Isis On the Line

Isis was completely stressed. Between schoolwork, dating, and her perfectionist parents nagging at her, she was about to pull out her hair. It was like a constant buzzing in her ear that made her so frustrated. She couldn't get rid of it, neither run away from it. Or could she?
"Hey, Isis! Wait up!" called her best friend, Sunny Morgan, from down the hallway. Isis turned around abruptly. "Hey, what's the matter with you? You look like you just saw an alien or something," Sunny commented, out of breath.
Isis shook her head. "Nothing. I was just thinking."
Sunny adjusted her books in her arms. "About what? You and Twister having a spat?"
"No, I was just secluded in deep thought. I'm stressed."
Sunny laughed nonchalantly. "You? Stressed? How can you be stressed? You're a straight-A student, you have a cool boyfriend, you get everything you want, how can you be stressed?"
Isis shrugged and didn't say anything. Her whole life was giving her problems. No, her grades weren't dropping, her boyfriend was still cool, but her parents had unusually been poking and prodding around her room lately. They acted strange, and when she walked into where they were conversing, they quit talking. She didn't know what she had done, but she knew it couldn't be good.
She said goodbye to Sunny, sauntered into Calculus, and sat down in her assigned seat. She opened her notebook, studying yesterday's notes quietly before the bell rang. Finally, Mr. Quirk walked in from the hallway as the late bell let everyone know it was class time. "Good morning, class," Mr. Quirk greeted. Mr. Quirk jabbed on about arithmetic methods. Isis wasn't paying much attention today; she had too much on her mind. Mr. Quirk spoke to her, startling her out of her skin. "Isn't that right, Isis?"
Isis was stunned. "What?" Mallory (A/N: Mallory is Sam's girlfriend.she's an OC, too) was staring bluntly across the room at her.
"Isis, what's the matter? You are acting very peculiar today," Mr. Quirk asked, pretending to have a true concern.
"I have a lot on my mind."
"Well, when you're in my class, you need to get your mind on Calculus." He then went on with his lesson.
When Calculus was over, she walked out, Mallory following close behind. "Hey, what was up back there? You were totally zoned out."
Isis sighed and didn't answer. Evidently Mallory caught the hint, and slowed down, no longer beside her.
Finally lunch-time, Isis stood with Sunny in the slowly moving lines. "So, about this 'deep thought,'" Sunny began, "what's it all about?"
Isis shook her head, still frustrated, sulking in her thoughts. "It's just, my rents have been acting weird lately. It's like they're planning something, something they don't want me to know about."
Sunny nodded and stepped up in line. She grabbed a tray topped with meat loaf and corn. "Yeah, my parents do that all the time. I bet they think I'm crazy or something." Sunny chuckled as she snagged a fork from a basket.
"No, it's not like that." Isis corrected her as she scrunched up her nose at Tuesday's entrée.
"Then what Iis/I it like?" Sunny raised an eyebrow and waited for an answer.
"I don't know, I guess I just haven't been feeling myself lately. I've been feeling down a lot." Isis searched the crowded cafeteria for a couple of empty seats. "I don't know, maybe I miss Alaska a little."
Sunny brushed a piece of her soft brown hair from her face and smiled. Isis wondered why she wasn't as popular as she was. She was pretty and really nice, but she figured it was because she wasn't a ho. "Her, that's normal. You've only been in Ocean Shores for a year; I can understand if you're a little homesick. I don't think it's anything to worry over. Just call some old friends or e-mail them. Maybe even write them a letter, or send them a card to let them know you're still thinking about them."
Isis found a table, sat down her tray, then sat down on the bench. "Yeah, I guess you're right," she lied. She wasn't homesick, she just wanted Sunny to get off this subject. She knew she was just trying to help, but that just wasn't the case.
They both ate lunch, making conversation here and there. She wondered what Twister was doing. Her friends were the only ones who hadn't been acting strange, and she was glad for that.
She picked at her food some, and decided to leave lunch early. "I'm gonna go. This meat loaf didn't settle well on my stomach, and I'm gonna check myself out." Isis had this privilege; all the straight-A students did. They could check themselves out once every month, any day they wanted to.
"Okay, I'll call you when I get home." Sunny pushed her tray aside, pulled a book from her purse, and began to read.
Isis nodded and walked out of the cafeteria.
The crisp fall day had begun to get colder, as winter was slowly settling in. It was odd that it was that cold, considering Ocean Shores didn't get cold often, even during autumn and winter. Isis still felt kind of bad about ignoring Mallory and lying to Sunny; that was another thing wrong with her. She had never lied to her best friend, or ignored another friend. There was truly something wrong; Isis' intuition was always right.
She pulled into her driveway and parked. She opened her car door to welcome cold fall winds, making her jet black hair fly crazily behind her. She walked briskly to her house, inserting the key and opening the door.
The warm smells of that morning's breakfast still lingered in the mid- afternoon air. Isis could remember scarfing her waffle, because she was almost already late as it was. She frowned, and ran upstairs to her room.
She walked into her room, and slung her book bag into the nearest corner. She picked up a lighter and lit incense Sunny had given her about a week ago. She had said it was lavender or something like that, and it would help her to relax. She really needed that now. Smoke rose from the tiny stick as the smell of lavender began to fill the room. Isis sat down on a purple inflatable chair and tried to relax. She picked up the remote to her stereo, and turned it on.
She flipped through the stations about a million times, trying to find a good song. She finally found a jazz station, and kept it there. Soothing sounds of clarinets, saxophones, and trumpets came from the speakers. They played along to a light melody. Isis thought about a café lattee. She began to crave one. Since it was only 1:15, and her parents weren't home, and school wasn't out yet, the Java Stop would probably be empty right now. She memorized the radio station numbers, grabbed her keys and cell phone, and ran outside to her car.