Oops! This image does not follow our content guidelines. To continue publishing, please remove it or upload a different image.
━ DECEMBER, 2022 ━
ISABELLE
✧
"BOYS ARE OBVIOUS, sometimes so obvious that you'd wish they weren't. Ergo, when I say you'll know, trust me you'll know" Ryan shrugs airily, pulling forth the monster sized pack of chocolate granola from the top shelf. Groceries were on sale at Walmart today and we were both out of food.
"I don't know dude, I probably just suck at reading signs" I huff as we move on to the next isle. The last two things on my shopping list were fresh strawberries and yoghurt. I was originally supposed to be in Trader Joe's with Kat and Gabriel (who had returned from Nebraska just the night before and needed to fill up his empty mini fridge as soon as humanly possible) but on our way, Ryan decided to pop up and tempt me with the Walmart Wednesday Sale offer which I couldn't obviously deny. It also gave me a free opportunity to discuss the latest happenings in my life with Ryan, so that would be a plus.
"Tsk . . . you don't. If you want my opinion, the guy's totally suspicious" He insists, helping me put the Kellog's granola box into the shopping cart. If we added another item, it was most likely to overflow.
It had been about a week since my second 'hangout' at the café with Sky Miller and yet again, I find my brain fogged up with tangled emotions. Emotions I couldn't make anything of. I knew the questions showing up in my mind at regular intervals didn't really have any foolproof answer. Nevertheless, I didn't stop wondering. Why was Sky apologetic? Why did he say the kiss meant something to him? If it really did, then where would it lead us to? Why did he want to be friends? And damn, why did he even care to wipe my foam moustache the other day?
"Izzy? God, I've never seen you so zoned out - anyway, we're next" Ryan's voice startles me and I realize we're at the counter, the middle aged couple before us walking away with two huge bags full of groceries. I trudge along, placing our stuff over the billing counter with Ryan's help and wishing I had my Tylenols in my purse. The pounding headache had returned, my mouth felt like the Sahara and all I wanted to do was repeatedly hit my head with a sledge hammer. Why hadn't I noticed we were next?
Approximately fifteen minutes and two grilled cheese burritos later, I am riding shotgun in Ryan's cinnamon colored jeep ─ struggling to pull out a water bottle from the backseat. Even in the mid-December cold, beads of sweat lined our foreheads and necks ─ a clear sign the rainclouds would return again before Christmas.
"How are things with Quinn?" I ask as he takes the curb onto Sachem street. The traffic was heavier than usual, which I guess was partly due to the Walmart sales and partly due to the fact that Christmas was only three days away. It reminded me that I shall be having dinner with my parents tonight, which unbelievably had begun to make me anxious ─ I never thought I'd be but here we go. They had already landed at the New Haven Airport, my mother had texted me a while ago and I hadn't been able to keep calm since then.
