hømetøwn

• : / seventeen / : •

The door banged open. Brendon jumped, his arm tightening around my shoulders.

Ryan stood in the doorframe, his messy hair sticking to his forehead. "Bro, you should --"

"Ryan, what the hell? She's making a phone call, and it's kinda fucking important. Get out!"

"No, dude, really, you're going to want to see --"

My mom's rough cries crackled over the phone. My lips tightened, and without another word, I hung up.

"It's fine," I said. "Ryan, what's the deal?"

His gaze remained fixed on Brendon. "Code Iz."

"Iz?"

"Yeah. As in, you is...uh..." Ryan's eyebrow rose as he struggled to get his point across without saying it in front of me. "Is...uh...beeeeeeeellllllllll..."

Brendon yanked his arm off of me and was on his feet in a matter of seconds. "No."

"I'm afraid so, oh captain, my captain."

"Shit. Shitshitshitshitshit. Okay. Okay, where?"

"Out front. Says she wants to talk."

"Tell her I'm not here!"

"I did, I swear! But she said she saw you come in."

"Oh, great, so she's watching me again."

I said, "Who's watching you? Did you say again?"

"Tell her I'm in the shower," said Brendon to Ryan. "Or that I'm sick, or got murdered or something."

"Look," said Ryan, "she's already pissed at me for lying about you being here. I'm not going back out there. You know how she is. She'll rip my head off."

"Who'll rip your head off?" I said. I looked to Brendon, but he avoided my gaze, still focused on Ryan.

"Dude, I'm begging you," said Brendon. "I CLEANED YOUR BED AFTER YOU PISSED YOURSELF AND THIS IS HOW YOU REPAY ME?"

"YOU WOULD DO THE SAME THING IF IT WERE ME, THAT BITCH IS CRAZY!"

"HEY!" I roared, and both of them jumped. Finally, their eyes slid onto me. A satisfied smile pulled at the edges of my lips. "Okay," I said. "Okay, first of all, I really kind of hate the whole Every Man's Ex Is A Crazy Bitch thing, so if this girl isn't actually batshit crazy, I'm gonna punch both of you in the stomach so hard that you'll vomit my fist."

They stared at me. Brendon's eyes were wide, his mouth falling open. Ryan just stared for a moment, then grimaced.

"Uh...well, uh...right now, I would be totally terrified," said Ryan, "if I wasn't totally sure that this is possibly the most batshit crazy person on the planet. But I am sure. And if I go back out there and spit another lie she'll probably decapitate me or something. And personally, I'm not a fan of having my head put on a stake and hung outside crazy people's doors."

"I'm not going out there, either," said Brendon.

"Dude, this is your problem, not mine."

"What's the deal?" I said. "Why's this girl trying to talk to you? Is she an ex of yours or something?"

Brendon's lip twitched. "No, not an ex."

I waited.

He shifted uncomfortably. "No romantic stuff. We just, uh. We used to be, like, best friends, basically. Except she's absolutely insane. Huge control freak. It started out small, but she ended up trying to run my whole life. Bossed me around all the time, didn't want me to follow music, etcetera, etcetera...Basically, she acted like my mom on steroids. She'd like follow me home and hack into my phone and shit. It was freaky. But she moved schools last year, moved to some place God knows where."

"And now she's back?" I said.

"Yes, and now," said Ryan in a deep, dramatic voice, "the hit horror film ISABELLA has returned in a terrifying sequel..."

"Shut up," said Brendon.

"Okay, seriously though, she's waiting. Just go tell her to leave!"

"No way."

"Oh my God, I'll do it," I said.

They both fell silent for a moment. Brendon looked like I'd just offered to jump off a cliff in his place.

"Are you sure?" he said.

"Yeah, man, whatever," I said. "What do I say -- that you're sick?"

"Won't Isabella wonder who she is?" asked Ryan, looking nervous.

"I'll say I'm part of the band. Or not. I don't know, I'll make something up. It'll be fine. Don't worry about it. I'll go now." I pushed past them and left Brendon's room.

I made my way across the kitchen and to the door. I wondered what she'd be like. Tall and intimidating? Tattooed? She probably had a lip and nose ring. Or maybe she was totally nerdy and had an unexpected appearance for someone who scared Brendon and Ryan so much. Maybe she was drop dead gorgeous. Or maybe her reflection could shatter mirrors. Maybe she...

Enough imagining. I had to open the door.

I took a deep breath, forced a smile, and opened the door.

My insides disappeared.

"Angie?"