Bad Love Lingers (Book Three)

Chapter Four

                                                                                           Isabel

            Everyone stared at me as I passed the halls for the rest of the day—most of them all speaking about the evident bruise plastered on the side of my face. The whispers and silent dead looks didn’t bother me as much as the coldness I felt from that guy. He brushed it off like it didn’t affect him whatsoever. I refused to be this girl this year. I no longer wanted to be the helpless little girl that couldn’t defend herself or was too afraid to stand up to bullies like Chelsea. Part of me at that moment wanted to turn around and smack her, but the coward in me backed into a corner, refusing to show any strength. People looked at me like I was so helpless. That alone made me feel powerless.

            As the day went on, the news about what happened had spread all over the school. Chelsea had no doubt bragged to everyone about what she had done, and her little minions were there to spread the word. I was asked if I would like to be excused for the day, but that would only give Chelsea more ammunition to use against me later. I had to do something rather than be afraid every time that she and I would cross paths. When I got home and took the lip beating that I was sure to get from my dad, I would tell them that I wanted to enroll in defense classes. Our school offered them, but they were an out-of-pocket expense class. Even if I had to pay for it myself, I would.

            Olivia stomped down the hall toward me as the day came to an end. I decided to skip lunch, hiding in the girl’s bathroom to avoid her because I already knew how this would go. “I’m going to kick her f*****g ass!” Olivia had a small frame, but she held more strength than most guys in this school. She had no problem with making her words become a reality.

            I grabbed her by the wrist and shoved her out the doors toward the student parking lot. “Just take me home. I don’t really want to talk about it.”

            “Look at your face, Isabel! How can you say that you don’t want to talk about it? Chelsea deserves to get her ass beat for laying a finger on you. I’m tired of that girl walking all over you! She thinks that she has some ownership over you, and it makes me sick.” Olivia’s face had already turned beat red by the time she unlocked her car, and we climbed inside.

            All I could do was sigh as I noticed all the attention Olivia had caused. The more that Olivia drew attention to this, the worse that it would be for me. I turned to her once I was inside her new car and let my tears flow for the first time today. “Please, don’t. You are only going to make it worse. Can you just drop it and take me home?”

            Olivia turned over her engine and sped out of the parking lot. We didn’t say another word the entire ride home. I felt like a caged bird that got pebbles thrown at it by the mean kids. Everyone knew that I was weak, and they devoured it. They ate me up like I was some chew toy used for their enjoyment. The worse part was that I was the main problem because I was the one that let it go on. If I were braver and stood up for myself every once in a while, none of this would have happened.

            I practically jumped out of the car before it could come to a complete stop in front of my house and took off running inside. My parents weren’t home yet, and Justin was still on the bus waiting to be dropped off, so I had the house to myself for a while. At least I could try and cover up the bruise to make it not look so bad. There wasn’t really much of a point, considering that my parents probably already knew, but if it didn’t look so bad, maybe my dad wouldn’t be so angry.

            Justin got home and went straight to his room like most days. He was at that age where video games meant everything to him. We had a pretty good relationship due to the fact that Justin has never been too clingy as most younger siblings were. He was smart and respected the fact that I was older than him and that I enjoyed my privacy. When my parents got home, that was an entirely different story. Both of them always arrived home seconds apart from each other.

            They both opened the door to my room, my dad’s face already red with anger. “Care to explain what happened today on the first day back at school?”

            “Ease up, honey. According to Mr. Lucas, this wasn’t her fault,” my mom said, grabbing onto my dad’s hand for comfort.

            “Isabel Rae Hawkins, you tell me this instant what happened.” My dad was trying to contain himself, but the veins popping from his forehead were going to explode any minute now.

            I turned my computer chair around, causing both of them to gasp when they saw my face. “It isn’t as bad as it looks,” I said in almost a whisper. The makeup I used did nothing considering how dark the bruise had already become. “It was just some kids messing around at school, is all,” I lied.

            My dad paced back and forth in front of me, running his hands through his dark black hair. “This is unacceptable! You are sixteen and getting into fights on the first day of school! This is by no means okay, Isabel.”

            My mom bent down in front of me, placing her hands on my knees. “It’s okay, sweetie. You can tell us what happened. If we know the whole story, we can try to help.” It was like having a part of heaven and hell in front of me, with my dad being the devil and my mom being the angel on my shoulder. That was one reason it was so mind-blowing to me that my mom ever went for someone like my dad. They were total opposites, yet they were madly in love. I guess it is true what they say about opposites attract.

            I took a deep breath and told them all that had happened, leaving out the part about the rude guy. I don’t know why I didn’t tell them other than it didn’t seem important enough to mention. “You know that Chelsea has been after me since I was younger. I want to take the defense class at school. It is an after-school program that I can participate in two days a week.”

            “Absolutely not,” my dad interrupted. “No teenager should have to take defense classes. We can easily go up to that school and demand that actions be taken against her.”

            “Yeah?” I said as I stood. “And what good would that do that? It would only make Chelsea more upset, and she has no one to take it out on but me. At least if I had defense classes, I could stop her before she ever hurt me again. Dad, I know that you don’t understand it, but I want to do this. Even if it weren’t about Chelsea, there would one day be someone else that came along pushing me around because I am an easy target. I don’t want to be that sad, helpless little girl that everyone thinks they can pick on just because I don’t stand up for myself.”

            From the look on my mom’s face, I could see that she understood where I was coming from. She may have not ever had an issue with bullying when she was growing up because she knew what it was like for a young girl to find her independence to feel like she could protect herself. I heard the story of her getting mugged one night. If she had been able to defend herself, it wouldn’t have turned out the way that it did. However, my dad was still shaking his head no even as my mother pleaded with him through nothing but her eyes and body language.

            “We will continue this conversation later, sweetie. I will make you an ice pack to put on that to bring some of the swelling down. It seems as if that antibiotic has worn off. Come on, Levi. You can help me start dinner.” She pulled my father out the door, sensing that I wanted to be alone.

            When they left, I laid down on my bed, looking out my bedroom window as the birds flew by. What I wouldn’t give to be a bird, to be free. Before I knew it, I was closing my eyes and falling fast asleep.

            I awoke to the sound of my new phone ringing only to see that it was Olivia calling me for the hundredth time. She meant well, I know that, but I was frustrated with her. Part of the reason people like Chelsea thought that they could pick on me was because Olivia has done nothing but fought my battles for me. Never did I have one chance to stand up for myself, and when I finally did, I had been too sheltered to do anything about it.

            When my phone rang again, I grunted and hit the little green button flashing on my screen. “What?” I snapped.

            “Oh, I know that you are not pissed off at me. I was calling to make sure you were okay, so don’t catch an attitude.”

            A slight smile broke out from the corner of my mouth. Only Olivia could bring humor to a dreadful day like today. “I’m sorry. I’m fine, really. I just had a fight with my parents earlier.”

            “Let me guess. Your dad isn’t too thrilled to see his baby girl’s face a mess?”

            “Not only that, but I told him that I wanted to enroll in the after-school defense classes, and he freaked out.”

            Olivia was silent for a few seconds before letting out a small chuckle. “You should do it anyway. I mean, how would they even know? For the two days a week that the classes take place, I can make sure that Justin gets home okay, and I can lie for you if they ask where you are at. Trust me. I have the lying thing down pat. All they need to know is that you started coming over here after school like you used to do.”

            That could actually work. The classes were expensive, and I had enough money left over from the summer jobs that I did to pay for it. But it was easier said than done. I had never done anything behind my parent's back before. Mostly it was because I knew my dad would find out either way and on top of that, I wasn’t a very good liar. I guess it was time for me to get good at it. “Okay, deal. Thank you, Olivia. I have no idea what I would do without a friend like you. I owe you one.”

            “You got that s**t right! I will pick you up in the morning for school, so be ready! The defense classes start up tomorrow, so you won’t be losing out on missing anything.”

            “What if my dad calls your mom to ask if I am really over there? You know how crazy he can get.”

            “Please, Isabel! You know that my mom is always on your side, and she will be on your side about this too. My mom has no problem lying to your dad if she needs to. I got you, girl.”

            We hung up the phone, and I danced around my room in my newly refreshed mood. I was nervous about lying to my parents, but I wasn’t going to lie. I started to get a little rush from it. It was like getting your hand caught in the cookie jar, knowing that you weren’t supposed to be doing it. This was a foreign feeling to me, but a feeling that I welcomed. This was the start of my independence, and nothing would get in the way of that.