"Why are you so stupid? Do you really think you can just be gone all the time like that? Do you really think you can go out without telling me? Why would you go out without letting me know?" She says looking at me, increasingly angry as she washes the dishes like royalty is going to eat off of them.
"I'm sorry I-"
"You're SORRY? You go out all night without letting me know where you are or who you're with and come back when it's almost daylight... and all you have to say for yourself is you're SORRY?"
She puts the clean dishes to the side, maybe too hard for glass.
"Well I-"
"And another thing! When you ARE here, all you ever do is SLEEP! You wake up for dinner which I have to cook and it can't have garlic. But it has to be bloody. You know how hard it is to cook something so undone that it's bloody but done enough that it's not raw? HARD. And we can't go out in the daytime because your pale ass burns like a vam-" She cuts herself off, letting a plate clang in the bottom of the sink.
Dead silence falls. I can't think of words to say or feelings to feel. I can't think of anything right now.
I feel like it's going to get better from here. Or I did, for a second.
"Maybe that's the problem." She says plainly.
"Maybe that's the fucking problem!" she yells furiously. "Maybe the problem is that you're a fucking vampire and so you're not loyal and you're needy and I cant stand it! If you were capable of living without me I would have already left you, but you're ass doesn't even know how to do a dish!"
She throws one onto the kitchen floor, shattering it, like my heart.
I hold back my confused emotional rage. "Why don't... you just take some time to calm down." I try to say.
"Why don't you just take some time to find another girlfriend?" she says mockingly.
"I don't... I... I'll be back later to pick up my stuff."
"Good!"
"Would that make you happy?" I say, breaking.
"Just go." She says, covering half her face with one hand. I think she's starting to cry.
"But babe I-"
"Just go!" she yells.
I look at her for a second. I can't leave like this. But, then again, I guess that's what she wants. Whatever makes her happy...
I hold back tears and head for the door. It's dark out and the automatic lights she had installed turn on. I run through them, burning myself. I run all the way to Isabelle's.
I let myself in.
"Isabelle?" I call.
She runs down the stairs. She's wearing a black night gown without pants. Appropriate sleepwear.
"I didn't wake you, did I?"
"Nah, I was just watching old tv reruns. I wasn't expecting you though. What's up?"
"Had a fight with Bethany. Can I hang here?"
"Anytime."
We go into her kitchen. She pulls out some cold beers from her fridge and some Pop-Tarts from her cabinet. She puts two beers on the table and four pop tarts in the toaster. Then she sits next to me.
"What'd y'all fight about?" she says, taking a sip.
"Ahh, nothing important." I say unconvincingly.
"Liar."
"Yeah, well, the Pop-Tarts are done."
She gets up and brings them over on a paper plate.
"So, tell me the truth" she bites into the snack.
"Just... stupid stuff."
She gives me a long, sorrowful look... as if to say 'tell me the truth' again.
"Izzy, it doesn't matter. I'll give her some time to cool off. She'll probably be fine."
"X... That's what I'm afraid of."
"What do you mean?"
"I know how she treats you. She's abusive."
"She's not abusive. She's just... moody."
"Almost everyday! Xavier, open your eyes. She's abusing you."
"She's not. She just gets mad when I do something I shouldn't do."
"Shouldn't do? You're letting her control you! You're your own person. You're in charge of what you should or shouldn't do."
"Well... she has something to do with it. I shouldn't be going out all night without telling her."
Crap. I forgot I wasn't going to tell Isabelle that.
"I'm going to ignore part of that." she says, "Also, I know it's more than that. I know it's more than going out at night. She abuses you all the time. She practically punishes you for doing things she doesn't like. And I can see it in your eyes that she just said some horrible, unjustified things to you. Xavier, you can't go back to her."
"She didn't mean any of it. She just was mad. And she has every right to be. She'll be okay. She'll want to make up."
"And when she does, you can't go back."
"I have to. I need her."
"But do you love her?"
"Of course I do..."
"Hmm..."
"What?"
"Nothing. I'm getting tired, X."
"Sorry."
"Don't be sorry. Crash here for as long as you want. It's a big, empty house and I like having you over. Knock on my door if you need anything."
"Alright."
We clean up the table and she goes upstairs to her room. I drop myself onto the couch, just in time to hear my phone buzz in my pocket. I look at it. It's Bethany.
'Where are you'
'Isabelle's'
'If you love her so much have fun fucking her because you can't come back here'
'Honey, you know it's not like that'
'I'm not your honey'
'Good night'
She doesn't text back after that.
I'm having a hard time sleeping. It's still dark out. But my heart is heavy and my mind is full, so I close my eyes and try to ease my worries.
I don't know when I finally fell asleep, but I wake up around 3 pm to the sound of Isabelle cooking. I rub my eyes as I sit up. Looking over to her, I see she's wearing a red dress that comes to her knees. She walks around the kitchen in such a way that I can't help but look. She looks over to me, noticing that I was looking at her.
"Good morning." she calls.
"Afternoon." I call back.
I walk over to her.
Sweet smells surround me. Peppers... onions... and Isabelle's perfume.
"How'd you sleep?" she asks.
"Alright I guess. You?"
"Good."
"Isabelle texted me last night."
"Oh?"
"She told me not to come back."
"What are you going to do?"
"Wait it out I guess. What are you making?"
"Steak."
"Really?" I ask, a little too excited.
"Yeah. Rare too. Blood fix for the week."
"Awesome. I haven't had a fix in a while."
"I noticed. She really pushes your limits."
"No big deal."
She looks at me strangely for a moment.
"Xavier, you're burnt!" she says suddenly, rather surprised.
I look at my arms. They're dark pink.
"Just a little. Don't worry."
She throws me a concerned look.
"How did this happen?"
"Let it go."
She goes back to cooking.
Later on we eat dinner together as we have pleasant conversations. When we're done eating, she cleans off the table and does the dishes. It reminds me of Bethany. I wonder how she is. Once the dishes are done, Isabelle and I decide to play some monopoly and drink some beer.
Several empty bottles and fake dollars later, Isabelle seems a little drowsy as she rolls the dice. As she moves her spaces, she talks to me.
"Are you okay? Are you tired?"
"I'm fine. You?"
"I'm alright."
Truthfully, I'm a little out of it. I've had a few too many. I'm not tired, but maybe a little drunk. She's not drunk. I don't think she had as many as me, but she holds her alcohol better anyway. She gets tired earlier than me though.
I look at the clock on the wall.
"You sure? It's 1 am."
"Maybe I'm a little tired... But let's finish the game."
The night progresses and I say too much about my relationship with Bethany. I tell Isabelle that I love Bethany and she does this kind of crap all the time. I know Bethany. She'll get over it. She loves me. I tell Isabelle how Bethany made a good point that I do need a lot of things that only Beth would give me.
"Food, time..."
"But Xavier... somebody else could give you the same things..."
"Love...?"
She looks at me with her sad yet wonder-filled eyes.
"You mean, she has you actually believing that nobody else would love you?"
I'm silent for a moment. Her question floats around in my head.
"She's right."
Isabelle looks more hurt than I feel. Eventually, the game of monopoly ends and we just have some light chatter. At 4 am she heads to bed, while I stay up until about 7.
"Hey," a feminine voice calls out in the distance. Something is shaking me.
"X, it's time to wake up." the voice says.
I open my eyes. It's Isabelle.
"Good afternoon." she smiles.
"What time is it?" I ask, sitting up.
"5 pm."
"Why'd you let me sleep in?" I ask, my head aching. I instinctively bring my hand to it.
"That's why." she laughs.
"Thanks." I laugh too.
"I'm making some coffee. It'll help with your hangover."
"I'm not hungover, I'm just tired."
"Right." she says sarcastically.
We sit at the table with the coffee and she talks about tonight's weather forecast.
"I heard on the news they said it would be nice and cool."
"Awesome."
Something starts ringing. It startles me, making me abruptly stand up. It's just my phone.
"Hello?" I talk into it.
"Where the hell have you been?" a familiar and angry female says. Her loudness hurts my head.
"You told me not to come back. So I stayed at Isabelle's."
Isabelle throws me a glance that I, for once, cannot pickup on.
"I'm coming tonight to pick you up." Bethany states.
"Okay."
"Love you." she says, with a sudden change in tone.
"Love you too."
She hangs up. I put my phone down. Isabelle gives me a 'what happened' look.
"Bethany said she'll pick me up tonight."
Isabelle looks concerned at this news.
"Don't worry," I tell her, "She's in a good mood."
"Yeah, but for how long?"
"Stop worrying. You have her all wrong. She really is a good person."
Isabelle looks at me as if I have just told the biggest lie in the world. To her, I have.
Night approaches, and, though it's not dark out yet, so does Bethany's car. I hear a car door open and slam close. Through the window, I see Bethany come to the door. She knocks, hard. Isabelle opens the door, revealing a very mad looking Bethany. I stand up from the table and walk a little closer.
"You're a little early." Isabelle mutters to her in an 'I can't stand you' sort of way.
"And you're a little out of place." Bethany says, with no doubt in her voice. "I've came to collect what's mine."
My being referred to as a 'what' instead of a 'who' seems to have Isabelle quite alarmed. Bethany walks right past her without asking to come in. That's typically frowned upon, unless you know them well, in vampire culture. Then again, Bethany is not a vampire.
written by Ari Painful Writer