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'As a writer you try to listen to what others aren't saying...and write about the silence.'
~ N.R Hart ~
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Family Reunion
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Isabelle
"Izzy!" I jump backwards a step and stumble over my feet, groaning as my luggage follows me towards the floor. My butt stings for a few seconds after the initial fall making my nose scrunch up towards my forehead in discomfort. "Oh my gosh I didn't mean to scare you." My mom laughs, extending her arm out to help me. After letting my butt recover, I take it.
She pulls me into a hug instantly. "How was your flight?" She mumbles against our hug. "Boring." I was sat in between a dad and a mom while they kept switching their baby back and forth over me. I decided not to be picky with my seating, speaking for the fact that I have no money and the last of it was on my flight. Even though my parents offered to pay for it, I would never let them do that.
Once we pull away from our hug, my mom's arm wraps around my shoulder as we begin our journey towards the exit door to the airport. To be honest I slept most of the flight and was only conscious the one time that their baby 'spit up' and I finally just switched seats with the dad.
I can be a projectile vomiter at times.
The minute we step out of the airport, the hot muggy Florida air hits me in the face, making me blink violently against the sun. At the same time though it gives me waves of nostalgia.
Sadly though, my shorts and sweatshirt are doing nothing to prevent sweat to drip down my skin instantly. "Right over here." I make a strangled noise when I see the same car that my parents apparently still own.
"No." I moan in pain. There's no way this thing still runs. This car doesn't even have air conditioning.
My mom laughs at what she thinks is me joking. This is not a joke. Abort mission. My brains screams for help don't register my body's movement because I'm still following my mom's arm towards her car. Her blue Volkswagen.
"How is this thing even still running?" I ask, actually curious of the answer. She stops mid movement, spinning around on the heels of her feet. Her eyes narrow when she sees my serious face. "This is my favorite car. You will not be mean to her." She pats the windshield with her palm, before circling the front and getting into the drivers seat. I laugh quietly to myself while filling my luggage into her tiny trunk.
To be honest this car is pretty cool. Over my dead body would I ever admit that to her.
I hop into the passenger seat beside her, the windows down, and she takes off towards the house.
I get nervous, like a jittery feeling bouncing in my stomach, fluttering through my toes and fingers. I let my head hang out the window as I feel the salty humid air against my hair, and smell the beach. This is definitely home.
Wow I'm home. I make a squealing sound, and don't even acknowledge my mom's confused look. I just can't get this stupid happy smile off my face. I feel the wind slow as we pull into our driveway, making me disappointed the ride is over, but thrilled that I'm at my home now.
"Isabelle!!" I'm bombarded by my dad as soon as I step foot outside of the car, knocking the wind out of me. I put my arms around his neck and squeeze the life out of him. "Gosh I missed you dad. FaceTime is just not the same." I groan, causing him to chuckle.
He pulls away and takes a good look at me. "Look at you getting old." He shakes his head, and scratches his slight beard. Which for the record is definitely gray. "I'm 17 dad," I laugh mocking his stance. "Your the one with the gray hair." He touches his hand to his head and gasps. "Don't criticize my hair." I lean over laughing at my dads playful tone. I think I missed my dad more than anything. "Seriously though, I'm really glad you're back." He smiles, creating wrinkles below his eyes.
"Oh my gosh, you have wrinkles." His smile drops and his finger lifts in the air to point at me. "Be carful what you say Izzy." He warns causing me to smile. "I love you dad." He softens, and pulls me back into a hug. "I love you too honey." We share a meaningful moment before my mom bust it. "You need to get your stuff Isabelle." I pull apart from my dad. "Uh oh, she used your full name. You didn't insult her car by chance did you?" He winces when I nod slowly.
"I can hear you guys!" My mom screams. We both burst out laughing, walking towards her trunk to grab my stuff. "We're just kidding mom!" I yell back to her. She stands in the doorway, with her hands on her hips.
"Hey, where's Luna?" I ask my dad, grabbing my suitcase as he grabs another one. Luna's my sister that's 12 years old, and a spitting image of me. We never really got to bond before I left at the ripe age of 15. She was only 9 at the time. I was hitting puberty, and she was into coloring books.
Then everything went down, and suddenly I was gone. What a change of events. My dad hesitated before answering my question making me even more curious for the answer. "She didn't want to see you." He mutters lowly. My smile falters as does my stepping. "Why?" I whisper back sadly. He sighs, and rubs his forehead to smooth out the crease that's formed.
"She was only 9 when you left, and she looked up to you. You were her roll model. She'll just take some time to get used to you being back. Don't worry sweetie, she'll come around eventually." He smiles, but I can tell it's through a lie. He's just trying to make me feel better. Good thing I'm the most determined person you will find to make things right with people.
I sigh when I feel the cool AC hit my face lightly, making me stand in place to enjoy it. My dad continues up the stairs, I'm guessing to place my stuff in my room. After I cool off, I follow after him and walk into my room. It looks exactly the same as it did when I was here before.
"You guys literally changed nothing." I gasp. My walls are still light green, there are still Harry Styles, and Taylor Swift posters on my walls. I still have stickers around my mirror, and my candles that I was obsessed with on my desk.
I do notice new stuff too. There are plants now in front of my big open window. There's sun beaming in to keep the plants living too. I have a new comforter on a queen bed instead of a twin that sits against the right wall in the middle of my room. My desk is across from my bed, and then my dresser is in my closet which is to the left of my desk.
My bathroom is to my left on the same wall as the door, and straight ahead of me I see my huge window that has always been my favorite. "Me and your mom upgraded it a little bit, but what do you think?" He bounces on his feet waiting for my response. "Dad, I love it. You guys did a wonderful job." I gush, wanting to cry at how perfect it is.
"I'm glad you like it. Now do what you need. Shower, sleep, whatever but I'm gonna start making dinner downstairs." I nod still staring at my room, as he passes me in the doorframe and walks down the stairs. I have hardwood in my room, but the new fluffy carpet they have in here is freaking worth it.
Most of my bags--3 to be exact--are sitting on my bed, and my one big suitcase is laying on the floor at the foot of my bed. I have a decently sized room, and everything fits perfectly in it. My cheeks start to hurt from how hard I've been smiling all day.
I close my bathroom door and strip out of my clothes to take a shower. I need to get the baby stench off of me from the plane and all of this straight sweat that is sticking to me. I turn the shower on, and don't wait for it to heat up before I step in and sigh into the water.
I don't take long to wash my hair or body, and once my amazing shower comes to an end I switch the water off, and wrap a fluffy white towel around my body. I trudge back into my room, feeling wind brush my wet hair out of my face. When I look over at my window I see it cracked open.
I sit on the edge of my bed, and swing my legs letting my feet hover over the ground. My comforter is soft and fluffy, making me want to just sink into it, and forget about all bodily problems ever.
Like the problem that I've shoved into the back of my head. The tiny tiny bit of information my parents gave me about Milo still being next door. I don't know why I was surprised to hear this news. It's not like I was gone for an eternity, although it sure feels like I was.
My old best friend that 3 years ago I couldn't imagine going a day without seeing. I know this problem of seeing him is going to resurface sooner or later.
What will happen when I see him? Will be act like nothing every changed between us? Will he hate me for leaving without a goodbye? Will be not even acknowledge my existence? So many unanswered questions that I can definitely keep in the back of my head for now.
At this very moment in time, my only worry is how I'm going to sleep with all these bags on my bed.
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I hear thunderous footsteps pounding up the stairs, waking me up from my nap. Rolling over onto my other side, I glance at the door to see it cracked open. Well it's cracked open for a second before it's being slammed open, and two bodies are jumping on me.
I make a sound that's between a huff of air leaving me, and a groan. "Your finally here!" A voice says. A voice I recognize to be Lottie. "Oh my gosh, we are going to have so much fun this summer!" The other one, Violet, grips my face and squeezes it while I begin to yawn.
"This is super welcoming." I say sarcastically. Throughout the years all 3 of us have FaceTimed multiple times just like I did with everyone else, but even then it's just so nice to be able to see them besides through a screen.
"Can you guys move now?" They both roll off of me to my side, letting me get more air into my body. That was a brutal thing to wake up too. "We can't start talking about anything until the guys get here, they should be coming soon." Violet says, looking over at me.
Once we're all sitting up, we finally share a nice, warming hug. One where I'm not suffocating and I'm smiling like an idiot. Again.
"Lottie has big news." She grins pulling apart, and I follow. If Lotties got big news, it's big. "It's not that big." She whispers while a blush creeps up her neck. Oh, this is gonna be good. "Her and Henry are finally dating." Violet squeals, throwing her hands in the air. "Like I said, it's not that big of a deal." Lottie is now in a full blown blush.
"Aw, no way! I've been waiting forever! You guys couldn't wait a little longer until I got back?" I joke. She smiles sheepishly and shrugs. "I'm kidding Lottie, this is awesome. I'm really happy for you." She smiles and thanks me softly. Violet on the other hand is typing away at her phone.
They both look almost the exact same as before I left except for the fact that Lottie no longer has glasses and Violet no longer has braces. Violet has dark brown hair that's super long, reaching her belly button with eyes that are hazel. She's also got a taller, more model like boy frame.
Lottie on the other hand has a smaller more petite figure that still fits her body beautifully. She has long braids that cascade down her back like thread, with dark brown eyes that complete her light brown skin very nicely. All in all they are both gorgeous queens.
"They said they're on their way now." Violet explains, setting her phone down on my bed. I had moved all my bags to the ground with my suitcase so I could sleep. Who knows when I'm going to put all of that away. "So how has it been without me?" I ask with a grin.
"So boring." Violet jokes back. "Honestly though, it really was. None of us really talked that much when you were gone." Lottie says seriously. It makes me feel kinda bad that I ruined it all. We all fell apart because of me. I laugh along with them awkwardly though. Then I hear more footsteps coming up the stairs.
"Not again." I moan leaning my head back. The minute my door burst open two more bodies are thrown onto me. I huff out the air that they push out of me and pat their backs. "Hey guys, can't breath." They scramble off of me and stand at the foot of my bed.
"I want a hug first." Noah calls out opening his arms out to me. I laugh and get off the bed to meet him half way. He lifts me in the air and twirls me around prompting me to squeal. When he releases me I finally get a good look at him, and lets just say time did both of them well.
Noah still has his blonde hair that used to sag on his head but now it's fluffy and kinda looks like a cloud. I can't even tell what color his eyes are but they look to be a mix of blue and green. There actually really pretty. Then he has round Harry Potter glasses."It's really nice to see you again." Is all I get to say before Henry bombards me with a hug.
He still has the exact same look except for his more defined jaw. He has dark brown fluffy hair that reaches his ears and blue eyes. They look just like mine actually.
By the time I pull apart I'm already ready to ask the question. "Where's Milo?" They all go silent making me a little worried. Then they all start talking at once trying to make up an excuse for him. "Guys? You don't need to do that." The girls sigh while the guys just look around awkwardly.
"He's just not exactly ready to see you yet." Violet says giving me sad eyes, as does Lottie. They are the only ones besides my parents that know what really happened, and the real reason why I left in the first place. All our parents are close, so it was more or less inevitable. Of course they still gave me the choice of who I wanted to tell, I just felt more comfortable telling them. "That's ok." I smile and plop myself back onto my bed where everyone else follows.
"There's a beach party tonight. You guys wanna do that?" Lottie suggest changing the subject. Henry sits besides her and interlocks their fingers. "Sure why not." Violet says. The guys nod along, already on board with it. "Uh, I'm not sure." I finally say. "Look Izzy, you don't have to if you don't wanna, but I promise it's gonna be fun. We can just stay in and have one of our amazing sleepovers if that's what you want." I smile and nod my head.
"We can go to the party." Seeing their faces light up at my words makes my heart beat faster. I love making my friends happy. "You're sure?" Lottie asks. I nod my head. "Guys! Pizzas done!" My mom yells from downstairs. "Your dad made pizza?" Noah ask in disbelief. I shrug, about to say 'I guess' when everyone burst through my door and races down stairs.
My dad does make really good pizza.
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AN:First chapter done!