The Demise of Izzy Stark (#1 in Deadly Series)

chapter four: trials of being normal

Skyler Samuels as Miranda Reeds

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Izzy had been at the Stark-Reeds house for three days. Three days she'd stayed up til 4 or 5 in the morning and woken up by that woman at 8:30 in the morning. She was used to having barely any hours in at all but this was getting ridiculous. 

So on the fourth morning, she heard the snickers of Sprung Battles (or 3/4's of them) and smirked. "Isabelle, time to wake up!" Krystal called. Izzy burrowed into her warm covers. "Isa-" She opened the door and a bucket of mustard, mashed up cream cheese and whipped cream spilled all over her purple Vikings jersey and blue jeans. 

"ISABELLE!" She snarled, revealing the true beast within. Izzy cackled evilly as Krystal wiped the nasty combination out of her hair. 

"Don't hate the player, hate the game." She declared under her breath, hugging her pillow. 

"That's it: you're grounded." Krystal declared right back. 

Echoing silence pounded through out the house. Izzy swore there was a chirp of a grasshopper. 

"Excuse me?" Izzy scoffed, sitting up and swinging her legs over and out of the bed. Izzy had this strange habit of not wearing clothes to bed but ever since Krystal had woken her up the first day, she'd decided to wear underwear and a big shirt. The shirt she wore was a tank top of her Uncle Bucky's she'd stolen from him and never given back. 

"No technology for two weeks. Hand it over, young lady. Everything." Krystal said sternly. 

"No." Izzy snorted. "You're not my mother." 

"Yes, but I'm the only motherly figure that cares." Krystal said through gritted teeth. "Now hand it over." Nathan was balking at his mother from the doorway. 

Izzy exhaled sharply, angrily and then saw her father watching silently with Miranda by his side. She must've gotten him. Do something, Izzy begged with her eyes. 

"Don't you think that's going too far, Krys?" He asked gently, stepping forward. She spun to him angrily and he took a step back. 

"Did you see what she did? She's acting like a lunatic, Tony! You can't act that way in Daern High School. Principal Jones won't stand for it." Krystal declared. Izzy didn't bother hiding her smirk. 

"I graduated from high school when I was fourteen and I graduated college when I was seventeen." Izzy said cheerfully. She inwardly cackled when Krystal looked back at her furiously. 

"Then what are you going to do during the days?" She demanded. 

"Probably fuck around in the lab, maybe take off a day to go see Lust and Envy. Hey! You never know what could come up." Izzy shrugged.

"C'mon, sweetheart, let's go get you cleaned up. Stop stressing." Her father soothed Krystal. She glanced back with a deep frown and Izzy waved mockingly as they left. She shut the door before any members of the Sprung Battles could say anything and quickly grabbed a chair and shoved it under the doorknob. 

With a cocky smile, she dove into her covers and went back to bed. 

____________________________________________________________________

Waking up early was only one of the trials of "being normal". Krystal insisted on three meals a day, exactly on 7:00, 12:30 and 5:45. It sickened Izzy to see her father stick to his schedule. 

"She's changing him." She hissed into the phone, hiding in the attic for the time being. There was a rope tying from the open window to the door so if someone tried to come it, it would automatically stand. Her only refuge. 

"Isn't that good?" Moriah Lust asked from the other end. Izzy knew her father would be angry if she found out she, Lust and Envy were still friends but Izzy knew it wasn't their fault that their leader was a psychopath. "Moving on from your mother and all that?" 

"I hate Krystal." Izzy declared with a hiss. "She tried to ground me." 

"Sounds tough." Moriah commented. "Goddamn it, where are my cheetos?" She demanded. 

"Third cupboard from the right." Izzy said flippantly. "Now anyways-"

"Wait, I've gotta go." Moriah said cutting Izzy off. 

"But, Mora!" Izzy whined. "Why?" She paused, listening to her friend struggle silently and she heard a few crashes and explosions before a deep voice came from her phone. 

"Iz." Jacen said. "I've been meaning-" 

Click.

"Bastard." Izzy declared. She stood up and stretched. "No one breaks up with Isabelle Maria Stark and gets away from it." She untied the string, tucked it between two loose boards and walked out of the attic. 

"Hi, Belle." Freddy greeted her. 

"Hi, Freddy." Izzy replied. "Ready for school tomorrow." He scowled and shoved his hands in his pockets. "What?"

"I hate school." He declared. 

"So did I but I got through it." Izzy shrugged. They started down the hallway. 

"But you're super smart and super pretty and super awesome." Freddy sulked. "I'm just me." Izzy sent a glance at him before shrugging. 

"When I was fifteen years old," Freddy was fifteen, "I was starting college, I was always had zits on my face, I hate these huge black rimmed glasses and, oh, you can't forget my braces. I was such a nerd too. I always had a book in my hand and I wore these giant sweaters and jeans."

"I don't believe it." Freddy declared. They were at the foot of the stairs now, by the crossing from the living room, front door and kitchen. 

"There you are, Isabelle." Krystal said, frowning. "What on earth were you doing?" 

"Masturbating." Izzy batted her eyelashes at Krystal. Her face was bright red, reminding Izzy of the Iron Man suit. 

"E-Excuse me?" Izzy just cackled. 

"C'mon, kid, let's go for a joy ride." Izzy said cheerfully, dragging the brunette out of the huge, white house and leaving a furious Krystal. 

"Are you trying to make Mom hate you?" Freddy asked in disbelief. 

"Nah, I just really don't like her. No offense." Izzy added. They got into the Camaro and she fished her keys from between the seats. 

"It's fine." Freddy paused. "Mom's.....strong willed." He gripped the 'oh-shit' handle as they swerved onto the road. "Um...you're not gonna kill me, right??" He said nervously. 

"I'll have you know I'm a fantastic driver." Izzy huffed. "Most of the time." 

"MOST OF THE TIME?!"