Grace's P.O.V

Finally senior year. I'm walking through the halls to meet up with Mary Lou at her locker. I turn the corner and I bumped into somebody. I looked up and it's Tom. A smile grows on my face, "Hey!" He smiles at me and gives me a quick hug.

We pull away from each other, "How you been? How was your summer?" He walks beside me. "It was good. Ashton and I spent a lot of time together. And I've been good. Been waiting for this day. What about you? How are things with you and Shelby?" I smile up at him.

He chuckles, "Me too. We're good. We've been dating for a month. I couldn't be more happier." He smiles at me. I awe, "That's so cute. I heard Luke and Felicia have been dating for a month now as well. Brock and Carrie for about three." He nods with a smile on his face.

We walk up to Mary Lou at her locker. Tom tells us bye and walks to his first class of senior year. Mary Lou looks at me with a toothy smile. I raise an eyebrow, "What?" She lifts her left hand and I see a diamond engagement ring. I gasp with my eyes going wide.

I take her hand and examined the jewelry, "Oh my God! Marco?" I look up at her. She nods with tears forming in her eyes. "When did he ask?" I ask, still looking at her ring. "Last night. I was going to call but you see we had other plans." She winks at me.

I push her shoulder playfully, "Gross. Spare me the details." She laughs, "Oh come on, Grace. Don't act all innocent. I know something happened between you and Ashton." My cheeks start to burn and I looked away from her.

She gasps, "Y'all did it huh?" I look at her with a smile forming on my lips. "Grace Elise Thompson! When was this?" She asks quietly. I giggle at her reaction, "It was two months ago. In July when we got back together." I shrugged my shoulders.

She closes her locker and interlocked our arms, "How was it?" We walk down the hallway to make it to our first hour class, "He was very gentle. It was so loving." I gush. She smiles over at me, "I'm so happy for you. Now you're a woman." She winks at me. I giggle and bumped my hip against hers. She laughs and we walk into Mrs. Doucet's class.

~~~~

I walk out of school with Mary Lou, "These four hours are awesome. Want to go get lunch?" I nod, "Yeah, I'm starving." We make our way to the diner. We're walking minding our own business when we hear tires screeching to a stop. We look over and it's Mr. Marshal with Mr. Schlesinger.

Fear is running through my veins when I see the double barrel shot gun sitting up in the back seat. They get out of the car. Mary Lou grabs my hand, "Run!" She pulls me. The men start shouting things at us. I turn around with the wind in my ears. They get back into Mr. Marshal's car and start chasing us.

We cut through alley ways and people's yards. We stopped hiding in some bushes. "Look." Mary Lou says, pointing at the car. We duck down further into the bushes when Mr. Marshal cruises down the road, looking for us. "I don't know where y'all are at! But I know one thing! I know where you're precious wog works!" Mr. Marshal shouts through the street.

My heart sank. Without thinking I step out of the bush. I walk in front of the car. Mr. Marshal stops the car, a couple of feet away from me. Him and Mr. Schlesinger get out of the car. I cross my arms over my chest making myself look not fazed by the white men, but deep down inside I'm scared of of my mind.

"Well look what we got here George. Another nigga wanting to spare her life." Mr. Marshal says to Mr. Schlesinger. I keep my eyes on Mr. Marshal. Watching his every move. "What do you want with me Mr. Marshal?" I ask, keeping a hard look on him.

He chuckles, "I just want to see you hanging from a tree n*gga." His voice filled with so much hate. I gasp at his words. They start to walk towards me. I back away from them. Panic starts to rise up in me. They grab me. Tears start to fall down my face. They start dragging me to the car until a voice stops them, "If I were you I'll let her go!"

Our heads snap to the source. It was Ashton with everybody. Their grips loosen on my arms. I slip away from them and ran towards Ashton. He wraps his arms around me, baring his face into my neck. We pull away and I'm facing the two stunned men. Mr. Marshal wipes the expression off of his face and replaces with with an ugly smirk, "You've been warned, n*gga. George lets go."

The men got back into the car and sped passed us. I look at my friends, "Where were you guys?" Brock smiles at me, "I had to bring my car to the shop to get my alternator out to get replaced. So I brought Felicia and Shelby with me. And that's when Mary Lou comes running saying that you needed help. So we all ran here." I look over at Mary Lou.

I grab her and brought her into a a long hug. We pull away, "I love you so much. Thank you for being my best friend." She smiles at me, "I love you more. No thank you for being my best friend." I smile. "Come on. Let's get out of here." Ashton says. I look at him and bright out my hand. He takes it and we start to head to the shop.