The Great War | Billy Hargrove

19 | Truths Revealed

"It's not you," Kendra said, as she noticed Billy watching Isadora leave the classroom.

"What?"

"You look kind of worried, Billy. I mean, I understand why, but I wouldn't worry. I can promise you that she's not mad at you."

"Are you sure? I mean, she just ignored me completely," Billy said.

"Trust me, it's not because of anything you did, but I think Isadora should be the one to tell you what's going on," Kendra said.

"If she will even talk to me," Billy muttered, as Kendra left the class. Billy frowned as he followed her out of the classroom and headed to his next class, hoping that whatever was going on, Isadora was okay. Throughout her morning classes, Isadora did her schoolwork quietly and didn't answer a single question in class or make an attempt to talk to anyone, and by the time lunch rolled around, Billy couldn't help noticing that Isadora wasn't sitting at her normal lunch table and he hesitantly approached the table before clearing his throat.

"If you're looking for Is, I think she's in the gymnasium," Steve said.

"Thanks, Steve," Billy said and Steve nodded in response before returning to his conversation with Kendra, who smiled at Billy, as he nodded at the girl before walking away and heading in the direction of the gymnasium. When he walked in, he noticed Isadora was sitting on the bleachers where she normally sat, but this time she wasn't buried in a book like she normally was and as Billy walked closer to her, he quickly realised she was crying, "Is ...?"

"Oh, uh —" Isadora awkwardly smiled, as she wiped her tears away.

"Are you crying, Princess?" Billy asked, as he sat down beside her and gently squeezed her thigh.

"N-No," Isadora attempted to lie.

"What's wrong, Princess?"

"I just — I just don't really want to be h-here today," Isadora sobbed. Today was one of the two days in the year that Isadora hated and she knew her friends knew exactly why she hated today, especially since all of them had helped her out when it felt like she was about to lose everything. As tears rolled down her cheeks and dripped down onto her knees, Isadora looked down at her hands, "I just ... last year ... my whole life was turned upside down and I —"

"Is?" Billy asked gently.

"My ... I just — two years ago, right before I moved to Hawkins, my dad d-died —" Isadora choked out, as she looked down at her hands.

"Oh, Is. I'm so sorry —" Billy said softly, as he squeezed her thigh reassuringly.

"I've ... I've never told anyone this, but my ... my eleven year old sister died that same day. I ... my school back in California was putting on Grease and I — well, I managed to get the role of Sandy, which had been my dream role and I remember being so excited for it, so I m-missed the b-bus, so my D-Dad and sister had to come up and pick me up from school, but they ... they got into a car crash when they were on t-their way to pick me up. If I never stayed late for drama club rehearsal, they wouldn't have even been coming to p-pick me up. It was — it was storming that afternoon and the c-car slid off the road. I — it was my fault ... that's why I — I don't want to perform onstage and why I quit drama club in California. And to cope with my grief, I turned to alcohol to numb the pain," Isadora tearfully explained.

"Oh, Is."

"I ... I used to drink so much to cope with my grief that I ... I made some decisions I really regret. I had a group of friends who were really shitty people and ... and an ex-boyfriend who — who did some awful things, but I think the worst thing I did, which I will forever regret and hate myself for was I punched another girl and b-broke her nose. That and my drinking was the reason why I got ... uh, why I got expelled from school and the reason why we moved to Hawkins. I got caught drinking alcohol in the school bathroom three times and then almost got arrested, which was the final straw for my mum. She was originally from Hawkins and decided it would be a good place for me to finish school. I guess I was lucky I was even able to return to school with my shitty record. That's one of the reasons why I work so hard now to get good grades. Well that and I want to get into medical school when I'm finished with high school," Isadora explained.