Blondie//Isaac Garcia

6

The next morning, Thalia awoke feeling utterly exhausted. She had tossed and turned all night, unable to find a peaceful slumber. It was as if she was awake the entire time, yet trapped in a dream-like state. The sensation was strange and disorienting.

As she fully emerged from her groggy state, Thalia noticed that Jackie was still not back from her morning run. Jackie was always so dedicated to her fitness routine. Thalia couldn't help but feel a pang of envy mixed with admiration.

"Hey, wake up! Why are you still in bed?" Jackie scolded Thalia as she entered the room, clearly unaware of her sister's sleepless night.

"I'm just so tired," Thalia sighed, burying her face in the pillow.

"You should have had some tea instead of relying on your pills," Jackie suggested casually, gathering her toiletries and hair care products. "I've already finished my pills. I don't even know if they sell them in this stupid town," Thalia grumbled, standing up and grabbing some clothes.

"Morning, Benny," Jackie greeted the young boy as she exited the room. Thalia followed suit, eager to begin her skincare routine and get dressed. She had already taken a shower the previous day before going to bed.

Jackie knocked on the bathroom door. "Ha! I know it's not 7:00 yet!" Cole's voice echoed from inside, indicating that he was taking a shower. Lee approached them with an irritated expression. "Woah, what are you doing?" he asked, his words failing him.

"We want to use the bathroom, Sherlock. Cole's in there," Thalia rolled her eyes, growing impatient. Lee positioned himself in front of them and rolled his eyes in response. "I know Cole's in there. I'm next. See?" he pointed to the schedule on the wall.

"There's a schedule for using the bathroom?" Jackie sighed, as Jordan ascended the stairs, camera in hand. He began filming her and Thalia, while Danny explained that the schedule helped them manage their mornings. "Please stop," Thalia pleaded, attempting to shield herself from the young boy's camera.

Finally, Cole emerged from the bathroom, a towel wrapped around his lower body. "Isaac could spend hours in there trying to make himself look pretty," Cole remarked, glancing towards Isaac and Lee's bedroom door.

"Haha! That's just a waste of time," Thalia laughed, and just as she mentioned the devil, he opened the door. "Has anyone seen my leather jacket?" he inquired, scanning the room.

"No one gives a shit, asshole," Thalia retorted, with Cole nodding in agreement. "And no one asked you," Isaac replied, rolling his eyes. If he were being honest, her words stung a little.

In the blink of an eye, chaos ensued. Jordan continued to film, while Thalia and Jackie desperately tried to stop him. Isaac and Lee engaged in a heated argument, their voices escalating. Meanwhile, Benny accidentally dropped his Jenga game, adding to the commotion.

"The bathroom downstairs should be free," Jordan suggested, still filming. "Thanks," Jackie replied, glancing at her sister to ask if she could go first. "Yeah, whatever, I'll just get dressed in our room," Thalia pointed towards their shared space. "I just hope no pervert decides to open the door," she yelled in the direction of Isaac's room, receiving a "Fuck you!" response in return.

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"I'm fucking blue!" Thalia yelled as she made her way down the stairs, fuming with anger, after applying her face cream. She already knew that Isaac was to blame for her current predicament.

As she reached the bottom of the stairs, Thalia spotted Isaac standing near the bathroom door, wearing a mischievous smile. "What did you do?" she demanded, but before he could respond, her sister Jackie called out from inside the bathroom. "Isaac, could you please go get Kathrine?" Jackie asked hopefully.

"Nah, I don't think so," Isaac replied, finding the situation amusing as he burst into laughter. "Why not?" Jackie asked, her voice filled with genuine curiosity.

Thalia, growing increasingly frustrated, repeated her question. "What did you do to her?" she asked, but Isaac remained silent, refusing to answer either question. In a fit of anger, Thalia marched towards him and grabbed him by the collar of his shirt.

"Answer. The. Damn. Questions," Thalia threatened, her face inches away from his. Their eyes locked, making it impossible for him to look away. After swallowing nervously, Isaac finally decided to respond. "There's a bet that you would rather skip school than, you know, go with bleached hair," he explained to Jackie, as Thalia released her grip on him.

"And Thalia, you looking like smurfette was just for my personal amusement," Isaac said, planting a flying kiss as Jackie emerged from the bathroom with a towel wrapped around her head. "You jerk, I bet you only did it because Smurfette turns you on," Thalia playfully hit him on the arm.

While Jackie found a solution for her hair, Thalia had made up her mind to stay home.

"Thalia, are you alright?" Kathrine knocked on the door about three hours later. "Danny told you to stay home because you weren't feeling well," Kathrine continued, opening the door when Thalia gave her permission to enter.

"I accidentally used a blue hair dye instead of my face cream," Thalia lied, not wanting to snitch the boys. It wasn't that she cared about them, but she didn't want them to have more ammunition for their pranks or to snitch on her, claiming that she smokes in the house.

"Oh no, sweetheart... Do you have any idea how to get rid of it?" Kathrine asked, examining Thalia's face and hands closely. "It'll probably go away soon." Thalia shrugged, looking down at her book again.

"Okay, I'm sorry, but I have to go to work. There's food in the oven for when you get hungry." And with that, Kathrine left the house.

───  ⋅ ∙ ∘ ☽ ༓ ☾ ∘ ⋅ ⋅  ───

"How can I get rid of this shit, Jerk?" Thalia exclaimed as soon as Isaac and the others walked in. "I don't know, blondie. I actually kinda like it," Isaac smirked as the others passed by.

"Hey, do you know how to fix this mess?" Alex asked skeptically. Thalia's eyes widened as she realized they all knew, and maybe even been helping Isaac with the prank. She felt a mix of anger and betrayal, but she knew she had to focus on getting rid of it. Taking a deep breath, she decided to handle the situation maturely.

"Look, I get that you guys found it funny, but this has gone too far," Thalia said, frustration evident in her voice. "I need you to tell me how to undo this, and I need you to do it now."

"It's just food coloring, Blondie. It'll fade away soon," Isaac dismissed, rolling his eyes as he headed towards his room.

"You didn't snitch in them, did you?" Danny called out from his room to Thalia, who was standing in the hallway. "No, I didn't, but now I'm starting to wonder if I should've."

"Don't even joke about it. Trust me, snitching is a big deal here. They would've made your life a living hell."