Somebody Else ✔

Michael Rose.

Jace.

Edited.

A week after Sam's dad was hospitalized, we began to study for our final ATAR exams.

It was nausea inducing, and perhaps that why everything played out the way it did. Extreme procrastinating.

Especially because my dad hovered over me, watching my every move. I did bitch about it, but I must admit it was kind of nice. He told me every morning he loved me, and Cynthia watched us, including Damien, with a grin.

But anyway. Somehow, through Mr Fisher's forced admonition to a rehab center, Alex, Corey, Sam and I had come up with a two pronged plan.

Sam refused to talk about her father when we asked, and deflected her pain onto Cole and Izzy. She asked us questions like, what is Cole gonna do about his dad? And Izzy needs some help, don't you reckon?

And like that, our plan was born. It was to be executed on the same day, and to be honest, I was not fully aware of the first part. All I knew was that it involved taking Cole to The Crooked Saint.

On the way there, Izzy told us how Michael Rose stopped dealing smack after he came home to find his sixteen year old son on the bathroom floor, needle in his arm, mumbling, about the moon and snakes.

That of course didn't change that before, he and The Seven Sins had been the main importer of heroin to Western Australia for the past 10 years.

We pulled up in the middle of the day, when the bar was almost empty. There were only two people present, besides us.

We pushed through the doors, and the familiar scent of ambiguous alcohol, smokes and bleach assulted my senses. We stood for a moment, alone in the dimly lit bar.

I heard footsteps approaching us from behind. I turned and there I saw him - Michael Rose. He caught me staring, and grinned at me. I shrunk back, behind Alex.

He was shorter than I expected, but Goddamn did he look like his son. Unnervingly, I realized he appeared a little like me as well, with his blue eyes and blonde hair.

He had a gravatas to him though, that his son, for all his charm, lacked. The very air in the room seemed to grow still as he entered it.

He looked over us all, and I could of swore I heard him mumbling to himself, trying to match our faces to our parents. His attention fell on Izzy, and I had the urge to shield her. "Bella-boo." He smiled at Izzy, showing off his teeth.

"Mickey," she said, and hugged both Michael, and Landon, who came down the stairs and rose his eyebrows when he saw us.

"Jesus, does it feel good to be home," he said, stretching. Landon was smirking, chewing his gum lazily, as he watched his father.

"Stoked for you."

"Danny called me, and said you kids might show up again," he sighed and gave a poignant look to us boys. I smiled nervously. He folded his arms and leant against the edge of the bar, underneath the sign for the specials. "Well I wasn't actually going to do it, I'm still bitter about the time Danny kicked my ass in the 800 meters back in high school."

"Really?"

He ignored us. "But my son, he said you were a good guy." He pointed to Cole, who's face grew pale at his attention.

Cole pointed to himself. "Your son?"

"What are you? A fucking parrot? Yes, my son said you were a good guy." Michael rolled his eyes at Cole, jumping up onto the bar, so he could sit. He crossed his ankles and rested his hands between his thighs. "He told me what he did to you. And I wanna say that my dad was a fucking wanker as well."

"I didn't know," Cole breathed.

Michael shrugged his shoulders. "So I wanted you to come here, kids, so I could let you know myself, that everything was taken care of," he said so sincerely that the hair on the back of my neck rose up.

As we left, Landon stole a glance at Izzy, and frowned. He looked at Corey and Sam, mouthing, is she okay? My heart ached, as the two girls shook their heads.

I didn't know Michael was talking about, I wasn't sure how deep we had gotten ourselves, until our way back to Izzy's.

We listened to the radio, we heard the breaking news that a police officer in Eastwood had been arrested in suspicion of corruption.

I hadn't been really paying attention, I was too caught up, still, in the fact that I had just met Michael fucking Rose, more than anything else.

But Sam pulled over to the side of the road, and they climbed out. I blinked and hurried after them, where stood around, the cars whizzing by, shouting.

I kept my focus on Cole, who was smiling, but standing, his eyes on Izzy. And Izzy, she was the second part of our two pronged plan.

Sam glanced at us, and I nodded back to her. We didnt't know how we were going to do this part, but on the side of the road seemed a good place as any. Sam swallowed and grabbed a hold of Izzy's hand.

The wind blew my hair around, and I sunk back, to the sidelines, watching it all unfold. I could smell the smoke for the last days of burn off season, the smoke lingering in the clouds.

Coret glanced at me, and I smiled, desperate to kiss her, and to take everything bad that had happened in her life, away.

Izzy looked down and smiled. "What the fuck are you doing?"

"You know how you went to the principle when Isaac leakes my nudes? Cause you wanted to help me?" Corey asked her, and I touched her back, trying to let her know I was there. She put her hand over mine.

"Or when Ella hit me, and you guys told my parents." My heart sank, and I wanted to pull Sam into my arms. "We're telling your parents what's going on,"

Izzy narrowed her eyes, and looked accusingly at all of us. "Nothing is going on."

"Well then we will show them the scars on your body and we will go from there." I could feel Corey shake under my touch and I pulled her closer to me.

"No we fucking won't. I've had those scars for years and they havent noticed. They don't need to know shit."

I wanted to reach out and hug Izzy, but instead I saw Cole, and how he stayed silent, next to Alex who was staring at the bitumen road.

"I'm sorry," Sam whispered to her. "We should've done this along time ago Izzy."

"Done what?! Nothing needs to happen," Izzy pleaded, and Sam glanced at Corey.

Corey wiped her face and smiled at both of them. "I know you don't wanna do this. I know it's scary. But I don't want you to die, Izzy. Not like Vinnie. Please, don't do that to me. Okay? Izzy I couldn't handle that."

"Nothing is gonna happen to me," Izzy said as her face was flushed with tears and I glanced at the boys, both averting their eyes.

"Do you remember how we first met? On the first day of school, when we were three years old? And how you were scared of me?" Corey prompted, and Izzy nodded, as she started to cry. "And how I promised I wouldn't hurt you? And how I wouldn't let anyone hurt you?"

"Yeah," Izzy whispered.

Corey took Izzy's face in her hands. She made Izzy look her in the eyes. "That includes not letting you hurt yourself."

"Izzy," Cole said as he stepped forward hands in his pockets. "Sweetheart I'll - I'll talk to Mum about my shit if you talk about yours."

Izzy's eyes flicked between us all. The guilt rolled through my stomach, looking at her hazel eyes filled with tears, but fuck it, I reminded myself. She needed to do this.

Izzy didn't reply. She just nodded. And we helped her back into the car.