Imago

Chapter III

Breathe, Loren. I remind myself.

"Hey, dipshit," Izzy greets him.

"Hey short-shit," he replies with a grin. "Loren." He nods at me and I grip the kitchen bench to stop from passing out.

"How's your chest?" Izzy asks with a smirk.

I chuckle at her, and then promptly choke on my own spit when he lifts his shirt, showing a well-formed six pack and a very sharp V line down to Neverland.

"Looks pretty good to me," he says jokingly, brushing his hand over his abs with a wide grin.

"Real smooth, Isaac, real smooth." Izzy shakes her head at him.

I take a sip of my water to sooth my throat and just about choke on that too, when he winks at me and leaves the room. I feel my face flush and I'm still waiting for the whole awkward moment to pass when he walks back in again, but without his bag.

"So, what are you doing here anyway?" he asks.

"Rude!" Izzy yells at him. "I told her to come in for a drink before she walks the rest of the way home."

He seems a little surprised at this. "Wait, you live around here?"

"She lives on McCarthy Drive," Izzy answers for me.

Isaacs eyebrows almost meet his hairline and he looks at me with a small, secretive smile. "Really? Huh ... cool."

I nod and watch as he gets himself a cup and pours himself a water.

"You have to come with us," Izzy pulls him from his thoughts and he looks at her in confusion. "We have to walk Loren home. Tosser's next door," she says by way of explanation.

Isaac's jaw hardens and his demeanour changes so swiftly I instinctively take a step back to give him some space. "Okay." Is all he says, before he carries on finishing his drink, lost in thought.

Izzy says she needs to change first and I'm left with Isaac alone in the kitchen. The air around us changes again. He leans onto the bench and looks at me with a cocky grin.

"How's the head?"

I laugh lightly and shake my head. "It's fine, thank you. I think you hit my boobs before my head." I instantly regret the words as soon as they've come out of my mouth.

Did I really just talk about my boobs to Isaac Matthews? Won't the Earth just create a sinkhole beneath my feet and take me already?

Focusing my attention back on Isaac, I see that he's lost for words and staring at me, mouth slightly agape. Laughter bubbles up inside me. Thankfully, Isaac joins in and, by the time Izzy walks back into the room, we're past the awkwardness and our laughter has just petered out. Izzy senses something just went down. She looks from one to the other questioningly, but, thankfully, she says nothing.

We are just about to head out the door when Izzy and Isaac's mum pulls into the drive.

"Shit," Izzy mumbles from beside me.

"Hey guys," she greets them as she walks around to grab something from the other side of the car. She pulls out a couple of shopping bags and makes her way towards us.

"Mum, this is Loren, she started at Hillford today."

"Hi, Loren, I'm Julie," she smiles at me nicely and then looks at her children with a curious expression. "Where are you guys off to?"

"We were going to walk her home. Tosser's next door," Izzy answers.

"You're not going anywhere, you're grounded."