a change of heart

Are you even listening?

*two week after graces 15th*

                   Graces 15th birthday was memorable, it was at mollys patio and bar where there was a huge buffet and she was surrounded by the first responders and hero's of Chicago.  When jay and Will asked her which friends she wanted to invite she was quick to tell them that she didn't want anyone there, they were also quick to start asking questions since the last time they checked she had a big group of friends. 

                   Things hadn't been going so well over these last few few months, her so called friends had completely shut her out, jay nearly died, Will crashed his car into a ditch, she was starting to hate school because she had no one there to talk to, she hates doing cheer because her stunt group has purposely dropped her about 5 times already, and she doesn't feel like herself anymore.  Luck was just out of reach...

                   This is where today gets even worse, she was sat in biology class reviewing cells under a microscope when the bell rang.  Finally, it's the end of the long painful school day.  She was about to leave the classroom when the teacher stopped her, "grace, c'mere a sec" he huffed.  She furrowed her brows together, "everything okay, sir?" She smiled and walked back over to him.  Her teacher shrugged, "I don't know, you tell me. You've failed your biology final for this topic, what's going on?" He frowned, shes the brightest kid in the class so he can't understand why she struggled with it so much.  Grace bit her tongue, "I uh, I don't know sir. I guess I just failed..." she sighed.  Her teacher frowned and nodded, "alright, well unfortunately your brothers gonna need to sign this report, I need it back by tomorrow morning. Sorry grace..." he handed her the report card.  Grace sighed but smiled sadly and took it before wandering out of the class on her own.

She walked down the hall and through the doors into the fresh air of the Windy City, her immediate thought was to pull out her earphones and put them in but she didn't wanna risk being kidnapped again just because she couldn't hear anyone coming up from behind. She dropped that idea then began walking home, jay was on call today so he was already at home unfortunately for grace.  As she got closer to her her front door her stomach began doing summersaults, she knew jay was going to be disappointed more then mad but that's what she hates the most. 

                  "Hey champ, how was school?" Jay smiled from the couch as she hung up her jacket.  Grace smiled, "it was alright" she made her way over to the couch with her backpack.  Jay nodded, "everything alright?" He noticed her dull mood.  Grace sighed and opened her bag, she said nothing and instead just handed him the report card to let it do the talking.  Jay took the card and read it, "you failed a test?" He frowned.  Grace looked down but once again stayed quiet, "what happened? You've never failed a test before" he sighed.  She shrugged her shoulders and stayed quiet, "are you gonna talk or just sit there in silence?" He raised his voice a little.

                 Grace looked up, "I just failed! I don't know what you want me to tell you" she huffed, that was the first time she'd ever snapped at jay a little and she soon regretted it as a surge of guilt flooded over her.  Jay raised his eyebrows, "one, you're gonna drop the attitude right now and two, you're gonna tell me why you failed" he warned her, his voice was now like a growl.  Grace felt a shiver run down her spine, she hated being yelled at and she could feel it coming, "I don't know Jay! I just failed okay?" she raised her voice a little more, that wasn't how she intended for it to come out either.  Jay sat up from the couch rather  abruptly, "go to your room!" He shouted.  Grace flinched a little as she looked at him in slight fear, whenever anyone yelled at her she would think of their dad...