Guidance counselor// I have a bit of trouble with my anger, at least I used to. Now I honestly don't. I try to give kids the help I could never get myself, it's kind of boring I guess but I feel good doing it.
“Relax handsome, I’m not going to steal them or anything. I heard the school has that program to get high school credit with some exam. The main office needs my records so they told me to get them from this office…”
“Are you always this stressed? You know I wouldn’t mind help you relax a little bit.”
“Eh, sorry. I always have to be on my guard a bit when I’m here. I’m getting pretty close to being fired.”
The impact happened, but it wasn’t like she had expected. Isabelle had extended her arms to try and save her face from slamming into the floor, instead of hard ground, she had found herself in Brian’s arms. Her hands were on his chest and she could feel his chest raising and falling. She felt herself tremble a little and could not stop from staring into his eyes. Those eyes, she thought, oh how she had thought about those eyes. She remembered how excited she had been when she had been paired up with him, he was a bit older than her, she was taking an advance class after all, and she had felt special. She had told all her friends about him, the boy with the pretty eye. But it had all faded pretty quickly. She never knew why. One day they started fighting and never knew how to stop. She would match the volume of his voice, she would match the harshness of his actions. They never stopped fighting.
Isabelle didn’t say anything for a while, at least that’s what it had seemed for her, as if time had frozen and they were suspended in time while the whole world continued outside, she felt safe in his arms. Stop it Belle, she scolded herself, you are not a little girl anymore. Still she didn’t move. But then he set her down and she let out a breath she didn’t know she was holding. Isabelle nodded at his words, he sounded angry, like it had been such a bother to catch her. Then why did you do it? she wanted to ask, to confront him, to fight. But she was not that girl anymore, instead she just said, “Brian…” as soon as his name left her mouth she cursed herself, because it meant that she knew who he was, that she remembered, the good memories and the bad memories. But she could not take it back now. “I - umm … thank you … for … for umm … you didn’t have to do it…” she said looking at the ground, “I- I still need to get the curtains down somehow…” she let out a nervous laugh, she hoped to change the subject, she looked everywhere but at him. Anywhere but at his eyes.
He tried to work on the house but he was totally distracted. His mind was racing, What are you doing? He thought to himself. Do you actually still like that girl? He decided to shake it off, he had to leave the past behind. He isn’t the same person he was when he was 18, was he? He knew it would help if he just apologized.
He walked up to the girl, and tapped her on the shoulder. There was an air of total awkwardness, and he wasn’t sure what he was even doing. “Uh, Belle, I guess I just wanted to... I mean this whole thing is just... I’m sorry, this is just a mess. I’m sorry for being a jerk to you earlier, can I make it up to you?” he stuttered.
“It’s okay umm… Brian” Vivian said looking at the name on his desk, “I’m not going to be here long. I just need to pick up whatever records there are of me.”
“Which one is the dropouts pile?”
“Wait, I can’t let you just take them! Why do you want them?” He said, standing up in his seat.
“What book are you reading? It looks really interesting, but I’m not one to judge a book by it’s cover,” Jeliza chuckled softly.
“Oh it’s kinda weird, it’s about different urban legends and stuff through history. Different kinds of monsters and creatures,” he smiled, handing her the book.
“Works f-” Belle had started to say when he simply walked away from her. “I guess some people will always be their rude selves…” she said to herself, “I can manage just fine … and now I’m talking to myself, perfect…” she was mad, mostly because she had expected someone to be here, the house was a mess, but she had maybe hoped it was someone she could talk to, there were some things around the house that seemed like they were impossible to repair, so coming up with a solution to temporary fix them required someone to bounce ideas off of. Instead she had gotten the one person she had never managed to get along with, this was worse than the time they had that chemistry lab together. Because she remembered him now, and she remembered him well. Yes she used to be opinionated, and loud, but she was different now, she had grown up, she hoped he had as well.
Isabelle started to move things around, when the curtain caught her attention, they were a damp mess, torn in more ways than it was possible for fabric that heavy to be, so she looked around for a ladder, she had to take everything down and put something up in the meantime. She couldn’t find anything but a few steps ladder, something to help the old lady who lived there reach some high shelves, but nothing that would allow Belle to reach up to the curtain rod. Looking around she quickly figure out a way, she just had to place the ladder on top of a desk, and maybe place a couple of books on top of the ladder. She was sure she could reach it without any trouble. After setting up her make shift ladder Belle realized she had miscalculated, she was a few inches away from the end of the rod, so that meant she would have to get down and shift the ladder a few inches. Just as she was contemplating getting down she heard footsteps approaching, great, she thought.
She really didn’t wanted to run into Brian again. She had not time or patience to get into another discussion. So she figured that if she was up there he would have no choice but to ignore her. He could just do whatever he needed and go back to wherever he was. It was then that he had to make a comment. Belle bit her lip before saying, “don’t worry about it…” she will show him just how stable it was. Isabelle strained to reach for the rod, she was so close, only a couple of more inches, she thought, you can do this, but then just like everything in her life the whole thing fell apart. Belle felt the books shift under her, and then she was falling. She closed her eyes and braced for the impact.
“Maybe I she’s changed?” he thought to himself. Why now? Why did that angry little teenager have to pop up again? He felt like this anger sometimes, the same kind he felt back when he was living with his parents, but it didn’t last this long. He couldn’t bring himself to being violent like he usual is, maybe it was because he was in someone else’s home or maybe it was because part of him wanted to forgive her.
He headed back into the house, and walked past Belle again. “That’s really not safe,” he said, folding his arms standing in front of the curtains. She fell, and he jumped to catch her. She was in his arms and he looked at her, it was like back in high school., before the fighting, before the rage. He cared about her, a lot, she was just as beautiful as she was then. He snapped back, and put her down. “Just, uh, be more careful.” He said flatly.
After hearing the stranger laugh she relaxed a little bit. So he was there to help too, she was relieved. There was so much to do on the house. As he apologized she smiled and bent down to pick the things that had spilled out of the box. At least he was a nice person, he had had a reason to mistrust her presence there, Belle guessed she should apologize too. She looked at him and began to say, “it’s okay, no harm done. I didn’t know someone else was goin-” when she was interrupted by his words. ‘It’s you’ it was probably the oddest thing someone had said to her in a long while. He was a stranger, a crazy guy who came running with a broom with all the intention of knocking whoever came through the door. And he had the nerve to turn his back on her. “Excuse me” she demanded while walking so that he was in front of him again, “I don’t know who you think I am but you can’t ju-” she stopped mid-sentence when she recognized him. The face belonged to someone she had knew, a long time ago, when she was a different person, and if she had been a different person back then, wouldn’t that make them strangers again? “you can’t just talk to people like that…”
He sighed heavily, rubbing his temples. He knew he had to calm himself down, “Look why don’t we just work on opposite ends of the house or something,” he muttered. Before she could answer he stormed off to work on the back area of the house, it was a mess. The back window had been shattered, and the walls had been damaged probably from the wind shaking them. He needed paint, plaster, and something to cover the window while a professional fixed it. He left all that stuff in his truck, meaning he would have to run into Isabelle again. Brian tried to keep his cool while heading out, ignoring her completely. He saw her on a ladder reaching for something or fixing something he wasn’t quite sure. “Hey, that things not stable!” He called to her, forgetting his feud for a moment.
“I don’t see why you always have to be like this,” the young teenager said. His breaths became shallow, his heart pounding, he was losing his mind.
“You’re always so dramatic.” The boy’s father slurred drunkenly.
“It’s not fair! The kitchen is constantly a mess, there’s never any food here, and I’m terrified that someone’s gonna find your dead bodies after some crazy night gambling!” He raised his voice, clenching his fist to his side.
“Oh don’t throw such a tantrum Brian, I really thought you were more mature than that.” His mother placed a hand on his shoulder.
“Don’t try to guilt me, I know what you’re doing. You always do this!” He yelled, digging his nails into his palm.
“You ungrateful asshole,” his father said. “We try our hardest to keep you alive, every time we see you, we see a mouth to feed. We see money that we’ve wasted, a successful life we could’ve lived. Do you know how much stress we’re under just seeing your face everyday?”
“Stress? I know fucking stress, alright? I’m trying to not flunk out of school because I can’t stop thinking about what you guys are doing every single minute. I spend every night up late, so I know you’re not dead. You guys are actual scum, and you don’t give a shit about anyone but yourselves.” He yelled, slamming his fist on the kitchen table.
“You know it’s funny you should call us that, because guess what? You’re no different from me.” His mother said smiling a little.
“What the fuck are you talking about?” he asked glaring at her.
“I was just like you, I treated my parents like you’re treating us. I always thought that I would be different, like I would give my children what I never had. Then reality came, and I realized I was just like my mother. Guess what Brian? You’re just like me, and you always will be like me. Deal with it, just deal with it.” she said, her voice mocking and patronizing.
“I’m done with both of you!” he screamed, throwing a beer bottle at his parents.
His father began choking him in anger, until finally he blacked out. When he regained consciousness, it was pitch black outside. His parents had left him on the kitchen floor. Brian went up to his room and packed his things, he walked out into the cold black night and never looked back.
pixelskylines
romaincrisis
gamechangershow
2087
