out, uncaught by the cop."

"Grayson, that's not what happened."

"Yeah, you forgot the part where I won the bet."

My head whips to face Oliver, my eyebrows furrowed at his words. I was talking about his ending, we didn't sneak out. We ran away and just happened to be faster than him. All this after trying to sweet talk the cop, both of us. It was our last chance scenario.

"Bet?" I ask.

Oliver turns to me, his eyes slightly wider than usual. A sort of panic flashes across his features before they return to their stone cold nature. I let out a small laugh, looking at Oliver for some answers. His eyes are locked on mine and with our closeness I can see the vibrant blues even more. They're more entrancing the closer I get. The rest of the group falls silent, staring intently at the two of us. Oliver let's out a breathy laugh and give me a squeeze.

"I bet Grayson you were pulling your prank, he bet me otherwise."

At first, I'm surprised Oliver Grey even noticed me in general. Those three years without my father in the picture were the hardest three years of my life. My mom was falling apart, dead but still living. She'd been bringing me down with her, making me look sunken and unhealthy. I'd worn black to be unnoticed, not for the most popular guys in school to make a bet on me.

I look to Grayson, "And what else would I be doing?"

Grayson shrugs his shoulders and laughs a little, "Stealing the test answers?" He tries to come up with a valid alternative.

I laugh at him and turn back to face Oliver, "How'd you know?"

Oliver shrugs with a small smile, "I'm Oliver Grey."

Maddy rolls her eyes and stands up. She looks between the two boys and then her eyes land on mine. She extends her hand out for me and I take it, leaving Oliver's side.

"Girl talk," She says simply, and we walk off.

She pulls me along, zigzagging through the house. Maddy knows her way around, unlike me who needs a tour guide to find my way, and we soon make it to a door. There's a plaque on it that says 'Kitchen', and we make our way in. The chef that made our muffins is there, whipping something up for lunch, which isn't for another couple of hours, but I guess you can never start too early. When he sees us, he nods and makes his way out of the kitchen, leaving Maddy and me be.

She grabs a water and hands me one too. I'm still confused as to why she brought me here. I stay silent, sipping my water. I wait for her to speak up and say something.

"You like Oliver, don't you?"