Vacant Hearts [UNDER CONSTRUCTION]

Chapter 24 | What Is Left of the Night?

SONG FOR THE CHAPTER: Watchman, What Is Left Of The Night? by Greycoats

      "You do know that we are going out for dinner soon, right?" my mom asked, a frown on her face. She had her coat slung over one arm and what looked like an apple pie that I knew she didn't bake in her other hand.

      "Yes, Mom. You've only told me a thousand times," I said through gritted teeth.

      Her eyes narrowed and her lips pressed into a thin line. "Do not get smart with me, Isa. You really should get dressed. We are leaving very soon."

      I huffed, pulling myself up from the couch. I turned the TV off and headed out of the living room, taking the stairs two at a time.

      Christmas lunch had been a disaster, just as I'd expected. After the things my grandma said to me, everyone had been on edge for the rest of the lunch. I wasn't the only one she liked to sling insults at, but today she had mainly focused on me for some reason. Not a single person had jumped in to defend me out of fear of my grandma.

      I didn't have the best relationship with my grandma. She was a cold woman, just like her son, my dad. She even had similar ideals to my mom and that had always bothered me. I just wished people would let me live my life the way I wanted to and not how they wanted me to.

      Entering my bedroom, I closed the door behind me and stripped off the dress that I wore to lunch. I knew we were going to someone's house for dinner tonight but I had no idea whose. Mom had probably mentioned it to me before but I'd recently perfected the art of selective hearing, especially when it came to her.

      After getting dressed and neatening up my hair and makeup, Spencer knocked on my door to let me know we were leaving. We all piled into one car for the first time in a while and drove off. For the duration of the car ride, my mind was elsewhere. I could hear my family chatting around me but I didn't have the energy to listen. The comments my grandma made earlier were still bothering me, much to my chagrin.

      You are almost twenty-years-old and you have never had a boyfriend. That's not normal.

      She wasn't wrong, though. About the boyfriend part, at least. I had my first and only boyfriend at sixteen and then had never let alone else in again. Even then, it hadn't really been that serious. Nathan Ford had only wanted to sleep with me at the time and then got angry when I refused.

      Nothing too traumatic happened, but it made me realise the risks of falling for someone. It made me understand why relationships were far too dangerous. It made me understand why my heart had to stay securely in my chest rather than in someone else's hands.

      I couldn't exactly explain that all to my family, though. They'd think I was being ridiculous. And maybe I was, but I didn't care. I didn't want to give someone the power to hurt me in that way, plain and simple.

      "Are you getting out of the car? I don't think Mom will be happy with you sitting there all night." Hudson's voice pierced through my whirlwind of thoughts.

      I glanced up and my eyes widened as I took in the house before me.

      Of course we were having dinner at Julian's house.

      I slid out of the car and shut the door, following my family up the driveway. Once again, I felt a fluttering in my stomach at the thought of seeing Julian. I hadn't really seen him since we kissed last time so I didn't know what was going to happen.

      Corinna, Julian's older sister that I'd only met once, opened the door and welcomed us all inside. I had never been inside Julian's house before but it was as lovely as I imagined. Marble tiles spread across a generously sized foyer. A crystal chandelier hung from the high ceiling. Family photographs trapped in gold frames lined the off-white walls.