Returning Red

#10: Cookies and Lemonade.

you let go of me so easily

Isabella

"--You understand what's going on now?" I asked her.

"Yes," she softly whispered.

"Good. Now you're going to focus on school, basketball, and homework. No staying up late on school nights and no sleepovers. Other than that, we're good." I know she rolled her eyes again.

"Copy that, mom." She jokes with a chuckle but I know she understood everything. "I'll miss you, Bee. Have fun. Don't fall in love and come back soon. I'm waiting."

I sigh, "I'm not going to be all sappy so," I laugh and she snorts. "Take care," I whisper and when I know she's not going to talk anymore, I cut the call.

I exhale as I hold the bridge of my nose. The timing was really bad. I wasn't expecting her to drop a bomb like that but she didn't know she was on speaker so I don't blame her either.

I need to distract myself so I tell myself to look at a group of birds flying in patterns across the sky, how their wings are cutting the mushy clouds into millions of fragments. The sunlight was slowly cutting through those million fragments and peeping down warmth to the ground. Small sun bugs that were flying in the path of the sunshine were wiggling and whimpering as soon as my fingers touched them.

My mind seemed to calm down, my breathing became normal and I slowly began to forget all the mess up in the car. I didn't know what I was going to say and I surely didn't want to dig up anything from the past, so no, I don't want to confess to anything today. I try to hunt for a solution that could ease the situation up and that would buy me more time.

"Cookie?"

I frowned turning around to see Austin hand me a brown cookie with black choco chips scattered on them. I look back at him in bewilderment. Is he even serious? I raised my eyebrow at him.

"You don't have to pretend to be nice to me-"

"Cookie?" He raised his voice, offering it by pushing it much closer to me.

I looked at it and then back at him. Can I trust him with this--

"It's just a cookie, not cyanide" He shrugged.

And he reads minds.

But I was hungry and he was offering me food, so instead of making a scene, I pulled the cookie off his fingers. I pulled it hard and I saw him wince. Hurting him, somewhat calmed my mind down. He would never react it out loud and giving him that little jolt-happy or sad, I felt something jump inside me, sadistically.

"Hey," he whispered under his breath but he pulled out another one and began chewing on it. "May said she's taking you and the girls out for shopping tomorrow."

"Why are you telling me this?" I turned around looking confused.

He rolled his eyes. "I just want to tell you that close your eyes and fucking buy everything she gives you. Your wardrobe is as bad as Edgar West's face."

I froze. He knows about Edgar West. I need that meeting even more urgently now. I don't want him messing this up. I've wanted this for over two years and I am not giving up,

He laughed biting onto his cookie and I turned back to him, scowling. I pulled the box of cookies from his hand and took one out, still holding the pack to myself.

"Can we please not talk?" I stated it seriously.

"Now or ever?" He smirked and I sigh in defeat. "I have to be honest, the idea of never talking is tempting. You must be a pro at it by now, huh?"