Chapter 5

“In case one day you come back, remember that I will be here waiting for you”

Gabe came home and everyone seemed to have gone to bed, hours ago, he didn't want to go up to his room, he didn't want to be so close to the room that still smelled like her, that annoying lavender smell that he loved so much was everywhere .

Star was in a ball on the sofa, a perfect white ball on the black sofa, he approached and caressed his cat, she reminded him so much of Grace, Star was always with Grace and when she wasn't waiting on the sofa like now, she raised her head and mewed her green eyes dull from nap.

"I don't think Star will come back, she can wait for her. She is so selfish that she left you here without caring how much you miss her or if you wait every night for her when she doesn't plan on coming back… enough Star, let her go"

Perhaps he was crazy for speaking to the cat the words that he had been repeating to himself three days ago. The cat just went back to sleep as if nothing had happened and Gabe lay down on the sofa next to her wishing to be more like her other cat, Moon, she didn't care who was missing sometimes she slept with Allin other times with Ellen or him, her parents or Ilem He didn't care who slept next to him or who was missing.

His eyelids were heavy now and sleep claimed him, bringing with it a murky reverie of the past.

•••

It was spring when she arrived in Wraysbury, a forgotten northern European town as crowded as a sinking ship, Grace Miller had been sent there on an exchange program from the United States. The family had four children and a nice house fourteen minutes from the frozen Virginia Water Lake that she had always wanted to visit.

Everything was different from home, a family was waiting for her at the airport with huge smiles and faces full of emotion, three brown girls with bright blue eyes like the clear summer sky, the mother who was the tallest was quite similar to them and the father next to the tall and handsome boy was the only one who seemed not to fit into the picture, blonde hair, brown eyes and tanned skin like a surfer, on the other hand the boy with black hair and blue eyes, as pale as the other three girls I smiled at her, she looked away; she hadn't flown nearly sixteen hours for a pretty-faced clumsy. She came all the way to England to this little town to disappear from her former life, to forget everything.

Not for a boy who didn't know anything about real life, at least that was what she told herself, she didn't want love, love only destroyed what was good.

The family was so kind, they welcomed her with a hug and they all seemed to hallucinate with her face completely full of freckles, she hated them, each one, her mother had taken care of that every day of her existence, saying how horrible they were, that if she wasn't so ugly maybe her father would have stayed.

"Hears! Did you like my poster? I did it so that you could see that we were waiting for you".

The smallest girl, if she had paid enough attention and she didn't remember it was Ellen, she gave him a proud smile.

"Yes, it's very pretty"

She replied Grace kindly to the little girl, she wasn't good with new people she had a hard time adjusting to changes but she couldn't keep up with her mother so it was either this or a strip club.

The girl left her side and went with the older sisters who went to buy a smoothie while they waited for the two adults to look for Grace's luggage, she wanted to look for it herself but they didn't let her.

"So America right? What part are you from?"

The boy with his insufferable smile and that pretentious British nod.

Grace took her time answering, but in the end she declined by just saying a short sentence.

"I'm from Boston"

She was already a little desperate, she didn't want to be alone with that boy, if being handsome hurt, he would be seriously hurt, she looked over her shoulder to see if the girls were already coming back but no luck.

"I like California"

“It seems a very beautiful place and…"

"Well, it's overrated. It's just another city with bright lights and nothing really interesting"

Grace realized that she was being harsher than usual, the boy seemed embarrassed by her abrupt interruption, even her cheeks turned a little red.

"I'm sorry I was super rude to you, Gabe, wasn't I? It's not your fault I just fought with my mother before the flight and in the last few hours I've done nothing but think about it"

He lied to the boy, he hadn't seen his mother for almost a month, but he seemed to believe it and was all smiles again, the girls were walking back and also the adults thank heaven, he didn't have to talk to Gabe anymore at least for a while, Mrs. Lera began to talk about schedules, rules and a thousand things that Grace let her hear, she just wanted to get to a place where they would leave her alone.

“And well, that is what you have to know regarding the house rules, if you can follow those rules I am sure that the next three years there will be no problem"

Her mother said, Grace nodded vigorously though she hadn't paid the slightest attention to her chattering.

The house was quaint, more luxurious than her roach-ridden apartment, to be sure. Ilem her eldest sister led her to her room and they let her unpack alone, she walked through the room it was pastel yellow and all the furniture was white. The place was empty beyond the furniture there was nothing, she smelled of jasmine and the floor was made of wood, she put her things in the closet, she didn't bring much with her either; She took her three books out of the suitcase and put them on the shelf on the wall.

She changed the sheets for her own in light blue tones and that was it, her life in Boston was reduced to that, she laughed dryly and devoid of any emotion, there wasn't much difference, the room looked just as empty, that was her, nothing... All his life he couldn't even fill a room.

"I guess you left too much in Boston"

She heard Gabe's voice behind her, she had forgotten to close the door, she made a mental note to always remember to close it, she hated people meddling in her business.

"You can not imagine"

I answer still without really looking at him, the blond man also stopped at the door, his name was Carson he remembered immediately, the father, standing next to Gabe they seemed everything but family, only the height of the two was the same.

"You'll see how quickly you can make all this your place, you can decorate it however you want, and if you need a job you can always be an assistant in my office"

the man offered kindly.

"Thank you, that would be great"

She smiled back and both men left.

•••

Memories would sometimes play against her and there was Gabe looking at Grace's room, she had changed everything there, now there was wallpaper and the white furniture had different splashes of blue paint, the bookcase was overflowing and there were two shaggy purple rugs in the flat.

It wasn't just a space anymore, it was Grace's place, she had her smell, her style, but she wasn't there anymore, she could remember the first time she saw her unpack her bags, it seemed. other life.

"I should have listened to you more"

He whispered to himself before closing the door again and going to his own room, the piece of furniture had been uncomfortable enough to make him go to sleep in his bed.

When he heard the door to his room open with that annoying screeching noise he just wanted to go back to sleep, but Allin's voice woke him up completely.

"Hey, mom and dad already left. Mom left the car so you can drive us all to class"

Gabe nodded but didn't move from the spot, and that's how life tells you to go ahead with the wind or against it, go ahead, he got up; He showered and psychologically prepared himself to give his statements today.

"We will arrive late"

His little sister rebuked him.

“You have to wake up earlier, brother"

Gabe didn't understand why but Ellen's reproach hurt him a little more than it should, Ilem was staring at Gabe, she was watching almost everything on the way and he didn't notice or didn't care, it still wasn't clear.

“You plan to get out of the car at some point"

Gabe asked viciously, and Ilem just swallowed the reproach she was going to make and she denied.

"I'm going to go with you to the police station, look at you, you look like a sad puppy getting wet in the rain, I won't leave you"

He chuckled and kept driving, his mother would be mad seeing only Allin and Ellen but, she couldn't leave Gabe, not today.