The Loudest Silence

Isabella

"I'm headed to my dad's for the night, I'll probably be back early tomorrow morning." I threw over my shoulder to Isla as I zipped up my coat. Winter had hit Maryland at it's full force, and the thin jackets I once wore no longer sufficed.

Luckily, Isla had decided to clean her closet out earlier in the month, and had insisted that I choose whatever I wanted. She had enough clothes to dress an army of people, and was more than generous with it.

I didn't know how I had gotten so lucky with her being my roommate. After our conversation last week, we had gotten closer than ever. It was clear that her confession had been weighing down on her, and telling me helped with that. She had been busy the entire week, and he hadn't spent too much time with one another. Isla finally decided to seek professional help to help with her trauma, and was attending therapy sessions. I could see the clear change in her since those sessions, and I couldn't be more proud of her for the effort she had made to overcome what had happened to her.  I would be lying if that I didn't feel guilty anytime Isla filled me in on her progress, and how much better she felt being honest with the people in her life. Isla had been nothing but good to me, and I wanted nothing more than to be transparent with her.

As much as I wanted to, I knew that I couldn't risk even more people knowing about my situation. I would tell her in due time, when things settled down, but for the time being, it was a risk I didn't want to take. Roman and I had been walking on eggshells since our last conversation. We had met a few times to discuss how we wanted to go about things, but they were always brief because he usually had somewhere to be with his uncle or Rick. We were trying our best to keep this under the radar from any of Rick's men, and and continued on as we normally would. 

"Okay! Have a good weekend!" She cheerfully said from her bed, where she sat painting her toenails. Today she was painting them a bright green color, and she looked incredibly concentrated as furrowed her eyebrows and kept a steady eye on her toenails. I couldn't help but let out a silent laugh at her intensity, as I turned back to the small duffle bag I had packed.

I wasn't exactly lying when I said I was going to Rick's house. He had called an impromptu meeting with the entire group tonight. Roman and I had plans to meet already to discuss how we were going to approach Mason on the matter, but decided to push it back until after the meeting was done. If we were absent from the meeting, Rick would definitely suspect that something wasn't quite right. 

I couldn't quite wrap my head around the fact that I would finally be telling Mason everything. It was a a surreal feeling. One part of me was terrified of how he'd react, but another part of me was aching to release everything I had kept inside, and I knew I couldn't go much longer lying to everyone around me. 

I'd be lying if I said I wasn't anxious of how he would react to all of this. It wouldn't be an easy topic to discuss, and I don't know how he was going to take the news about me lying about my identity and who I really was, but I only hoped that he was understanding and willing to help.

"Oh and Isabella! There's this live concert out in the courtyard next week, we should definitely attend together. I miss spending time with you." Isabella piped up just as I made my way to the door. Turning to face her, I gave her a wide smile whilst eagerly nodding my head. I was optimistic about how the rest of the year would pan out. Ever since I had made the decision to free myself from Rick's control, the prospects of how my life would be were endless. I was giddy for how my life was going to change, and I couldn't wait for that moment to come.

"I'd love to." I said to her as she returned my smile with one of her own. She gave me a quick wave before leaning down to blow on her wet polish. Giving her one last look, I made my way down the stairs and towards the parking lot. Roman's car was parked towards the front, and I quickly paced to the car. It was slightly beginning to drizzle, and dark clouds occupied the sky. Low rumbles of thunder had sounded while I was getting ready to leave, meaning a storm would most likely be coming later tonight.