(late) Creative Thursday // C.C.C.WC :: Chapter Six + Photo Challenge Entries

Helloooooooooooo!
Ya know what time it is......It's Friday. I'm posting. That can only mean one thing... A late Creative Thursday. XD
I will be sharing with you, my lovely readers, Chapter 6 for the wonderful Celia's Writing Challenge. Click here to check out her magnificent blog, here to find out more about Chapter 6, and here for more info about the Writing Challenge.
One more thing before I start. I did a guest post on the beautiful Rose's flawless blog, Truly. Madly. Deeply. That was more of my writing, so if you wish to check that out, click here, here, or here.
...I've written 'here' too many times and now it doesn't look like a word.... My brain is melting....

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Anyways! Chapter 6.

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Chapter One

Chapter Two

Chapter Three

Chapter Four

Chapter Five

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Grace closed her eyes and let her head fall back onto the itchy bus seat. People around her muttered apologies as they squeezed into seats next to strangers and their shopping bags slapped against legs.

She sat like that for a while, watching the patterns swirl and twist across the darkness of her eyelids, when a thought came to her, emerging from the black.

I never changed. I just learned.

She opened her eyes. Whose voice was that? Because it wasn't hers.

"Hey, Gracie, are you sure about this top?"

Jess' face hovered inches above hers, holding up the floaty floral top she'd bought earlier.

Grace sighed and sat up. "Yes, yeah. It's gorgeous, Kit-Kat. It looked amazing on you." She smiled wearily. Jess noticed.

"Gracie, what is it? What's wrong?"

She took a deep breath before turning fully to look at Jess. Another deep breath, before saying, "I'm fine."

She hated lying to her best friend, but it was for the best. Jess looked skeptical.

"Honestly, I am." Grace said, laughing.

Though still unsatisfied, Jess decided to drop it, instead going back to holding up each item of clothing for Grace to see again.

"Oooo, I almost forgot about this one..." Jess said, rifling through a bag as the bus lurched forward onto the road.

Grace laughed. "I think it's fair to say you have an obsession with shopping, Kit-Kat."

Jess grinned before picking up Grace's shopping bag and looking through it. She glanced up, "So, you coming over for lunch?"

Grace snatched her bag back while nodding.

Jess smiled, "Cool beans."

***

"How's your mum doing now, Grace?"

Grace looked up from her plate to see Julie, Jess' mother, watching her with a concerned look on her face.

Grace smiled, "She's a lot better now, I think. She... Yeah. Better. She's been going to more job interviews."

"That's great!" Julie beamed, scooping sweetcorn onto her plate.

"Did you have a good birthday, Grace?" Jess' father poured gravy over his plate and handed the jug to Jess.

She nodded, rubbing the ring on her finger that Jess had given her. "Yes, it was great, thanks, Andrew. Yeah. Really great."

Jess' little brother walked in to the dining room carrying a piece of paper.

"Hey, Tommy!" Grace ruffled his hair as he sat down.

He gave her a small smile and slid  the piece of paper across the table towards her.

"I'm really sorry it's late. It wasn't finished when you came over last time." He mumbled as she picked up the piece of paper.

It was a birthday card. 'Happy Birthday' was written in red crayon, the letters varying in sizes. There was a photo glued inside. It had been taken before... Grace sniffled... before her dad had died. Jess' parents had been having a garden party. Grace and Jess were mashing cake into each other's faces and Tommy was keeled over laughing. Her mum and dad were smiling, gazing at each other and Jess' parents were laughing hysterically.

Grace wiped away a tear. "Thank you so much, Tom."

***

"Mum, the yellow paint has run out!" Grace yelled.

"Check the cupboard next to the shelves!" was the reply.

Grace sighed and got up, placing her paintbrush onto her palette. Her vest top was already covered with splashes of colour, as were her arms, but she didn't mind. She quickly re-adjusted her ponytail before opening the cupboard. A new bottle of yellow acrylic sat proudly in the centre of the cabinet, surrounded by a mess of other paints, palettes and overalls.

"Found it! Thanks Mum!" She shouted down the stairs.

Grace made her way back to her stool, dodging canvases and easels.

This room had been her Dad's study and her studio. But after he died... Well, the study wasn't needed anymore.

Grace sat down on her stool, closed her eyes and leaned her arms against her canvas as she watched memory after memory of her dad. Her 6th birthday party, when he took her to the zoo. Her parents' 20th anniversary last year, when he bought two plane tickets to Paris, letting Grace sleep over Jess' place for the weekend they were away. A montage of all the happy moments with him flashed across her eyelids, and she felt a tear slip out onto her cheek.

"I know you miss him."

Grace sat up, eyes wide open. That wasn't her mum's voice. It was definitely male. She stared around the room, her eyes falling on a figure, standing by the open window.

She opened her mouth to scream. The figure dashed forward and placed his hand gently over her mouth. He was so fast. She wouldn't be able to outrun him, even if she had the chance.

"Hello, Gracie." He said. Grace gasped behind his hand. It was the boy from yesterday.

He smiled tightly. "I've come to take you back home."

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Want to do it too? I'm sure you can still join!

To clarify for Celia and any of you wondering:

Obsession - Jess, shopping

Little Kid Character - Tommy

Quote for the Book - I never changed. I just learned.

Cliffhanger - "I've come to take you back home."

Well, I really hope you liked that! I am really enjoying taking part in this Writing Challenge. It's sooooo much fun, and it's really forcing me to write, even when I have a bit of writer's block, as I do right now.

Now, for my entries for Anna's Photo Challenge. Please check out Anna's amazing blog, Banana and Bear.

Category 1: Summer Food

Category 2: Summer Fashion

Category 3: Nature

Category 4: Animal

Category 5: Summer Activity

Category 6: Something you use in Summer

Category 7: Anything

I hope you like them. :) I'm especially proud of that last one!

And my entry for Paige's Photo Challenge: Category 6, which is 'Sun'. Here's mine!

Wow, this was quite a long post... Warning for you all. There might be another really long post on Monday. Just letting you know! Sorry for all the long posts recently. Ideas for posts have just sort of built up and I need to get them all done so I can go back to the normal posts I used to do. Lately, I haven't been doing any life updates or anything, and I've missed doing that. Because it's like talking (or typing, I suppose) to friends, which you all are. And I want you to know what's going on in my life right now, what I'm loving, what I'm reading, what I'm listening to. What's happening.

So yeah. Possible super long post on Monday.

I've said the word 'post' too many times now....

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Melting brain again.....

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Thanks for reading (and putting up with my weird, weird self). Love you! ♥