FOUND [COMPLETED]

XII

Isabella

"Hey baby," My grandma smiled and opened her arms. I grinned and rushed to her, hugging her back tightly. For the first time since I got shot, I felt safe because I knew her. I wasn't surrounded by strangers anymore. Yeah, I was warming up to Jay, but I still didn't know him. I knew Tina.

Finally, some familiarity in this place.

It's crazy cause as I was hugging her, I realized she even smelled the same. I know that sounds weird, but somehow I remembered her scent. I think I was around her a lot when I was little, I don't think there would be another explanation aside from that. I didn't remember anything regarding Beyoncé or Jay, but somehow I had the floodgate of memories involving Grandma T break and re-enter my mind, just from her face and her scent. It's a light combination of vanilla mixed with raspberry. It makes sense, because those two scents would always soothe me whenever I smelt them. Now I know why.

I rested my cheek on her shoulder and closed my eyes, allowing myself to remember.

I was sitting on my grandma's lap, playing with her necklace while we sat backstage somewhere. I could faintly hear music playing in the background, but I had something covering my eyes to keep out the noise. I could feel the vibrations, though.

My grandma urned me around in her arms and handed me to someone else. I felt a kiss on my cheek and a familiar warmth as I was held against another person.

The memory faded before I could see who it was. It was short, but it was something.

I opened my eyes and looked over my grandma's shoulder at Beyoncé, who was still standing in my room and staring back at me. I wasn't sure why, because nobody was talking to her.

"You remember her?" Beyoncé asked me softly.

I glanced at my grandmother before looking back at Beyoncé and nodding. "Yes." I replied with a small smile. I was surprisingly happy I did, because I was craving some sort of familiarity in the midst of all of this. Grandma was helping me with that. I was actually thankful for once.

"Isn't that great Bey?" My grandma asked, smiling brightly at Beyoncé. Beyoncé nodded and returned the smile, but I could tell it wasn't genuine. I watched her as she turned around and silently left the room.

"What's wrong with her?" I mumbled to myself. Tina must've heard, because she quickly turned to look at me.

"She's sad, honey." I scoffed but quickly shut my mouth when my grandma narrowed her eyes. "I know you see how upset you're making her, don't play dumb with me."

"But I didn't do anything." I protested.

"That's the problem. You're not doing anything." She took a seat on my bed and I sighed before reluctantly sitting next to her. "Have you said one nice thing to Beyoncé since you've been with her?" She asked. I didn't respond, because hell no I hadn't. And I don't know how, but I knew she was aware of that. "Exactly. Have you taken Beyoncé's feelings into consideration every time you make a smart remark or give her the silent treatment? What about when you roll your eyes or continuously disrespect her? You're not behaving like this with Jay, so why are you acting like this with Beyoncé? Huh?" Grandma was lowkey dragging me and I felt kinda attacked, but I still kept quiet. I knew when I should and shouldn't talk back, and this definitely wasn't the time. "I'm not going to get into this with you, because I promised your mama I wouldn't, but I will say this behavior is unacceptable. You have to do better, Cass."