That Night √

8» that time

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It was nighttime and Grace was all alone in her house. That would've been fine if Grace wasn't feeling so anxious. She hated being left alone more than anything, but her parents had to go attend an important event and Jack was too young to not go with them.

Grace could've gone with them too, only that she hadn't wanted to. Mainly because her fourteen-year-old self thought events like such sucked. And she had a lot of homework to finish too.

But now that her homework was finished and the house had gone eerily quiet, she was hating the fact that she was all alone.

"Maybe I should ask Bella to come over." She whispered to herself, pacing around the kitchen counter. Bella lived just across her street and she could most definitely spend these few hours with Grace until her parents came back.

But Grace didn't want to leave the house unguarded. What if somebody got inside when she left to call Bella?

It was right then that the loud doorbell rang. Grace jumped in alarm, eyes wide. Everything was once again all quiet except for the noise coming from Lucius's house. They were probably having a family party--the only reason why Grace couldn't have asked Lucius to come over. He should be enjoying the party, not sulking here with Grace.

But then again, Grace herself could've gone over to his house. Marleen wouldn't have minded at all, but would've been happy. Grace knew that. That still didn't mean she liked going over to the Jacksons' house when their relatives were over.

It reminded her of her very small family.

Grace winced this time when the bell rang again. Her eyes flew over to the wall clock and it wasn't even eleven yet. Her parents were to come around eleven. Who could it have been then?

The bell rang again and again and again, and it kept on ringing until Grace had to go over to the front door and pull it open.

It was Lucius.

"What took you so long?" He was frowning as he looked over at her.

Grace breathed out a sigh of relief. "I couldn't decide whether it'd be safe to open the door or not."

He looked pale under the night sky. Maybe it was because of the moonlight, or maybe it was the cold. Grace peeked outside and looked over at his house, still filled with chatter.

"What's the matter? Do you need something?" Grace asked him with raised brows. She really wished he could stay, at least until her parents came back. But that would just be selfish.

"No." The frown still hadn't left his face, which was quite odd. Lucius didn't like frowning as far as Grace was aware. "I can't go back in there."

Grace looked back at his house. "Why not?"

"Because..." He shifted on his feet. "It's too loud in there." And he sounded exasperated.

"Isn't that the whole point of family parties?" She asked, staring at him. Luc let out a small groan and pushed past her to get inside the house.

Grace closed the front door and slowly followed him inside. "But like, I'm glad you're here. This house was scaring the shit out of me."