The Wrong Girl

Chapter Eighteen

I stared at Grayson, trying to make my drunk brain understand what he had just told me.

"You were in love with me?" I asked, surprised. I tried to lock eyes with Grayson but he looked down. He was silent for a long moment before speaking again.

"Do you remember the first time we met?" He asked softly, staring down at his hands.

I did. I transferred to our high school with only a couple weeks left of our Sophomore year, and I met Grayson on my first day.

It was before Grayson got tall, muscular, and discovered he was amazing at soccer. It was before he had the reputation of a hot, mysterious, bad boy- he was just a skinny loner. And high school kids aren't nice to a loner.

It was my first day at a new school, and I had no friends yet, so I didn't want to face the daunting environment of the cafeteria. I stepped outside during my lunch period, and saw Grayson sitting by himself on the side of the building, the same place I so often ate with him now.

"You were the most beautiful girl I had ever seen" He said, "And I didn't want you to hear people making fun of me. I never cared what anyone thought until that very moment"

A couple of the senior boys came up to him and were pushing him around and teasing him about eating alone. I hated bullies, and I wasn't going to let them treat him that way.

"And you walked right up to them and said 'you better fuck off right now before I hit you'" He laughed, running his fingers through his hair, "And they just listened to you. I couldn't believe it"

The boys had rolled their eyes and walked towards the parking lot, disappearing into their cars, and driving away to lunch. But, even as I watched their cars vanish down the street, I sat next to Grayson. We stayed there, neither of us saying a word, until the bell rang to signal the end of lunch. 

"You didn't say a word to me" I smiled at the memory.

"I was too nervous" He said, looking up to meet my eyes for the first time throughout this conversation, "The most beautiful girl in the world had just defended my honor- what was I supposed to say to that?"

I blushed, and then it was me who broke our eye contact. I played with my hands awkwardly. I never thought much of this moment, the Grayson who came back after the summer was cool and aloof, showing no signs of his dorky past and most definitely not acknowledging it in conversation.

"What does this have to do with Brayden?" I asked, and almost immediately regretted it. Grayson's face dropped, and he sighed heavily.

"Right" He nodded, "Well, I fell in love with you in that moment, and I didn't know how to say it, but when junior year rolled around and I joined the soccer team and became friends with Josh and everything, I gained some confidence"

I nodded, thinking about how crazy his transformation that summer was. He grew a foot taller, became one of the most beautiful boys ever, and discovered his crazy athletic talent. He went from invisible to wanted really quickly.

"I thought maybe I was just infatuated with you, and I'd be over it when I saw you again, but when junior year started and I saw you in my history class I loved you more than ever" He said quietly, "And I'd wait for that class all day for the opportunity to say two words to you"

I remembered that class perfectly, he sat right next to me all year, and he'd always tease me. That's when he started calling me Princess, and I'd roll my eyes at him for it. 

He never brought a pen to that class and would ask to borrow one everyday. I briefly wondered if he did that on purpose but I didn't want to interrupt him.

"I was going to ask you to wear my jersey that day, Serena" He said, looking up at me, "Me and Josh were discussing my plans to ask you out after practice one day, and Brayden heard it and beat me to it"

My heart froze for a second. I had thought Brayden planned this whole romantic gesture out for me, and it wasn't even him. Our relationship had been a lie from the second it started.

"I almost beat the shit out of him when I realized what had happened, but there was no point. It was too late. You were already dating him" He shrugged.

We sat on the bench in silence for a short moment, before he broke it again.

"If I was kind of a dick to you after that- I mean, I know I was, but I just couldn't stand seeing you with him" He said, looking down at his hands intensely.

"Wow" I sighed, "I had no idea"

Grayson and I sat there for what felt like a very long time, and listened to the sound of the city buzzing softly around us. 

I felt like my time spent with Brayden, that had been so precious to me while it was going on, was a sham, and that hurt. But, the newfound discovery about Grayson made everything with Brayden seem sort of unimportant.

"Do you still feel that way?" I blurted.

Grayson's head turned towards me so quickly, and his facial expression could only be described as looking like a deer in headlights. 

"I'm sorry" I said quickly, "I'm just- I'm drunk and I wasn't thinking. We're friends"

Grayson surveyed me for a minute, before getting up, and holding out his hand. I took it and he pulled me to my feet.

"Let's go back to the hotel, we have a flight in the morning" He said softly, "We need some rest"

We walked towards our hotel, and I got lost in thoughts about everything that Grayson and I had been through. I told him about Vanessa, he met my often absent mother, he helped me through my breakup. He had told me about his screwed up family life and his feud with Brayden.

I knew I still had a lot of alcohol in my system but it didn't matter anymore. I knew what I wanted to do, and I didn't want to wait another second. I stopped short in the middle of the street.

"Something wrong, Princess?" Grayson asked, looking concerned.

"Nothing at all" I answered, calmly.

And that's when I kissed him.

Author's note- wow I can't believe I'm writing this story again! but I really wanted to end the chapter there. How do we think Grayson is going to respond to this kiss? I wonder.... ;) Honestly it feels so good to back here writing. TWG was my baby my senior year of high school and it's special to me and so are every single one of you! Hope you still love it :)