State Of Grace

Chapter 7 - Innocent

Riley told Gracie her story, avoiding major details. She was fourteen when it happened to her.

Her older foster brother had made a habit of crawling into her bed at night, but one night he did more than just sleep, "I didn't tell anyone, apart from Danny. But he was just a little kid, he didn't get it. We got moved to a new home the next day so I never had to see him again, but he was still inside my head."

Gracie was in awe of Riley, of how brave she'd been.

"But eventually, it got easier to deal with. When my moms fostered me they got me into counseling and I learned to cope," Riley took Gracie's hands, "It will get better, I promise you. I didn't report my attack to the police, I never got the chance for justice. You are so brave for doing what you're doing even if it doesn't feel like it. You will get through this."

Gracie wrapped her arms around Riley, squeezing her tight, hoping one day she could get to where Riley was. "Thank you, for telling me," she said, "It can't have been easy," she knew that Riley didn't deserve what happened to her, and it only cemented the thought that Gracie didn't deserve it either. Nobody did.

Riley and Gracie spent the rest of the evening in the living room watching a movie with the rest of the kids. Gracie wasn't paying attention, but she was just grateful she wasn't alone anymore.

When it came time for everyone to go to bed, Gracie was relieved to know that Riley couldn't sleep in the dark either. She had a small night light next to her bed, subtly illuminating the room. After having slept for most of the day, Gracie wasn't tired enough yet. So she pulled out her phone and texted Sarah, she had dozens of missed calls and texts from her already.

'I'm at your sister's house, they're fostering me. I'm safe,' was the first message Gracie had sent to anyone since it happened.

'Did something happen after the accident yesterday?' She replied.

Gracie couldn't bring herself to type out what exactly had happened, so she replied with a simple 'Yes' and turned her phone off. She felt bad for keeping this from her best friend, but the more people that knew, the more real it became. She knew Sarah would pity her, and then she would try to fix it. As if she could make the problem go away.

But it would never go away, not really. The best Gracie could do was make sure her attacker didn't have a chance to hurt anyone else. She had to get him sent to prison, there was no question about it. And there was no chance she was going to let what happened to her stop her from fighting, she deserved better, and she was finally starting to believe it.

It would take a lot of work, and probably a lot of tears, but Gracie was determined to get her life on track. Why should someone else's actions mean she couldn't get what she wanted?

Since her dad died, all she wanted was a family who could show her the love and respect that she needed to thrive, and she thought she might have found that at John and Mary's.

Gracie hadn't known exactly what it felt like to have a real family, parents who cared about her, but now she needed to find out. The Tuckers may not be her family, but she wasn't going to stop until she found them, and the Tuckers' house was probably the safest place for her to be while she worked towards her goal.

Gracie took a few more days off of school, she had Anita make an appointment with her counselor so she could talk through everything with someone. And when Gracie came out of the counselor's office, it was like a weight had lifted off of her chest. She talked through her ordeal again, and her counselor asked her questions. At the end of the session, she gave her some coping mechanisms. Mostly breathing exercises but she also encouraged her to start journaling.