The reason for Grace

I AWOKE ON THE FLOOR.

Eyes blurry, I pick myself up and stumble my way to the bathroom, my lazy fingers fumbling for the light switch. Why did I trade my glasses for contacts? Then I remembered. Those black glasses, the ones that sat loyal and steady on the bridge of my nose since Sophomore year. Outdated and worn, the screws rusted and loose. I pinched the sides of my nose, remembering the soreness they caused. Contacts were so much better, even if I was blindly stubbing my pinky toe on my dresser every morning. I put my contacts in and glance down at my poor swollen toe and wince.

“Are they better? I mumble under my breath.

While brushing my teeth, my thoughts force themselves back to last Saturday, my moving away party. Since graduating High School, I had been made aware that my parents were selling our house and retiring to Arizona. While I had full intentions of sticking it out at home another year before going to college, they couldn’t seem to get rid of me and move on with their lives fast enough. Which is actually fine, Mom and I haven’t had the best relationship this year. To her, it’s all my fault that Dad was cheating on her with my AP Calculus teacher. She blamed me for needing extra help in the class, causing phone calls home and multiple meetings. Dad was the only one available while she was out at one of her insatiable spin classes or important business trips. Moving to Arizona without me is their last attempt to save their hanging-on-by-a-thread marriage.

Opening one of my well used suitcases, I grab out a dark blue pair of jeans and an oversized maroon sweater, and quickly scramble to put them on, while throwing my hair into a half-assed bun.

I zip the suitcase closed, and peek outside to see that the movers have arrived. I’ve already sold most of my belongings, and packed what little I had left into my car last night. My parents had left to Arizona, and we had said our bittersweet goodbyes late yesterday evening.

Grabbing my suitcase, I turn around and take one last glance at the room I had grown up in for the last 18 years. The decades old pale purple wallpaper cracking, the floorboards cold and creaking, and eventually I find my way down the stairs, and out the front door.

I could tell by the footsteps that Becca had seen me out of her living room window and had come over to investigate.

“Come on!” I whisper to myself as I cram my last bag into the back of my Subaru Forester. Becca Mitchell has been my neighbor since we were in Pre-school, and we actually used to be friends. Thinking back now, that seems extremely hard to believe. I never knew why she hated me so much, because I’ve always done my best to avoid her. But it seems like everywhere I am, Becca is right behind me.

“Aw, did your parents leave all you alone in that house last night?” Becca asked snidely.

“I really don’t think it’s any of your business, Becca.” I sighed out with annoyance.

Leaning backwards on my car, I could see the corners of her mouth tense up into a mischievous smile.

“Oh, they did, huh? Mommy and Daddy abandoned you? Wow, that must really suck, Grace. Whatever will you do? You should’ve sold this shit box for spare change.” She chuckled while slapping the roof of my car.

Becca’s parents had recently bought her a BMW as a graduation gift, and she had made sure to park it on the street next to my car every day. Just to make sure I knew that her life is, and always will be, better than mine.

“I’m leaving, going to college somewhere far away from you. Have a nice life, Becca.”

Gonzaga wasn’t my first choice, but I heard Washington is beautiful and it was the only scholarship I had received.

“Oh really? Little Grace is actually going to college? Shocker. I got a full ride scholarship to Gonzaga University. I leave tomorrow morning. Where are you going? Some backwoods community college?” She peered at me over her aviators.

I felt my face flush, with disbelief I dug my keys out of my pocket and threw myself behind the steering wheel, cramming my keys into the ignition. It’s a cold morning, but I couldn’t wait for my car to warm up. My engine sputtered and started. I threw it into drive and sped off without a word.

I drove for around four hours before I needed to pee. Part of me wanting to keep driving and never look back. But, thanks to the bottle of red Gatorade I drank, nature called me. I couldn’t stop thinking about the fact that I would never escape Becca. She was always there; she was there to tell the whole class I had bled through my pants the day I got my first period; she was the one who had called my mom every time I snuck out of the house. And now she will be there, hundreds of miles from home at college with me.

My thoughts drifted as I pulled into a poorly lit truck stop. I parked in front of the bathrooms and looked around before getting out of my vehicle. It was dark as I approached the doors, good thing I had recently bought pepper spray and had attached it to my keys this morning. I opened the bathroom door and was immediately overwhelmed by the smell. The stench was masked by the scent of vanilla, which didn’t seem to help at all. I pulled my shirt over my nose and decided to breathe out of my mouth.

On my way out of the bathroom I was struck by an uneasy feeling, something didn’t feel right. I’ve always had this way of knowing things, like when dad was cheating on mom, or I found our neighbors son drowning in the pool years ago. I just knew. After hearing footsteps outside I decided to stay in the bathroom a little longer, lingering by the mirror and fixing my hair. After a while I assumed that whoever had been outside had gone. I pulled the door open and made my way to my car, which I had mistakenly parked 3 spots over from the streetlight. I approached the driver’s side and inserted my key into the door. The key wiggled back and forth but wouldn’t budge.

“Shit.” I whispered, trying my best to tug it out.

“Car troubles?” A shadowy figure said, emerging from the darkness.

“I’m okay, thanks!” I replied startled, trying to come off as nice to this stranger, even though I was absolutely terrified. The strange feeling from earlier was back.

“You sure? Looks like your key is stuck.” He replied coming closer, until he was inches away from me. I was in trouble. My palms started sweating and shaking against my will, and I clutched onto my pepper spray so tight my fingers could have bled.

“I said I’m okay, I just have to wiggle it a few times.”

“Miss, I know your key is stuck, because I’m the one that jammed it.” His eyes were so dark they looked black. I turned to him, my gaze shifting around me, looking for anyone to help me. But nobody was there.

I bolted to the left. My feet dug into the pavement with undeniable purpose. It wasn’t long before I heard heavy footsteps behind me, closing the gap between our bodies. Every ounce of my being wanted to get away from this man. All of my muscles were aching and screaming at me to run. All of the sudden I was being pulled backwards and slammed onto the pavement, my lungs gasping for the air that was just so brutally forced out of them.

“That wasn’t so hard, thanks for the workout.” The man said through clenched teeth. He smelled of rum.

“Get off of me! Who are you?!” I tried to scream out, but the little amount of air left in my lungs was refusing to come out. I reached towards the side of my body and quickly snatched my keys off the ground, found my pepper spray, and sprayed it directly at his eyes.

“You bitch!” He groaned, clutching his burning eyes. I was finally able to get a good look at him before I sprinted back to my car. He was young, my age. He wore a red flannel and a backwards ball cap.

“Fuck you, creep.” I blurted out, sprinting back to my car.

It was only until I was miles away from the truck stop that I fully grasped what had happened. What would have happened if I didn’t act in time? What kind of sick things did that man have planned for me, and has he done this to other women? My eyes swelled and I could feel the salty, hot tears start to make their way down my face.

It was hours before I finally made it to Washington. Spokane was pretty at night, I wondered what it was like during the day. I had my GPS set to my campus, and only had a few more minutes until I reached the dorms. I wondered what they would be like, maybe full of crying parents, heartbroken but proud to drop their student children off for their first year of college. I daydreamed about what that would be like with my mom, how happy and tearful she would be, but quickly snapped back to reality when my GPS blurted out instructions to take the next left.

I arrived, parked my car, and looked up tiredly at the 5-story brick building I was going to be calling home for the next year. Freshmen are required to live in the dorms, and I’m not happy about. I had acquired my key card in the mail the week before I left, and swiped it in the side door. The stairwell smells musty and of mildew, which I honestly expected based on the photos I found online.

Climbing my way up the stairs I search for my room before eventually finding it, the last room in the hallway. I swiped my key card, opened the door and switched on the light.

“Hey, shut that off! What the hell?!” A heavy-set blonde girl screeched before snatching her blanket over her face.

“Oh my god, I’m so sorry!” I rambled back before flipping it back off, embarrassed.

I didn’t think that there would already be someone in my room, but I was tired and it was the middle of the night. I was too tired to unpack and didn’t want to disturb my new roommate, so I grabbed my lumpy old pillow and the quilt my grandmother had made me and laid quietly on the small twin sized bed until I fell asleep.

When I woke up, my eyes immediately flickered over to the bed opposite of mine, only to see that the girl from last night had gone. I sighed with relief; I wasn’t exactly looking forward to talking to her after last night’s introduction. I decide to take this time to unpack my things, which isn’t much. I make the bed and fold my clothes into the small plastic dresser at the end of my bed.

After looking over my pathetic attempt at trying to make my room look comfortable, I remembered that along with my key card, the school had given me a $200 gift card to target, which my trusty GPS informs me the nearest one is only half a mile away.

After arriving at Target, I head straight to the home goods section.

“$30 for a shelf? You’re kidding.” I say, muttering under my breath.

After finding a few good items, one of them being a small fluffy black carpet, and head to check out. Anything would help the tile floors in my room from looking so depressing. The cashier is a friendly looking older woman, we have a short conversation about the prices, which she blames on the minimum wage increase.

Driving back to the dorm, the hairs stand up on the back of my neck. It’s the same feeling I had inside the truck stop bathroom. I park anyway, and make my way towards the dorms. As I get closer, my uneasy feeling gets stronger. I feel someone staring at me, and turn around to check my surroundings. My eyes travel the parking lot until they lock onto something familiar. A red flannel and a backwards ball cap.

No way. It can’t be. It’s just a coincidence, I repeat over and over in my head. I keep staring at the man until we lock eyes. I remember those eyes, I couldn’t tell the color that night, they only looked black. But now I can see that they are a deep blue, and his hair is black and hanging just above his eyebrows. It’s him. Why is he here? Did he follow me and find out where I’m staying to finish his attack?

Trying to be as subtle as I can, I turn and swipe my key card in the door and climb the stairs of the dorms until I was out of sight. This is the women’s dorm, there’s no way he’s been inside and knows which room is mine. Opening my door, I’m greeted by a flash of blonde hair and a tight hug.

“Oh my gosh, hi! I’m Polly, I’m so sorry I yelled at you last night, I can get pretty grumpy when I’m trying to sleep.” She smells of Chamomile and incense.

Polly looks to be around 5’7”, has shoulder length blonde hair and a serious ass on her. Rosey cheeks and huge dimples take up the majority of her features, and she’s wearing a pair of black leggings and a sports bra.

“Hi, I’m Grace. It’s so nice to meet you, I really am sorry about last night. I didn’t think anyone would be in here yet.” I spoke to her politely, still trying to get a feel of her personality.

“Nice to meet you, Grace! That’s such a pretty name, I went to school with a girl named grace in 3rd grade, I hated her. You seem nice though, are you from here? Do you want to go get coffee? I hear Washington is huge on coffee shops. I’ve counted fifteen different ones since I’ve been here.” She rambled.

Ahh, yes. Polly is nice, I can tell. She talks a lot though and my brain is not prepared to sit with her and talk more.

“I wish I could but I really have to start setting up in here.” I say as I motion to the bags I’m carrying that I haven’t been able to set down yet.

“No worries, next time!” She giggles as she leaves the dorm room.

I am alone. I finally have time to process the man from the truck stop. Pulling the curtains to the side, I peer down to the parking lot and search from him. He’s gone.