Page 86 of The Story Of Us

I keep my head held high because even though reality might hit me tomorrow, and I’ll think I’ve made a mistake, in the end, I’m doing what’s best for me.

I make my way up the stairs and Izzy’s standing at the top of the landing, tears streaming down her cheeks. I take the steps two at a time to reach her, pulling her into a hug.

“Izzy, it’s okay,” I tell her, shuffling us backward until we get into her room, and I close the door behind us.

“You’re leaving?” She sniffles, her face buried in my chest. She’s probably ruining one of my favourite T-shirts, but I don’t care. I need her to know that this won’t change anything between us.

“I have to, Izzy. I want to be happy, and I can’t do that here. I’m still your brother, and I’ll always love you.”

“But where will you go?”

I don’t even need to think about it because even though I haven’t had support from my parents, I’ve had it from my friends for my entire life.

“I’ll stay at Luke’s until September, and then I’ll be moving to London anyway.”

She nods her head, and I let her cry, rubbing her back and allowing her to process what’s happening.

I’ve figured out my future, but now I need to plan how I can help Izzy, too. Once I’m settled in London with Violet, I’m sure she won’t mind letting Izzy stay with us. I start thinking about how I’m going to tell her, and although I don’t want to do it over the phone I know she’ll want to know what happened.

Once Izzy has settled down a bit, her arms still around my waist, I give her a gentle squeeze and let go of her. She does the same, taking a step back from me, her face all red. I try to lighten the mood because I know this is harder for Izzy than it is for me right now.

“Oof, your eyes are going to be so puffy tomorrow when we go back to school.”

“Oh my god, stop. Is it that bad?” She rushes into her bathroom, and I hear a loud groan before she comes back out and punches my arm.

“Ow, what did I do?”

“You’re the reason I’m crying! I need some ice for my eyes.”

“You sort yourself out. I’m going to go talk to Violet and Luke. We can watch a movie after if you want?”

“Okay, but I’m picking. There’s only so many times I can watch Ghibli movies.”

“I’ll ignore the blasphemy this time because I know you’re upset.”

I leave her room before she can say anything else and go back to mine, picking up my phone from where I’ve left it on my bed. There are two texts from Violet so I tap on them to see what she’s said.

Jaanu

Everything will be okay

Call me when you can

I call her and she answers immediately and as soon as I see her face, I know I’ve made the right decision.

“How was it?”

“Not great, but it’s okay.”

“What happened?”

“He’s kicking me out.”

“Isaac!” She sits up, her face filling up the entire screen now as she holds the phone closer. “Are you serious?”

“Yeah, but I’m not worried at all. At some point, I realised it was never going to end the way I wanted it to, but that’s okay. I have enough support from you and everyone else that I care about.”

Violet looks confused, and I know my calmness must be throwing her, but I really do feel okay about the whole situation.

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