cast l.h

week eleven part two

A woman reporter on the news goes on about some robbery spree in Atlanta as I lay on my couch and stare at the ceiling. The tingle on my lips of Izzy's kiss lingers. It's harder and harder to keep denying the truth.

I'm in love with her.

But she's not in love with me. It's not the same for her. She can't just come around whenever she wants and kiss me just because she misses me. It doesn't work like that. Okay... it does work like that but I hate it.

I didn't want her to regret anything she did with me, that's why I stopped her. If she thought that was easy for me to peel a beautiful girl off of me, she is insane.

She's probably driving herself crazy right now. Maybe I should go see her and talk to her.

I throw on some pants and a hoodie and walk over to the house. The porch door always stays unlocked so I go through there. I flip the lights on and the dark rooms lighten. Ghostly shadows of furniture trace the walls as I climb the stairs.

Her room is empty though, and abnormally clean. Worry sets in. Where is she. I dial her number and it rings a few times and goes to voicemail. The window is open and I run to it and see her truck still in the driveway.

I race down the stairs to Ashtons room and barge in, my eyes scanning the room and finding Ashton snoring. My arms shake him awake.

¨Where is Izzy?¨ I shout.

He looks confused at first, rubbing his eyes and blinking a few times. ¨Probably asleep dude. Why?¨

¨No no she's not there. She came over earlier and we kissed and then I stopped her because I was afraid she'd regret it and that she was just doing it because she felt bad because she knows I was mad and have feelings for her and I just really don't want her to be so upset all the time about herself because you know how she gets and plus you told me she doesn't take meds anymore and I'm just really worried Ashton, she's not in her¨ I take a breath ¨room and if she's not there and her car is outfront where could she be.¨

¨LUKE,¨ Ashton shakes me ¨relax for a few seconds. Let's look around the house.¨ He gets out of bed, and wraps the comforter around himself then waddles out of the room.

We look in the basement on the top floors and then finally go to the first floor again. She isn't anywhere. With each room I can see the worry grow on Ashton's face.

Ashton enters the dark kitchen and shouts, ¨Luke!¨

I nearly trip on my quick advance to the kitchen. ¨What!?¨

¨Do you know who Drew is?¨ Ashton cautiously asks while holding a piece of paper in his hand.

¨Why what's wrong?¨

He swallows deeply ¨She left a note saying she went out to hang with 'Drew'¨

My hand grabs the paper from Ashton's grasp. My eyes scan her familiar sloppy cursive, and I look back at Ashton ¨Who the fuck is Drew.¨

My anger grows in a second.

¨What the fuck. Classic Izzy, running to some asshole just because I did something I thought would be best for her.¨ I throw the crumpled paper across the room and walk out to the front room, kicking things on the way.

¨Luke," groans Ashton ¨She'll be fine. Don't be so upset. They're probably just friends.¨

I tug at the ends of my hair and bite my lip, ¨But have you ever heard of this guy? She talks about all her other friends like Luya, Calum, Michael, and even Henny! Never this guy.¨

Ashton looks away and then nods, ¨You're right. But she'll call us if she needs us.¨

I roll my eyes and just as I'm about to go on a rant my phone buzzes in my hand. The screen reads 'Mikey'. My heart quickens and slows as I thought it was going to be Izzy.

¨Hey dude, not a good time.¨ I begin.

¨Luke listen to me, Izzy called Luya earlier leaving her a voicemail all stressed out. Said she needed someone to get her mind off of you. Luya is freaking out because she's not answering her phone now. Is she home?¨

¨No dude, she's not. I'm freaking out. She left a note saying she was going somewhere with a guy named Drew.¨

Michael sounds like he's filling in Luya on what I say, ¨Give me the phone,¨ she says.

¨Luke, it's Luya.¨

¨Hey Lu.¨

¨Did you say Drew?¨

¨Yes, who the fuck is he.¨

¨Some guy she met on the beach a couple weeks ago. He sounded sketchy. Do you know where they went?¨

¨No, but I heard around school he's Kyle's cousin... ya know the guy that.¨

¨Yeah I know who Kyle is,¨ I sneer. My worry for Izzy exponentially grows.

¨So I'll ask around, see where he lives. In the mean time keep calling her!¨

Michael get back on the phone, ¨We're gonna come over just in case. I'll see you in a few,¨ he says then hangs up.

For the next fifteen minutes I dial Izzy's number repeatedly until Michael and Luya show up. I haven't stopped pacing and Ashton is still on the phone with Shyla, who hasn't left the hospital in a week.

Luya walks in talking a mile a minute, ¨So, apparently he dropped out of school and works as a lifeguard and thats probably why he met Izzy there. He doesn't have a place of his own but my friend Katie's cousin dated him for a while and said he's just as crazy as Kyle. She gave me a few addresses that they could be at. Friends houses and stuff.¨ She hands me a paper with 3 different addresses.

¨How'd you get all this in the past 15 minutes?¨ I ask.

¨When you're a volleyball player in all the athletic classes, you know people.¨

¨Okay well let's go to these places. She hasn't picked up.¨

¨Are you sure you want to do that Luke, maybe Michael and Luya should go. You might lose your cool. You know how you get...¨ Ashton says.

He's right. I have a tendency to lose my temper and hurt people. But I'd never hurt Izzy if that is what hes saying.

¨I'll be fine Ashton, you guys stay here. If she was really concerned about what she said to you Lu, maybe I need to talk to her alone, and stop this 'Drew' guy.¨

They all shift their weight uncomfortably. ¨Let Michael come too, he'll just follow in his car just in case....¨ Luya said cautiously.

I nod and look to Michael. He walks toward the door and I follow him. Ashton grabs my arm and whispers in my ear, ¨Be careful, we don't need you exploding and your Dad finding out.¨

My eyes avoid his, but I pat his shoulder to reassure him I'll be fine. But in all honesty, if Kyle or Drew or any other guy puts as much as a harmful finger on her, I'm not sure how far I would go to protect her.

Each time she tells me she has a bad past, I wonder if she would think as badly of herself if I told her the truth about mine. Maybe if we were just honest with each other for once, she wouldn't be out somewhere with a stranger instead of home safe with Ashton or me.

Michael follows me in his car. We drop by the first house, but it's nice looking and when I peak in the window, all I see is an older couple asleep on the couch together watching reruns of 'I Love Lucy'. It's pretty adorable to say the least.

I rub my hands together in front of the heater in my car and type in the next address. Every minute she's out of my reach, I feel my anxiousness grow.

The second house is also a bust, the sign in front says it's for sale. My hands shake as I type in the last address into my phone. What if she's not there? What if she thinks I don't want her? She's all I want and need though.

The speed of the car seems it couldn't go any slower, but at 70 mph I know it's just my impatience. Parts of town fly by me. In my rear view mirror Michael struggles to keep up with me. The voice telling me directions counts down the distance.

As I grow closer my heart begins to race. I'm only minutes away from my final chance to convince her that no matter what she says I won't give up on her.