Everything I Didn't Say | lrh (on hold)

Chapter 5

Isabelle's POV

I saw the lights from Annie's car glint through the window.  I paused my music and got out of bed to go answer the door.

"Hi Bel!" She greeted perkily.

"Hey An." I said with a sad smile.

"What's wrong?"

"The damn project is what's wrong!" I yelled angrily.

"Oh, sorry." She replied meekly.

"No, I'm sorry for loosing my temper An, do you want to come in?"  I gestured towards the doorway.

"Sure thanks." She smiled and took a step inside.

"Come on, let's go to my room."  I said, and she follows me upstairs and into my small light blue room.  I closed the door and it let out a small creak, probably just because the house was so old.

"Wow, it feels weird being here, it's been forever." She said as she sat down on the couch in the corner of the room.

"Yeah, it really has."

"I'm sorry that we can't hang out with as often as we'd want, but you get why, don't you?"

"Yeah, I guess." My voice cracked.  I knew Annie spent a lot of time on her YouTube, after all, she had 3 million subscribers counting on her.  I also understood that because of my social status, we couldn't hang out.  But still, it's hard to not see one of your best friends.

"Oh Isabelle." Annie said and pulled me into a hug.  I cried on her shoulder and she rubbed my back, something that she knew helped calm me down.  Once I wasn't as shaken, Annie helped me to sit down on the side on the bed.

I heard a knock at the door.

"Is everything okay in there sweetie?" My mom questioned from behind the door.

"Yeah." I sniffled. The door opened and my mom walked in, looking concerned.

"I just heard noise coming from the other room and... oh, hello Annie." My mom smiled as she went over and pulled Annie into a hug.

"Hi Mrs. Price." An said.

"Oh please, I think after 4 years you can call me Jen." My mom laughed and let An go.

"Okay, well I'll leave you two to talk." Mom smiled and walked out, closing the door behind her.  An sighed.

"We need to get you cheered up so you can do this project."  She proclaimed.

"Oh just screw the project, I'm doing well in music, so it won't effect my grade.  Plus, I'd rather fail than work with that asshole."  I retorted.

"The Isabelle that I know would never say that, she'd rather die than have a bad grade."  An laughed.

"Well, a lot can change in six months."  I let a small smile come through.

"That's good progress!  I've got you smiling now!" She replied happily.

I laughed.

"I have a great idea, what if you, me, and Gabriella all go to a movie sometime?"

"Um, An." I said. "People can see us there, we could get caught."

"Don't you think I thought of that? We could go out of town, wait, that's it! We could go to the Mockingjay premiere next Saturday!  Gabs and I were invited and are allowed to bring one guest each, I was going to bring Ash, but this is more important."

"But, won't people be suspicious?" I asked.

"Not if I tell them I'm going with Amy." She smirked.

"What about Beth and the others, won't they be there?"  I questioned.

"Shit."  She swore under her breath.

I laughed, Annie has good intentions, but she doesn't always think her plans through.

"I'm sorry Bel, maybe we could go shopping?"  She asked.

"Are you telling me I need new clothes?"  I questioned.

"No!" She exclaimed. "I...I just thought that, um, you might want to, uh, go shopping with us."

"It's okay An, I was just joking, shopping sounds fun."  I lied.  I mean, I had nothing against shopping, just shopping with Gabriella and Annie.  They always made me try on dresses and skirts, insisting I looked great in them, even though we all knew I'd rather go to hell and back again than wear a dress in public.
She frowns at me, and then a smile lights up her face again.

"So, how does tomorrow at 11:00 sound?  I know Gabriella is free because she said she would come over to my place around then."

"Sounds great.  I don't have anything going on tomorrow." She smiled and texted Gabs, telling her I'm going to the mall with them tomorrow.  After that, Annie stayed for another hour or two, catching me up on the latest drama and gossip from school.  It was nice, not through discretely passed notes or short texts from time to time, but just talking to her, face to face, for the first time in what had seemed like forever, and I couldn't help but admit, I was looking forward to tomorrow.