ᴛʜᴇ ɢᴏᴏᴅ ɪɴ ᴛʜᴇ ʙᴀᴅ | ɪ.ɢ

002

[TWO]

* . °•★𝓢𝓪𝔂𝓵𝓸𝓻☆•° . * 

ɪ ꜱʟᴀᴍᴍᴇᴅ ɪɴᴛᴏ ꜱᴏᴍᴇᴏɴᴇ ᴀɴᴅ ꜱʜʀɪᴇᴋᴇᴅ, ꜰʟᴀɪʟɪɴɢ ᴍʏ ᴀʀᴍꜱ ᴀꜱ ɪ ꜱᴛᴀʀᴛᴇᴅ ᴛᴏ ꜰᴀʟʟ ʙᴀᴄᴋᴡᴀʀᴅꜱ ᴅᴏᴡɴ ᴛʜᴇ ꜱᴛᴀɪʀᴄᴀꜱᴇ. The person's hand reached out and gripped my wrist, yanking me up towards the upper floor and sending me crashing into him again for the second time, this time knocking the two of us towards the wall on the other side.

I opened my eyes, which I had shut in the panic of the moment, and saw, pinned against the wall beneath me, Isaac. He looked at me and his gaze hardened as he (not too gently) shoved me off of him.

"Watch where you're going, dumbass." 

I shoved him back angrily and brushed my hair over my shoulder. "Maybe you shouldn't have been standing around at the top of the stairs." 

"Um. Hello. I was bringing your stuff up for you. Ungrateful much?" He snorted, running a hand through his hair. I scoffed and went to move past him, but he stepped to the side, blocking me. 

I sighed and crossed my arms. "What do you want?" 

"I brought your stuff up for you. I think you owe me a thank you?" He said with a smug smirk on his face. I inhaled and exhaled slowly, pinched my brow between my fingers before saying,

"I don't owe you shit, Isaac." 

And then, without glancing back or saying another word, I pushed past him into my room, feeling a sense of satisfaction wash over me. I mean, being stuck in the same house as a self-entitled dick wasn't ideal, but it was going to be so much fun to mess with him. 

Then, after shutting the door, I finally glanced around the room. It was large, with murals covering the walls and two twin beds on opposite sides of the room, with Jackie's suitcases lined up neatly beside her bed, and mine dumped unceremoniously on the ground.

"Excellent. " I muttered to myself as I walked over to the suitcases, righted them, and started unpacking. Thankfully, nothing was broken. 

After unpacking my suitcases, I collapsed backwards onto my bed and stared up at the ceiling, refusing to allow the numb feelings to wash over me. I was done crying about the past. 

This was a fresh start. 

*. °•★•°. *

"So...what do you think?" 

I glanced up from my phone, which I had been scrolling through while still lying on my bed. Jackie had entered my room about ten minutes ago, and we had been sitting in silence up until now. 

"Do you want me to tell you what you want to hear or two you want the truth?"

Jackie laughed at my words I set my phone down and stared up at the ceiling, sighing. "What do you think?" 

"It doesn't seem that bad. Everyone seems so friendly."

"Everyone?" I snorted disdainfully and I could tell Jackie rolled her eyes.

"I'm sure people would be nicer to you if you didn't call them a dipshit. Maybe try being polite sometime?"

"He totally deserved it. You did hear what he said, right? Plus I ran into him on the way up here. My conclusion is that Isaac Walter is 100% a dick." 

"Garcia." 

I sat up, giving my sister a confused look. "Come again?" 

"He and Lee are cousins of the family. Their dad is deployed so they live with the Walters. Their last name is Garcia." She explained. 

"Oh." 

Part of me felt a little bit bad, but then I quickly remembered that Isaac was a horrible person, and I hadn't even met Lee yet, but I had a sinking suspicion that he was the same. 

Just then, a knock sounded at our door. 

"Hey, it's me." A familiar voice said. "Can I come in?"

Jackie and I exchanged glances.

"Sure." 

The door opened and then Katherine walked inside our room. 

"Will told me about what happened at the pool." She said, walking over to my bed. I gave her a confused look, but then quickly realized she was talking to Jackie. "I'm so sorry about Albert, the dog. He just gets really excited sometimes." She said as she sat down. "So how are you guys settling in? Can I get you anything?"

"No. But thank you." Jackie said.

"We're sorry for taking up your space. The paintings you've done here, they're so pretty." I said, looking around. Katherine smiled. 

"Oh, please, don't worry about it. I don't have time to paint anymore with all the kids running around. I want you to have it."

"How'd it go with the surgery?" Jackie asked after a moment, referring to yet another thing I didn't know about. 

"Oh, um. It went well. Turns out Bo had a really bad ear infection. He's gonna be fine. But it was bothering him and it was bothering his owner."

Jackie and I chuckled before looking back at her.

"Did you study veterinary medicine at Columbia? I saw the picture of you and my mom." Jackie said.

"No. Uh, I got my first degree at Columbia, and then I went to vet school at Colorado state. Such a long time ago." She waves her hand. "You guys remind me so much of her." I raised an eyebrow and she laughed. "Well, obviously you don't look like her. But your personality does. I never knew your mom to back down from a fight or stand up for herself. I did have the pleasure of hearing your exchange with my nephew."

"Oh." My face turned slightly pink, but she smiled, erasing my concern. "Don't worry, I'm not mad. I just encourage the both of you to keep the swearing to a minimum, or at least don't do it in the house. And...please at least try to get along..."

"Um...yeah, sorry about that."

Katherine's smile widened slightly. "Thank you. I would like to avoid conflict as much as possible, and keep in mind that this is all very new for all of us." 

"It's new for us too." I said quietly. Then, I promised Katherine I would make an attempt to get along with Isaac, which I knew probably wouldn't work out. Smiling, Katherine rose to leave the room. Right before exiting, she turned around.

"Do  either of you want to eat something? George and I are grilling burgers in the yard and the whole family's out there. Saylor, I know a lot of them haven't met you yet and I'm sure they'd love to." 

I looked at Jackie, who already had her phone out.

"I think I'll stay here," She said, "You go have fun." 

I nodded as I leapt to my feet. "Alright." Then, I turned to Katherine. "Let's go eat!" 

*. °•★•°. *

A/N: 

Thank you guys so much for 1K reads! This book's going through a major editing, and I expect at least two, maybe three more chapters to be released tomorrow! 

I'm so excited that you guys are loving the story, and I have so many ideas I can't wait for you guys to see! Stay tuned!