When September Ends

10. September

Sunday came and went. Kaley and Kaitlyn went home and Isabella sat with Pauline and Tim all day. She had invited him over for coffee to tell him how worried she was about Skyla. Since the big revelation, Skyla hadn't come out of her room. She told anyone who knocked she just wanted to be left alone. She was laying on her bed surrounded by used Kleenex tissues. Her diary lay there by her side five and a half pages richer.

Toward the end of the evening, Tim and Pauline stopped by her room and told her they were going out for dinner and there were things in the refrigerator already fixed if she decided to eat something. She hugged both of them and then shut the door again. Her mother wore a worried expression as she went out the door. Isabella watched them go, then stomped up the stairs.

Things had gotten out of hand now. She had expected to find nothing like what she had found in the heap of papers from the courthouse. She knocked on Skyla's door, but there was no answer. Isabella opened it a crack. Her sister was sound asleep. She noticed her diary lying there beside her. She picked it up and put in the drawer where she knew Skyla kept it.

"Thanks for not reading it."

Isabella jumped. She turned around like she'd just been caught shoplifting. "You faker!"

Skyla smiled. "Sorry. I have a radar on my diary."

Isabella laughed, but then became serious. "You're going to be okay, Skyla. It's going to be okay."

"I know," Skyla said, her voice cracking. It always did when she'd been crying. "It's just--I thought Michael was going to be different. I didn't think he, of all people, would break my heart."

"He's just another guy," Isabella told her. "They're all heartbreakers. I should tell him exactly what I think of him."

"Please don't say anything to him," Skyla begged. "I want to talk to him first."

"Okay," Isabella agreed reluctantly. "Mom wouldn't want me to talk that way anyway. But if he makes you cry, he's going to find my boot in his butt. It's a promise."

Skyla couldn't help but laugh. Isabella bent down and hugged her. She told her sister goodnight and Isabella left Skyla alone to fall asleep. She walked out the door and across the hall to her room. She paused at the door. Isabella perked her ears and listened hard. Sadness crossed her face. Skyla was crying again. She shook her head and went on into her bedroom. She needed her sleep. If tomorrow was going to be how she figured it would be, Isabella knew she would need her rest.

~ * ~

August 31st

When she got up, Skyla looked at herself in the mirror and grimaced. It was the scariest sight she'd ever seen. Her eyes were bloodshot from the many tears she had shed and her hair was tangled in knots. Her nose was red and itchy. She was a mess. Skyla got in the shower and let the water run over her, hoping it would help her relax. She stepped out once she was finished and wrapped her towel around her. Skyla no longer cared what she wore to school. She blow-dried her hair and put on the first thing she came to. She checked herself in the mirror before she left her bedroom. It was a habit and hard to break. She closed the door softly behind her so she wouldn't wake anyone up.

Skyla went downstairs and fixed herself some eggs and toast. She didn't feel like cooking for everyone this morning, so she hurriedly gobbled her breakfast down and washed the dishes she'd used. She went over to the phone pad and wrote her mother a note. It said she was going to walk to school and headed out. Isabella stopped her halfway down the sidewalk.

"Wait!" she yelled. "I'm going with you!"

Skyla stopped walking until Isabella caught up with her.