He searched my eyes for a single moment, then turned so he was standing in front of me, blocking me from view.
“Please tell Grandfather I had an accident. I lost my footing and slipped, knocking over the vase in the process.” Gray’s tone was flat, devoid of emotion. I’d never heard him sound like that, so formal. That was the only thing that stopped me from correcting him. It was my fault the vase broke, and he was taking the blame.
“You had an accident,” a man hissed, making the words sound sharp and disbelieving.
“Yes, sir,” Gray replied. I couldn’t stop staring at his back, it was so rigid, it didn’t even look like he was breathing. No one else around us moved either. I wasn’t the only one worried about what was going to happen. I was afraid to see the person the voice belonged to—no, that was wrong. I knew who the voice belonged to. I was afraid for him to see me.
“How unfortunate,” Gray’s grandfather chided. He knew Gray was lying, and I had a bad feeling he was going to get in even more trouble for that.
I opened my mouth to tell him it was my fault, but in the same second, Gray loudly blurted out, “My friends should go,” covering anything I might have managed to get out, then he added softly, “Then I can clean this up.”
“I think that would be good,” his grandfather agreed, but his voice was even colder than before.
Gray spun in place and walked forward, ready to bowl me over if I didn’t move. Remy and Felix each flanked my sides, and I was forced right out the door I came through only minutes before.
Once we were outside, the heavy door slammed shut behind us, and I heard the sound of a lock clicking into place.
“Oh no.” My lips finally worked, but my voice was just above a whisper. “I have to go tell him I broke the vase.” I took one step forward, but Felix grabbed my hand, stopping me. I looked over my shoulder to see what the heck he wanted, but the expression on his face stopped me. He looked sad, like the day Remy accidentally broke his wooden sword.
“It’s okay, buttercup,” Felix said, but I didn’t believe him. “Grayson will clean it up and we’ll see him later.”
I shook my head because I knew it wasn’t going to be that simple. “I can’t let him get in trouble for me. It was my fault. I wasn’t looking where I was going,” I confessed.
When I faced the door again, Remy stood in front of me as if he was going to block me if I tried to knock on the door. He was bigger than me by a lot, but I was faster. He had been kind of clumsy this summer. I’d heard Dad say it was because he had a growth spurt. I didn’t care, I just liked being able to beat him in a race. I thought about darting around him now, but he crossed his arms over his chest and frowned down at me. “We need to go. Sticking around is going to get him in more trouble.”
His words made my stomach hurt in a weird way. I didn’t want to get him in even more trouble. I bit my bottom lip, and Remy tilted his head to the side. I bet he could tell I was about to cry and thought I looked weird.
“Fine, I’m just going to go home.” I turned and realized I was still holding Felix’s hand, so I tugged free and jogged across the grass to get to the side road. It was going to be a long walk home, but I wasn’t leaving yet. I just wanted Felix and Remy to think I was.
Once I made it to the tree line, I slowed down and looked over at the house. Remy and Felix were walking up the driveway, going the other direction. I bet they were going to the park, which meant I was going to circle back in a few minutes to make sure they wouldn’t see me trying to sneak back to Grayson’s window.
I might have never been in Gray’s house, but he had pointed out his window lots of times when we played in the yard.
I was breathing hard by the time I finally made it around the block and could see Gray’s house again. I didn’t see any signs of Remy or Felix, so I darted over the grass and put my back against his house next to his window. I knew if I got caught, I might get Gray in more trouble, but I had to see him. I needed to tell him I was sorry. Plus, I couldn’t get rid of this weird feeling in my stomach.
I peeked into Gray’s window. At first, I thought I had the wrong room, because it didn’t look like a kid’s room. There weren’t any toys or a TV, just a huge bed that looked like my dad’s, all neat like it had never been slept in, and dressers, no toys or anything.
Just as I was about to duck away and recount the windows, I noticed a book on the nightstand. It was something we were assigned to read in class, so I knew he’d been here. This must have been his room.
I looked around again. I really didn’t think this through. I didn’t know what I should do now. Glancing around the yard to make sure no one was looking, I pressed my fingers against the glass and pushed up. It glided up easily, surprising me. I stood there for a minute, trying to convince myself to leave, but I couldn’t do it.
With an easy hop, my head was in the window and my feet were dangling off the ground. I quickly scrambled the rest of the way in, trying to be as quiet as possible. My heart slammed against my ribs. Dad took people to jail for things like this.
Crouched down, I glanced around the room, searching for a place to hide. There were a couple of doors, but if I opened the wrong one, it could lead into the house, so that was out.
The bed was my only other option. Thankfully, it was high enough for me to get under. I lifted the fancy sheet hanging off the side and peered under the bed. I wasn’t sure what I expected, but there was nothing under here, not even dust or socks and wrappers like I kicked under my bed so I didn’t have to clean them up.
Once I scooted under, my breathing finally settled so I didn’t feel like I was huffing. I got creeped out a few times, thinking there might be spiders crawling on me or something, but that faded after a while.
I thought I either fell asleep at some point or got really close, because I jumped and gasped when the door finally opened. Heeled shoes clicked on the wooden floor, and I held my breath. “I won’t tell your grandfather this was open again. I don’t think you need any more trouble today.” A woman tsked as if she was doing Gray a favor.
Hexes, I’d forgotten to close the window. “Get out of my room,” Grayson ordered, but it didn’t even sound like him.
The heels clicked away, and the door snapped closed. I heard something hard hit the door right after and flinched. This might have been a really bad idea. Grayson had every right to be very mad at me, and I snuck into his room, chancing him getting in more trouble.So dumb.
“Remy, is that you?” Gray lifted up the sheet, and his eyes widened when he saw me. “Frankie.”
“I’m so sorry,” I blurted out but remained under the bed.
