The kids succeeded in their little evil plan.

           “I can’t believe this!” Grace exclaims, pacing around her new room in the Walter’s residence in disbelief and frustration—though she’s sort of relieved since she’s finally gotten all kinds of weird stuff off of her face, hair, and body. She just came out of her own bathroom that’s inside her new room. She forgot to bring a hair dryer from her own house so she’s now stuck with drying her hair with a towel.

           “Right?” Arabelle agrees in a huff. “You’re lucky you’ve already showered and cleaned yourself, you know? I still have to drive home, which I really don’t feel like doing right now, especially when I’m literally covered in whip cream and other kinds of crap everywhere.”

          Grace glances at Arabelle at the corner of her eye, and then smirks a little. “True.” But knowing herself, she won’t let her friend suffer anymore—Arabelle has been standing in her room ever since, because she doesn’t want to risk making her bed dirty—so instead of shoving it in her face, Grace tosses the towel that she was using a while ago toward Arabelle.

          Arabelle swiftly catches it, and then raises an eyebrow. “It’s wet.”

          She shrugs, and says, “It’s all we’ve got.”

          With an eye roll, Arabelle trots over to the door, and says, “I’m just gonna ask Drew then. See you later!”

          Confused, Grace murmurs, “I wonder why you couldn’t have asked that”—but the door’s already shut after Arabelle walked out—“. . . before.”

          With a shrug, she turns her back to the door, and wonders what she’s supposed to do now. Should she be tucking the kids in goodnight? Scold them for doing that horrible act, especially when food was involved in it? Walk over to Drew to at least ask if he’s okay? She lets herself fall onto the bed in front of her, face first. Unsurprisingly, it’s quite soft and comfy, even better than the one at home.

          The thought of home doesn’t even make her feel homesick. In fact, she’s always wanted to get out of those four walls that cornered her every night, taunting her to feel completely alone—which she was back there.

          She hadn’t exactly been happy in a household with her two parents and younger sister, which is why she decided to buy an apartment just for herself as she graduated college. Just the thought of her parents makes her blood boil in anger. However, her younger sister is a different case. Instead of having any negative feelings toward her sister, she feels pity and sadness for her. How is she doing right now? she wonders. Is she still suffering? Has she found a way to escape from them?

          Suddenly, she hears the door open.

                    Hastily, she turns over in her bed to finally face up. When her eyes set on who’s standing by the door, they widen. And within a second, she gets off of the bed and stands on her bare feet. Not daring to look at a flustered and surprised looking Drew, she looks at the door next to him.

           “I—uh—um,” he splutters, causing her to glance back at him, taken aback. Also, she notices his cheeks getting pinker and pinker by the second. She tries to hide a smile as he continues to stutter, “Your—you—do you usually wear—you know what, never mind.”

          Just as Grace is about to ask what’s wrong, she catches what he has been staring at. She follows his gaze, and realizes that it’s her bow patterned light blue nightie that doesn’t seem to cover her chest properly and ends at only her mid-thigh. Her eyes widen as she realizes how revealed and exposed she feels especially when Drew’s just right in front of her. Her arms quickly cross above her chest, glancing up at him with an embarrassing look.

           “I’m, uh, well . . .” she trails off, looking at him who still seems to be uncomfortable yet still gaping at her. “You see, I just took a shower, and I just randomly took some clothing, and since Arabelle was only here earlier—which she’s obviously not right now—I thought it was okay, but that’s not the point. Actually, I don’t even know what point I’m trying to make, but I—um. Sorry?” She scolds herself inwardly, thinking why on earth she apologized.

          However, there’s no response from him. Not when his eyes are still on her, his cheeks burning. She can’t help but be surprised.

          Then, it comes to her when she realizes where he’s really constantly looking at in short glances.

          Trying to hide a small smirk that’s starting to form, she clears her throat. It becomes even harder when Drew finally looks at her with a puzzled look.

           “I’m sorry,” he says quickly, scratching the back of his neck.

           “It’s okay,” she blurts out, and then realizes her mistake. She remembers something she’d heard earlier from the kids so she continues, “I mean, I think I should be okay with that since you’re not exactly who I think you are. I mean, you’re different—“

           “Different?”

          She uncrosses her arms over her chest, and places them to her side, suddenly feeling relaxed. “Well, yeah, I learnt from today that you’re gay and—“

           “Wait, what?”            

           “—you have a boyfriend whom you probably love so dearly—“

           “What? Hold on.”

           “—and that you don’t really care about seeing a girl like this, because it’s obvious you’re not into this, but into that, you know? You swing the other way—“

           “Grace, stop.”

           “—I went too far, didn’t I? I shouldn’t have mentioned it, but I promise not to tell anyone! You don’t look like you’re gay, which is a good thing, otherwise people would’ve found out—“

           “Grace!”

          Instantly, she stops talking, her eyes growing wide. She swallows nervously, and manages to apologize, “Sorry?”

          He runs his hand through his hair. “The kids were being idiots. I’m—”

           “You know what?” she cuts him off. “Forget about it. I probably ruined your night by talking about it, so just . . . forget I said anything and pretend that I don’t know anything about it.”

           “But I—”

           “La la la la la,” she chants childishly as she covers her ears with her hands, showing him that she won’t listen to him anymore.

          He merely rolls his eyes and sighs in defeat. After that, she uncovers her ears, and beams at him. Then, he says, “I just came here to apologize about what happened this evening and check up on you. I didn’t know the kids would act like this and I understand if you want to leave—”

           “I don’t,” she states, surprising herself. I don’t?

           “You don’t? Drew repeats in a rather hopeful voice, but then clears his throat, and then says in a different tone, “It’s okay if you want to leave. We can always find another person to help.”

          She gives him the beginning of a smile. “I’ll stay. Besides, I haven’t even spent a day with them yet. Don’t worry, I’ll try.”

          The corners of Drew’s lips twitch. “Okay. Thank you. Then, I should probably remind you that you have to wake them up at around seven, because they need to go to school. I’ve already told the driver where the school is so you don’t really have to bring them there. You just have to get them ready by around seven forty five since their school starts at eight.”

          She waves off, “It’s all right. And, uh, yeah, I think I’ve got it.”

          He nods once. “Goodnight, Grace.” Then, he spins around, facing his back to her, ready to leave her room.

           “Goodnight, Drew!” she says back, smiling at his straight and rigid back.

          He’s just about to close the door behind him, but his head pops out, facing Grace with a small smirk that’s lingering on his features. This confuses her, but it all vanishes when he says, “You should probably wear a bra, Grace. Wouldn’t want the kids to see anything private, now would you?”

          She just stands there as if paralyzed, gaping at him.

          He chuckles at her reaction, and then finally shuts the door.

          ♦          ♦          ♦

          The next day just so happens to be quite peaceful, which is why Grace is worrying.

          She successfully sent all three of the kids to school without a fight or prank, and they came home without even a word. They just went straight to their room. What they were doing is beyond her imagination. So when she tried to at least ask how their day went, they’d shut her out. Not one of them would talk to her properly.

          Now, all she can think about is when will their next prank be. She knows that these kids aren’t exactly saints so they’re definitely up to something. And it’s bugging her, especially when she doesn’t like not knowing.

          She jumps when she feels a tug at her shirt. She looks down to see Scarlett standing there with a pout on her face. Her eyes soften as she asks, “Hey there, Scar. Is it okay if I call you that?”

          Scarlett hesitates, but nods anyway.

          She smiles. “Okay, Scar. Well, what do you want?”

           “Can you teach me how to bake?” Scarlett asks innocently, adding a little smile at the end.

          Grace is confused yet amazed. She wants to learn how to bake? She feels her lips curl into a smile, and then nods. “Of course.”

          Scarlett breaks into a grin, and then squeals into Grace’s arms. Grace lets out a giggle as she catches her into her welcoming arms. She decides that Scarlett’s definitely her favorite out of the three, and that she isn’t like the two brothers. She’s absolutely innocent.

          Then, she feels Scarlett touching her hair in her small hands. “I like your hair,” Scarlett gushes. “It’s pretty, and colorful.”

          This causes her to snicker, knowing that having an ombre hair isn’t really that colorful. “Thank you, sweetie. I like your soft chocolate curls more, though. It’s really cute.”

          Scarlett smiles shyly, and murmurs, “You know, you’re not that bad. My brothers keep talking bad about you and . . . stickman.”

          She can’t help but smile wryly, and say, “I’m sure they’ll learn to forgive, Scar. Everyone deserves a second chance.”

          ♦          ♦          ♦

          Gathering everyone at the table for dinner, Grace wonders where Drew is.

          She’s aware that he’s busy with work, and that he might be coming home late, but she hopes that he can come home early. There are many reasons for that. For one, the kids won’t think that Drew ran away. Two, Grace won’t feel as awkward as she would if she’s the only adult sitting on the table with them. Three, Drew can spend some time trying to get along with them.

          As if reading her mind, Drew walks in the house with a tired expression on his face.

           “Hey,” she greets softly, walking toward him. “You okay? We’re just about to have dinner.”

          Drew glances behind her shoulder where the kids and table is, and then looks back at her with a semi-annoyed expression. “I don’t think so. I’ll probably just eat later when—”

           “I want pizza.”

          He narrows his eyes at Uriah, and says, “You’ve already got food on the table so just eat what we already have.”

          Ethan chimes in, “I want pizza, too.

          Grace bites her lip nervously, sensing a fight starting to brew. Then, she says, “Listen, we’ll have pizza tomorrow night, okay? Right now, let’s just eat what’s already on the table. Besides, Scar helped me bake some cookies. Wouldn’t you want to—?”

           “No, I want pizza,” Uriah presses, standing up from his chair. “If you’re not going to order pizza, then none of us will eat.”

           “Are you serious?” Drew groans. “Stop being so stubborn and just eat what your sister baked for you, okay? Don’t make this harder than it already is—“

           “No, I feel like eating pizza so I want pizza,” Ethan deadpans. “Scar won’t mind.”

           “Can you just bear for one night without eating pizza?” Drew asks, his voice raising. “It’s not like you’re going to die!”

           “What, like how my parents did?” Uriah says, glaring at Drew right in the eye.

          He clenches his jaw. “I didn’t mean to do that. It was just an accident.”

          Uriah scoffs. “Sure, you didn’t. It’s funny how you don’t look regretful right now. It’s like your life’s perfect, isn’t it? You ruin other people’s lives, not caring about them, and you seem to be having fun—“

           “Fun?” He exclaims, taking a step closer toward Uriah. “You think my life’s perfect and I’m having fun? Do you honestly think you’re an angel who brings joy to my life? No! I didn’t ask for this to happen. I’m regretting every day of my life, because somehow I’m stuck with all of you who are the opposite of angels!”

          Uriah dares to take a step toward him, unfazed by his outburst. “Then keep regretting! It’s what you deserve after what you’ve done to our parents. I hope you suffer your whole life and know that we’ll never forgive you. You’re completely heartless, and you have no feelings.”

          Instantly, Grace notices Drew’s hands being clenched tightly into fists. She steps behind him, and holds one of his hands, clasping it in hers. She doesn’t know what came to her, but she needs to stop the fight. It’s getting intense, and Drew looks like he’s about to beat Uriah up with his deadly glare. Drew doesn’t look at her, but she can feel him relax under her touch. His hand gradually unclenches and that’s when she lets go, even though she doesn’t want to.

           “Okay, fine,” Grace says softly, deciding to chime in at that moment. “I’ll order pizza.”

          Ethan stares at her, taken aback. “What?”

           “Do you want me to order pizza or not?”

           “Yes.”

          And then, she sees Drew storm off upstairs to his room, closing the door behind him with force, and then it finally shuts with a loud bang, echoing around the house. 

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i hope you're all very satisfied with this chap bc ahem drew hAHAH BAD DREW poor grace >:))) and well there goes the first argument of the kids and drew sigh and i love how it's so easy to write a chapter for this short story so this explains why i don't update as long as the other stories i'm writing oops