I wake up late the next day, because it's not a school day. I usually text Evan to say good morning, but I'm still mad at him, so I don't. I go for a run like I usually do in the morning. Other than that I do nothing all day, until night time, when I hear a knock on the door. I walk over and open it, to find a crying Izzie. "Hey." She says, as she wipes tears off of her face. "Hey." I say, looking at her. I give a her a long hug. It feels good to have her in my arms. Even though I'm trying to make her feel better, she made me feel better just from hugging me. We sit down together on the couch. No one else is home, and I'm glad I get to be alone with just her. She tells me how her mom's ex-boyfriend started going crazy, and how he was yelling and throwing things. "I told him to just leave. I'm not scared of that asshole." I nod. "What about the kids?" I ask. "I took them to my Grandma's. But she doesn't have a lot of room so-" "You're staying here." I tell her. I wrap my arm around her, and she leans into me. "Thank you." She says. Sam walks in. So much for being alone. "Sam, this is Izzie." She waves at him. "No time, I'm too busy." He replies. Sam runs upstairs to his room. Izzie and I follow behind him. "What are you doing?" I ask, as I see him packing his clothes into a bag." "I'm packing my things." He gives a short answer. "Why? You don't go places." I feel Izzie behind me. "I'm sleeping over at Zahid's so I know how to do it for the senior lock in and college." "You know that actually sounds like a not terrible idea." I reply. Izzie stands next to me, and I notice her outfit. She's wearing a red crop top and red sweatpants. Even though it's not fancy, she looks really good. Especially in her crop top. "Should I bring Edison?" He asks, looking at his turtle. "No, leave the turtle." I say. "Tortoise." Izzie and Sam say at the same time, correcting me. "Whatever. Nerds." I smile at Izzie, and she smiles back, making my heart beat faster. "I need Edison. What if I can't sleep because I don't hear the sounds of his feet on the glass or smell his food? Maybe I shouldn't go." Sam starts tugging at his hair, like he always does when he's stressed. "Why don't you leave Edison here, where he's comfortable. But bring his container of food so if you miss him or feel nervous you can just smell it." Izzie tells him. "That's not a bad idea. Your name is Izzie?" He asks. "Yeah." She smiles. "You'll be okay without me?" Sam asks me. "I'm sure I'll manage." I reply sarcastically. Izzie laughs in response. Sam takes off. "I'm glad you like Sam." I tell Izzie. "What's not to like? He's cool."
Izzie and I are alone again. We set up a blanket and pillow fort in my room, just like we are kids again. I love being around her. I'm more comfortable than ever. I read her the IT book, which is really scary. "Okay, okay, stop. I can't do it. It's too scary." We laugh. I close the book. She is pressed up against me in the tiny fort, which makes my stomach hurt from nerves. "Thank you for building this ridiculous fort and reading me scary stories just to keep my mind off from what's going on." She says, as she looks into my eyes. "Of Course. We can stay in here forever if you want. We can piss in a can and take college classes online, get old, and get a couple cats." Izzie laughs. After a moment, she speaks. "Newton. This might sound lame, but you're like my new favorite person." I smile brightly. "Really?" I ask, as I scoot closer to her. "Yeah. Is that tragic since we just met a little while ago?" Izzie asks. "No. You're my new favorite person too." I tell her. It's true. I've never loved hanging out with someone more than her. Our connection is crazy.
We talk for a while longer, until we hear a knock on the door. "It's Pennywise." I say creepily. "No." She laughs, as she lightly hits me with a book. "I forgot I texted Nate." She tells me. "Noooo. He's gonna ruin the girl time." I say, dragging out the word no. "I know." She replies. It's not that I don't want Nate here, I just like being alone with Izzie. "Let's just pretend that we're not here." Izzie whispers. I nod. "We're not home!" I yell to Nate. "Open the door, you dummies!" He yells from downstairs. We laugh. "He's gonna make fun of us for making this fort." Izzie says. "Boy's ruin everything." I reply. "What do we do?" She asks. "I guess just let him in." I say, trying to not sound sad. "We can watch a movie." Izzie says. "You'll fall asleep." I tell her. "No I won't." She insists.
We let Nate in and watch a scary movie. Nate sits in the middle of us on the couch, which annoys me because I wanted to sit next to her. The movie barely even starts, and Izzie falls asleep. I knew she would. "Every time." Nate says, in between chewing popcorn. "She couldn't even make it past 9:30." I laugh. "You guys are awesome." I smile. "Thanks for being my first friend at Clayton." I tell him, and I watch Izzie sleeping. She looks beautiful. Nate leans over, and before I know it I feel his lips graze against mine. I immediately pull away and get off the couch. "What are you doing?" I whisper yell, trying not to wake Izzie up. "Come on, there's something between us." He insists. "Friendship!" I whisper yell, backing away from him. "You're Izzie's boyfriend!" "I know, but you can't blame me for being a little confused." He replies. "Let me clear this up for you. This is never gonna happen. Now leave!" He doesn't move. "Go!" I say. "Fine, make it weird." He replies, as he walks out of my house. I can't believe that just happened. I look over at Izzie, who is still sleeping soundly. Soon, I wake her up, and she comes to sleep in my bed with me. I don't tell her about what Nate did yet, because I need to think about how to tell her first. I know she's going to be hurt. She crawls into bed with me, and I turn off the lights. Its cold in my room as usual, and I get close to her to keep warm. I wish she never invited Nate to come. I feel so bad. I cuddle close to her, and I think about what happened, along with thinking about her warmth on me. My stomach starts to hurt, so I scoot away a little, and try to get some sleep.