Finding Beauty (Rewrite)

Chapter 47

~Beauty~

It was tradition for Bethany to sleep in on Saturdays. In fact, she would challenge herself to see how late she could sleep in. It was a ritual for her body to feel the most exhausted Friday night- just in time for the weekend. It was then that she would catch up on all the sleep debt and sink into the glorious feeling of having nowhere to go or be - no alarm to anticipate. That Friday had been the most exhausting one of her life.

The passive-aggressive argument she had with Grayson drained her like a battery. The two of them had fought before - it was normal in a friendship. But their normal fights were more like disagreements. Something would annoy one of them and they would address it, working through it with clear communication and maybe an eye roll or two. There was something much more different and unsettling about the events of the night before. Of course, Bethany was aware of Grayson's clinginess since she had gotten back. She understood it and was being as patient as possible, thinking it would go away after a while. The thing was - it didn't go away. Was it so wrong of her to sneak out for a breath of fresh air? He was trailing her like a lost puppy turned vicious.

Not only that but Grayson wanted an explanation for all the weird events that occurred from her being taken to her 'escaping'. Originally, she had been excited to let her friend in on the truth. She couldn't have imagined keeping such a huge part of her life a secret from him but once she saw how much rage he felt towards the Beast . . . she had a hunch he wouldn't be able to appreciate Teigan. And that's without addressing the amount of sorrow it'd bring for her to speak about him. She seemed to miss him more everyday - and Grayson was catching on.

Bethany was in the middle of a dream - Teigan and her were dancing again but this time he no longer looked like a beast - when she felt someone shake her shoulder. She raised her head from her pillow and blinked her eyes.

"Good morning."

"Carina?"

She rubbed her face and saw it was Grayson sitting beside her.

"No, silly. Who's Carina?" His voice was so chipper, she questioned if she had dreamed up their conversation last night.

"Oh . . . I don't know. I was dreaming." She sat up, pulling the sheets onto her lap. "Is there a fire or something? Why are you in my room?"

He smiled. "No fire. My family is having brunch together and I'd like you to come."

Her clock read 9:30 am. She had planned on sleeping much later than that. Besides, she was still a little upset with Grayson and she didn't want the Li's to catch onto that. They were so kind to her and had treated her so well over the years. She was about to decline when Grayson got up and stroked her head.

"I'll meet you outside."

She swallowed a string of curse words. She'd play nice - but this was the last time. After this she would start putting her foot down. Grayson had never been one to walk all over her but a lot of things had changed since she was gone. It was time for her to face that.

She got pretty as quick as possible and settled into the passenger side of her own car. She bit her tongue, holding back a snide comment about still being able to drive. The radio was on during the duration of the car ride. Bethany was much more in the mood of Teigan's loud aggressive mixes than the sappy station it was on.

"Don't you like this song?"

"Huh?" Beth removed her head from her hand, she had been lost in thought staring out the window.

"This song. It reminds me of you."

She actually paid mind to the lyrics and found herself shrinking into the seat. It was the kind of mushy garbage male artists only sang because they knew it made their female audience melt. Beth did not want Grayson to think of her in that way at all.