Terrified of Love

Chapter 1

Izzie and I are still sitting in silence, holding each others hands when my phone buzzes. I look at it before I let go of Izzie's hand and look at the messages, "Is everything okay?" She asks

"It's Elsa. Hi, honey bear. Bear emoji. Can you please pick up a fire extinguisher on the way home?" Izzie and I look at each other before we start laughing, "Yeah, so we should probably—" She cuts me off, "Yeah" She says

"Yeah" I say

"Yeah" I start the car, "Let's go, honey bear" She says

"Awesome" I whisper as I start to drive

[Home: End of Summer]

I'm sitting on my bench, on my computer when my phone buzzes. It's a text from Izzie,

Izz:

I'm home!!! Run?

I smile to myself before I throw on a tank top and walk downstairs. I stand by the mirror and fix my hair, deciding whether to put it in a bun or a ponytail before my dad walks behind me, "What the hell are you doing? You getting pretty for a run?" He asks

"Nothing. Shut up" I tell him before I quickly throw it in a ponytail and walk away

[Neighborhood]

Izzie and I are running next to each other, "It is so good to be back. I love my aunt and uncle, and Florida is nice, but after a while, I don't love them that much, and Florida isn't that nice" She says laughing

"I feel like I haven't seen you in forever" I say

"I know. Since Slurpee night" She says
"Yeah, Slurpee night. That was fun" I say

"So fun. I'm so glad I have a friend like you. I haven't had a best girlfriend since I was little. It's nice. Easy" She says

"Yeah, easy. Totally easy" I say

[Home]

I walk back inside after the run to see Jeremy sitting at the kitchen island. He turns around to look at me, "Hey, you gotta try this banana bread. It's amazing" He says

I walk towards him, "I'm not really hungry" I say

"What are you talking about? You run 100 miles a day. You're always hungry" He says

"Yeah, well, sometimes even little piggies like me stop stuffing our face" I say and walk towards the steps

I sit down and take my sneakers off, "Everything okay with you two?" My mom asks walking up

"You and me? No, we're a mess. We should spend some time apart" I say before she rubs my head and walks upstairs

I sigh before I walk back over to Jeremy and stand across from him, "Hey, I'm sorry. I'm just a jerk today. I don't feel great" I say

"So we're okay?" He asks

"Yeah. We're good, we're good" I say

He sighs, "That's great. Because Beth and my mom are headed to Vermont next weekend for the maple syrup festival, so I thought maybe you could come over" He says

"Yeah, maybe. Um...yeah, I've just gotta see what's going on that day" I say

[Dinner]

I walk into the dining room to see my parents, "Cam, where's your brother?" My mom asks

"Um—" I check my pockets, "Oh, he's not in there, so I'm out of ideas" I say

Then the door opens and in walks Sam, "Feast your eyes. My official Denton student ID. You can now call me Denton student 9783210" He says as they look