Walk Me Home

Fyra

Ivy watched as her mother knocked on the door of the Cooper home. Her finger's fiddled with the Sunday Best dress her mother had forced her to put on. "Ma, I don't wanna be here", she whined.

"Hush up, use your manners, they're nice enough to invite us into their home", her mother chided softly, running a hand over her daughter's face and pushing her chin up slightly, "You'll be fine".

Mary Cooper opened the door with a massive  grin on her face, "Well hey there, I'm Mary, and you must be-".

"Amanda Beauregard, pleased to meet you Mary. Thank you for the invitation", Amanda said, placing that charming smile on her face that gave her a youthful look.

Mary smiled and let us inside, "My mom made her famous brisket for y'all".

Ivy swiped her hands on the skirt of the dress her mom made her wear. A man with a bowling shirt on in a recliner, beer in hand. He had blue eyes and short brown hair that was coiffed to the side. Next to him, on the couch sat Georgie and Sheldon, with a woman in a bright purple blouse with grey hair that was put up in some kind of bun that Ivy couldn't figure out the name of. On the floor sat a little girl with dazzling blue eyes and long blonde hair. The little girl jumped up, "Hi, I'm Missy and you're really pretty. I wanna be just like you when I grow up".

Ivy Grace nodded, "You're prettier, little lady. I'm Ivy Grace".

"Even you're name is pretty! Mine's boring, it's just Melissa".

The teen smiled and sat down on the floor, patting the spot next to her, "Nah, that's pretty, hun".

Dinner was an awkward affair, Sheldon scowled at Ivy as she made small talk with his parents. Georgie stared intently at his plate, refusing to make eye contact with the girl. Missy made animated conversation and even made Ivy Grace promise to hang out with her later. When they left Mary had convinced Amanda to join them at church on Sunday. The next day at school Ivy ate with Veronica, who had decided that they would avoid the Cooper brothers. "Well, don't they sound lovely", Veronica said with a sickly sweet smile.

Ivy scoffed and threw a potato chip at the blonde's face, "They were, you sourpuss".

Veronica took a bite from her sandwich and grinned, "Wanna get outta here?"

"Where we goin'?"

"Anywhere", Veronica said, "I need a drink", she said, pulling a bottle covered in a paper bag from her backpack.

Ivy Grace's eyebrows raised, "Y'know what? You go, I'll find you after school".

Ivy Grace did in fact not find Veronica after school, she went to the library and sat in the same chair she did when she met the Coopers. She couldn't see Sheldon anywhere so she finished the homework she needed to do. Sheldon did appear at some point, grumbling as he sat in the seat next to her. Ivy Grace could not in fact find enough peace to study with Sheldon Lee Cooper next to her, so she gave up rather quickly, packed up her books and left. Georgie was out front, he glared as she walked past, Ivy sneered and bumped his shoulder before turning the corner. Nobody was home when she arrived, so she sat in the living room, contemplating life choices. Her mother arrived before her dad, her pale complexion slowly getting darker in the Texan sun. She smiled at her daughter before disappearing to prepare dinner. Her dad arrived just as dinner was pulled from the oven, balding head covered in a bowler hat to protect it. He was an office man who once swore he would never be caught dead in a bowler hat, but here he was. "How was school, Ivy Grace?"

Her mother's tone was cool. Something was wrong, but Ivy didn't know. She hated being out of the loop, "Fine, finished homework before Sheldon Cooper came runnin' along", she said, pushing peas around.

Her father stayed quiet, he never did that. Ivy left the dinner table before anybody else, practically ran to her room and started writing a letter to a friend of hers. Maybe tomorrow Sheldon wouldn't be annoying. Oh, who was she kidding, pigs would grow wings and fly before that happened.