On Sturdy Legs

Without Any Limits

When I woke up again--at the proper time--it was light and probably afternoon already. I was awoken not by the phone but by Izzy, who was not as quiet as she thought she was. I opened my eyes and sat up, still in my underwear, to see that Izzy had been trying to tiptoe passed me with the home phone in one hand and a note in the other.

"Hey," I told her with a yawn and reached out to pet the actual cat that had snuggled up next to me during the night.

Tarq had padded over to Izzy's side of the room and looked joyful as hell; he was lying on a mountain of covers and had his tongue lolling out like she had been giving him a belly rub before she had to answer the phone.

"Hey," Izzy responded with a blush--the origin of which, I did not know.

Her hair was wet, probably from a shower and her bruises looked better. I noticed that Izzy was wearing sweats and a sweater was ridiculously loose and too long for her in every possible way. I wondered if she had been thinking about what Ms. Walters had said when she got dressed that morning. I was afraid that was the case.

"Scotty McTre called. He wanted to tell you that your dance group is having an emergency session at the gym today. He didn't give me a time, but it is at the gym."

"Thanks, Iz," I replied and swung my legs over the bed. "What time is it?"

"Noon," Izzy replied like she was at fault or guilty, maybe she had slept nearly as late and gotten some crap for it. "I didn't want to wake you up."

"I appreciate it," I told her with a yawn.

I went to my wardrobe and pulled out a pair of spandex shorts, a tight tank top, and a sports bra. I turned my back to Izzy while I changed and only turned back when I started searching around for a hairband to do something with my hair.

"Here," Izzy offered up one of her own; she didn't give it to me. Instead she circled me and stepped up onto my bed so she had a better view of my hair. I didn't protest and watched in the mirror on my dresser as she combed her fingers through my hair to gather enough for three sections which she twisted up and secured in a bun with the hairband. "I think it's worth mentioning that I'm up here to hide. Mom isn't too happy and dad had to leave for work; he can't calm her down."

"Warning much appreciated," I smirked. It wasn't like I was going to heed it. If I was going to call her out on anything, I did not plan on staying around afterwards. I guess that was my thing: with my knee torn up or not, I was a runner and once I had my spitfire moment, I ran for it. "I'm going to head to the gym then--once I am done calling Molly out on her shit, that is," I informed Izzy, laced my shoes on, and pocketed my gym pass.

"I already knew that," Izzy shot back with a reserved smile. She looked as if there was something that she was trying to say; that moment passed and she ducked her head with the same smile.

"You are welcome to join us," I offered.

"Maybe," Izzy shrugged without looking at me. I made to leave and got to the doorway before she blurted out, "Thank you. Damn it, Ari, thank you for saying all the things I never could."

"Any day."

"I mean it," Izzy blurted out again. She looked up from the ground and looked as if she was about to say something very brave. "I'm not good at fighting back, even when I really want something. I can't do it. I suck it up and deal until it changes. Thank you."

"Any day, sis," I gave her a small salute before I turned on my heel and stomped down the stairs with as much volume as I could manage so Molly knew that I was coming.

I found her in the kitchen nursing a cup of tea with her nose buried in a parenting book with an unrealistically happy teenager on the cover. She looked up and acted as if she was even a little bit surprised to see that it was me. I ignored this and went to the cupboard to get myself one of the protein bars that Tom always bought on the mornings that he went to the gym. It looked as if he had bought a new box of the cranberry flavored bars that I loved so much; he had too many problems with that particular flavor, something about the toughness of the cranberries. I took one of these and used my teeth to tear it open while I filled up my water bottle in the sink.