bridges [on hold]

ix. mr. plum, in the kitchen, with the rope

february 6, 2013

today isaac showed up at my door.

i was home alone, and i had ordered a pizza, so of course i answered the door without a second thought. when i opened the door, i said "oh." like an idiot, and i probably looked disappointed. "um…" isaac just kinda stood there while i stumbled over my words. "uh… what're you doing here?" he rocked back on his heels, his gaze driving away from me. "i was going to see if you wanted to hang out." i searched his eyes, and - yep that confirmed it.

"your dad made you, didn't he?"

"what?"

"did your dad make you come over here?"

isaac began to bite his lip, then caught himself. "no."

"…"

"okay, yeah. it's not like i don't like you or anything, he just… he wants us to become best friends, like, immediately."

i shifted my eyes to the doorframe. "i get it. my mom's the same way."

isaac opened his mouth to say something, but was interrupted by a long, loud screech. the pizza guy had arrived, going at an absolutely despicable speed. i mean, this was a neighborhood. you don't go that fast in a neighborhood.

the car made a horrifyingly sharp turn into my driveway, and out of instinct i pulled isaac into the house, letting out a short gasp. i must've looked as terrible as i felt, because isaac asked me if i was okay.

"yeah," i told him. "i'm fine. that just kinda… freaked me out a little bit." my cheeks were burning as the pizza guy walked up, pizza in hand. i couldn't believe how stupid i had acted in front of the two of them.

fishing the money out of my pocket, i paid for the pizza and the guy was back in his car, speeding off. 

i supposed it would be rude of me to send isaac away now, after he saw the pizza and everything.

i glanced up at him. "do you like pizza?"

he grinned. "who doesn't?"

we ended up in the living room, eating pizza on the floor while we played clue. isaac had beaten me three times at this point. now he was back at the pool, making an accusation for the fourth time. "it was mr. plum, in the kitchen, with the rope." i sighed - that was the accusation i was going to make - and checked the envelope. sure enough, he was right. "way to go, sherlock. you win again."

isaac shot his fist into the air. "i'm the champion."

i cracked a smile. "shut up, that was luck."

"was not, you know i'm better than you." he crossed his arms. "i mean, i just beat you four times in a row. that can't be luck."

it was during this game that i really got to study isaac. his skin was pale, and you wouldn't ever have guessed he usually steps foot outside, never mind plays baseball. he's tall, like i mentioned before, and sort of lanky. he's got muscle, it's just not bulky - he doesn't look like a football player. his muscle is lean, it doesn't stand out against his bones until he moves. then you can see all of them flex and it's kind of fascinating.

his eyes are blue. it's kind of unreal how light they are. it's almost silvery. very interesting, if you ask me. but what's really interesting is the way he acts, how he carries himself, the way he speaks… his behavior in general. that's not something unusual for me to be fascinated by. since i was a kid, i was always intrigued by petey's behavior. i wanted to know how his brain worked, why it didn't function like mine. the answer i got was always, "he's autistic, diana, you know that." and i would always say, "yes, but why?"

isaac isn't autistic, but his actions interest me all the same. during clue i realized that he's strategic, he's careful. he never makes a move he doesn't mean to make.  he calculates things, plans them out, makes sure he's always five steps ahead. when he talks to me he looks right into my eyes, the whole time. i can't take it all the time, sometimes i look away. it can make me uncomfortable but i know that it means he's focusing on me. it's nice, having somebody who could act this way with you, especially considering i've only known isaac for two days now. he's just really laid back, and he acts like i've known him forever. 

it's easy to pretend that i have.

isaac left after our fifth game. he let me win that one, i know he did. he took the long way to each location, and let me take the shortcuts. i asked him about this, and he just looked at me, innocently saying he didn't know what i was talking about. he thanked me for the pizza, the "riveting" games of clue, and left, walking back down the street to his house. i watched him go back, all the way, through a window. is that creepy? it's not like i was video taping him.

i like isaac. he's a good friend.

can i call him a friend?

i guess so. we did just share a pizza.

maybe mom was right.

  

--

i have a dance intensive this week and i'm on pointe for three hours every day and my feet are dead but the good news is that nutcracker season has started back up again. c:

so far i know for sure that i'll be a toy soldier (again) and a snowflake (which is with all the senior girls so i'm super excited). there's like a 50% chance i'll end up in ribbon candy and the wind as well, so we'll see how that goes.

please comment and vote! it means more than you know. <3

thanks for everything!

- kendall