Chapter 12 – The Girl Who Turned To Stone.

Let's go to sleep with clearer heads
And hearts too big to fit our beds
And maybe we won't feel so alone
Before we turn to stone

Turn to Stone – Ingrid Michaelson

"Rich?" Grace said into her phone. She had just gotten back home and was sitting on her bed. Liv and Mini had been dropped off back at their own homes much to her Dad's annoyance – he thought they were a bad influence after the whole shoplifting incident which was partly true. "Did you find out anything?"

"Promise you won't do anything stupid." He asked of her and this sent Grace into a panic mode. She stood up and began to pace the width of her room.

"What is it?" She asked urgently.

"Promise," Rich simply stated and Grace let out an annoyed tsking sound.

"I can't if you don't tell me what it is!" She nearly shouted into the phone. Rich seemed taken aback as there was a bit of a pause and a fumbling noise.

"I think she's turning into stone herself." He said, sounding completely confused. Grace stopped pacing and scrunched her face up.

"Sorry, I have to go see her."

"No -" Grace had already hung up, so Rich was left on the other line, worried and annoyed that Grace might try to do something stupid even though he explicitly told her not to.

"Grace?" Mini's mum asked in her thick Scottish accent, giving a puzzled expression at the breathless Grace. She had run from the bus stop to Mini's house and desperate to get inside. Mini's mum gave her one last curious look before turning back into the house and yelling, "OH MINI."

There was a long silence and no reply from Mini, so Grace just followed her Mum inside.

"I'll just go up," She said, sounding extremely breathless as she started to take the stairs up. She opened Mini's bedroom door and found her flicking through a copy of Cosmopolitan.

"Come to save me from my boredom?" Mini asked casually when she saw Grace enter. However when she noticed the anxiety in Grace's face she furrowed her eyebrows.

"What exactly is going on with you?" Grace asked, skipping any greetings and sitting herself within a comfortable distance from Mini. She closed her magazine and sighed.

"Apart from the obvious?" She tried to joke, but looked uneasy at her blunt question. Grace wringed her hands together before telling her what she knew.

"Uhmm… I asked Rich to listen to you and-"

"You what?!" Mini cried out, before sitting up straighter on her bed. Grace chewed on her lip and threw up her hands defensively.

"I just wanted to know what was wrong…" She replied in a defensive, but timid voice.

"And you couldn't just fucking ask me?" Mini shouted again, standing up and folding her arms across her chest.

"Would you have told me?" Grace raised an eyebrow questioningly. She knew Mini too well and that's the only reason why she had asked Rich to find out what was wrong. Mini pouted and sat back down on the bed, refusing to look directly at Grace.

"So… Rich said you're turning to stone?" Grace prayed that Rich had made a mistake, but Mini's defeated shake of the head and the look in her eyes told Grace that he was right.

"I found some dirt in my eye, then something gravelly on my nails." She paused, raising up her right hand. "I can barely move it anymore… And I'm finding gravel everywhere, my ears, hair and nose."

"Let me fix it," Grace said in a tone of urgency, hurriedly moving her hand towards her. Mini's hand shot back out of Grace's reach and she widened her eyes.

"No, don't you dare." She said harshly. "You could turn to stone as well and who would save you then?"

Grace's hand fell to her side uselessly. She decided on the spot that she would do it, despite the risk if it got any worse.

"Fine," Grace's response worried Mini, but she put it to the back of her mind. "Does it hurt?"

"Yeah, but it mostly scares me." Mini nodded, pulling the right sleeve of her hoodie down so it hid her hand.

"Why is this even happening?" Grace asked, stroking Mini's covered arm. It was the only comforting she could do right now.

"I wish I knew."

Liv stood down on her cigarette before opening the door to the community centre, as she did so her eye caught on to a figure leaning on one of the picnic tables. It was the same guy from the funeral the other day. He was focusing on her and he looked angry. She couldn't deny that it was scaring her now. She pulled on the sleeve of her red cardigan before narrowing her eyes at him.

"You're creeping the shit out of me!" She shouted at him, but he was unfazed. He stood away from the picnic table and began to turn away, still looking completely composed. "Who the fuck are you?"

As he continued to walk off, she thought to herself, I do not have time for this shit. She marched off to the changing room finding the whole gang there apart from Rich.

"Hey babes," Liv said cheerily, whilst Grace and Mini shared significant looks. Grace finally turned and smiled at Liv.

"I'm going to go get a snack, Mini's got something to tell you." Grace said, smiling back at Mini and leaving the changing rooms.

"Well," She could hear Mini saying behind her.

"Rich," Grace called, standing up from getting something out from the vending machine. He paused by the door to the changing room and awkwardly shuffled around.

"Did you -"

"I spoke -" She laughed a little and so did he as they spoke at the same time. Her eyes met his and she knew this was as good as any time.

"You first," He mumbled, motioning to her.

She stood on her tip toes and wrapped her arms elegantly around his neck before he could even react. She tilted her head like she knew you were supposed to do and it seemed to work out fine, because she pressed her lips against his and he was responding. She smiled into his lips as she felt his arms reach out to pull her closer to him, even though it seemed impossible to get any closer to one another. His hands rested on the small of her back and her arms stay twisted around his neck, but a few of her fingers trailed off to play with the ends of his hair. Seconds passed or minutes did, she could not really say, but they were pulled apart by a shriek; a shriek from the changing room.

Grace pulled apart from Rich, as he seemed reluctant to stop, but she continued to hold on tightly to his hand. It took her a moment to realize where it was coming from, but another shriek and a shout kicked her into start gear. She pushed open the door and saw one terrified Mini crouched down on the floor cradling her arm. Grace tried to breathe normally, but what she saw scared her more than anything else she had seen before. Mini was cradling a stone arm and seemed to be in excruciating pain. She cried out and screamed, as Liv placed one arm around her but seemed unsure of what else to do. Alo stood looking over at the other two wondering what the fuck was going on.

Grace chewed on her lip and glanced at Rich. He must have seen the determination grow stronger in her eyes for her shook his head and tightened the grip he had on her hand. She broke free and ran over to Mini.

"GRACE," Rich yelled, trying to chase after her, which caused Mini to look up and see her coming. She backed away, still holding her arm to her chest.

"Trust me," Grace whispered, before clasping her hand over hers. Mini tried to wriggle away, but the sticky substance had already stuck them together.

Grace looked over her shoulder at Rich and she smiled sadly at him, she knew it wasn't working. She couldn't save Mini and herself, her hand was turning and soon all of her would be like a statue. Mini tried to yank her hand away.

"This is stupid, stupid, stupid," She sniffled, still trying to pull away. Grace sat there calmly and waited for what would happen but a single tear fell down her cheek as her whole body quickly turned into a statue form. Mini finally broke free, but now Grace sat there unmoving and made of stone.

Rich slid down against the wall and placed his head down on his knees. Nobody else moved, but stayed waiting for something to happen, for her to change back – for anything but this. The truth was though that there was nobody left to save her…

A/N: So that's the end of this story! I just wanted to say a big thank you to all of you guys reviewing and keeping with this story, because I never would have finished this without your support!

Look out for the sequel, 'Wake Up', towards the end of October! :)