Recovery

Chapter 4

"Chey- wake up," I whisper, shaking her shoulder lightly. She groans and rolls over, her eyes staring into mine, a sleepy rheum over them. "Good morning sleepyhead."

"Morning," she yawns, sitting up. "What time is it?"

"10 AM," I chime. "I woke you up because I have to go to the store and I wanted to make sure you'll be okay alone."

I look at her meaningfully, conveying a hidden message which she instantly picks up on.

"I'll be fine Grace- when will you be back?"

"About an hour. I just need to get a few things for dinner," I murmur, running my hands through my hair.

"Where are your parents?"

"Work," I state, digging my hands into the pockets of my skinny jeans. "They said they won't be home till late- you sure you'll be okay alone?"

"Stop worrying about me Grace," she chuckles lightly. "I- I'm not like that anymore."

I nod, and give her a quick hug.

"I know," I sigh. "I know."

I pull away and grab my purse.

"See you soon," I call before heading down the stairs and to the garage.

My Honda civic is parked where I left it. I smile- this is definitely my dream car. It's cute and small and practical.

I open the garage door and pull out, starting off down the driveway. The grocery store is only a five minute drive, so it doesn't take long for me to get there.

I easily find a parking spot, and head into the store.

I've decided on chicken Alfredo for dinner, so I push the shopping cart to the poultry section and toss in two halved chicken breasts.

I turn down the hygiene aisle as a shortcut to the pasta, and notice I'm being followed.

I inconspicuously look over my shoulder and notice Casey Beck, our schools resident gossip queen.

A part of me wants to just move on and ignore her- but that is a very, very small part of me.

The other part of me wants to give her something to gossip about.

So, without hesitation, I turn and grab a pregnancy test off of the counter. She gasps, and I jump, feigning surprise. I turn to stare at her with my (hopefully) frightened looking eyes just as she runs away.

It takes all of my willpower not to fall to the floor laughing.

I shove the item in question back in its place on the shelf and start back down the aisle to the pasta- and slam my cart into someone, knocking them down

"Sorry," I squeal, going to help them up.

"No problem," he chuckles. I scan his face, and vaguely recognize the guy.

"Do I know you?" I ask, trying to pinpoint where I recognize him from.

"Probably not- but I have a class with Chey, so you've probably seen me around," he replies.

That makes sense.

"By the way- I saw what you did to Casey," he laughs.

"Hey don't judge me- I just got tired of her," I snap.

"I'm not judging you- It was actually pretty funny."

"Oh- well, thanks," I murmur. "I need to finish shopping, so-"

"Okay- by the way, I'm Jace," he states.

"I'm Grace," I state, a little shocked that his name rhymes with mine.

That's a bit creepy.

I go and buy everything I need- pasta, cheese, cream, and everything in between. Within ten minutes, I'm back in my car and heading home.

Our neighborhood is a bit- snooty, I guess you could say. Everyone (including my parents) is fairly rich, and the houses are all very grandeur.

My house isn't the largest in the neighborhood- but it's not small either. From the front, it looks like a quaint cottage with sprawling grassy field that meticulously maintained by our gardeners. In the back of our house we have a gorgeously decorated heated pool.

Though the outside looks slightly old fashioned, the interior is completely modern. My parents have all of the newest technology installed as soon as it comes out.

You see, they believe that by giving me all the material things I want, I won't resent them later in life for working late all the time, leaving me alone with my thoughts in the big, empty house.

I've always been a little jealous of Chey- though her parents aren't quite so wealthy, her parents love her more than anything on this Earth. That's something money can't buy.

Which is why it bugs me that she won't go home to them.

I pull into the garage and pull the keys from the ignition before going into the house.

"Chey," I call.

No reply.

"Chey are you okay?"

When she still doesn't reply, I start to run up my stairs to my room. She's not there.

Taking a deep breath, I swing open my bathroom door.

"Chey," I shout, startling her.

She's sitting on the floor, a razor in her left hand and a shallow slash in her left wrist.

"I was just-"

"I don't want to hear it," I state, crouching down and snatching the razor from her. "Where did you get this? You know what, never mind. It doesn't matter."

I open my cabinet and grab some gauze, and hand it to her.

"Put this on the cut and wait here while I go get some rubbing alcohol."

I storm out of the bathroom and rush downstairs.

She told me she'd quit- we'd quit together. That's what she said, she promised.

We said we'd quit together, and it's worked for three whole months. Three good, clean, healthy months.

She can't just start again, not after all the work I've put in to stopping.

I grab rubbing alcohol out of the medicine cabinet in the kitchen and head back upstairs.

She's in the same position on the floor I left her in, holding gauze to her wrist to stop the sticky crimson liquid from seeping out.

I pull the gauze off, and pour some alcohol on her cut. she winces in pain.

"You're lucky it's not too deep," I grit, putting a clean piece of gauze over the wound, and apply medical tape over it to keep pressure.

"Grace I'm sor-"

"Go downstairs and yet something to eat," I harshly state. "I'll clean this up."

She opens her mouth to speak again, but I cut her off.

"Just go!"

"Are you mad," she asks.

"Yes," I sigh. "But more than that I'm scared Chey. I can't do this alone and if you start again, I'm so scared I'll start again. And I don't want to go back, I can't go back."

"I'm sorry," she sniffles. "I just-"

Before I know it, we're both sitting on the floor crying. I hug her tightly and take a deep breath.

"It's going to be okay," I murmur. "We are going to be okay."

I just hope I'm right.

A/N

Oh, if you can tell me what Grace did wrong from a First Aid standpoint I will give you a shoutout in the next chapter.

And pics of the house will be on my Instagram (@sparkybark17) ASAP

Love you guys! Stay fabulous!