6:30 pm
5 hours and 47 minutes before
The Sinclair family sat down to dinner at approximately six-thirty in the evening as they had done since their parents had first married, which irritated Gracie beyond belief as Theo usually wasn't at work yet. Her family refused to let her skip a meal though, because it was "family time".
Family. Right.
Ken Sinclair sat at the head of the table, with Bethany seated to his left and both of his daughters to his right.
Amelia was detailing her day, how irritating Jax had been during their lab, and skipping lightly over her tennis practice. Amelia may have been a cookie cutter version of her mother, but she still craved the approval of her parents.
There was a pause before their parents turned their expectant eyes towards Gracie, who swallowed and took a sip of water.
"Theo and I went to that new diner over on Clement for lunch. And I got my grade back for the history test I took last week."
"Why did you go out for lunch? Amelia was perfectly content with eating from the cafeteria."
Gracie rolled her eyes at her mother. "Because Theo didn't want to eat in the cafeteria, and I wanted to go eat at the new diner. I aced my APUSH test, by the way."
"I just feel," Her mother said stiffly, cutting into a piece of steak and spearing it with her fork. "That your time could be better spent than with that boy."
Theo was always that boy to her parents.
But it wasn't his fault. He was smart, he'd have to be, to keep up with her vocabulary. And he was kind, and he liked to read, and play records, and he treated Gracie well.
But he was also broke most of the time, worked in a gas station, and his parents weren't involved in law, medicine, or charity work, so he had earned the Sinclair parents' disapproval.
"May I be excused?" Gracie asked, barely refraining from rolling her eyes.
"You may not," Bethany replied, dabbing at the corner of her mouth with a napkin. "It's family time."
This time, Gracie did roll her eyes. And her parents watched with stern expressions.
YOU ARE READING
saving gracie | ✓
Short StoryAmelia Sinclair was never well-liked, but she was an amazing student. She was on track to become valedictorian and was being groomed to take over her father's company one day. Most of her time was split between the library, tennis lessons, and her m...
