State Of Grace

Chapter 8 - Sparks Fly

Over the next few weeks, Gracie's life was consumed by schoolwork, and various meetings with counselors, doctors, and Janice. The counseling was going well, Gracie barely needed to use the breathing exercises she'd been taught because her journaling had become a channel for self-expression, she wrote down every thought she had, every fear, every hope, every dream, and every nightmare.

Saturdays were spent with Danny and Elle playing video games, occasionally their other friends would come too, Ethan and Amy. They seemed nice enough, although Amy came across as a little bit stuck-up, and Gracie made a mental note not to talk about the way she had grown up when Amy was around.

Sundays were reserved for Sarah, they got back into their usual routine of group therapy and then dinner at the Abbots.

Things were going suspiciously well, the meetings with Janice weren't exactly getting easier, but each time they spoke the case got stronger. Gracie had to talk about her old foster homes a lot, and the abuse she endured, but Janice was so kind that it didn't take Gracie long to warm up to her. She already knew the darkest part of Gracie's history.

Her grades were back up to a B average, except for English, where each piece of work was marked with an A+. She almost cried when she got the first one, Stella and Lilah even put it up on the fridge next to all of Maia and Danny's robotics club achievements, photos of Marco on the soccer field, and sketches that Riley had done in her art class.

Something was missing though, someone. She had known the girl for a week before coming to the Tuckers, but Gracie thought about Rachel all the time. She texted her once or twice, to see if she was alright, but there was no response. She'd begun to think it was all a dream, some kind of hallucination to cope with her trauma.

"Gracie?" Lilah called out from downstairs, "Can you come down here for a second?" She asked.

Gracie closed her textbook and shared a confused look with her foster sisters before going down to the kitchen. Stella and Lilah were sitting at the table together holding hands, Gracie could tell by their faces that they had bad news. Were they going to kick her out? Was she in trouble for something?

"Is everything okay?" She asked as she sat down opposite them.

"Love, Janice called," Stella said pensively, "John's plea hearing was today, and he's sticking with his story."

Gracie's heart sank, she knew there was no hope of him pleading guilty, but hearing the words was still painful.

"I'm so sorry," Lilah's hand was placed on her chest as though her heart was beating as fast as Gracie's.

"It's okay, we knew this would happen. We're prepared. Have they set a date for a trial?" Gracie kept her composure, unwilling to let John get inside her head again.

Stella's fingers lightly tapped a post-it note on the table, "Four weeks from now, April 29th," the date landed on Gracie with a thud. Four weeks, another month of waiting.

A knock at the door made Gracie jump, "I'll get it," she wasn't sure why she volunteered to answer the door, she just needed to get up.

When she turned the latch and the door swung open, all the fear and anxiety that plagued her every day completely disappeared.

"Oh my God!" Gracie practically leaped across the porch and embraced the girl she'd been longing for, she burst into tears.

"I'm so sorry I haven't called, my mom took my phone away," Rachel started crying too, "I just stole it back today, I had to come see you."

"You got my messages, with the address?" Gracie asked in hushed tones. The girls' hands interlocked and Rachel placed a kiss on Gracie's lips.

"It's okay, I'm here now," she stroked Gracie's cheek. They melted into each other as they exchanged another kiss, "I'm staying with a friend for a little while, I can't be around my parents, not after what my dad- Gracie, I'm so sorry. If I had known he was capable of- I should never have left you alone with him. It's all my fault," she stifled a sob.