Like a Fairytale [njh]

Chapter Sixteen

IZZY'S POV

"Happy birthday, Izzy!"

I grunted and my eyes flew open as Hope leaped onto my bed. She was jumping up and down repeatedly, crushing my arm in the process.

"My arm!" I screamed.

Immediately, she stopped and sat on the edge of the mattress, far away from my precious limb. "Sorry," she giggled.

"So what are your plans for today?" she asked.

"Well, I'm going to the One Direction concert with Alli, and-" I was cut short by Hope's high pitched squeal.

In one swift motioning she jumped from my bed and was over at my closet looking through my various clothes. "What are you planning on wearing? No offense, but everything you own looks like shit."

Hope continued sifting through my clothes, and I couldn't help but dislike her a little. I knew she meant well and all, but she didn't exactly know how to make a person feel better.

"I guess I'll have to wait for the mice to come up with something."

Quickly, she ran over to me and kneeled beside my head. "What size do you wear? I'm sure you could wear something of Crista's..." she trailed off.

Wait. What.

"I can't borrow Crista's clothes! She hates me, don't you understand?"

"Well...she doesn't hate me. I'll come up with something." She paused and glanced at the clock. "Look, it's only noon. You probably need to get to the arena at five...just get in the shower, and I'll find you something to wear!"

Before I could say anything, Hope skipped out of my room. Sighing, I shut the door and walked to my restroom, running my hands through my hair and meeting a tangle every now and then.

Turning the small nozzle, I stood and adjusted the temperature for what seemed like forever. Once I had it just right, I discarded my clothes and stepped into the stream of warm water.

I glanced in the mirror I had on the wall of my shower. It was rather wet, but I could still see my busted lip and a large bruise on my cheek.

Curiously, I examined the rest of my body. There were also bruises on one of my legs and my shoulder from yesterday.

"Oh my gosh..." I whispered, sitting down in the small shower with my knees against my chest. I leaned my head against the wall and shut my eyes.

My dad had always told me I always saw the good in everything. Like when I broke my leg in second grade, and I was happy because all my friends could sign my cast.

Right now, though, I could only see the bad in this situation. It was so ironic. This was probably the best thing that had happened to me since my dad died, and I could only see the bad things that could arise.

Hope was on my side now, I had gone out with Niall, I was going to see my favorite band in concert...what was bad here to focus on? I just had a feeling something bad would happen. This was all a little too good to be true.

Pushing these thoughts away, I got to my feet and began washing my hair, face, and body. The water gradually started to become colder, and I quickly shut it off when I felt I was about to freeze.

"Izzy?" Hope called through the doors to my room.

I cursed under my breath and wrapped myself in a towel. "Yeah, I just got out of the shower!"

"Fantastic!" she shouted. "Crista left earlier to take my mom to get her eyes checked out, so I put some of her clothes on your bed. They'll be back in an hour or so, so you might want to leave before then."