What Grace’s been up to.

As we walked around the mall with the girls, browsing more than actually shopping, Mila, Noelle and I briefed the others on what happened with Eric.

“So… A nothing-burger?” Grace asked.

“I wouldn’t say that,” I told her. “But… kind of.”

“Honestly, I still don’t fully blame the guy,” Sarah said, walking beside me and holding my hand with interlocked fingers. “Dating IS fucking nerve wracking. When you open up yourself to care about someone, you also open up to be hurt, and there are way too many people who don’t give a shit about hurting you.”

“Yeah…” Alice sighed and shook her head. “Some are more malicious than others, but…”

“I’d put those in a different category,” Noelle said. “Or I’d put them in prison if I had my way.”

Alice chuckled, pulled Noelle closer and kissed her on the top of her head.

“I do know people who are still single years after a bad break up,” Grace said. “Even if you recover, you never really forget. It fucks you up.”

I groaned. “My sister might be going down that path. She says she’s sick of dating and is focusing on her own stuff.”

“I’m not saying staying single is a bad thing in itself, though,” Grace clarified. “Isabelle has her own circumstances and priorities, and it’s not like people NEED to be dating to be happy. I’m just saying… Sometimes you’re trying to fall asleep, remember that one thing he said or that one thing he did and you just want to get out of bed to burn the world. Or is that just me?”

“Who did what to you?” I asked, scowling.

Grace laughed. “Nothing that bad. I told you, I had good relationships and bad relationships.”

“Sucks to be you. I’m gonna make beautiful memories with my one and only boyfriend until **** do us apart,” Mila said, hugging me from behind.

“Come on, don’t rub it in,” Sarah said. “You and Noelle are lucky Oliver was your first.”

“And only,” Mila clarified again.

“Please don’t try to jinx it,” Noelle told her. “I’ve had the same thought before, but I’ve kept quiet.”

“Hey, who knows? Maybe one day you’ll break up with me and curse me as that manipulative asshole who tricked you into a poly relationship.” I got five smacks on the back of the head for that one. “It was a joke…” I said.

“You’re not funny,” Sarah told me, hugging my arm closer.

“Ah, speaking of not being funny,” Grace began. “Fernanda sent me a rough draft for a story she’s working on.”

“...I’m afraid to ask why that’s related to not being funny,” Alice said.

“Because she wrote a joke that was super **** and fell flat. I already told her as much.”

“You’re cruel,” Noelle told her.

“No, you don’t give that girl enough credit. She’s actually been sending a couple for drafts every week since we last saw each other at the hotel. That’s commitment and grit.”

“Seriously? Two drafts?” I asked.

“Not particularly long or detailed, but yeah. She’s working on writing dialogue right now, even while she’s still working on her art. In fact… Look at this.”

Grace pulled out her phone and showed us all a picture. It was a sketch, if a very detailed one. Instead of being a landscape, as Fernanda liked to draw, this was instead a sketch of a female character. And it was… Um…

“Holy shit, that’s sexy,” Mila said.

Yeah, that’s definitely the word. It was a sketch of a woman, a mage of some kind, holding a fireball over her index finger. Long, straight hair draped over exposed shoulders; a slender and curvaceous figure with a large chest; a sexy outfit consisting of a low-cut, shoulderless blouse with long sleeves, a corset to push her chest up, a long skirt that reached her ankles and traveling boots. Honestly, aside from the generous cleavage shown, what made it sexy was the way the clothes stuck to her figure, the folds of it, the way her thigh was barely noticeable as it pushed against the skirt.

“She said she’s been reading the books I recommended and that they’ve… inspired her against her will.”

“Against her will?” Alice asked.

Grace grinned. “I bet she liked them and now wants to add some fan-service into her drawings. I approve. It’s a good tactic.”

“How are the stories themselves coming along, though?” Sarah asked her.

Grace sighed. “Better, but still not great, which is why I told her to work on her dialogue. Her characters are too flat to care about them. It’s also why I suggested she write the same story starting in different ways. She needs a good hook.”

I smiled. “Sounds like she’s been working hard.”

“You haven’t talked to her?” Sarah asked me, raising an eyebrow. “Not even texted her?”

“I… I’ve wanted to, but every time I try I can’t come up with anything to say and end up convincing myself that it’s a bad idea anyway.”

“...How did you ever get the courage to ask us out?” Mila asked.

“I’ll be the one defending Oliver this time,” Grace said. “I believe not thinking about him is doing her some good. It comes back to what we were saying. It’s better for some people to set aside romantic relationships and focus on their own thing. Fernanda sounds genuinely excited in her texts instead of… Well, you know, totally fucking depressed.”

“Has your dad told you anything?” Noelle asked Sarah.

“I only asked if it seems like she’s doing better, and he said she’s making progress. He won’t tell me more and I won’t ask more. Out of respect for her and my dad, not because I’m not super curious.”

“I’m actually gonna meet her tomorrow,” Grace said. “It’s hard to talk about this stuff through text.”

I smiled, noticing the hint of excitement in Grace’s voice. “Are you having fun?”

“I am, surprisingly.” Grace smiled back at me. “I’m not an artist. I’m better with numbers and cold facts than anything creative, but I’ve always loved stories. Getting to be a small part of someone else’s creative process is… unexpectedly fulfilling.”

“Oh! Oh! That’s it! That’s it!” Mila suddenly got all excited, leaving us all very confused.

“W-What, what is it!?” Alice asked her.

Mila pointed at the display of a shop we’d just walked past. “I’m gonna get my dad a new wallet! His current one is super old and torn!”

“...” We all went quiet.

But I mean, she did come here with that objective in mind.

“Let me see. Maybe I can find something for him, too.”

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