Home is where the heart is

3. ISABELLE

“So, you’re really going to do this?” Tate asked as he lay on her bed.

Isabelle brushed her long blonde hair for the hundredth time in the mirror.

“WE’RE going to do this,” she corrected.

Obsessively she tugged at her skirt, wondering if she should change her outfit for the tenth time.

Tate got up and placed his hands on hers.

“Stop it, you look fine. I don’t think it’s your beauty that’s in question right now, but rather your sanity.”

Isabelle rolled her eyes.

“This is closure Tate, can’t you just be supportive?”

“Not when it involves that douche,” he replied bluntly.

She turned and put her hands on his shoulders. “Come on, we’ll go for one hour ok? And if you really hate it then I promise I’ll leave with you and we can just watch movies instead.”

He eyed her suspiciously. “One hour?”

“One.”

“And if I really hate it you’ll leave?”

“I promise.”

He put his hand through his messy brown hair. “Alright, fine.”

Isabelle beamed at him. “Thank you!”

He raised his hands. “Just to be clear I am doing this because my dad and your father would be furious if I let you go alone.”

“You’re the best,” she beamed and went back to primping.

Tate rolled his eyes and flopped back on the bed, an air of anxiety radiating off him. “We’re going to be late if you keep staring at yourself.”

“I don’t want to get there too early,” Isabelle said.

“Why?”

“I can’t be too eager, can I?”

Tate shook his head. “I will never understand girls.”

Isabelle ignored him and just stared at her reflection, knowing that with her curves and hazel eyes she wasn’t classically beautiful but maybe tonight she could be enough to get noticed.

Or at least noticed by the one person she craved attention from .. but what if he rejected her in front of everyone? Isabella would never live down the shame.

“Alright, we’re going,” Tate said suddenly.

Isabelle spun around. “What? I told you I wasn’t ready to go yet.”

“We’re not going to the party yet,” he said as he opened her door.

“Well, where are we going then?” she asked as she accepted her jacket from him.

He pushed her out the door.

“We are going to get some dinner and enjoy our last full weekend together. Is that ok with you?”

Isabella linked her arms with his, relishing every moment she got to spend with him. “Sounds perfect to me.”