What I Call Life

Chapter nine

I found out one good thing today. Remember when Laura's father said nobody lived here for 1,000 miles? Well, he was lying.
I'd apparently fallen unconscious a few minutes after I'd crawled out of the blown up house. A lady ran to me and brought me to her house. When I asked her for the help to find Isaac, she had no idea what I was talking about.
But I handed her the phone, and showed her the picture.
And a miracle happened.
Turns out she was his foster mother.
"Isaac's been taken by an insane person!" I said. "And for all I know, the rest of the school is being held at gun point."
She let me take her car, and I went to the police department, where we tracked where Laura's father was going by using a tacking device the government had put on his car.
I followed them to an old warehouse and busted open the door.
I found Isaac there, he was tied to a chair and he had a gun pointed at his head. It was (no surprise) held by Laura's father.
When suddenly I heard a siren behind me.
The swat team opened the door, screaming "FREEZE!" and "DROP THE WEAPON!"
I quickly untied Isaac and grabbed his hand. I pulled him out the door and we ran.
"Marcy!" Isaac smiled. "You saved my life!"
I rolled my eyes.
"And look!" He pointed at my head. "I got you to wear your hair down!"
"Oh shut up!" I laughed, playfully punching Isaac. He laughed too, and suddenly his eyes met mine.
"Um."
I felt awkward, quickly looking away from his piercing blue eyes.
"Marcy-...." Isaac reached for my hand.
"Let's just-" I whispered. "let's just be friends, ok?"
Isaac nodded understandably.
"Ok." He nodded. "Just friends then."
"Yeah." I swallowed a gulp in my throat.
We got into his foster mother's car and drove back towards her house.
"You poor children!" Snapped Isaac's mother. "You could have been killed, you know!"
I chuckled quietly and sat down on the couch next to Isaac.
"Tea?" Asked his mother.
"Oh, no thank you mrs. Thompson."
I laughed. "Tea's not really my thing."
Isaac's mother nodded agreeably as she poured Isaac's cup. She handed it to him as she sat down on the couch.
"You'll both have to share Isaac's attic bedroom." She sighed softly. "We don't have a guest bedroom here."
The day flew by, and next thing I knew, I was getting dressed for bed.
Isaac walked past me in the hall, avoiding eye contact. I shuddered. Their house was cold.
I lay down on the sleeping bag.
"Night." Muttered Isaac from his bed.
I didn't respond.
I didn't sleep either. At about 12:00, two hours after we'd gone to bed, I realized Isaac was still awake.
"Are you cold?" He asked, leaning his head over the edge of the bed.
I nodded, not realizing I had been shivering.
"It's ok, you can sleep up here." Isaac offered.
He sat up. He was wearing Hogwarts golden snitch Pajamas.
"I love your pj's!" I whispered.
I saw Isaac smirk. He got out of his bed.
"Isn't this weird?" I asked. He thought for a moment.
"Naw. I mean, we're just friends, right?" He laughed.
"I'll sleep in my chair." Isaac said. He walked to the corner of the room and plopped in what I presume was a chair.
"Ok." I whispered.
"Hey, I know how cold it is here." He chuckled, a little too loudly.
I closed my eyes and fell asleep fast.
When I woke up again the next morning, I found Isaac was gone, awake.
I got up and walked downstairs.
"Where's your mum?" I asked.
"Work." He said.
"Oh."
I sat down at the kitchen countertop.
"So, want any breakfast?" Isaac asked as he flipped a pancake.
"Yes, please!" I practically begged, not realizing how hungry I was.
But I didn't have to answer. I took the jar of maple syrup and drenched my pile of pancakes in it.
"So." Isaac said, sitting down, his dirty blonde hair a mess atop his head. "Did you dream about anything?"
"I did!" I laughed. "But I don't remember what it was!"
He ruffled my hair and smirked.
"You'll probably remember, later."
I rolled my eyes.
Suddenly  "It Had to Be You" by Kate Harvey turned on the radio.
"Oh." I chuckled. "This song is beautiful."
"Do you dance?" Isaac asked.
"Sorta." I replied.
"I can teach you." He offered. He got up. I followed him to the living room.
"Take my right hand." Isaac taught. "If you follow me, it will come naturally."
He held my hands firmly, reminding me of the first time we'd met. It was hard to believe that was no more than a month or so ago.
I followed Isaac's steps as we danced across the living room. I held up his hand and spun me around.
I giggled.
I looked straight into his eyes, admiring their colors. It was as if they were enfold after enfold of bright blue. I closed my eyes. Suddenly he was gone.
"Isaac?" I asked. All the sudden i
I had been immersed into darkness.
"Isaac!" I screamed, falling to the ground. There was blood gushing out of my chest.
Bullets.
I had been shot.
"Oh my god!" I shouted. I could still hear the music playing in the background.
I opened my eyes again and saw Isaac still dancing with me.
I had gotten lost between steps. I remembered where I was and realized I just had a short hallucination.
"Sorry." I whispered. But I realized Isaac had closed his eyes too. He was lost in between steps like I was. He fell to the ground.
"Isaac?" I shouted.
He didn't answer.
"Isaac!" I yelped. "Isaac what do you see?"
"My mum." Isaac whispered. "My parents. Marcy, they look so happy. They're so happy, Marcy."
"Isaac, your lost. Isaac, open your eyes!" I cried. I felt tears burn my eyes.
"They want me to come with them, Marcy." Isaac whispered.
"Isaac!" I felt tears streaming down my face. "Isaac, they're dead!"
"I have no family left." Isaac whispered. "And even you say we're just friends."
"Isaac, we're not just friends!" I cried.
I thought he was gone for a moment, but suddenly his eyes snapped open again.
"Marcy!" Isaac shouted.
"Isaac!" I shouted. I embraced him.
"Oh my god. I thought you were dead."
"I almost left." He admitted. "They really did look happy."
The song had finished and "Moonlight Serenade" by Glen Miller began playing.
"I'm sorry." He sighed.
I reached out for his hand and grabbed it.
"Yeah. Me too."
And it was that moment when I remember what I'd dreamed.
I got back up again and Isaac and I began dancing again.