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Name: Isla-Grace Gillies-Corcoran Age: 16 Parents: Elizabeth Gillies + Michael Corcoran
Parties were a new situation for Liz and Michael to parent, and it was difficult for a multitude of reasons. Mainly because it was hard to say no to their daughter when:
'Everyone will be there!'
And
'I'll literally be bullied forever if I don't go!'
And
'Fine. I won't go. And then I won't have any friends. Do you want to homeschool me?'
So reluctantly, Liz and Michael gave into the idea of allowing Isla to go to the party. On a few conditions which simply were just that Liz gets final approval on Isla's outfit and that she wouldn't be home past midnight.
With the last rule in mind, Liz was surprised to hear her phone ringing with a call from Isla at 10:30 PM, just two hours since Michael had dropped her off.
"Hey Isla. You having a good time?" Liz asked after swiping across to answer the call.
"Momma." Isla murmured lowly.
Liz hadn't been called that in years.
"Are things okay?" Liz asked, hearing the background noise of the party louder than she heard her daughter's voice.
"Can you come pick me up?" Isla asked quickly.
"Absolutely. Send me your location and I'll be right with you, baby." Liz told her, putting down her bowl of ice cream and grabbing her car keys.
That was how their parenting worked. They dropped everything for their daughter, no questions asked. Discussions could wait.
"Thanks." Isla said, hanging up the call and sending a link to Liz with her live location.
"Isla? Hello?" Liz frowned and looked at her phone screen.
"She hang up?" Michael asked from the couch.
"Yeah. She doesn't normally do that." Liz shook her head.
"Don't stress it, babe. Do you want me to go pick her up?" Michael offered.
"No, it's okay. I'll be back soon." Liz kissed him and then slid on her sneakers before heading out to the front drive.
It was a short journey but Liz's whirring mind made it seem like hours. She caught herself up in the endless list of possibilities for why Isla wanted to come home and it was only panicking her more. Eventually Liz arrived at the correct street and she texted Isla who stumbled up to the car and struggled to open the passenger side door.
"Are you serious..." Liz trailed off to herself, leaning over and opening the door from the inside.
"Hello." Isla said, getting into the car and staring blankly at her mother.
