The Art of Life (47 page)

               
Jeremy
walks over to his friend and puts his hand on his arm.
 
“She has been through enough, please, don’t
push her.”

               
With
a disgruntled grimace, Kent spits out, “Fine.”

               
Cassandra
walks forward with a bag.
 
“Here, I got
you some stuff.
 
I picked out scarves to
go with the outfits that we bought you.
 
If you want to get dressed, I will show you what you can do with them.”

               
“Okay,”
I barely whisper.
 
“I will go get
dressed.”
 
I turn and walk down the hallway.
 
Jeremy comes up behind me, and puts his hand
on my back.
 
Turning I look up at him,
and start to cry.
 
He ushers me into his
bedroom and closes his door.

               
“Come
here,” he sighs, pulling me to the bed.
 
Jeremy sits down and pulls me onto his lap.

               
I
put my head on his shoulder, and choke out.
 
“That is how everyone is going to react!
 
How am I supposed to go to school?”

               
“Hey,
you don’t have to go back to school until you feel comfortable.
 
They will understand.
 
I think you should call your guidance counselor.
 
Someone needs to know, especially if the
police contact them.”

               
“Yeah,
not right this second,” I sniffle into his shirt.
 
“I am scared to go back home.”

               
“That
is no longer your home Isabelle,” Jeremy scolds me.
 
“You live here.
 
We are going to get your stuff from your mom’s
house and bring it HOME, and hell hath no fury, if someone tries to get in our
way.”

               
Bringing
my head up, I am face to face with Jeremy.
 
“Are you sure about this?”

               
“Oh,”
he says with a smile.
 
“Definitely.”

               
With
an impulse, I kiss him gently on the lips and whisper, “Thank you.”

               
“What
is a fairy god father for?” He replies against my lips.
 
Pulling back, he says, “We should get
dressed.
 
Which one
do
you want, the bathroom or bedroom?
 
Unless, well, you know, we can change in the same room.
 
I am totally okay with that.”

               
I
stand up.
 
“You would like that wouldn’t
you, pervert?”

               
“What?”
Jeremy laughs.
 
“We are going to be
living together.
 
Sooner or later, we
will probably see each other undressing.
 
I mean, personally, I usually walk around in my boxers after I get out
of the shower.”

               
“Well,
I do NOT walk around in my underwear, sorry.”

               
Jeremy
leans back onto his hands.
 
“Well, that
is a bummer.
 
I was going to enjoy seeing
that.
 
What’s the bonus of having a girl
live with me then?”

               
“I
can cook and clean,” I retort.

               
“In a bathing suit?”
Jeremy quips.

               
With
a glaring look, I snap, “No, sorry.”

               
“Fine,”
he groans.
 
“Go, get dressed.
 
I will change in here.”

               
My
mind drifts to the fact that I would like to see that.
 
My eyes get huge at that thought.
 
I quickly turn and grab my stuff, leaving the
bedroom immediately.
 
What is my
problem!?
 
Really?

               
I
go into the bathroom and change.
 
Leaning
on my hands, I stare at myself for a while.
 
I look like I got hit with a ton of bricks.
 
My throat is now a dark purple and black
color.
 
My eyes are blood shot and
red.
 
I have dark circles under my eyes.
 
Geesh
, I have never
looked this bad.
 
Suddenly, there is a
knock on the door. “Yeah,” I yell.

               
“Can
I brush my teeth or did you fall asleep in there?” Jeremy asks.

               
Going
over, I open the door and cock my eyebrow.
 
“You are a pain in the butt.
 
You
know that right?”

               
“Hey,
I like having a clean mouth, and we need to get going.
 
Are you ready?”
 
He pushes me to the side gently and goes to
grab his toothbrush.

               
“I
need to brush my teeth, too,” I counter.
 
We stand and bump each other while we do that.
 
I can’t help but laugh.
 
Jeremy shoves me out of the way, while I am
trying to rinse out my mouth.
 
“Hey!” I
exclaim.

               
He
spits out his toothpaste and smiles.
 
“You
are slow and in my way.”

               
“Whatever,”
I say, wiping my mouth.
 
“We should
go.
 
I don’t want my mom to be there.”

               
Jeremy
nods his head, “Let’s go then.”

               
Kent and Cassandra follow us in
Kent’s car.
 
I try to explain to Jeremy
that I don’t have that much stuff and he keeps ignoring me.
 
“You don’t know.
 
We may fill a lot of boxes.”

               
“Okay,” I sigh, looking out the
window.
 
When we pull up to my mom’s
house, I just sit there and stare at it.

               
“Are you ready?” Jeremy asks,
taking my hand.

               
Inhaling a very deep breath, I
nod.
 
“Yeah, let’s go.”

               
We get out
to
find
Josh leaning against a truck.
 
I nervously play with the scarf around my neck.
 
Josh looks at us with a bewildered look.
 
“Can I ask what’s going on?”

               
“Nope,” Jeremy says, pulling me
passed him.
 
“We need to box her stuff up
quickly and get her out of here.”

               
I go and unlock the door.
 
Taking a deep breath, I walk in.
 
It’s like there are lead weights in my shoes
walking up the stairs, and when we get to my door, I freeze.
 
It is only cracked a little.
 
Part of me wants to just run and scream. I
feel Jeremy put his hand on my shoulder.
 
My eyes look up at him.
 
He stares
back down at me questioningly and looks at the door.
 
I nod my head, and he opens it.

               
There is nothing really out of
place.
 
You would think with such a
horrible thing happening, that everything would be askew, but it isn’t.
 
My eyes drift to my bed and that’s the only
thing that makes my stomach turn.
 
You
can see it all crumpled, with the blanket pushed back.
 
My bed is always made nicely.
 

               
A knot grows in my throat, and I
can’t move.
 
Jeremy bends over and
whispers, “
It’s
okay.
 
You don’t have to go in if you don’t want to.
 
Just tell us what you want.”

               
“No,” I reply, taking his hand
and squeezing it as tight as I can.
 
“I
can do this.”
 
With that, I step into my
bedroom.
 
Josh, Kent and Cassandra come
in behind us.
 
Josh throws down boxes and
starts to assemble them with tape.

               
“What do you want us to take?”
Cassandra asks softly.

               
“My art,” I say.
 
“I want all of it.”

               
Kent goes to the wall.
 
“I can handle that.
 
We need a big box to put this in.
 
I don’t want to wreck it.”

               
“What else?” Jeremy inquires.

               
“My clothes, I guess,” I reply,
putting my hand on my head.
 
“Oh, and my
books, I want those.”

               
Jeremy looks at Cassandra.
 
“You help her with her clothes.
 
I will pack up her books.”

               
Cassandra nods and walks to my
closet.
 
Josh brings over a box and drops
it down by us.
 
“You don’t have to put it
in there folded or anything.
 
Just throw
it in,” I say.

               
“Alright,” Cassandra retorts,
nodding her head.
 
She opens the closet
and starts to take stuff out.

               
I turn and look at my bed.
 
Horrible visions start to play in my
head.
 
My chest tightens and I can’t
breathe.
 
I start to back up into the wall,
cringing with fear.
 
Jeremy stands up,
“Izzy, are you okay?”

               
Shaking my head, I start to
cry.
 
“No, I can’t.
 
I can’t get it out of my mind.”

               
“Why don’t you wait downstairs,”
Jeremy soothingly murmurs.
 
“We can do
this.”

               
“What exactly happened?” Josh
asks, looking at me with a concerned expression.

               
With a really deep inhale, I
gasp, “My mom’s boyfriend….he came into my room.
 
He held me down on the bed……and…..”

               
“Oh, Isabelle,” Kent says.
 
“Did you take her to the ER?”

               
“He didn’t get to that point,” I
stutter.
 
“My mom came in.”

               
Josh crosses his arms.
 
“Isn’t that a good thing?”

               
My head hangs and I just
cry.
 
Jeremy puts his arms around
me.
 
“Her mom said it was Isabelle’s
fault.
 
She is an evil, vile woman and we
need to get Isabelle out of here.”

               
“So,
that mark
on your neck, that’s from him?” Kent asked.

               
“Yeah,” I whisper.
 
“He, he choked me.
 
I actually started to black out.”

               
“What mark?” Josh asks.
 
Nervously, I undo the scarf and expose my
neck.
 
Growling, Josh snaps, “Who is this
guy?”

               
Jeremy sighs.
 
“We don’t know who he is exactly.
 
We went to the police station and filed a
report.
 
They were going to talk to her
mom.
 
I haven’t let Isabelle have any
contact with her.
 
I think that’s for the
best, at least for now.”

               
“I agree,” Josh retorts.
 
“Well, let’s get this packed up quickly
then.”

               
I kind of sit on my desk chair
as everyone
packs
up my stuff.
 
My hands just won’t stop shaking, so Jeremy
made me sit down.
 
The guys start to
carry stuff down to the truck and cars.
 
Jeremy was
right,
there are a lot more boxes
than I thought.
 
Cassandra does all my
clothes, which is nice.
 
I don’t really
want Jeremy to go through my underwear.

               
Finally, there are only a few
boxes left.
 
Kent took down a box and
Jeremy picks up another one.
 
“We will
get you downstairs now.
 
Josh can put the
rest in the truck.”