Tuesday
I went to bed after hugging Felix. The boys and Dad left me alone. But now, I had to talk to them again. Properly. Make them understand. Not just about Jason. But about everything thing.
———
I walked slowly into the kitchen with my head down. I sat in my seat next to Mason. I poured myself a drink and just sat there drinking it.
"We need to talk." Fuck me. I really hoped we wouldn't have to do this in the morning.
I looked up at Dad. "Can we talk later?"
"No. Now." He replied.
I nodded and looked back down at my lap. And then I took a deep breath. "I want to talk first. With everyone."
Everyone looked at me. "Okay." It was all Dad said.
"Go on then." Felix encouraged.
I took a deep breath.
No shouting, Isabella.
No crying.
Just gotta keep calm.
"Firstly, do I have to go to school today?" I asked, looking around the table.
"No, you can stay home." Felix answered.
"I shouldn't have shouted at you like that Dad, on Saturday. But I meant every word of it. All of it. So I won't apologise. And I know sneaking out was wrong, especially when I was grounded, but I just- I just needed to. You guys don't understand what I mean, I know that."
I stopped, making sure everyone was still listening. "I've said it before, but I'm gonna it say it again. I like Jason. I really do. I don't know why, or how or anything. I just really like him. And I want you to accept that. For me. Because he makes me happy." I turned towards Joseph, but his expression was still as blank as the others.
I took another deep breath. "I want to join again. I don't want you boys to have to hide things from me and protect me from the mafia anymore. Please."
I looked around at my family, all their expressions different. Joseph was now just smiling, I could tell he was proud of me. Leo looked like he wanted to punch someone in the face, but then he always looked like that. Mason was unreadable, I couldn't tell what he was thinking. And Felix and Dad were communicating with each other, through their eyes. They were angry and then calm, it was all over the place, it was kind of funny.
"Stop trying to read us." Mason said. I had always been pretty good at reading people.
"Isabella." Felix spoke, catching our attention. "We understand why you feel they way you do. But what you said to Dad wasn't right. We don't think of you like that." He paused, to make sure I understood. I nodded slowly, not really believing him. "But you can't join again, not yet, not now."
I looked down and slightly shook my head to myself. "Why? If you don't think if me like that, then why?" I asked, quietly.
I heard Dad sigh. "Because it's dangerous." Was his reply.
"The you should believe in me. You should believe that can listen to you and defend myself." I pushed my chair back and got up. "We can all agree that this conversation is going nowhere. Right?" No one said anything. "Good. And we can all just learn to accept the fact that I like Jason?" No one said anything.
"Good. I wanna go to school, I can walk if you're all busy."
"I'll take you." Mason stood up. "Joe, you coming?"
"Yeah."
We all left the room in silence to get ready.
———
I arrived to school late, and quietly took my seat in English Literature. I opened my bag, took out my books, and looked around. Everyone was staring at me.
"What? Got something to say?" I asked. They all quickly looked away, like they were frightened of me.
"Everyone back to work!" A shrill voice came from the front. Our English Literature teacher was a frail old lady, with a squeaky voice and made us work in silence. It was torture.
"Izzy, are you okay? Jason told me what happened at the weekend." Lexi whispered to me.
"I honestly don't know what's going happen, but thanks." I smiled weakly at her.
"Okay, well, I'm here, if you- if you need to talk or anything." She touched my shoulder reassuringly.
After school.
I silently opened Felix's car door and slid into the seat.
"How was school?" Felix asked. I just shrugged.
"It was good." Joe replied.
"I wasn't asking you, asshole." Felix said.
"Ah! Rejection hurts!" Joe grabbed his chest and bent forward, pretending to be in pain. I let a small smile escape from my lips. Joe turned around to face me with a big goofy grin on his face. I quickly hid my smile, and Joe's face fell.
"Are you still mad?" He asked.
I hesitated, not sure what to say. "I'm not mad."
We pulled up outside the house and I ran inside.
I wasn't mad. Honestly.
I was just- I don't know.
Annoyed?
Yeah, let's go with annoyed.
~~~
What's going to happen next?
Thank you for reading! Comment and vote!
- K
YOU ARE READING
𝙼𝚊𝚏𝚒𝚊 𝙿𝚛𝚒𝚗𝚌𝚎𝚜𝚜 ✓
Action"Mum!" I cried out as a bullet went through her chest. I ran forward to get to her but strong arms held me back. "Ssshh. Isabelle, don't cry, it's going to be okay." He whispered as he held me tight. It wasn't okay. My mum died that night on the do...
