Losing Isabella

Chapter Nine - Once A Cheater, Always A Cheater.

"What are you doing here Isabella?" I asked, enunciating every syllable in her name. I was going to have a good night so I tried to stay as calm as I could.

She turned around and her eyes landed on me. 

"Oh. Alyssa. Well I was invited."

"By my boyfriend?"

"No, by Monique."

"Oh..." I replied, "do you know where Liam is?"

"Look. I don't think you should go in there."

"Why do you always have to start this crap? I just want to have a good night. Pretend you haven't even seen me tonight."

I stalked off past her into the house. Now I was on a quest to find Liam. Every room I went into there was at least one couple hooking up. Ew.

As I wandered through the hosue I tried not to get lost and my mind jumbled up the mental mind map of his house. I spent a solid hour drifting in and out of rooms looking for Liam. I was offered weed, vodka shots, grinded up against and groped until I finally spotted the top of Liam's messy hair. Most days I loved it but at that exact moment it irritated the fuck out of me.

 I snuck up behind him only to be faced with another girl stuck to his.  I stood there with my mouth hung open for who knows how long until my anger bubbled over. Within a few short seconds of pushing him from behind the other girl fell and smashed into a glass table. I'm not sure if it was just me but the music suddenly stopped with a screech. The tiny shards of glass exploded as her body collided with them causing a piercing shatter.

Liam turned around and stared me straight in the eyes. "What the fuck did you do that for?"

I looked for any signs that he was high or drunk but there was nothing that could be used as an excuse. My boyfriend just cheated on me. Sober.

I didn't dare say a word in case I broke down in front of everyone. Instead my hands couldn't stop shaking and my legs felt lifeless. It was like an out of body experience. I just stood there shaking and fuming as Liam went to help the other skank when he should have really been seeing if I was okay. In a blur the skank was up and at me. She put her ugly hands on my face and left a bright red hand mark but that didn't matter to me. I pushed her aside and walked towards Liam with my head held high.

"Liam," I started as my voice wobbled slightly, "we're done" and with those hard words I turned to walk away but not before he got the last say.

"You keep walking Alyssa because guess what, I never liked you anyway. I only went out with you because Monique thought it would be funny and it was."

As I got my foot out of the front door I could hear the sound of gasps, "oooooh"s and "burn." I collided into a figure as I got out but I couldn't make out the person through my tears.

"Alyssa!" I could hear escape their lips. They went to grasp my wrist but I shook them aside and ran.

I ran as fast as I could. In what direction I pretended I didn't know but for me there could only ever be one direction.  

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"I'll never leave you Alyssa. This is our secret place forever."

Those sentences ran circles around my head. I headed to our secret getaway spot. Marcus' and mine. I hadn't been back here since what I did to him but it was still there and looking the same as ever after almost four years.

We found this place by accident. It was right after my mum giving us the lecture on ice cream making us fat. I was so angry that I wanted to run away. Marcus told me I could stay with him so while my mum fell asleep in front of the tv, I packed my things and we snuck out of the house.  The sky was falling on dusk so it was getting harder for us to find our way to his place. We got lost but found an empty community house where we could stay in for the night. Behind it was a little room hidden on the outside by cascading leaves.

It was a wooden room that had been surprisingly kept clean. It had a single large window that overlooked a school and a pea green carpet. There was a sink with working water and a single bed. There was a bathroom inside the community house. Simple but perfect.

Lying down on the bed  I closed my eyes and my memory decided to press play and it brought me back to the last I saw Marcus before he left. We were at a friends 13th birthday party and someone suggested we play 'Seven Minutes In Heaven'. Being the stupid pre-teens we were we all agreed. The game started out normal until I spun the bottle and it landed on Marcus.

I can still here the taunts now "oooh Alyssa and freaky deek Marcus", "Marcus and Alyssa sitting in a tree. Alyssa pushed Marcus off because he was ugly", "Poor Lyss, stuck with freaky deek Marcus." 

I didn't admit it to anyone back then and I haven't admitted it to anyone now but I had a crush on Marcus. All the other kids thought he was creepy because he had a faint moustache growing that resembled the moustaches on seedy grown men and Marcus had a big fascination with arachnids. He wore trackies when everyone wore skinny jeans. Never had the same taste in music as everyone else.  To everyone else he was freaky deek Marcus but to me, he was my best friend.

 We were stuck in the closet, just the two of us. How I always wanted it to be. As I leant in towards him, lips puckered up, he stopped me. Marcus put his finger up to my lips and said "Alyssa..."

"Alyssa! We've been worried sick about you!"

Wait, that wasn't what he said. My eyes flicked wide open and I sat upright. There standing in our secret place was Mum, Isabella and Marcus.

"Why didn't you stop when I called your name?!" asked Marcus.

"And I told you not to go in there!" whined Isabella.

"You've had me worried sick searching for you. How dare you sneak out!" added Mum.

I leant back onto the bed as they continued.

"I heard about what happened with Marcus..."

"I can bash him for you?"

"I'll have a little talk with his mother."

"I'll fucking cut his balls off."

Sighing I finally found my words.

"Guys..." I started, sitting up as they went silent, "how did you find me?"

"Well Marcus-" started Isabella.

"Of course. Marcus. And how the hell did you know I'd be here Marucs?"

"Um," he replied sheepishly, "best friend intuitive."

Isabella turned to him and gave him a dirty look. I felt sorry for him to be on the recieving end of that look. If looks could kill, Bells would've murdered half the world.

He turned to her with raised eyebrows and mouthed "what?"

"Can I please talk to Alyssa alone?" Isabella asked.

Marcus and my mum awkwardly bumped shoulders as the scrambled out of the room and into the house. As Marcus closed the door behind him, Isabella turned to me.

"Lyss."

"Bells."

Tears rushed down our faces as we rushed our words. It was a conversation only we could understand.

"I'm sorry. I'm sorry. I'm sor-"

"Shut up. I'm sorry. I'm so sorry. I was so fu-"

"No I'm more sorry. Ity was my fau-"

"It wasn't. Promise. It was min-"

"But. No. I. Am. So. Sorr-"

"No. I. Am. Oh. M-"

We tried to converse in between sobs but it just wasn't working. In the end we resorted to body language. She enclosed me in a typical Bells bear hug. 

I closed my eyes and everything felt okay. Everything that happened with Marcus. Everything that happened with Liam. Everything that happened with Bells. All of the worries drifted away. In Bells arms I was safe.