8. Chapter 8

Chapter 8

JET

Me: Heading y’all’s way now. Might make it before the end of lunch.

I texted Annie as I left the snack bar, scarfing down my food as I walked and doing my best to avoid the rain when I got outside. My final project had needed some tweaks, and I hadn’t been able to resist taking a few extra minutes to work on those parts. Of course, now I was running late, but I doubted Annie would mind.

Annie: You missed all the drama.

Me: Oh, yeah?

Annie: Yep. I’ll fill you in later. Do you know where Izzy is?

I frowned, confused because when I’d left her earlier she’d been on her way to lunch. Dumping my trash, I pushed open the door to the main building, and I was about to text Annie back but ended up gaping as soon as I turned the corner down the hall.

“Izzy?”

She was slumped against Ms. Teiger, shakily holding on for support, her legs trembling and her feet bare .

I rushed over and pulled Izzy’s free arm around my shoulders to help. “What’s wrong? Are you sick?” She was so pale she was making her usual color look tan.

“Go to class, Jet,” Ms. Teiger directed.

“It’s still lunch. The bell hasn’t rung,” I replied. “Izzy, what happened?”

“I’m fine, Jet. Don’t worry,” she mumbled, but her knees failed her on the next step, and I caught her when Ms. Teiger lost grip.

I rolled my eyes and scooped her up. “Obviously not.”

She moaned and laid her head on my shoulder, her eyes closing tight when she looked like she might be sick. I looked at Ms. Teiger, waiting for her to object, but she just waved me on to the office, following right behind us.

“What happened?” I asked quietly just to her this time, now that her Izzy’s ear was only inches from my mouth.

She didn’t answer right away, my concern growing. Why didn’t she want to tell me?

“I made him mad,” she finally murmured.

“What? Made who mad? And how did that make you sick?”

Ms. Teiger held open the door when we reached the office, and I stepped inside, going straight to the small couch near the nurse’s office to set Izzy down. I poked my head in the room, but it was empty. She must have still been out for lunch.

“Thank you, Mr. Thanos, but I’ve got it from here. She’ll see the nurse as soon as she’s back. The front desk has already paged her. You can go on to class now.”

I gave her a polite smile. Apparently, she didn’t understand how our friendship worked. “It’s still lunch, Ms. Teiger. ”

“Jet, I’m okay. Really. You can go.” Izzy’s voice was weak, and she propped her elbow on the arm of the sofa to drop her head into her hand. She looked up at me, attempting a smile.

My eyebrow raised as I grinned. “And have Annie tear into me when I can’t give her a reason why you’re here? No thanks. Tucker wouldn’t be much fun, either.”

Izzy groaned at that remark. She leaned further into her hand, and some of her long hair fell forward, revealing deep, purple bruises on her upper arms.

My stomach flipped, and I thought I might drop for a second. Leaning over her, I reached out for the dark tender spots but stopped myself when she flinched. “How?” My tone was no longer teasing in any sense.

Just as I asked, the door to the office burst open and Coach Larson and the security officer were steering Zane into the room, both his arms pinned behind his back. He looked over at us, his gaze resting on Izzy.

She didn’t look up, just staring at her lap and slouching, looking like she hoped the couch would swallow her.

Zane’s gaze went from concern to anger when she refused to look up, and he scowled at me as the officer guided him to the principal’s office.

It didn’t take a genius to put that together.

“Izzy, what did he do to you?” I kept my voice gentle, but my tone still demanded an answer.

She sighed and blinked watering eyes. “He shook me.”

“He what?” I’d heard her, but I couldn’t believe it.

“He lifted me and shook me. He’s on steroids. I felt like a rag doll, okay? I’m still dizzy and sick to my stomach.” Izzy squeezed her eyes shut, tears welling, and I was left standing there, my mouth hanging open when the bell rang.

“Okay, Jet. Lunch is over. Now, get to class.” When I didn’t move, Ms. Teiger added, “Jet. Go to class now, or I’m writing you up for defiance.”

Shit. As much as I wanted to stay for Izzy, I couldn’t afford that. Not with my scholarship. Frustrated, I gave my friend a comforting squeeze above her wrist before I left, pulling out my phone.

At least, now I know what to tell Annie and Tucker.

ISABEL

“Izzy?” Mom’s slightly frantic voice carried through the door of the nurse’s office, and she rushed up to my bed still dressed in her scrubs from work.

Relief and apprehension rushed through me. It felt so nice to have Mom here, but things weren’t completely fixed between us yet, and I wondered how long it would be before one of our tempers flared.

“Oh, baby,” Mom murmured when she saw my arms, and she ran her hands through my hair. “Are you okay?”

“Yeah, I’m fine.” I offered her a smile, her touch easing some of the ache in my head that the ice pack hadn’t been able to help. Even though the room had finally stopped spinning, I was still a little queasy and lightheaded. But the less of a big deal we made this, the better. I was pretty sure I was still slightly in shock .

Mom turned to the nurse like she was expecting a different answer.

“No permanent damage that I can see here. But you still might want to take her to a doctor. The way that boy shook her…” The nurse shook her head. “It’s no wonder she got so sick.”

“No, I’m fine. Really.”

“Isabel…” Mom warned. “After your concussion last year and the accident last December, I really think I should take you in. Just to be sure.”

“Mom, please don’t. I really don’t feel like it. I just want to go home and rest.”

Mom pursed her lips, her eyes raking over me in scrutiny. “You’re really feeling fine?”

I nodded and forced myself not to wince. Sitting up, I set the ice pack aside and slid to my feet, smoothing the hem of my shirt down to my hips against my jeans. Thankfully, my legs were cooperating again. If I could just get that message to my head.

“See?” I smiled, holding out my hands. “I’m fine.”

Mom exchanged a look with the nurse, hesitating before giving in. “Alright, but if I see any sign that you’re hurting or something’s wrong, I mean even a hint of it, you’re going in.”

“Okay.”

A light knock sounded on the door, and Ms. Lane popped her head inside. “I’m sorry, Mrs. Donovan, I know you’re worried about Izzy, but, if you don’t mind, I really would like to talk to her for a few minutes to get her side of what happened.”

“Of course. No problem. She says she’s feeling fine. A few minutes won’t hurt. Right, sweetie?” Mom smiled as she gathered my things someone had dropped off earlier, but by the tone of her comment, I was afraid she could already tell about my head.

“Right.” I followed Ms. Lane to her office, still not wanting to give in. I’d just gotten things back on track. I did not want to feel this weak all over again. Not this soon.

My head was throbbing by the time I’d finished giving my account of the incident. Ms. Lane had asked for so many details, and I’d had to work my brain hard to recall the little things, my memory stubborn and sort of vague on what happened at the end.

Mom was fuming in the chair beside me. I’d never told her how much trouble Zane had become this year. The things I’d had to tell her had always been glossed over, the details vague while I’d tried to protect her.

“Thank you, Izzy.” Ms. Lane finally looked up. “We’re going to match your account and Zane’s with the cameras, so you shouldn’t have anything to worry about. Mrs. Donovan, is there anything you’d like to ask before we finish?”

Mom took a deep breath and closed her eyes. She didn’t open them until she began to speak. “I’m almost afraid to ask, but I’d like to know if anything else has gone on with this boy and my daughter that I don’t know about.”

My cheeks instantly flushed, and hurt mixed with anger in Mom’s expression when she saw. Ms. Lane just looked at me, waiting, and once I gave her a tiny nod, she immediately grabbed the mouse for her computer .

“Let me get a printout.” With a few clicks and some typing, Ms. Lane slipped out of the room and was back in just a couple of minutes, a thick file in her hand.

Mom’s gaze shot to me in alarm, but I refused to meet it, keeping my eyes locked on that file. Everything Zane had ever done was in there. I’d promised Tucker last fall that I’d go to Ms. Lane about him, and I had. About everything. Now, it was like my dirty secret was out on display.

“This is everything that’s been reported so far.” Ms. Lane handed Mom the file, and she took it nervously, slowly flipping through, taking her time to read down every page. She looked at me when she was done, disbelief and hurt in her gaze.

I looked down at the floor, feeling open and exposed. Never wanting to have put that burden on Mom.

“You know, it might be good if we discussed this as a group. While you’re all here,” Ms. Lane suggested, taking the file back.

“What do you mean, as a group?” Mom asked.

“I mean all of you. You and Izzy and Zane and his parents. They’re here right now, too. Maybe this is a good time to talk things through. We’d need your consent, of course.”

“Let me call my brother.”

I gave Mom a confused look.

“You were just assaulted, Izzy, and your uncle is a cop.”

I nodded, her reasoning making sense but also making everything so much more real. My stomach swooped, and the nausea that had subsided came back with a vicious vengeance as I tried to pep talk myself down .

Mom slipped her phone back in her purse when she hung up and smiled. “I’d love to sign that consent. My brother will be joining us soon, too. You’re still feeling okay, aren’t you, Izzy?”

I swallowed the butterflies swarming up my throat, my head in a constant throb. “Yep.”

Ms. Lane gave a staid smile. “Great. Let me go let them know.”

As soon as the door clicked shut, the tension in the room more than doubled. The air felt heavy. I waited for Mom to speak, but she just stared. A multitude of emotions played in her expression, but the disappointment and hurt were the strongest. I felt awful. I needed her to understand.

“Mom, I–”

“Don’t.” I snapped my mouth shut. “I understand that you’ve had to learn how to function without me, but a lot of that was from before my incident. You might be eighteen now, but I am still your mother. There are some things I need to know about. Like that.” She gestured to the file Ms. Lane set on her desk. “I can’t make you tell me everything. In fact, I know you’re not going to, but it would be nice to feel like you didn’t need to shut me out completely.”

“That’s not what I was trying to do,” I whispered, my voice going tight. “You know why I kept things from you in the fall. You were barely coping and just starting to get help.”

“And I told you that hiding things from me would only make me feel worse,” Mom snapped, both of us falling silent after that, tension eating up the room.