CHAPTER 26- Sunset

Izzy's POV 

         I laid in bed the next morning and pulled out my phone, staring at the new contact I'd been dying to text since the second he put it in my phone. Taking a deep breath, I hit send. 

I- Izzy   J- Jake

I- Hi... it's Izzy. 

J- Hey! I thought you were just gonna delete my number 

I- Nah, thought about it, but wanted to give you a chance to not be an obnoxious asshole. 

J- I'll do my best! What are you doing today? 

I- Depends, there's a lot of shit I have to do. Why? 

J- Do you think you could take a break from all of that shit and hang out with me? 

I- I think I can fit you into my schedule... 

J- Meet me in the park in an hour. (: 

     I put down my phone and found myself genuinely smiling for the first time in a long time. At the same time, I shoved down the butterflies I had in my stomach. I don't want anything from this except for a friendship. I don't think I could handle anything more. 

     I walked downstairs after showering and getting ready for the day, and saw the kitchen was empty except for a note. 

Hey Iz, 

Didn't want to wake you, but me and dad went out to breakfast. See you soon ! 

-Mom. 

       That was weird. Usually they can't stand to be in the same room for longer than five minutes without killing each other or door slamming. But, there are the rare times in between the fighting that I see the unconditional love they have towards each other. Both of them have fucked up, my mom with me, and my dad with an affair, but they've gotten past all of those things and know that they would never break up over a silly fight. This is one of those times, but it will no doubt turn into another screaming match sooner of later. I walked into the garage and got into the jeep, not wanting to be here when it does. 

~*~

       "Hey stranger!" I heard a voice call, as I got out of the car. I turned around to see Jake walking over to me with a smile on his face. 

"Hi." I said, with a shy smile. Jake was wearing a typical guy outfit, jordans with high socks and a matching t-shirt. However, there was something in the way he carried himself, like he wasn't a typical guy. Of course, that might've been the fact that he's one of the most attractive guys i've ever seen. 

"So watcha wanna do today? It's your call." 

I shrugged, "Well there's a bunch to do here, we could hike to the Hollywood sign?" 

Jake grinned, "I've been wanting to do that since I got here but couldn't find the time! Let's go." 

Grateful that I had decided to wear shoes I could hike in, I started up the path with Jake leading. 

~*~

  "Fuck I think we're lost." I laughed as Jake looked around with a confused expression on his face. 

"Well shit what do we do now?" I checked my watch, 7:02. 

"Well we can climb to the top of that hill and watch the sunset, then see where we need to go to get back to civilization." 

"Or we could just stay in the wild and live the life of Tarzan and Jane." Jake said in an Australian accent with a smirk. 

"I think my mother would have a problem with that." We both started cracking up, I'd told Jake all about the situation with my mom and dad. He seemed so easy to talk to that now he basically knows my life's story.... minus the self-harm and eating disorder. We walked up to the top of the hill, and sat down to watch the red and orange colors streak the sky. 

"So do you think you'll ever come back to school?"

I shrugged, "Not likely, but maybe... once the seniors graduate. It'd be nice to have my senior year be one without torment." 

Jake smiled, "So my bestfriend won't be in school?" 

I grinned, "I'm you're only friend." 

He touched his heart, pretending to be offended, "Ouch." 

"Get used to it." 

I couldn't look at his face, knowing that the goofy grin would be placed there and I'd end up smiling. 

"Are you always this cynical?" 

I shrugged and pretended to think, "Yup." 

         We stayed up on the rock for about ten more minutes, until the sky had gotten darker and we finally had to leave before it became impossible to see the trails. After getting a general direction of where the park was, we set off. 

I fell three times. 

~*~

           "WHERE THE HELL HAVE YOU BEEN?" A voice yelled as I shut the door behind me causing me to jump. 

"Jesus mom relax I was out." 

"DO YOU HAVE ANY IDEA HOW WORRIED I'VE BEEN. SOMETHING COULD OF HAPPENED TO YOU!" 

I rolled my eyes as she continued to yell, "Well nothing did happen. I'm fine. Stop yelling would you?" 

My dad came into the room, relief on his face too. 

"Alright let's just calm down. She's home and safe, that's all that matters." 

My mom turned on him, "That is certainly not all that matters! She left home for the entire day without leaving a note or answering any of our phone calls-" 

"That's not true! You never..." I trailed off as I saw thirty-seven missed calls and fifty texts from both of my parents. "Oh shit, my phone was on silent, I'm sorry." 

My mom ran a hand through her hair, "Sorry isn't good enough Isabella! Do you realize what happened to you in the past month? I thought-" 

"Did you really just fucking ask me that mom?! Of course I know what happened to me that night! I was THERE remember? I'm trying to get past it, to live my life like a normal teenager. But I can't when I'm reminded of it every single night!" 

My mom's mouth opened and closed, but it was my dad who spoke first. 

"What do you mean reminded of it?" They both looked at me with concerned expressions. 

"Nothing." I muttered, pushing past them and running up to my room. "Absolutely nothing." 

~*Demi's POV*~

 "What the fuck was that?" I wondered aloud. 

Wilmer shrugged, "She's going through a tough time right now. It's normal in this situation for her to feel hostile and defensive. She'll open up eventually. Go talk to her, but don't push it, or get mad with anything she says. If she does open up it's big, and it's what she's feeling and you can't discredit that." 

I sighed, and leaned my head against his chest as his arms wrapped around me. 

"How come you're always right?" 

He chuckled, and kissed the top of my head. "I'm not. Just usually. Now go, be a mom, not a Demi." 

I rolled my eyes and walked up the stairs to Izzy's room pausing to listen. 

"Izzy?" Nothing. "Izzy? Are you in there?... Look i;m sorry for freaking out I just... I don't want anything happening to you baby. Can I come in?" 

I heard footsteps, then the door opened. Izzy stood there with red eyes, i. She'd changed into shorts and a sweatshirt. 

"What do you want mom?" 

I half-smiled sheepishly, "I just want to talk." 

One look at her face told me that wasn't going to happen. 

"Well... here's the door." She looked at it pointedly, then slammed it in my face.

"TALK!" 

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Comment and Vote! 

Follow me on twitter and tweet me to let me know what you think! @Lovatic_Chica

-Rachel