Home is where the heart is

21. ISABELLE

Isabelle felt a stab in her heart. She didn’t love getting punched in the face by some girl she’d never met or done anything to, but she hated the idea that she was the cause of humiliation and pain for someone who just didn’t know how to let go of the one they loved.

“I don’t want that to happen again,” Isabelle said quietly.

“Trust me, she will never get close enough to touch you again, I promise you,” Maia swore.

“No,” Isabelle said louder this time. “For people to yell and humiliate her like that, I don’t want that to happen again, OK?”

Maia stared at her, her mouth actually opened slightly. She was looking at Isabelle like she was from a different planet.

Isabelle looked away quickly, feeling uncomfortable under that stunning gaze.

“I was wrong,” Maia finally said.

Isabelle looked up then. “About what?”

“You could never hurt anyone,” she said firmly, sliding off the bed and pulling Isabelle with her. “Now enough of this - go and have a shower coz we’re going out.”

Isabelle felt exhausted already.

“Where to now?” she whined.

Maia smiled indulgently. “The faster you get ready, the faster you’ll know.”

Isabelle made no effort to hide her groan as she trudged to her bathroom, shutting the door not so gently behind her.

All she really felt like doing was curling up in a ball, watching ridiculously cheesy chick flicks and stuffing her face with excess amounts of calories. She yanked her shorts off, stepped out of her swimmer bottoms and then tossed her bikini over her head, dropping them messily on the floor.

She glanced at the mirror and flinched a little at her face. There was a new purplish bruise on her left cheek, joining the party with all the other fading bruises. Probably not a good sign that her first night out since the incident and she got smacked again. Seriously, what was it about her that made people want to hurt her?

Forcing herself away from the mirror she started the shower, stepped into the hot jets of water then slid down the wall resting her head on her knees as the water ran all over her body. She was so beyond exhausted she honestly had no idea how she even got up lately. Hell, even consciousness seemed like the greatest effort in the world.

Loud banging on the door had her jump so high she felt like she may have bruised her tail bone when she settled back down.

“You’re wasting the day,” Maia called impatiently. “Two minutes and then I want you out.”

“You’re so annoying,” Isabelle snapped, before she could stop herself.

Luckily Maia didn’t seem to mind, and instead pounded on the door twice more to emphasize her point.

Isabelle covered her face with her hands, and sighed deeply from the pit of her stomach.

Thank God she was an only child.

*

As it turned out, the mystery location Maia had chosen was actually a shopping centre, most likely the only good one in the small town as it was absolutely packed.

“Pretty cool, huh?” Maia asked, her face alight with excitement.

Honestly? She wasn’t the biggest fan of shopping and hated crowds, especially with a battered face, but Maia was trying to make her feel welcome and the gesture itself made it worth braving the pitying glances.

“It’s great,” Isabelle said with a smile, praying it looked convincing.

Maia rolled her eyes. “You are the worst liar ever; remind me to play against you in poker. I know it just looks like a dumb mall but I figured we could go shopping for a perfect back to school outfit, and I brought back up.”

Isabelle’s heart sped up. Please don’t be Jace. Please don’t be Jace.

Maia smirked, clearly reading Isabelle’s thoughts.

“Come on, they’ll be waiting,” she tugged on Isabelle’s arm and lead the way to the food court.

Isabelle kept her head down as they walked, relying on Maia to guide her to their destination. She hated feeling like everyone was staring at her, even though they probably weren’t, and she was worried about how to act when she saw Jace. She had, after all, kissed him last night when she’d only known him a couple of days.

“Maia! Isabelle!”

Isabelle snapped her head up as relief washed through her whole body. It wasn’t Jace waiting for them after all but Maia’s best friend Giselle who she’d met briefly last night, along with two other girls she recognised but couldn’t for the life of her remember their names.

“Gigi!”

Maia let go of Isabelle and wrapped her arms around Giselle, the warmth in their embrace making Isabelle envious.

“Isabelle, right?” a husky voice asked.

Isabelle turned to a tall brunette with kind brown eyes.

“I’m Kerry - I don’t think we had a chance to get properly introduced last night. This is Kandi Thong.”

She indicated beside her to the Thai girl with the most incredible caramel skin.

“You had to give my full name didn’t you, b***h? Don’t judge me too harshly on my name,” Kandi said with a grimace. “My parents were clearly on drugs in the birthing suite.”

Isabelle smiled shyly, nodding at each of them.

“How are you feeling, Isabelle?” Giselle asked sincerely.

“I’m doing fine,” Isabelle replied quietly.

“Your face looks sore,” Giselle pressed. “Can we do anything?”

“Pretend I don’t look like a battered wife and instead look just like you guys?” Isabelle joked, secretly praying it was actually the case.

“You would hate that,” Kandi told her earnestly. “You would get zero boy attention then. Hell, I’d take the beating if I could have your body and effect on the guys in this town.”

Kerry smacked Kandi on the arm, her face horrified. “Kandi! What the hell?”

Kandi shrugged off the chiding. “What? It’s true! I have literally pulled out every trick I have to try and get Ben’s attention. I even wore that tiny white bikini to his party and I may as well have been wall paper. All Isabelle had to do was show up.”

Isabelle glared over at Maia. This was all her fault. If she’d just let Isabelle sleep, she wouldn’t be here feeling like a science experiment in front of these impossibly pretty girls.

“I’m just a novelty,” Isabelle said firmly, wanting out of this conversation. “When we start school and they realise I’m just a plain Jane, you’ll all be back in the game.”

Kandi groaned, smacking a hand over her face. “Great, she’s got ugly duckling syndrome too. The hits just keep on coming.”

Isabelle crossed her arms over her chest and glared at them all. “I am nothing special. I’m a regular chick, and you’re all weirding me out with your fascination.”

“You’re not regular,” Maia told her, quickly raising a hand to cut off Isabelle’s reply. “But I didn’t bring you here to argue about how hot you are. I brought you here so we could all look hot the first day back at school.”

“There isn’t a uniform?” Isabelle asked.

Kerry grinned at her indulgently. “Oh, you are just too much. No, we just have a colour code - navy and white.”

“And there are no other restrictions?”

Giselle rolled her eyes. “Of course there are.”

“But rules were made to be broken,” Maia said briskly.

Isabelle grinned and it was completely genuine. She couldn’t help it; something about these girls made her feel light, fun and normal.

“So, where do we start?” Isabelle asked, feeling her wall slip just a little as she allowed herself to open up to the possibility of fun.

Maia linked her arm through Isabelle’s and began to lead the way.

“Just follow along,” she said with a smile. “You’re in safe hands.”