Chapter 9

The afternoon came and went, but Ilem couldn't stop thinking about what Hannah had said to her and Ian just a few hours ago.

Gabe had returned and she had not dared to say a peep about the conversation with Hannah, she was angry and curious about what was going on around this whole story with Grace, which seemed to have more variables than before, and far from reaching its end was the beginning of something much bigger.

"You have to come here for a second"

Allin was standing in the doorway of her room and she seemed worried, but not like she always was now she really seemed worried about something.

"What's going on?"

Ilem asked.

Allin sometimes exaggerated things and acted on her when she worried; the subject of Grace was getting to her lately.

"Gabe has been locked in Grace's room for a while, I heard things breaking, you have to convince him to stop, the police said we tried not to touch his things and he... shouldn't be there."

“Everything is fine, nothing is wrong Ally, he is just stressed about everything you know he loved Grace very much"

Allin wasn't very convinced of what her sister was telling her but she left it to her to figure it out anyway, she continued down the hall down the stairs while ilem went towards the now closed door of Grace's room.

"You have to get out of there, you are only hurting yourself, you have to try to be calm; the police will find her and she will be back soon and it will all be a bad memory"

Ilem said these words with her forehead pressed against the white door of Grace's room, she felt that the words were only a slight murmur but her brother had heard her.

She heard her brother say something unintelligible on the other side of the door.

“Gabe I don't understand what you're saying, get out of there and let's talk; Hannah told me all about the baby and I know why you are so angry and sad but this is not the solution... "

The door made a noise but it didn't open she guessed her brother had dropped through the door to the floor so he did the same.

"That is not all; not now. I think she's not going to come back ilem; she told me a lot of times that she didn't want a family, she wanted to be free, she was just passing through and that she would soon leave when she finished her degree"

"So what? He still has about a year to finish, well with not wanting a family it's a little late"

“No, I just found something; she has enough extra credits to graduate. Maybe she just looked for her title and she didn't tell anyone, I don't know maybe she went back to Boston and that's it"

It wasn't all that simple, Ilem thought, not when it came to Grace.

"What else did you find?"

"There is an unfinished letter, she has no sender.

He passed the letter through the space between the door and the floor just next to Ilem's hand."

"I can't keep living this lie, I'm sorry..."

I should have told you everything; she should have been honest with you even though you were almost never honest with me, but I never wanted any of this, I didn't want you, I didn't want this disgusting, twisted feeling, I didn't want you with me. And then you showed me so many things that I didn't believe about myself, you made me want to live, you gave me wings.

"And you cut them off again like everyone does with me, like my mother when she left me, like my father when he died... you also left me lying, you preferred them, and what about me? No one ever chooses me.

So I let you go, but first I need to tell the truth, I can't keep quiet anymore; I'm sorry but it was you who did this to both of us. It's you that keeps me retracing my steps wondering what I did wrong. Grace Miller"

"Is for you?"

"I guess, when she asked me to go with her I said no; that she still couldn't. I needed to finish my degree and I didn't want to be away from my family, I couldn't just go to Boston with her. She got mad, so she went to live with Hannah"

"Why didn't you say yes?"

Ilem asked with a knot in her stomach that threatened to break her in half.

"I am twenty years old, I am not a child and I have a job too, I did not have to hide from anyone, I know that it was not the best age to have a baby but I know that I could take care of it and that my parents would not kill me. I have enough money to buy an apartment and live alone, but I'm still here because I love you girls and I know that mom and dad have their problems; They're not around all the time, Allin is just a teenager just like you, I can't leave the two of them alone.

"I love you brother."

Those words were a slight sigh of calm, she couldn't imagine her world with Gabe thousands of miles away, she couldn't imagine her life without Gabe around her. He had been the most constant thing in her life, she had held her up plenty of times when her parents had been on the brink of divorce six years ago. Gabe had been the one who had kept them all on their feet.

She heard a light chuckle from Gabe.

“You are so corny"

The door opened and her brother helped her up from the ground, she hugged him.

"Don't worry I'm not going to kill myself, I'm just trying to understand everything.

She nodded still hugging him until he pulled her away; Ilem could see that her eyes were red which made the blue part stand out more, he had been crying.

"I'll be fine."

Sentence. When he gave her one of those sad smiles that makes you want to burst into tears for the other person she knew Gabe needed to let her go, and that was only going to happen if they found her.

So she decided that she was going to look under every rock if necessary but Grace Miller was going to tell all that truth that she forgot to tell when she left, they would all have closure on the great drama that she was supposed to have known and loved. Grace.