Consumed By temptation Of Chaos

Chapter; eleven

— Isabella Vitiello

It was two fifteen in the afternoon, and I was sprawled on the floor behind the reception desk of my mom's yoga studio, my laptop open to three tabs: one page filled with disconnected sentences I swore would eventually form paragraphs and later turn into chapters of my thesis. Another containing small progress on my new book, the very thing responsible for the dark circles forming under my eyes. And finally, a tab with my online chess game, where I could compete against people around the world, filtering through the best players. I had been stuck in a match with one player for weeks.

Beside me, my best friend, Sienna, huffed at her phone. She was probably arguing with someone on social media.

"Ugh, I swear people wake up wanting to be wrong," she muttered without taking her eyes off the screen, her enormous decorated nails tapping rapidly.

I didn't respond. I was too busy staring at the virtual board as if, if I blinked, my opponent would crawl through the screen and laugh in my face.

"Checkmate in just three moves," he had written in his last message. Six days ago. Six. Days. But he hadn't made the final move. He hadn't moved at all. It was psychological. It had to be. He wanted to destabilize me, and I, Isabella Vitiello, will not emotionally surrender to this little asshole. But damn it—how the hell, three moves? That's a lie. I've analyzed this damn board countless times. There's no way he comes out of this winning.

"You're ignoring the world again," Sienna said, now staring at me with a furrowed brow, which meant she was annoyed. And probably because I hadn't heard something she said.

I wrinkled my nose and adjusted the glasses that had slipped to the tip of it.
"Sorry, Si..." I gave her my best cynical smile.

"You didn't even hear what I said." She crossed her arms, pouting.

"Of course I did." I tried digging deep into my subconscious for whatever she'd said. With some effort, scattered words and murmurs floated back to me. "You were talking about your parents. Right?"

She studied me for a few seconds, shaking her head before finally sighing.

"They've been really weird lately. And I mean, they've always been weird, but now they're weirder than usual," my friend confessed, twirling a faded pink strand of hair around her finger.

"Maybe it's just your impression? Maybe they're having some kind of marital problem."

"It's not that. Not at all. They're doing everything I want without complaining, and you know how much they love fighting with me. I've done everything that would normally drive my mom insane, and so far she hasn't gone insane." She shrugged, and I let out a small laugh, earning a glare from her.

"I don't get you. You used to say you hated your brothers and that your parents suffocated you, and now that they've left you alone you're freaking out?" I smiled a little wider. "You're actually crazy."

"I don't know why I still tell you things." She hit my shoulder, irritated.

"Because I'm your best friend." I stuck my tongue out, and she did the same.

We stayed sitting on the floor until one of Sienna's brothers came to pick her up. I said goodbye to my friend and headed toward the studio's café.

The smell of coffee drifted up into my nose and my stomach practically rejoiced at the taste of the warm liquid. Inside, there were low voices, deep breaths, people searching for balance. I closed my eyes for a moment, trying to quiet my noisy mind, doing my best to sort through the thoughts that constantly threatened to drive me insane. I spent a few minutes just breathing and soaking in the silence until my phone vibrated beside me, pulling me out of the trance.