Gracie | Cory Wilson

Chapter 1.1.4

"Graciela!" My mum shouted, banging on my door "¡Levántate (Get up)!"

I groaned and rolled over. Well, started rolling over but someone let out a small squeak as I did so. I scurried away from the noise so fast I fell onto my bedroom floor. Peeking my head up over my bedframe, I was greeted by the grinning face of my eight-year-old sister, Bethania (Beth as I called her).

"When did you climb in?" I queried, standing back up.

"Last night," she shrugged. "I had a nightmare."

"Oh, what about this time?"

"Daddy was--"

"GRACIELA!"  Mum shouted from downstairs. "¡VAS A LLEGAR TARDE (You're going to be late)!"

"OKAY!" I shouted down at her, beginning to scramble around to grab my school uniform. "I'll have to talk to you later, Beth. Mama's going to kill me if she sees me in my pyjamas." Beth nodded and left the room rather hastily.

Beth and I had always been relatively close. Our brother, Leonardo (or Leo) was a mummy's boy, and we didn't tend to have any deep conversations. We were at the same school, but he managed to avoid me like the plague. Ever since dad's secret came out, Leo had felt guilty about telling everyone. It wasn't his fault. Dad deserved everything that happened to him. I knew it, mum knew it, Beth knew it. Leo, however, believed he was the cause of my dad's death.

The second I finished applying my mascara, the bedroom door flew open.

"Nos vamos ahora (We're leaving now)," My mum said, holding the door open for me. I grabbed my phone off of my bedside table and rushed past her. "Tu ensalada de frutas está sobre la mesa (You're fruit salad is on the table)."

"Alright," I grabbed an apple out of the fruit basket and picked my ready-made fruit salad off of the table. "I'll meet you in the car --"

I crashed into my stepdad in my frenzy.

"Sorry," I apologised and tried to move past him.

"GiGi," Jabari said seriously, grabbing my attention. "The school called."

My eyebrows shot up to my hairline.

"Look, I won't tell your mum," I let out a breath. "But, I will if it happens again."

"Thanks, Jabba. I'll see you after school," I rushed out the front door and hopped into the passenger seat of my mum's Nissan Qashqai. 

Mum came out of the house seconds later, Beth hanging onto her arm and Leo following behind her.

"Jesús, esa casa es un basurero (Jesus, that house is a dump)," Mum laughed as she got into the car. 

"Whatever, mum," I rolled my eyes. "Can we just go?"

She looked at me with heavy eyes and sighed. The car started, and we were finally on our way.

When we arrived at Ackley Bridge College, Leo climbed out immediately. I counted to five then followed. That's how it went.

Unfortunately, it was not my day.

"Gracie!" Cory was walking towards me with his stupid, perfect smile on his face. 

"It's GiGi," I mumbled to myself.

That wasn't the worst part, my mum had just rolled down her window.

"¿Quien es este? ¡El es lindo (Who's this? He's cute)!" She called out, embarrassingly. I was glad Cory couldn't speak Spanish, or he'd have just heard my mum calling him cute...