cruel summer | ray hall [panic]

chapter 8

chapter 8 - HEIGHTS

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About five cop cars pulled into the granary, sending the crowd into a frenzy. There were screams and panicking throughout the crowd but Grace was able to slightly hear the sheriff's voice saying, "Everybody stay exactly where you are! On your knees! Hands up!"

Grace was immediately horrified, utterly desperate to not get caught. If the sheriff's department was here, then so was her mom.

Grace looked at her sides and saw that Heather, Natalie, and Bishop had all disappeared. She ducked her head to avoid any of the cops' immediate recognition and pushed through the manic crowd. She found it incredibly difficult to make her way towards the woods that lined the granary when she had to get through the dozens of kids also panicked by the police. Grace felt a hand grab her wrist and when she looked up, she saw that it was Ray who was pulling her along, away from the cops and the crowd.

"What are you doing?" Grace asked, utterly confused by Ray's behavior.

As Ray continued to pull her through the hysterical crowd he answered, "I'm saving your ass, and only cause those cops can't know shit about Panic." Grace excepted his excuse and allowed him to lead her along. When they reached the edge of the granary, Ray pulled her through the forest and thick of trees and bushes to escape the cops. Once they reached a clearing and he believed they were far enough, Ray dropped Grace's hand which he had been holding and gave himself a second to recoup from the sprint he just did. Grace also took a moment for a deep breath and to process what had happened, what with the cops showing up. She deduced that someone had either snitched or the cops were smarter than the students thought and they had seen the clues too and found them.

After a beat, Ray began, commenting, "Oh my God. You call your mom and the cops or something, Langley?" He was now furious. The cops had disturbed the game and there was now a chance that it might not continue.

"What the fuck? No Ray!" Grace defended, baffled by the accusation after she had already completed the assigned task and Ray had so thoroughly watched her. "I wanna win Panic as much as you."

"Really?" Ray questioned with an annoyed look. "What're you gonna do with the money? You're the definition of a picket fence," he said, referring to her mom who had a great job and her perfectly comfortable financial situation, a stark contrast to his home life.

"That's none of your business," Grace retorted. "Yeah, I'm not really in the mood to share all my hopes and dreams with someone who's trying to insinuate that I'm a snitch. Oh, and someone who basically almost killed another person!" she finished angrily, knowing that Ray had something to do with Dodge's near-death trip across the beam.

"I have no idea what you're talking about," Ray said as he took a step closer towards Grace with a small smirk, acting completely dumb.

"Uh, I think you know exactly what the hell I'm talking about," Grace argued with the boy, taking a step towards him as well. "You; Dodge almost falling to his death. You need me to spell it out for you? Need me to write it in the dirt?" Grace continued to ask sarcastically, her anger and the adrenaline of the night getting the better of her.

"I think you might have to, princess," Ray stated before taking a final step towards Grace. His smirk was small but obvious, and Grace finally realized how close they now were. How close their bodies were, how close their faces were. Being so close to him, she now examined Ray's face: the strength of his jaw, the slight start of bruises on his face after his very recent fight with Dodge. While her eyes roamed his face, they fell on his lips and lingered there for a moment, until Grace looked back at his eyes and noticed that they were studying her in a similar way.

Their eyes met again, and they remained in an un-declared staring contest, waiting for the other to do or say anything else, of course until Grace's phone buzzed in her back pocket and drew her mind back on the issue that they had just fled from the cops. She took a step back to check it and saw a string of texts from both Bishop and Heather saying that Bishop was returning with his car to pick the girls up and Grace was to meet up with the others before he did so.

"Bishop's coming back," Grace mumbled, feeling a slight need to explain herself to Ray. "I gotta go meet Heather and Nat." Grace took more steps away from Ray, starting to head in the direction of the location that Heather had sent to Grace in order for her to find them.

"You sure you don't want me to give you a ride?" Ray replied with a smirk, but Grace thought she detected a hint of disappointment in his voice.

"Yeah, right, you're the last person I'd ever ask for a ride," Grace teased as she began to walk away a bit faster, not wanting to miss getting picked up by Bishop. "I'll see you around, Hall. Probably at the next challenge where I'll kick your ass," Grace stated as she walked away with her back towards Ray, so she didn't his reaction. But Grace personally was slightly baffled at the confidence she found that night when bickering with Ray, and confused at some of the feelings she had when she conversed with him. And as she continued walking, she couldn't help but think that she had fraternized with the enemy more than enough for the night. But didn't she want to fraternize a little bit more?

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a/n: hii!

short chap but it is the last of ep 2! hope yall really enjoyed. also i think friday might be a good update day but that might very lenient lmao

question: would yall wanna see some other fics and if so what other fics would people be interested in? obx? glee? marvel(maybe a wanda one)? i would prob start it after i get most of this one done or make a more lenient schedule but i kinda do want to do some more writing. pls let me know your thoughts!!

hope everybody had a great pride month and tpwk!🥰