"Isa, aren't you going to walk your friend out?"
It gave Julia great joy to see her daughter and son finally collaborating. At least she hoped that's what they were doing. As for the boy Ian had brought along, she'd have to find out who he was and why he was their joining force. But for now, she would drink in this moment and savour it.
"Okay, mom's fooled, I'm not. What's going on here?"
Ian looked at his sister, like really looked at her. She was the sweet little Izzy whose hair he would ruffle and tickle. She was grown, laughed less, more serious and the sparkle in her eyes was gone. He had broken her.
"Izzy, can we talk?"
She looked at both of them. She was surprised that they had agreed, but she was done with both of them. She didn't even want to hear them out, but she had no option. They had her cornered and she knew her mum was watching through one of the windows, so if she wanted to get out of this, she had to play her cards right.
"What do you both want?"
"I brought back to you, isn't that what you wanted?"
"Exactly, WANTED. I don't want him anymore. And I don't want a brother anymore. This conversation is over."
"What happened to you, Bella?"
She looked at Justin and let out a dry laugh.
"What happened was that you left without a word. No explanation, no reason, no message, not even a goodbye. What do you take me for, huh? The little pencil you throw because it's lost its shine? You broke me. And no apology's ever going to fix it."
"Bella-"
"No, you lost every right you ever had to call me that when you left me like I didn't mean anything to you."
"Isa he was sick!"
"same goes for you."
"Look I really wanted to tell you-"
"But you didn't. And now we're here. Goodbye, Justin. For good."
They both stood there, stunned. She walked away like they hadn't just parted, even whipped her hair. How did they get here? When did she change so fast? She was hurt. She had turned the pain into anger so she could bear it and that anger had made her hard-hearted. She was savage, held her feelings first.
"Thanks, man, but I think she's way too hurt to see reason. I'll be going home now. Bye."
"Okay. Let's go. I told your mum I'd deliver you myself."
She watched Isa enter back into the house, but the look on the boys' faces told her a whole different story from the one she was expecting to hear. And the way they parted ways wasn't exactly encouraging. She wanted to know what was going on, but she couldn't risk tickling Isabelle's nerves now. She has noticed that she rarely spoke or smiled these days, and she hated being asked questions she considered obvious. She had hoped that maybe seeing Ian and hearing him apologize would fix her and bring her Izzy back. She couldn't stand the ever serious child she had become.
"Isabelle?"
"Mother?"
"Don't call me that..... I'm your mum!"
"What is it, mum?"
"Is everything okay between you and your brother?"
"We're fine mother. I have to finish up something, I'll be in my room."
She made up an excuse because she knew what her mum was going to ask her. She didn't want to snap at her, she knew she was just a woman who was worried about her kids, but those questions were going to get irritating very soon she would have to give her an honest answer sooner or later. Later it would be. Right now, she would deal with Mekie. How dare she let her brother come here when she specifically told her she never wanted to look at his face again.
Rahm watched his wife enter their room above the rim of his glasses. He knew what she was going to tell him, he knew his daughter well. The day she started calling them `mother` and `father` instead of `mum` and `dad`, he knew their little girl was gone. She pranced back and forth, back and forth so many times his stomach was starting to turn. He knew she wanted him to ask her what was wrong. I thought we were past that stage. He sighed and put his book down.
"Jules, what happened?"
"Nothing. Go back to your reading."
"well, you're going from one end of the room to the other consecutively. I can't concentrate. So what is wrong?"
"Oh, I didn't notice. I'll go distract myself with some cooking. Continue concentrating."
He narrowed his eyes at her as she walked out of the room and closed the door. He stared at the door for a while before getting up himself. He was going to find out what was going on in this house and fix it.
"Here, brought him home just like you ordered me to."
"Uh okay. How did it go with Isabelle? She called, and she wasn't happy. What happened?"
"She hasn't healed yet, but she most definitely wasn't happy to see us. In fact-"
"Wait, what do you mean she wasn't happy to see us? Did you go with someone else?"
"No, she said she wished she didn't have a brother. So yeah, I'm guessing she wasn't happy to see me either. But thanks for covering up for us. I'll get going now. Bye Mekie."
"Bye Ian."
She watched him go and was sorry for him. She couldn't imagine how crushed she would be if that had been said to her. She wanted to run and hug him, maybe comfort him a little. He was broken, polite even. He never bowed to anyone's commands, but he had bruised and beaten and crushed beyond anything she had actually seen. She could tell he was trying to be strong and reel it all in, as was the custom of all firstborns in this country. But he needed someone to let him know that they knew how he was feeling and that they would there for him. She would try calling him later on and check on him. For now, she would check on her brother and see what condition he was in exactly.
What is it with these teenage romances and ending badly?