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I PROMISE YOUR SECRET IS SAFE WITH ME.
NO-ONE KNEW WHERE ISADORA JONES HAD BEEN HIDING.
Only one person in the entirety of Hawkins knew where she had been hiding, but that person had promised to keep the hiding place a secret despite knowing that her friends and the town was currently searching for the missing blonde. Beatrix had been making her way home from a party when she had run into Isadora and she had been surprised to run into anyone on her way home, let alone the crying blonde girl.
"Hi, are you okay?"
"O-Oh, I didn't expect to see anyone around h-here," Isadora sobbed softly before wiping her tears away from her face and nodding, "Y-Yeah, honestly it's probably silly that I'm even crying right now. I-I should have known I would have just ended up getting hurt. You probably don't really want to hear about my p-problems though, so I'm just gonna g-go."
"Wait, I have just the thing that might be able to help you with your problems," the girl told her before she held the flask out towards Isadora, who looked at it before looking at the girl and shaking her head.
"I-I don't know —"
"Come on, what have you got to lose? It might help you feel a little better," the girl said. Isadora hesitated as she took the flask from the girl, a part of her worried that if she drank alcohol again to help herself feel better, she might start relying on alcohol again and she didn't want to get back to that place she had been in when she lived in California but as Isadora looked back towards the other girl, she figured she was right that it might make her feel better and Isadora opened it and took a sip before coughing as the alcohol burned her throat.
"Oh, that's disgusting. Is that straight whiskey?" Isadora asked.
"Yes," the girl nodded.
"Delightful," Isadora muttered sarcastically before looking towards the other girl and raising an eyebrow, "Wait a minute, you just happen to be walking the streets of Hawkins carrying a flask of straight whiskey?"
"Well, yes. I was on my way home from a party so that's why I had the flask of whiskey with me. Please don't tell me you're more of a vodka drinker," the girl frowned at her. Isadora shrugged as she took another sip of the whiskey.
"To be honest, I prefer tequila," Isadora shrugged.
"Well, anyway, I was on my way home when I saw you and it kind of looked like you could use someone to talk to, and I also thought maybe you could use a drink. I know it helps me feel better when I'm feeling upset," the girl said.
"Oh, right. I ... I don't know if it'll help me feel better. Last time ... last time I turned to alcohol to help feel better, it just numbed the pain but I don't know that it ever made me feel better but I guess I have nothing to lose, especially since tonight has been such a shit night, but I'm fine, I guess," Isadora shrugged in response as she took another sip of the whiskey and grimaced before she looked back towards the other girl, "Oh, I'm Isadora Jones."
"Beatrix," the other girl told her.
"You got a last name, Beatrix?" Isadora asked, as she raised an eyebrow at the girl, noting there was something oddly familiar about her but she wasn't sure what it was.
"Just Beatrix, but you can call me Bea or Trixie, if you prefer," Beatrix told Isadora, as she looked at the blonde and wondered what had gone down between her and Billy, especially since she thought that Billy had been intending on telling Isadora how he felt about her but seeing the blonde standing in front of her now, she figured something had happened at the dance tonight and she wasn't sure how Isadora would react if she knew the truth about who she was, so she made the decision to keep her last name to herself.
"Right," Isadora frowned before shrugging and taking another drink. As she coughed, she looked towards Beatrix and sighed softly, "This is probably going to sound like an odd request but can you please not tell anyone that you saw me here. I kind of just want to be alone right now and I don't really want anyone to know where I am, so I don't really want anyone to know that you saw me."
"Oh, your secret is safe with me. I hope you don't mind me asking though, but why do you want to be alone right now?" Beatrix asked her.
"It ... it probably sounds kind of stupid but I just ... I just need to be alone right now. I guess I needed to escape from everything and everyone," Isadora said. Beatrix nodded and watched the girl as she wiped tears away from her cheeks before sighing, "I just ... I don't even know where I'm going to go."
"You know, if you need a place to stay, the old Creel house isn't far from here and I don't think anyone goes there anymore so you could potentially stay there," Beatrix suggested.
"The Creel House? Is it safe?" Isadora asked.
"I don't really know. All I know is that no-one lives there, it's abandoned and completely boarded up, but why don't we check it out. I can even keep you company if you want," Beatrix smiled.
"Yeah, sure. That sounds good," Isadora nodded before the two started walking in the direction of the Creel House, Isadora taking a few more sips of the whiskey as they walked and by the time they reached the Creel House, the blonde was pretty tipsy and words just started tumbling out of her mouth, "I was just a fucking bet. I mean what kind of asshole even makes a bet that he can get a girl to sleep with him? You know what, I was an idiot for falling for it though ... it — it doesn't make sense though. Why would he ask me to be his girlfriend if he was just making a bet he could get me to sleep with him? Why not break things off with me beforehand? I slept with him before he asked me to be his girlfriend and I think ... god, I think I was falling for him."
"He sounds like a total asshole," Beatrix said, although she couldn't help wondering what Isadora was talking about. She wasn't sure what had happened tonight at the dance but she made a mental note to try and ask Billy what happened and get to the bottom of everything.
"Oh, uh, I ... I kind of finished your whiskey, I'm so sorry —" Isadora slurred a little as she handed the flask back to Beatrix.
"It's fine. It kind of seems like you might have needed it a lot more than I do right now," Beatrix said, as she took the flask from Isadora.
"Yeah ... I guess it kind of helped," Isadora shrugged as she looked towards the abandoned Creel House before spotting a nearby pebble and grabbing it before she looked towards Beatrix, "Does anyone come near this place?"
"As far as I know, no-one really comes anywhere near here. From what I've seen, the doors and windows are all boarded up," Beatrix said.
"Well, great, then I guess no-one will notice if I do this then," Isadora said, as she walked closer to the house and hesitated for a moment before she threw the pebble and Beatrix's eyes widened as she watched the pebble hit the boarded up door before it bounced off and landed on the ground. As it did, Isadora grabbed another pebble and threw it as tears rolled down her cheeks, "I was just a fucking ... I was a game, a conquest ... and the worst part about it all, the worst part was I — I was —"
"Isadora, are you okay?" Beatrix asked gently, as the blonde stopped talking and broke down sobbing as she collapsed down onto the ground and started sobbing violently.
"He .. he lied to me, or at least I think he did ... none of this makes sense. It doesn't make sense," Isadora sobbed. Beatrix sat down beside the girl, and despite not really knowing what to do to comfort the crying blonde, she reached over and squeezed her hand gently.
"Well, he's an asshole who did not deserve you. You deserve someone who makes you smile and laugh and who makes you feel special, not someone who makes you cry like this," Beatrix told Isadora, although she wasn't sure if she believed the words she was saying to the crying blonde because she had seen the way her brother had been earlier today and Beatrix was sure Billy was in love with Isadora. Shakily, Isadora nodded and wiped her tears away as Beatrix squeezed her hand before the two girls stood up and searched around the house until they found a small shed and Isadora carefully tested the door.
"It's unlocked," she said before opening it and walking inside, "Yeah, I guess this will do. There's even an old sleeping bag here."
"Are you sure about this?" Beatrix asked.
"Y-Yeah, it'll be fine here. Thank you," Isadora smiled at Beatrix, who nodded before she said goodbye to the girl and left the Creel House, leaving Isadora alone. And once she was alone, Isadora broke down in tears, the loneliness overwhelming. Over the next few days, Isadora remained hidden by the Creel House, often spending the days crying or sleeping. She wasn't even sure how safe it was for her to be here but with Beatrix coming to the Creel House to check on her and bringing her food and clothes, Isadora figured she would likely be okay here. Beatrix had also snuck Isadora some alcohol but the blonde had left the alcohol untouched, but that didn't stop her from feeling angry, alone and confused. And after deciding she needed to be alone, for the rest of the week, Isadora remained hidden at the Creel House, unaware that her friends had been searching for her everywhere.
"I bought you some food, and I thought you should know there are missing posters up everywhere. Everyone has been looking for you," Beatrix told Isadora one afternoon as she dropped a bag of food off for the girl.
"So, let them look," Isadora said.
"Issi ... I knew I needed to stop them from worrying about you, so I kind of did something," Beatrix said. Isadora looked up at her and frowned.
"What did you do, Beatrix?"
"I told Hopper you were safe."
"You — what? You promised me that you wouldn't tell anyone, Beatrix!" Isadora cried.
"Look, I didn't tell him where you were, just that you were safe."
"You told him I was safe? Beatrix, he's going to ask you where I have been staying and it won't be long before everyone else knows," Isadora snapped.
"Issi, I didn't want them to worry. Everyone has been searching for you because you have been considered a missing person all week," Beatrix told her gently, purposely failing to mention that one particular person had seen the missing posters and had spent all week searching Hawkins, really worried and blaming themselves for Isadora being considered missing.
"I'm not missing," Isadora chuckled bitterly.
"To them, you kind of are. You're hiding out here and no-one else except for me knows that," Beatrix reminded her.
"You're right. I — I'm sorry for snapping at you, you did the right thing," Isadora told her. Beatrix nodded as she sat down beside Isadora.
"So, what are you going to do, Issi?"
"I — I don't know," Isadora shrugged. Beatrix nodded and stayed with the girl for a little while longer before heading home while Isadora remained at the Creel House, contemplating what she was going to do. She knew she couldn't stay here forever and reluctantly Isadora decided it was time to head home. When she got back to her house, Isadora was surprised to see Steve sitting on the doorstep waiting for her and she hesitated before walking over to sit down beside him, "Hi, Steve. What are you doing here?"
"I guess I figured if I sat here and waited long enough, maybe you would finally come home. We have been really worried about you, Is," Steve told her.
"I — I know. I saw the posters on my way home and — and I'm sorry for just disappearing the way that I did. I guess I just needed .... I guess I needed to be alone," Isadora admitted.
"Okay, I get that but the next time you decide to disappear, can you please at least tell one of us that you're safe?" Steve asked her. Isadora nodded and looked down at her hands, decided to leave out the part where Beatrix knew that she was safe.
"How are things at school?"
"Honestly? They've been pretty shit. Everyone has been talking about what happened at the dance and there have been rumours floating around, none of which are true, but Amanda has spent the week gloating that apparently she knew all along," Steve told Isadora.
"Rumours? What kind of rumours?"
"Do you really want to know the awful things that they have been saying about you, Is?" Steve asked her.
"No, not really but I'm guessing all of the rumours are probably about me," Isadora said.
"Yes, but we know there's no truth to them, Is," Steve said as Isadora looked down at her hands before looking back towards Steve.
"You ... You were right, Steve. I should have listened when you said Billy was going to treat me the same way he treats all of the other girls he has slept with and I'm so sorry I didn't listen," Isadora said. Steve nodded, not wanting to confess to the blonde that he thought she was the one in the wrong this time but Steve knew if Billy had really made the bet like Amanda claimed he had, he wouldn't have spent the last week joining in on the search for Isadora or showing up at her house every day, hoping Isadora had come home.
"I didn't want to be right," Steve finally said.
"I ... I was falling for him, Steve," Isadora said softly.
"I know you were, Is," Steve said. Isadora nodded and looked down at her hands as the two of them sat on the steps of her house together and as they sat there, Isadora wondered if things were ever going to get better.
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Isadora admitting she'd fallen for Billy 🥺
I feel bad for her but at the same time, she was in the wrong this time for breaking it off and not giving Billy a chance to explain himself and there are moments in this chapter we see her questioning it because she knows there are things that don't make sense.
Enjoy! Xo
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