Our relationship deepened as the summer went on. We went on many more dates in the real world and the dream world. By the time school started, everything was very different in all the right ways.
The first change was that I told Mindy, Arnold, and Andy that Grey and I were dating. Arnold was the only person who seemed surprised by this or sounded the most surprised through text. His exact words were, "Hold up. Wait. HUH?!?"
Mindy said, "Yep, saw that comin'," and Andy said, "Yeah, me 2."
We all hung out several times so the rest of the group could get to know Grey, and Grey bought his friends along so we could all get used to one another before school started. And by the time it did, we all sat at the same table at lunch, much to the surprise of everyone else around us.
And Evan and Sasha were allowed nowhere near it.
Unlike Sasha, the popular kids were nicer than expected, and it was Grey's doing. They would've been out of his group if they even tried looking at us sideways.
In September, Ana and Blake had their first anniversary, and Grey threw them a little party at his house.
"Your boyfriend has proved us very wrong," Ana whispered in my ear as he brought out a homemade cake that he and I baked together. "Even Andy has warmed up to him." I looked over at Andy, who laughed as Grey acted like he was about to drop the cake.
"I'm glad," I signed.
"What are you glad for, cute thang over there?" Grey asked as he placed the cake on the marble kitchen counter.
"Stop," I signed shyly. He smirked and then gestured to Ana and Blake. "Come cut your cake," he said.
"Thank you, guys!" Blake said.
"Seriously," Ana said and kissed my cheek. Mindy kicked my leg lightly and whispered, "When will this be, you guys?"
"June," I signed.
Before Mindy could say anything, there was a knock behind us in the kitchen doorway. We all looked, Ana and Blake mid-cut, to see a man standing there. His hair was gray, and his eyes were a bright blue.
"Hey, Dad," Grey said.
"Hey, bud," he responded. "Sorry for interrupting; I just wanted to say hi. Especially because I heard his girlfriend was going to be here." His eyes scoured our faces as he tried to guess who it could be.
"That's Hazel," Grey said, pointing at me. "Hazel, Dad. Dad, Hazel."
"Nice to meet you," he signed with a bright smile.
I know my whole face probably lit up. "You know ASL?"
"My mom went deaf while I was young. I had to learn so that we could communicate with each other. Mainly so that she could yell at me with her hands." We both laughed.
"That's so cool that you learned the language," I signed excitedly. "Is that how Grey knows?"
"Yep," he signed back. "My mom would've killed me if her grandkids couldn't communicate with her."
"Yeah, of course. You did a good job teaching Grey. He knows the language very well."
"Thank you, sweetheart."
Grey then introduced the rest of my friends to him. They all smiled and shyly waved while giving various verbal greetings.
"All right," Grey's dad said. "I'll get out of your hair. I don't want to make Grey feel uncool or anything." He winked at him, and Grey shook his head.
"You don't want any cake?" Ana asked.
"Oh," he said and looked hesitant as he looked at it. "No, it's okay. Thank you, though! See you guys later." He waved, and we all said bye before he walked out of the room.
"Your dad is cool," I signed. "He made my day."
Grey smiled and signed back, "Thank you, babe."
After eating the cake, we swam around in Grey's pool, enjoying the last bit of summer. We played pool games, snacked, and generally felt closer. Grey and Andy even went off to the side to talk things out.
"We didn't plan to have that talk," Grey told me as he drove me home later that night after the party. "We started talking, and I apologized for hitting him, and he surprisingly forgave me. So that was cool." I squeezed his thigh.
"Hey, no," Grey said and playfully slapped my hand away. "I do that." He placed his hand on my lower thigh and squeezed me back. I laughed.
So, that was how the start of our school year went. By December, I'd finally gotten used to my weird but great last year of high school.
YOU ARE READING
Little Sweet Dreamer - Wattys Edition
Teen Fiction"Oh," he said, as my back hit the wooden wall. Damn it, of course. With nowhere to go, his arms locked me in between him and the wall. He stared down at me as he said, "So you're trying to piss me off?" His lips were surprisingly close to mine. No g...
