Deception

Chapter 1

Isla's POV

"No please don't go" I desperately pleaded. It was 2am when my mother yanked me from my bed saying we had to go. She had dragged my barely awake body down the stairs and out the front door into the crisp night air making the hairs on my exposed arms stand up. 

 As I climbed into the backseat, I saw my pink sparkly suitcase beside me and I worriedly asked my frantic mother what was going on but she ignored me and started the car engine. 

As my mother placed me and my suitcase on my Grandmother's front door step, she gently kissed my forehead and whispered "I am sorry Isla, I am doing this because I love you" before she pressed the doorbell and ran back to her car, driving off just has my Granny Rosie opened the door to my seven year old self screaming and crying in my Minnie mouse pyjamas before I was engulfed in her warm loving arms. 

My eyes shot open to see my best friend Elena standing at the foot of my bed looking anxiously at my distraught face. "What's wrong?" she questioned, "you were screaming in your sleep saying something about don't go?". 

 "I had the dream about my mother again" I uttered still reeling from reliving one of the worst days of my life. I was nineteen now but yet the past month I kept having nightmares about the night my mother abandoned me, to this day I haven't seen or heard from her.

Elena came over to me and gave me a hug and as she straightened up, she said "cheer up our flight to Manchester is today and we start in college in 2 days, it's a chance for you to leave your childhood behind". I looked up at her and smiled, I've known Elena since I started in elementary school and we have grown up together. She knows everything about me and my twisted family and I know everything about her. "You're right" I said. "When am I not?" she said back with a laugh. 

"What are you doing here anyway?" I replied while climbing out of bed and walking into the bathroom to brush my teeth and get ready for the day. "I thought we could grab brunch before we finish packing, to celebrate us both getting into the University of Manchester" she shouted from my room.

 "Sounds good" I shouted back while pulling on my jeans from yesterday and throwing a sweater over it. I left my hair in its usual wavy state and applied some mascara before walking back out to Elena.

how I picture Isla's outfit and hair:) 

Me and Elena were seated at a table in the main window of Kelly's Café enjoying the café's signature French toast and coffee when I saw the last face I wanted to see today.

Marie Jameson was walking past the café and caught my eye only to smirk and enter the café past their table. Marie was my 6th grade bully, she had made my life a misery for the whole of 6th grade but moved in the summer before 7th grade much to my delight. Marie was notorious for being mean to people she didn't like but she seemed to be specifically spiteful to me more than others. She would make up terrible rumours about me and would constantly taunt me about my family, not just about my father who had never been in my life or my mother who left me at age seven. Marie somehow knew about my brother Lucas, which up to this point not even Elena knew about what happened to him.

 Just seeing Maire again for the first time since I was 12 caused all the awful memories come flooding back to me.

Meanwhile Elena never noticed Marie walk in so she was confused when I went a ghostly pale and paused mid sip of my coffee. "What's wrong" Elena said snapping me out of my wave of flashbacks, I looked back to Elena and I said "Marie is here".

"What?!" Elena nearly yelled causing me to shush her, "just ignore her act like we don't care" I whispered while stirring my coffee to look occupied in case Marie was watching. When she entered Marie went in the direction of the counter but I didn't dare look over my shoulder, still haunted by the memories of 6th grade.

Elena leaned over her empty plate and told me, "Isla you need to get over what happened between you and her in 6th grade, you can't give her the satisfaction of her being able to control you". I knew she was right but it was so hard to forgot it all and act above it when Marie's actions and words in 6th grade did have a big impact on me.

"I'll try" I say with a sigh to Elena, "I'm just going to the bathroom when I come back, we can pay and leave ok?" I ask. "Perfect" she replies while taking her phone out of her pocket to answer an incoming call.

I enter the bathroom at the back of the café and they are empty thank god. When I exit the bathroom stall, I see none other than Marie standing in front of the mirror applying a dep red shade of lipstick to her plump lips. 

 She sees me in the reflection and turns to face me while putting the lipstick in her leopard print purse, "long time no see" she says with an evil grin. "Eh yeah" I say nervously swallowing the lump in my throat, her grin widens as she sees the effect she still has over me.

 I wash my hands and begin to dry them all while she watches me nearly curiously. "How is your crazy brother?" she says while turning back to the mirror to adjust her hoop earrings, I freeze in the act of drying my hands and turn to face her. 

"Good actually, and I would appreciate if you left me alone the toxicity and conceitedness radiating off of you is beginning to make me feel ill" I say and I turn and leave the bathroom before she can reply.

I was quite shocked at myself for saying that to her but she deserved it I say to myself while I walk back over to our table where Elena was putting her jacket on. "You ready to pay?" I say to her with a smile, "already did" she says before she links her arm with mine and we walk out to the warm March breeze. 

First chapter wow, I know it's quite short but I needed to introduce the characters a bit first. Next one will be longer I promise! ~ Mia