The Pastor's Son

Bottling It Up and College Acceptance

The rest of the day dragged on for everybody. No one wants to be at school, even if you were good at it. 

When the end of the day rolls around, Isaiah waits outside by the main doors of the school, patiently. As much as he loves Joanna, she sure likes to take her time. Isaiah watches his fellow classmates pass by him and leave school. It made him feel lonely.

But that wasn't surprising. Everything seemed to make him feel lonely. 

He kept calling her, but she wouldn't answer. Joanna has a bad habit of keeping her phone on silent pass the bell. 

Leah surprises him when she runs over and hugs him from behind. "Ah!" He lets out a yelp before they topple over. Leah starts giggling. "When has that ever worked out in either of our favors?" Isaiah questions.

Leah shrugs, "Never. I just thought it would be fun," She smiles. That was the type of person she was. Fun was everything to her. 

"Well, now my back hurts. Thanks a lot," He says sarcastically. When it came to Leah, you had to make sure you didn't sound too serious. Then, she'd start crying and apologizing. 

Leah giggles again, "What are you doing?" 

Isaiah rolls his deep brown eyes, "Waiting for Joanna. She's taking her sweet time," Isaiah sighs. He looks over at Leah. It's about time he talks to her. She needs to know how he feels. "Leah-" 

Jayden shows up, "Hey Leah," Leah smiles and looks at Isaiah. She wants to go hang out with him. Isaiah nods and her and Jayden walk away, talking happily. 

Isaiah sighs, he needs to look away. It's the only way to stop himself from crying. 'Maybe I shouldn't tell Leah or Jayden. They're happy. Right?' He felt in the way. He has gotten used to that feeling since he was a little kid and his dad told him to shut up because he was bothering him. 

Joanna jogs over. "I'm here! Sorry!"

Isaiah smiles, she's helped him enough, he decides. "I was about to leave you."

"You wouldn't! You love me too much," Joanna smirks and jogs to keep up with her brother. It wasn't that hard, though. He was short for his age, at least compared to the boys at his school. 

They climbed in the car and Joanna starts singing to the music on the radio. Isaiah looks at her with a sad smile. She's been an amazing sister, meanwhile he could hardly think through his own problems. 

It's not just about Jayden, though. He's needed to tell her something else, but it's been hard. 

When they get home, Joanna starts racing up the stairs, but Isaiah calls her back down. 

"What do you need?" Joanna ask, she seems happy. He'll spoil it. He just knows it.

Isaiah looks at the ground, "I've been needing to tell you something."

Joanna nods. By her expression, he can tell she thinks it's about Jayden and all that other stuff. He takes a deep breath. 

"I..." He goes silent for a moment. "I got into MIT," MIT is short for the Massachusetts Institute of Technology. It was Isaiah's dream college and was hard to get into. 

But Joanna wasn't happy about it. "What?" She mumbles. Tears were already rolling down her sweet face. 

"I've looked at colleges here. But none of them are exactly great. I applied and they accepted me," He explains. 

Joanna starts getting mad, "Yeah, I see how it is. You're going to abandon me!" 

"No! Of course not! I'll visit, I'll do anything to-!"

Joanna can't hold it in, "Shut up! Just shut up! How can you leave all of us? How can you leave me?" 

She runs up the stairs, Isaiah follows. But she slams the door and locks it. 

"Joanna... please," He begs. Isaiah is on his knees now, begging for her to open the door. He didn't mean to upset her. He questions his decision to tell her. 

................................................................................................................................................................

Joanna was happy for her brother. She truly was. But, she was worried about him moving across the country by himself. She was also scared for herself.

All her life, her dad hasn't been a good role model. Sure, he treats Isaiah worse. But she's also seen his intense anger. The times when he gets too dangerous. She's seen her father beat her brother. She's also heard it. It's awful. She couldn't stay here with them. So, why would he leave her?