Revelations

Chapter six

There was a knock at the door. "Come in!" When the door opened I heard Jo shriek, it was her Dad. I was still examining myself in the mirror. I looked up to see Drako's jaw drop.

"Wow, Gracie! You look amazing! I can see now why she wants to go to beauty school. He turned back to Jo and hugged her.

"Awe you missed me,"

She hugged him harder, "Always do Dad."

"Right. Down in the living room in five minutes. I've got gifts, you too Gracie. You really do look like a million dollars, hon." Then he was gone.

We headed down to the living room and as we walked in I heard people gasp. I giggled, I liked this sudden burst of confidence. I really felt like I fit in here. Drako was handing round gifts, this must be a tradition when he goes away. He passed everyone their gifts then he walked over to me.

"This is yours, hon. I hope you like it."

I hugged him. "Thank you. You shouldn't have." Everyone was opening theirs so I followed suit. I slowly undid the ribbon and pulled back the paper. I was kind of excited, and when I opened the box, I was gobsmacked. It was beautiful. It was a pendant. A half heart, to be precise. It had the most sparkly stones I'd ever seen, they looked like real diamonds.

Engraved on the heart was the word soul. I heard Jo shriek. She walked over to me, "Check this out." She showed me her gift. It was the other half of the heart, and it was engraved with friends.

I was flabbergasted. I looked back at Drako and smiled. Jo ran to him and hugged him."Thank you, Daddy, we love them." When he next spoke he was quite sentimental.

"When I see you both together, it's like you both already share each others heart. You were born from two different families, but are meant to be together forever. you're what we call anam cara: anam being the Gaelic word for soul, and cara the word for friend." I felt the tears well in my eyes. I never quite saw it like that, but now that he said it, I see it clear as day.

I would do anything for Jo. I'd even die for her. I use to think it was because she was my first ever friend but now it's something much stronger.

The doorbell chimed. Oh my God...Oh, my god! He's here. Leighton is here. Breath, Gracie, you got this. I thought to myself.

Jo touched my arm before she spoke, "You got this girl just keep it together."

I grabbed her hand. "Friends forever?"

She smiled. "Always."

The next few moments seemed like forever. Fealan jumped up, "I'll go, shall I? " Jo nodded.

A moment later a man and a woman entered the living room. Both were very attractive. They headed over toward Evie and Drako shaking hands and cheek kissing. My heart stopped. There, lounging in the doorway, was Leighton.

He was wearing black skinny jeans and a white shirt. His muscles were rippling underneath. I imagined him ripping through it like the hulk. His hair was stylishly set and his perfect features were draining me. Jesus Christ! He was a sight for sore eyes. He gazed at me and nodded. His smile appeared seconds later.

I smiled back. Doesn't he realize how weak he makes me when smiles at me like that? He was really looking at me for what felt like the first time. Evie broke my concentration, "Simone, Ethan, I'd like to introduce you to my daughters best friend-"

She never got to finish. Leighton finished for her, "Mum, Dad, this is Gracie Carteri!" There was silence in the room, his Mum came over and hugged me.

"It's lovely to meet you Gracie" his Dad just smiled, staying where he was.

"It's very nice to meet you both, too, I caught his Dad looking at Evie with some sort of disgusted look, but maybe I was noticing something that wasn't really there.