Kendall & Me [discontinued]

09 | I Can't

So it was official: day one failed miserably.

Though no one else said so, I knew they felt it too.  Kendall had no sarcastic remarks, Elijah and Diana didn’t bicker, and Diana even took her high-heels off—which usually you couldn’t get her to do no matter how much pain she was in.  We sulked all the way to Elijah’s car and then we sulked some more while he drove us home.  Diana didn’t even remark how ironic it was that the most childish person out of all of us was the first to learn how to drive.

Let’s just say that no one was in a pleasant mood.

“We’ll try again tomorrow,” Elijah said with a hope-filled voice as Diana and I opened our respective car doors and hopped out.  “Don’t worry, Isabel.  Kendall will be fine.”

My eyes shot to Kendall, who stood in the yard with her arms crossed over her chest.  She was staring blankly at a tree in the yard across from ours.  The tension was clear in her arms.

“Yeah,” I muttered, looking away from my sister and to Elijah with a forced smile.  “Thanks, Eli.  We’ll see you tomorrow.”

Elijah nodded, and once Diana and I were in my yard he pulled the car back into the street.  Diana and I watched as he disappeared down the road.

“I’m surprised he doesn’t need a car-seat to see that high,” Diana mused half-heartedly as she tossed me a small smile.  “Am I right or am I right?”

“You’re right,” I replied.  “Let’s go inside.  We need to make a strategy.”

Diana nodded, and the three of us trudged inside.

∞

Day two wasn’t going any better than the first, if we were being at all honest. 

Today’s problem wasn’t that I kept letting Ashlynn get away.  No, today’s problem was that I couldn’t find her at all.  Even if I wanted to let her get away—which obviously I didn’t—I wouldn’t be able to because she was absolutely nowhere in sight.

Great.  Just great.

By the time lunch rolled around, I was exasperated.  I didn’t have any classes with Diana or Elijah, so I had no idea how they were doing, but Kendall was clearly irritated, too.  Her snarky attitude combined with her agitation didn’t exactly mix well. 

“Can you go to the cafeteria to see if there’s anyone I know at lunch?” I mumbled, adjusting my bag on my shoulder.  “I need to go to the bathroom real quick.”

Kendall looked like she wanted to smack me, but she nodded.  “Yeah.”  She nodded and took a step back.  “Whatever.  Sure.”

“Maybe Ashlynn will be in there,” I offered somewhat optimistically.  She and I both saw through it, though.

“Yeah.”

As Kendall popped into the cafeteria, I pushed open the bathroom door and stepped inside.  I stopped in front of one of the mirrors for a moment, just staring at myself.  The bags under my eyes were growing deeper—a sheer sign that I was desperately sleep deprived.  Over the past couple weeks I’d been getting barely any sleep.  I mean, it wasn’t like I got much sleep during the school year anyway, but with Kendall in the picture I got pretty much no sleep whatsoever.

I brought a hand through my hair, wincing.  My brunette curls were beginning to seem especially frizzy.  It wouldn’t be long before my parents took notice in my sudden disregard of my appearance.

With a small sigh I pushed open one of the stalls and dropped my bag onto the floor.  I’d just closed the stall door behind me when I heard the bathroom door open and someone walk inside.