"Was it real? Was it just as real for you as it was for me?"
"I've never once lied about my feelings for you."
★✩★✩★
Two weeks, two teens, and one conversation was all it took for these teens to develop a connection. It grew until it was broken by s...
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"What do you mean he left?" Marge asked as she walked into my room.
"He's gone, he's been gone since yesterday. I knew something was wrong when he didn't go to our spot as planned. I went back today and Cassie said he left. She wouldn't tell me why. It had to be something bad, or it was because of me." I sniffled with my chin on my knees.
"What do you mean? Didn't you guys have sex the other night? Have you asked his friends? Maybe they know, they can contact him, or-"
"Forget it, Marge. He's gone. I should just move on."
"No. You need an explanation."
"Yes. I have to. People don't leave and come back, my mom never did. Plus, I have a feeling he isn't coming back. He has a girlfriend anyway." I felt my throat clog up.
"What? Did he tell you that?"
I shook my head. I looked up at her and her eyes widened as she took in my red eyes. When my bottom lip wavered, I bit it.
"So then how do you know?"
"His phone buzzed. I looked. The screensaver was of a girl and he was kissing her cheek and his hand was in her lap. It didn't look friendly."
Marge sighed while her hand went up into her hair, clutching it. A gasp-like sob left my mouth and she rushed over to me, hugging me with her arms across my back and chest. Her head was against my back and I knew she could feel the harsh sobs that wracked my body. I couldn't breathe, sobs taking too much from me.
I felt as if I had given too much of myself away. How had I not seen this coming? I was stuck in one spot but Gage could roam. He was free to go wherever he desired as long as it was okay with Cassie.
Which meant she omitted the truth. She knew where he went but didn't want to tell me. She knew there was another girl and lied to me. Something inside of my chest twisted at the thought of her turning her back on me, forgetting who I was because she had to protect Gage.
From whatever he had going on.
"I know you probably think you are overreacting but you aren't. Everyone reacts differently, especially if they've been lied to, and so it's okay to feel betrayed or cry. I'll be here, now and always. I won't leave you," Marge said.
"Please don't."
That was all that was said that night. Dad came home, confused as to why I was crying in my room all day long. Marge shooed him off, telling him she'd tell him later. He looked conflicted, wanting to know why his only daughter was distraught, but he backed off anyway. I was grateful for that.
As it got later in the day, the pain got worse. I knew this was going to happen, I knew that the final time I saw Gage would hurt the most. Of course, there was no telling if Gage wouldn't return but in my gut, I knew it would be.
He was supposed to stay. He was supposed to be my rock that momentarily drifted off before coming back. Almost like a boomerang. But the thing about boomerangs was their route back wasn't always perfect.
Things get in the way. The air changed the course it was initially going to take. Something always popped up. So I knew my brief boomerang of memories had returned when small things ripped through my thoughts.
Every touch. Every kiss. Every smile. It was all engraved in my heart, mind, and soul that I feared he wouldn't ever leave them. I squeezed my eyes shut, new tears covering the dry ones, and softly shook my head. Forcing myself to calm down, I took a fortifying breath.
Looking at my bed to see if she noticed my absence, I saw Marge twist in my bed. We didn't talk, she just held me, every so often she started to play with my hair or hum a soft tune. I couldn't even sleep. I had to walk out to my balcony to feel as if I could breathe again. My eyes stung once more when they landed on the spot where Gage sat a few days prior.
Why did he leave like that? If he had just told me what was wrong, why he suddenly needed to leave, I wouldn't be angry. I was angry that he left with no talk about what happened between us. Was our relationship always going to be up in the air?
I looked up at the stars, seeing the Little Dipper, and my chest felt tight. I slowly got to the floor, sitting with my head on my knees. Feeling stupid, I wondered if it was normal to feel this way. What if he had a family emergency? What if something bad happened?
But as far as I knew, the club was his family. There was no one outside of the group so what happened? Something inside of me didn't care to know. I just wanted to leave him in the past, even if the past was a day ago.
He belonged where my mother was, in a spot that I wouldn't ever need to see. They were both leavers, both giving me too much to cope with. I needed them both but maybe that's where I went wrong.
I didn't need anyone other than the original men in my life. My father, grandfather, and brother were all I needed. Along with Marge, they were the family that I was always destined to have.
Cassie and John had made their choices when they took Gage into their family. I wasn't going to get in the way of that. He was their son so they were his to have, I couldn't share. Everyone chose their sides, it was preordained, and I would make sure it stayed that way.
I didn't want anything to do with Gage. He wasn't the boy I thought he was. He wasn't mine to keep because he could have any girl he wanted. And he had one back home too.
She was probably a girl who could leave without fearing for her family. One who would travel and do dangerous things with him. A girl who knew not to overthink.
A girl that wasn't named Izabella Anderson.
𖧷𖧷𖧷
A/N:
And that concludes the last chapter of Part II. Honestly, I think this is the most chaotic one out of the five of them. It sets the rest of the story up while Part I was setting up the setting, feelings, and characters.
So what did you think of this part? I like to think it's normal teenage stuff, miscommunication trope goes hard in this part. I think it's also in line with other normal teenage stuff, like trying to be an adult too early (Gage) and insecurities (Izzy). We all just try to be something we're not and then overcompensate for it when we don't know how to analyze why we feel the way we do.
