❝In which two people call up a helpline in order to find someone just as broken as they are. ❞
"Does...does it bother you that my dad's in prison for murder?"
"Well, judging by the fact that I moved away from America to get away from the memory of a...
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"REACH FOR THE STARS! CLIMB EVERY MOUNTAIN HIGHER! REACH FOR THE STARS!"
Isabella laughed through her tears, not being able to prevent the upturn of her lips as she watched Elliot perform some of the worst dance moves she had ever seen. It was like a haunting throwback to an era that humanity should never revisit, his limbs moving in every direction as he attempted both the scissors and the sprinkler from his position in the passenger seat of the car. All the while screaming the lyrics at the top of his lungs.
You see, after participating in a good, old-fashioned, slightly depressing crying session, Elliot had announced that he was no longer in the mood for "moping around". This, of course, had led to him madly gesturing for a (still teary-eyed) Isabella to get back in the car and hitting the button for the radio with so much force that the tiny car shook slightly. And, as fate would have it, BBC Radio 1 blasted out one of the most motivational songs of all time. And, although Isabella couldn't say that she was up to singing in a prison car park, she certainly didn't mind watching as someone else did.
"Don't stop, gotta keep movin'! Your hopes, gotta keep buildin'! Never ever forget that I've got you and you've got me sooooooo..."
Somewhere throughout the song, Isabella found herself dancing and singing along, taking one of the few moments she had in life to be free. To fall into the song and its annoyingly catchy lyrics and just forget. Forget about who the hell might be watching. Forget about what the hell people thought. Forget the hell that she had endured. Forget the hell that the world had endured. To just forget that the world was still spinning and focus on something that didn't actually matter for once. To be a flower on a tree of leaves.
