For the next couple of weeks, Isla successfully managed to avoid and ignore her roommates and brother.
As for Riven, she was fucking livid. After scrolling on her phone for hours while getting high off the deep end, he had been having threesomes with that first-year dean- or whatever and that ogre Beatrix. So as a result, she got fucked up with a tequila bottle she nicked off some third year.
"Shit- this is why I don't mix," Isla groaned as she stumbled into the washroom for a cold shower. Once she was done she threw on a robe and headed back to her room.
As she stumbled back into her room she bumped into something on the way to her bed. It was a little past 10pm so it was pretty dark.
"Jesus, Isla watch where your headed!!" Stella cried.
"Oh shit, my bad," Isla chuckled still trying to focus her blurry vision on the talk blonde.
"Good god! What have u been eating?! Your breath is livid!!" Stella grimaced as she got a nasty whiff of Islas vodka and marijuana breath.
Isla put her finger up to defend herself but lost sight of her balance and began to fall forward.
"Jesus, okay let's get you to the bed." Stella grabbed ahold of her and brought Isla to her bed.
Stella undid the covers and slowly tucked Isla into bed. For the most part, Stella was quite surprised that Isla was a tidy person. She had all her school books and things neat on her desk. And she's never left a single piece of clothing laying around.
"Gosh, why do you do this to yourself? Something goes wrong and you get fucked up to near death! It's not healthy, Isla." Stella ranted as she plopped down on her own bed.
"Well what do you expect for me to do, huh? You think I like to face my problems head on? Please, I avoid that shit like the plague."
"Well it's something a sane person would do." Stella snickered back.
"Do I look even remotely sane to you, Stels." Isla said back, mocking Stellas nickname.
"Yeah, I don't know why I said that either." Stella chuckled.
Isla looked away from her and up towards the ceiling. Stella was right. She wasn't healthy. Mentally, that is.
Stella watched Isla in silence. Even though she loathed the girl, she still cared for her. Isla was Skys baby sister, so she always had a little bit of sympathy for her.
"I'm going to be your sponsor." Isla shocked to hear Stella's voice after so long of silence was shocked, and jumped.
"I'm sorry, be my what?"
"Your sponsor. Someone who makes sure you don't relapse, and helps you make the right decisions."
Isla laughed at the idea. As if Stella could care enough to go through with that.
"Okay, but your acting as if I want to quit." Isla said sourly.
"But don't you want to? Don't you feel the need to stop? To prioritize your health? I mean do you not think about everyone whose worried for you?" Stella said now standing up from her bed.
"No, because no usually is," Stella was stunned by Islas bitter words.
"Everyone is so busy worrying and acting on other problems that they don't really focus too much on what i'm doing. That's why I get away with everything. Because i'm not a first priority to anyone." Stella opened her mouth to say one thing but all that came out was a exhale of air.
She didn't know what to say or do.
"And ever since dad died, i've never felt like anyone cared, until..." Stella sighed as Isla began to trail off.
When the siblings moved to Alfea they met Stella. And Because Her and Sky started dating, Stella got the idea of what happened to them.
They lost their dad at a young age. So Silva, one of their fathers great friends, took care of them. Sky has always thought of him as a father. Isla not so much. And even though Silva treated both Isla and Sky as his own, Isla never really had the feeling that she could call him dad.
Stella had recalled that their father died at a young age and came to a complicated thought.
Has Isla been thinking like this the whole time?
She felt sorrow for the girl. Isla never had any permanent friends. Silva couldn't always be there because of his missions and training with sky.
And other than Sky the constant person she could possibly think Isla had in her life was-
"Is that why you started hanging out with Riven?" Stella asked out of the blue.
"I'm sorry?" Isla said sitting up from her laying position after hearing his name.
"I asked is that why you started hanging out with Riven? Because he never cared enough to put himself in other peoples problems. Because you knew he would become obsessed with the idea of corrupting you to the point no return, if it meant he cared enough to go through with it?"
"That's not what I said-"
"But it's what you wanted to say." Stella said cutting Isla off. Isla was caught in a bind. Every time someone had mentioned Riven she always got tongue tied.
Isla looked away from Stella once again. She sighed and opened her mouth to speak.
"He was always there. He never acted in a caring manor but he was the only person who had the balls to look out for me. Yes, he introduced me to this world of addictive pleasure, but at least it was something to help with my grief, granted it was bad along the way."
"It just felt good that someone had cared for me. Even if it was for his own satisfaction."
Stella clearly knew this was more than she really thought.
"And what's the point of changing if no one's going to appreciate it?"
Stella thought about it for a second. "Think about it this way, your father was always there to see your progress your achievements. Etcetera. If your going to change for someone change for him."
•••
The next morning Isla woke up with a death bringing headache. One that made her miss her morning classes.
She showered and got dressed before heading down to the lunch hall for some much needed lunch.
Last night was in such a haze for her. But just like always she popped an Advil and bitched up.
"We need to talk to her guys." Terra said once again as her, Aisha, Musa and bloom watched her walk in the lunch hall.
"How, Terra? Every time she senses our eyes on her she darts out of the room. It's obvious she doesn't want to talk." Aisha replied quickly.
"Yeah like she ever wants to." Musa snickers beside her.
"Guys shes going through a lot, we just need to be-"
"Careful?"
All four girls turn heads and are surprised to see Isla standing there at the end of their table.
"I was going to say slow with her- you. You know let you go at your own pace." Bloom finishes and Isla nods totally believing her.
"Has anyone seen Stella?" Isla asked.
The girls looked at each other, extremely confused. It was odd for them to see her looking for Stella, since they sort of got the idea that Isla absolutely loathes the blonde.
"Uhm, no but Sky might know."
Isla thought about it and decided she did not like the idea of asking her brother for his psychedelic but also somewhat sane girlfriend. So she opted to stay where she was.
"This is weird." Terra awkwardly chuckled watching Isla set her food down on the other end of the table.
Isla let out a sigh and looked at her suit mates.
"Look, last night I had a revelation and decided I wanted to change a few things," Isla had a hard time saying what she needed to. Practicing her words in the suit was easy, saying it out loud to her suit mates, was more than difficult.
The four girls waited for Isla to continue, but Terra had to go and make it even more awkward.
"Can I just say you look absolutely stunning today Isla, I mean that top plus your body! I mean wow! It's just-"
"Terra!"
"Yes?"
"I got it, thank you." Isla gave a tight smile a took a good deep breath.
"As I was saying, I wanted to change a few things. And to start, I want to get along with my suit mates."
Isla really, really wanted to use her magic to see what was going on in their heads. Seeing as the looks on their face was something she couldn't read. But she wanted them to be honest with her without force.
"You know what, this was stupid i'm just going leave. Forget everything-"
"No Isla wait!" Bloom grabbed a hold of her hand stopping her from leaving.
"Your right, we should all be getting along, since we're stuck together for the rest of the school year and then some."
"Bloom is right. Although I don't want to pry but what brought this up?"
"I want to quit." The girls look to each other confused.
"Quit? Quit what?"
"I want to quit smoking, drinking all of that. And I looked up online on how to and it said first to go to your friends. And seeing as I have little to none I thought I would make some out of you lot." Isla spit out quickly avoiding the looks of the four by focusing on her food.
"That's great Isla! I don't have a lot of experience with that sort of stuff but I'll do whatever you need to help." Terra said a little too joyous for Islas liking.
"Yeah, same here." Musa said.
Bloom looked to Aisha nodding in agreement, "We're all in."
"This is actually great, Me and Aisha need a few hands to help with something and Musa and Terra are both busy so..." Bloom looked hopeful towards Isla, who eventually got what she was trying to say.
"Yeah sure, what's it for?"
•••
"Okay so just to be clear: You're a changeling and this woman you saw in your dreams or whatever told you to look for her. You've searched all of Dowlings files but found little to nothing. Callum, Dowlings old assistant isn't gone 'cause of some family emergency but actually dead, but no one knows who or why. And you all found this out because of some little microphone tech you accidentally found in a cabinet." Isla said summing up everything thats been said to her.
Aisha and Bloom nodded, "Yes your correct."
The three we're headed to the mandatory assembly, which was a bolded sign to ditch on sight.
"Jesus, this whole friendship thing was more than I thought." Isla whined.
"Are you sure she didn't shred those old records, Aisha?" Bloom asked changing the topic, to something of her taste.
"What?"
"The Alfea records that predate her, you're sure she didn't destroy them?" Bloom pressed, confusing the shit out of Isla.
"No, are you kidding? That woman loves paper. I offered to look into the computer system and dowling looked as if I had grown two heads."
"No your right. But Dowlings office doesn't hold every file on Alfea or The Other World. Her office only dates back maybe 5 or 7 years? If you want files that go way back, you need to look in the east wing."
Bloom looked like she had just won first place in some contest. And Isla had a feeling she wanted more than just some trophy.
BEEN A WHILE....
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