"Iz, c'mon. We'll have popcorn and lotsa junk food, and scary movies!"
"Yeah, and ice-cream! Even the toothpaste kind you like!"
"It's mint chocolate, and what's wrong with it?" Izzie caved in, grinning. "I think it's refreshing and yummy."
"Bleh, you're weird." Parker said.
"Sooo?" Erica asked, her eyes wide with anticipation.
"Fine, I'll ask my mom." Izzie said.
"You don't need permission, she doesn't even need to know."
"What?"
"Just d drink it, we a all d d did, Iz."
Izzie watched as their smiles became cruel, wider, and their eyes lifeless.
"I b bet she won't e even m m miss you. My dad d doesn't." Parker hissed, taking a step towards her.
"Especially since y you're a mistake she never wanted." Wren said, snatching her wrist in an iron grip.
"W Wren." She whispered, tugging weakly away.
"Don't worry, Izzie." Erica purred, behind her. "We'll always want you, no matter what."
Even if you-- -
Izzie woke with a gasp, her face damp with sweat and her whole body hot.
She heard her mom stir and kicked off the blankets. Then ran to the door and yanked it open, escaping to the cooled hallways.
"Izzie?" Her mom called out, surely drowsy and confused.
She ignored the need to run into her mom's arms and continued running, to the door.
She needed to get out of there, fresh air. She needed fresh air and to get away from concerned questions and worried mothers. She needed to-
Izzie fell on her butt with an oof, a grumble released from the person she ran into. She opened her eyes to see the person she least wanted to run into.
"Watch it, brat." Jeff muttered, glaring with cold blue eyes.
She bared her teeth in a snarl and got up, breathing shakily with all the hate she ever felt for him. "I hate you." She spat, eyes squeezed shut.
"So what?" Jeff said, with a 'tch'.
"I hate you for everything you ever put my mom through, for not even feeling sorry for it." She almost added, "I hate you for being my father", but stopped. That wouldn't do anything.
Only make things more complicated.
She grit her teeth and ran past him.
"Isabelle!"
The urge felt stronger, harder to resist, but she forced herself to run faster, hoping that her stamina would allow her to get to the woods and that her mom would stop. She wanted to be alone and wanted to be surrounded by her comforting presence at the same time.
But she wouldn't understand, she just wouldn't. She didn't even know about Erica or her old friends.
The smell of rain and leaves filled her nose as she made it outside, a sound of relief escaping her as she almost stopped. But the sound of running footsteps reminded her to keep going.
"Isabelle, stop!"
She can't.
"You're running away."
"That breaks the perfect child illusion, Iz."
"About to join us at last?"
Or the ghosts of her past would catch up.
___________________________________
Dunno how I feel about this chapter. But eh, could be worse.
So, how did your summers go? Normal, exciting, boring, terrible?
Mine was pretty much the same, except with a few skin problems that I was stupid enough to ignore until they got worse.
But other than that and my friends being gone for most of it, my summer was okay.
Hope you enjoyed the chapter, or not if it wasn't so good as others.
I dunno.
Vote and Comment!