Love Me Or Hate Me

Love Me Or Hate Me [18-J]

Watching her walk out of the school with all of those tears on her face hurt me way more than I thought it was going to, and it hurt even more when I watched Elliot run after her; doing something that I should do if she were ever hurt. Yeah, I didn't want this marriage, but saying what I said to her made matters even worse, and I honestly don't think she'll forgive me this time. 'Why do you care? You're the one who wanted out.'

I cleaned my jaw in aggravation and walked in the direction of the exit, when someone grabbed my arm and looked me in the eyes. When I saw who it was, I narrowed my eyes and pushed the person off of me. “What do I have to say to you so you'll understand that I don't want anything to deal with you?!”

Cathy flinched at my tone and took a step back, not walking away, but not really saying much of anything either. “James, you didn't have to say that to her-”

“-what the hell does it matter to you?”

Ice dripped off of my voice, and even then, she didn't back off. “It matters because I know how she's feeling. You just publicly humiliated her, and for what? For some stupid image that isn't going to matter in a few months anyway?” Taking a cautious step towards me, she pushed me back against the lockers with strength I didn't know she had, and she shook her head. “You never think shit through, James, and you just lost someone amazing because of it! How do you think that made her feel? Telling her that you cheated on her because of her?”

I thought about it for a second, and I knew that what I said was wrong, but what did she want from me? I was speaking through blind fury, and it just slipped out. Sure, it was planned, but that had been a last minute decision! I didn't think it would hurt her as much as it did! “Cathy-”

“-don't speak to me, James. I'm not the one you hurt.” She stared at me with her green eyes for a while, and as much as I wanted to look away, I found myself in a trance. Her eyes held truth, and as much as I didn't want to admit it, I knew she was right.

What I said had been completely unnecessary and I hurt someone because I couldn't handle the problems that had been handed to me. Never in my life had I felt like such an idiot, but there wasn't anything I could do about it. I hadn't know Isabel long enough to know where she'd run off to, and who'd she go to. She wasn't the type of person who was all that friendly, and I knew that because of it, she was isolated here. The only lead I had was to find Elliot, and hopefully, she'd turn up.

“I have to go.”

Cathy raised a curious brow at me. “What about school?”

I shrugged, not caring if I got in trouble for a cut. “I think this might be a little more important than a school day.” I had just stepped off of the locker when she grabbed my hand again and shook her head, annoying the hell out of me. “What now, Cathy?”

“You just pissed her off and made a fool out of her in front of the entire school. I think you should give her some time to cool off.” I wasn't going to listen, but when I noticed the look in her eyes again, I sighed and nodded my head in defeat. I'd go through the school day for now, and when the time came, I'd go find her, and I'd apologize. I still won't want the marriage, but it'll be worth it to get this apology off of my chest instead of having her hate me for the rest of our lives.

The late bell had just rang, getting everyone's attention and making them scatter like ants. Cathy simply gave me a look before walking off in the direction of her class, and I did the same; anticipating what I was going to say when I saw Isabel later.

*|*|*|*

“Yeah, Dad, everything is fine.”

“Then why can't I speak to Isabel?”

Groaning, I looked at the clock and noted that it was already nine o'clock, and Isabel was nowhere to be found. I went out looking for her, and she was nowhere to be found, not even at Candy's! I knew she was with Elliot, but I didn't know where they were. My dad has been pestering me for the past few hours to talk to her, but since she wasn't here, I couldn't really give her the phone so they could talk. “She's not here right now, Dad. She's still out.”

I could pretty much picture him pinching the bridge of his nose, but there wasn't anything I could do about it. He had to come to the realization that things weren't working out at the moment, and if he wanted to talk to Is, he was going to have to call her instead of me. “James, I didn't move you into the condo so you could lose Elaine's daughter. I moved you there so you could get to know each other a little better.”

I shrugged. “What do you want me to do about it? She ran off, that's not my fault.”

“James,” his voice was stern, and I knew he wasn't joking around anymore, “you're going to go find her, and if you don't, I'm cutting you off.” And then he hung up.

All I could do is stare at my phone in shock. He was really going to cut me off because Is ran off? Yeah, it was my fault in the first place, but he didn't have to be so strict with my punishment. Isabel should learn to take criticism!

Letting out a sigh, I grabbed my car keys off of the counter and walked towards the front door, only to be shocked when I saw someone standing on the opposite side. “What are you doing here?”

She shrugged, flicking her blond hair behind her ear. “Am I not allowed to visit my son?”

I swallowed the lump that was forming in my throat and I shook my head. “No.” Shaking my head, I narrowed my eyes and took a step back. “No! You left us for another man when we had close to nothing! Now that we have money, you're coming back so you can try and get your fill? Hell no you're not allowed to see your son!”

For the second time today, I felt someone slap me across the face, and this time, it annoyed me even more than it did when Isabel did it. “I don't care what I did in the past., James. You will listen to me, because whether you like it or not, I'm still your mother-”

“-oh, shut up! You haven't been a mother since you walked out of the door all of those years ago!” Reaching for the door, I shook my head again and humorlessly laughed to myself. “What? Now that your sugar daddy is out of money, you're coming back for some of ours?”

“You don't understand, James-”

“-and I don't care to.” With that, I waved goodbye and almost closed the door, stopping midway because I saw Isabel standing behind me mom and getting off of the elevator. She looked at me with a blank expression on her face, and then her eyes moved to where my mother was standing. Something in her brain must have clicked because she simply walked by my mom and inside the apartment without so much as saying hello to either of us.

Of course, my mom took that as a chance to make a comment. “Is that your new piece? She's pretty.”

Isabel heard it and stopped walking, taking a deep breath before turning around and walked back to where my mother stood. “Sorry, I didn't catch your name. Your James' mom, right? The gold digging whore who walked out on him?” My moms smirk fell and I watched as she slowly narrowed her eyes into slits. “Well, for your information, I'm not his new 'piece', I'm just a roommate, and as the roommate, I get a right to say that I don't want you here. So you can leave now.”

After that, Isabel walked back inside the house, and from what I could tell, she slammed the door to our bedroom shut and didn't come out for the rest of the night. I didn't even bother saying goodbye to my mother before I shut the door, because I knew that this wouldn't be the last time I saw her.