Page 16 of Chase

“You and Izzy need to get up now and do it quietly, so your father doesn’t hear!”

Mom sounds beyond pissed, as well as extremely anxious. I open my eyes with the feeling of panic taking over my entire body. Not even the sight of Izzy with her arms and legs wrapped around my body eases me, though it is a beautiful sight. Instead, I whisper a curse over the realization that I never got up and went into the guest bedroom. Typical, seeing as I usually wake up two or three times a night. I eventually brave it to face my mother’s scowl, offering a sheepish smile to try and convince her that I am truly sorry for fucking up like this. She says nothing, simply closes thedoor to go and distract Dad.

“Shit!” I mutter, running my hand through my hair, procrastinating before I have to rip myself away from Izzy’s warmth.

“Izzy?” I whisper, stroking back her hair into some sort of order. It’s currently sprawled out everywhere, taking over my bed like she belongs here. I would indulge in the sight a little longer if I couldn’t hear my parents talking about what time our flights are, and whether they need to book a hotel or not.

“Twiglet?” I say a little louder, wincing when I see her wake with a gasp. She looks around before widening her eyes over the realization of where she is.

“You’re still here?” she gasps while rubbing her eyes.

“Yeah, and Mom is pissed, so we have to get up without my Dad hearing. I’m going to tiptoe over to the guest room before he comes back up.” She nods as I gently get out of the bed, being careful not to tread on any of the creaky floorboards. This house is old, so I end up doing a weird kind of hopscotch routine. Izzy giggles, which has me returning to kiss her on the cheek. “You look beautiful this morning.”

“Shut up.” She blushes and grins as she brings her knees up to hug against her chest.

_____

Theo

An hour or so later, Izzy concedes that she needs to go home and face the music. I feel like I’m in for the same fate as soon as she goes. Dad’s gone for his Sunday run, so it’s just me and Mom, which means she can let loose. As soon as Izzy closes the door, she looks at me with a thunderous expression. I release a heavy sigh, preparing myself for her onslaught.

“Before you say anything, nothing happened,” I blurt out, throwing up my hands defensively. “Nothing will happen. I know she’s only fifteen and I wouldn’t do that to her. We just slept in the same bed, fully clothed!”

“Theo, I know you wouldn’t; I brought you up properly,” she says before chucking the tea towel down onto the table. “Have you kissed her?”

“No,” I lie, and it’s a blatant one; she looks at me as if to say she wasn’t born yesterday.

“Baby, you’re not being fair to her,” she says as she grabs hold of my hands. “She’s going to fall for you even more than she already has and you’re going to leave. And leave her to the shitty situation she’s living in, no less!” I look away uncomfortably, not wanting to hear the truth of the matter. She merely lifts my chin to force me to face her and the real consequences of what I’m doing to a girl I really care about. “And what about you?”

“What about me?” I groan, even though I know what she’s about to say.

“Are you doing this to torture yourself or something? I know you have feelings for her, you always have!”

“Calm down, Mom, we’re just kissing,” I lie. Again.

“Please, you can’t fool me, young man,” she says at the same time as she rolls her eyes. “You fell in love with that girl the moment you heard her telling that ridiculous story about the dog getting stuck in the pond. But now that love is something more than childhood friendship. I see the way you look at her. It’s the same way your father looked at me when he found me hanging upside down from a tree, trying to keep as much distance between a rabid dog and my throat as possible.” I chuckle softly, trying tomake light of it, but Mom continues to penetrate me with her sympathetic stare. “Let her down gently, Theo, for both your sakes, as well as your friendship. Maybe she can come out and visit us next year or something.”

“I don’t want to say goodbye to her,” I admit. “I’m finally going home and she’s the one thing I don’t want to leave for.”

“I know, baby,” she says, giving me a look that tells me she knows what she’s talking about. I’ve got to hurt her all over again.

_____

Izzy

When I finally get home, no one is talking to me. Instead, I am given evil stares and a whole lot of huffing and puffing. Being more than used to this kind of treatment, I simply ignore them and head straight for the shower so I can try and burn off a layer of skin under the scalding water. I come out of the bathroom and throw on a pair of jeans and a baggy ‘Labyrinth’ t-shirt, my all-time favourite film. I used to dream of being whisked away to a fantasy world where I could make friends with the other unwanted freaks. Goblins and monsters seemed as though they would be much better company than my family. Maybe I would be accepted, cared for, and loved by those who were always frowned upon in this reality. Unfortunately, this reality is all I have. Hopefully, not forever though.

My wet hair is pulled up into a loose, messy bun, where it will stay for the rest of the day. You couldn’t get more opposite than my sister and me, but I’m proud of that fact. I grab my phone and smile when I see a message from Theo already. It simply says ‘Hey Iz, we need to talk. Bridge in ten?’ I respond with a straight to the point, ‘yep’, then shove the phone in my back pocket. When I open the door to the hallway, I’m met with the unpleasant sight ofEthan scowling at me with a furious look in his eyes. This isn’t anything unusual when he’s looking at me, but what is surprising is when he grabs hold of my shirt and shoves me back into my room, then slams the door with his heavy booted foot.

“You’re a nasty little bitch and one day I’m going to slap you so hard, it’s going to leave my fucking handprint behind. It will remind you of what a scourge you are on this family.” At first, I’m shocked, my heart thumping at rapid speed behind my rib cage while I think of something to say that might stop him from carrying out this threat. Nothing comes; my voice is completely dried up. “Mum was in tears for hours last night, Dad was worried sick about how to handle you, and you don’t even give a shit!”

“Why do you hate me so much, Ethan?” I just about utter. “I’m your sister for Christ’s sake.”

“Because Tilly and I wanna follow into Dad’s business and I’m not going to let some little brat bring shame upon this family or its name anymore,” he shouts, pushing me with force again. “You will start to behave or I will make you. You could at least dress more like a fucking girl for starters!”

“Back off, Ethan, you’re my brother, not my keeper,” I finally begin fighting back, narrowing my eyes and holding myself firm and strong. “Believe me, if I want to make you guys look bad, I can and I will, so fuck off out of my way.”

I push past him and bolt for the back door before he has the chance to say or do anything more. I’m sure I’ll pay for it later, but for now, I want to get to Theo. Hopefully, he’ll help me come up with a plan for what to do when Ethan corners me again. More than ever, I wish he wasn’t leaving, the pain of it is going to be suffocating.

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