Less Than Perfect

Chapter Twenty-Two

Isabella

She woke up mid morning and her eyes were swollen and red. Maggie was gone but she could smell breakfast. Her test was this afternoon and her plan was to wake up and go to school to study. Now it was just a struggle to get up. For the first time all semester she wore yoga pants and an oversized sweater. She wasn't going into the office and she didn't care about anything. Isabella took out her notebook and notecards and went to the dining room. She laid out all her stuff and focused on fashion. What she came to do in the first place.

"I don't think you should turn on your phone until after your test," Maggie said bringing in a plate of we food.

"Good idea," she weakly smiled.

"Are you hungry?"

"Not really but I should eat anyway." Maggie placed her favorite chocolate chip pancakes in front of her. She thanked Maggie and started looking at her stuff. It had always been easy for Isabella to push her feelings away and this was no different. "You have a test tomorrow right?"

"Yup and the rest of the week."

"Yeah. Me too."

"I know. I need to study all day."

"Same. I actually might take off the rest of day and start over tomorrow morning. I'm tired."

"Good idea."

...

Isabella left for her test in high spirits. She was ready for that test. When she finished she walked home knowing that she did really well. As she walked home a light snowfall began to fall but it was still a little warm so it didn't stick as much. She was happy. Isabella walked in and saw Maggie on Tumblr.

"Keeping tabs on your boyfriend too," Isabella snickered. Maggie laughed.

"He's not my boyfriend." Isabella saw the sad in her eyes.

"What do you mean?" Maggie flashed her a picture of Danielle and Liam holding hands walking down 5th Avenue. "Are you fucking kidding me? What the fuck is wrong with those boys?"

"Bee calm down. He told me a week ago."

"And you didn't tell me?"

"Well you were kinda busy." She sighed. "He told me that he liked me and that I was cool person to be around. But I knew this was going to happen. Him and Danielle have a history. A long one at that. It's just out of respect for his happiness."

"Is he happy though?"

"He said he was so he is." Isabella left it at that. "How was your test?"

"Easy."

"Well yeah. You study like all the time."

"Classes are harder here than back in the US."

"That's true." Maggie's phone went off which reminded Isabella to turn hers on.

"I'm gonna turn on my phone."

"Alright. Well I'm here. I'm not going anywhere." She smiled at Maggie and walked to her room. She hesitated to turn it on but she had to. There were 26 missed calls and four voicemails. Some of the missed calls were from Niall and so was one voicemail. She listened to his first.

Hey Iz. I just... I'm sorry. Harry can be an asshole. I mean he is one. Anyways, I wanted to see if you were ok. You can call anytime. I guess you know when we'll be back and I'll be home if you need anything. I guess I'll see you. Love ya Iz.

Tears were already coming down. She knew she could always count on Niall. She didn't want to listen to Harry's but she needed to.

Isabella