A/N: Well guys, this is my last chapter! Finally! Thanks for everyone who reviewed, you really make my day! Sorry that this chapter is so long, I was going to split it into two, but then I decided to just write it in one go. I hope you guys like it! Thanks again for all your reviews! :-)
I followed Isabella as she led us deeper into the sea of trees we had just entered. It felt like we were more lost than we were before but I was too scared to tell her. I was incredibly hungry and so tired that I felt like my legs were going to fall off.
"Isabella, could we please just take a rest? My legs are killing me!" I pleaded.
"No, because then it'll take us longer to get home you idiot! But you can just sit here and I'll continue on. You can find your own way later." She said. "But it'll be Christmas by the time you get back."
"Well, at least I don't have to go to school." I joked. Isabella ignored me and continued walking as fast as she could. Even though she was walking at full speed, at the same time she tried to keep her hair neat and not to rip her clothes. She inspected her nails every minute or so to make sure they hadn't been scratched or broken. I stared at her and couldn't believe she could even think about her hair or nails at a time like this. All of a sudden she stopped and I ran into the back of her.
"Did you hear that?" She asked, in a scared tone.
"No." I watched her as she looked around and then turned to face me.
"Okay fine, we'll rest. But only for a little while and I'm only doing this for you." She said. I knew she was tired herself but she didn't want to show it. We sat down on the damp ground in silence.
"Can I ask you something?" I asked her all of a sudden. Isabella gave me a weird look.
"If you must."
"Why do you hate me so much?"
She looked paralysed for a moment and then stared at me. She shook her head as if she didn't want to answer me.
"Please, just tell me. I've wanted to know why for ages. I don't care if it means hurting my feelings, I just want to know." I insisted. Isabella stared at the ground and still didn't answer me. I sighed and thought I'll never know the reason why she hated me.
"I'm jealous." She answered all of a sudden. I turned to her.
"What?"
"I'm jealous of you, that's why I hate you." She said gingerly. I stared at her feeling shocked. Why on earth would she be jealous of me? She's the one that has everything. I'm the one that should be jealous of her.
"Why would you be jealous of me?" I asked.
"What's there not to be jealous of? You've got great parents, great friends...you've got everything." She stopped. She looked sad and leant on her knee and rested her chin in her palm. "And I feel like I've lost everything.
"Um if you didn't realise before Isabella, I don't have great parents since they are on the verge of divorcing any moment and I don't exactly have great friends either because my relationship has just been stuffed with one of them. And you haven't lost everything. I've just moved to New York, leaving my friends, my school, my house, my room was taken away from me before hand, I've lost the connection with my mom and lost my boyfriend. So things haven't been so great for me either." I said. Isabella looked slightly guilty but tried not to show it.
"Well at least your parents are alive. That's all I really want." Isabella murmured.
"But if that's all you really want, then why do you have to do all this stuff to wreck my life? It's not my fault your parents died Isabella. And being mean to me isn't going to bring them back."
"Yeah I know...but I hated my life and I felt like I was the only one that was suffering. So I wanted to you to feel miserable too, if that really makes any sense."
"Gee, thanks!" I said sarcastically. For some reason, I didn't really feel that angry at her. "Well you succeeded; you really made my life hell." I smiled. I had no idea why I was being so cheerful about this. But it sort of meant that deep down; she wasn't actually the evil person I thought she was. "You really miss your parents, don't you?"
Isabella nodded slowly and avoided looking at me. It was most likely because she didn't want me to see her cry, if she was. "I use to cry myself to sleep every night, just wishing they were here. But now I've realised no matter what I do, it's not going to bring them back. So now I just try to be strong for them, and I talk to them most nights. You know how when someone dies, people always say that they are watching over you and they are always listening when you're talking to them? Well I hope my mom and dad are listening to me. I'd do anything to be with them now."
At that moment I felt so sorry for her that I felt I was going to cry myself. It always seemed like she didn't care that her parents were gone but now hearing that she actually cried herself sleep proved she had feelings too. I felt that she was beginning to act like a normal human being again.
"I think it's true. And that you're parents are looking down on you and listening to everything you say to them. But I don't think they'll be too happy too see the way you've been treating everyone lately. Especially me and my friends." I added. I knew it wasn't a good idea to make her feel guilty now, but she needed to know, even though if it made her feel worse. Isabella didn't say anything and continued to not look at me.
"You're right. Being mean to everyone won't bring my parents back." She finally said. "I never thought I'd say this but...I'm sorry. I'm sorry for all the trouble I've caused and all the misery I put you through." She said seriously.
"It's okay. It'll take me a while to forgive you because you did do some awful things. But at least I know you're sorry and you mean it. So...do you still hate me?" I asked curiously.
"Well...I-I don't really know you, to be honest. I mean, after all this time of being mean to you, I never concentrated on learning to get to know the real you. Instead I focused on figuring out how to wreck your life even more."
"You know, you owe me big time. You really made my life a miserable hole and some days it got so bad I felt like killing myself." I said honestly. Isabella gave me an I'm-so-sorry look and didn't say anything. All of a sudden we heard a car horn that kept on beeping every few seconds. It sounded quite far away but as we listened more carefully, we could hear it was getting louder and louder. Like it was getting closer.
"Can you hear that?" Isabella asked as she stood up. I nodded. "Come on let's go, maybe we can go get help. We'll never get home at this rate."
"But Isabella, I don't think we should hitch a ride with some stranger. It'll be dangerous." I said uncertainly.
"But it'll be just as dangerous if we walk home on our own in the dark. We could at least ask for directions so we know where to go, because I have no idea where I'm going. Come on Lizzie, I'm hungry and I'm tired and I just want to get home. Please? It's getting dark and we won't be able to see where we are going." She begged. Since she asked so nicely I agreed with her and followed her out onto the road. We stared at the car that was coming towards us the headlights shone brightly in my eyes. Isabella frantically waved at the driver and started calling out to him. I just hoped this guy wasn't going to be some sort of murderer or drug dealer. The car stopped right in front of us and Isabella sighed with relief. I stared at the car and thought it looked familiar. It looked like, wait a minute, It was! It was my dad's car!
"Isabella! It's dad!" I said happily.
"Oh my goodness it is to!" She smiled as we walked over to the window. Our dad jumped out and sighed with relief.
"Thank god I found you girls! Are you both okay?" He asked worriedly as he gave us a tight squeeze.
"Yeah we're fine. We're just really tired and hungry." I said. "Can you take us home dad?"
"Of course I will. You girls better get into the car and I'll take you straight home. I can't believe your mother did this to you two. We got into a big fight before I came to look for you. It was terrible." My dad said a little sadly as we got into the car and started driving home. Isabella and I looked at each other and didn't know what to say. Now that we got along, it was hard to see that now our parents were the ones now that were fighting. I'd do anything for them to love each other again and for us to be one big happy family. During the car trip home, it was awkward because no one dared to speak and I couldn't wait to get home.
When we finally pulled into our drive way Isabella and I made our way into the house. Dad fiddled with his car keys for a while and I could tell that he didn't want to go into the house and see mom. We walked in and saw mom pacing up and down the hallway and looking like she was going to cry. As soon as she saw us she ran up to us and hugged us tightly.
"Oh I'm so glad you two are okay! I was so worried and I'm sorry that I just left you girls out there all alone. Your father was right, I shouldn't have done it and it was a dangerous thing to do. I hope you girls will forgive me." She pleaded.
"Of course mom. To be honest, it did do us some good." Isabella glanced at me.
"Oh how did it go?" Our mom asked.
"What?" We asked together. We did know what she was talking about though.
"Did you girls sort things out? Did you learn to get along?" She asked. I looked at Isabella and waited for her to answer instead.
"Yeah mom, we did. Lizzie and I are...well we're cool now." She smiled at me. I smiled back and had never felt so great in my life. Isabella and I were actually getting along, and it made me happier than ever. Of course I was still a little angry because she had ruined my life, but as long as she stayed nice and stayed a good sister, then forgiving her wouldn't be too hard.
"Wow! I'm so happy with the both of you! Maybe doing that was a good idea after all!" Our mom said happily and gave us another hug. It looked like she was going to cry again and I felt like I was going to as well.
"Uh, mom?" I asked.
"Yes?"
"Do you think we can sit down and you can cook us some dinner? Because we're starving and really tired!" I said.
"Oh of course! I'm so sorry! You girls go sit in the living room and watch TV or something and I'll whip you up something special!" She said and quickly ran into the kitchen. Isabella and I sat on the couch and turned on the TV. We talked a little, just about what it was like in New York and how my new school was going. I found it really strange talking to her like that because before, I never spoke to her. And if I did, we would always end up fighting.
"Hey girls, do you know where your father went?" Jo asked as she came into the living room.
"Sorry mom. We saw him last when he was just next to the car." I answered.
"But the car's gone." She said and walked out.
"What are we going to do about mom and dad? We can't let them stay like this! If we can learn to get along there's no doubt that they can learn too." Isabella whispered as she kept checking that mom wasn't listening. "They're in the middle of this huge fight right now and it's all my fault. If I hadn't been so awful to you in the first place, they never would have separated and you wouldn't be in New York. If they really divorce I would never forgive myself!"
"Isabella, there's not much we can do. I have to go back to New York tomorrow so..."
"Oh yeah, I forgot about that." She said. Matt came downstairs and looked surprised to see Isabella and me talking.
"Lizzie, your back!" He said, completely ignoring Isabella. "Um, have I missed something here? Why are you talking to that idiot?" He asked as he shot Isabella a dirty look.
"Matt, it's okay. Isabella's nice now and she's sorry for everything she's done." I said to him.
"Lizzie! Don't believe what she says, she's a liar! She's framing you!" Matt insisted.
"Look Matt. I'm sorry for everything, especially for calling you a rat most times. And I hope that one day we'll be able to get along." Isabella said as she ignored what he had said before. Matt's jaw dropped and he looked stunned.
"You're sorry? I didn't think you knew that word existed! What's the world coming to? No, this can't be happening, I'm dreaming! I know I am!" He said as he started slapping himself as is he was trying to wake himself up. Matt backed away and ran back upstairs.
"Don't worry about him. He'll come around." I said. Isabella nodded.
"So...about mom and dad?" She asked again.
"Oh yeah. Um, well maybe we should just let them sort themselves out. You're right, if we can do it, they can too. They're not children. I just wish now that we could drive so we can dump them in the middle of no where and make them walk home, don't you think?" I laughed.
"Definitely." Isabella smiled.
That night, dad didn't come home until nine at night. Mom kept on questioning him about where he was all this time and he made up excuses that he went to the mall to look for something. I lay on my bed in my old room, listening to them argue most of the night. I hoped that Isabella was listening to this, so she could help me figure out a way to get them back together. I couldn't stand it anymore and wished they could get along and love each other again. I felt sick and was scared things between them were going to get much worse. I use to think my parents would be the last people on earth who would get divorced, but now I wasn't so sure.
Before I could stop myself, I snuck out of bed and tip toed up to Isabella's room. I poked my head in and asked if she was awake.
"Yes of course I am. How can anyone possibly fall asleep with mom and dad arguing all through the night? It's bugging the hell out of me!" She said as she yawned. I agreed and just stood there. Isabella gave me a weird look.
"What are you doing just standing there? Aren't you gonna come in?" She asked as though I was stupid.
"Oh yeah. It's just...you never let me in your room before. I mean my old room." I corrected myself and walked in. It felt so strange being in Isabella's room, I'd never really seen it before.
"I know, it feels kind of weird that we're getting along now doesn't it? Look, I promise I'll make it up to you one day but right now we have to figure out a way to get mom and dad back together!" She insisted.
"Wait!" I whispered and put my hand up to stop her from talking. We both froze and all we could here were the leaves from the trees outside blowing from the wind. We couldn't here anymore arguing, or fighting or shouting. It was completely silent.
"What do you think happened?" Isabella asked worriedly. I shrugged my shoulders and listened for anymore shouting, but nothing happened. Isabella and I just sat on her bed most of the night, waiting for them to start arguing again, until we fell asleep.
We woke up the next morning from the smell of my mom's pancakes. I had fallen asleep on Isabella's bed and had freaked out because I had forgotten where I was.
"Sorry..." I said slowly as I jumped off.
"It's fine. Come on; let's go downstairs to see what happened between mom and dad last night." Isabella said as she tugged my arm a little. We went downstairs and saw mom and Matt sitting at the table eating breakfast, but dad wasn't there. I hoped that we hadn't walked out on us. I had this sick feeling at the pit of my stomach that things could've gotten pretty bad last night. But maybe I was wrong.
"Mom, where's dad?" Isabella asked as she sat down. I did the same.
"He went out to buy some milk, why?" Jo said calmly.
"Well Isabella and I heard you and dad fighting like all night and we got worried. So when we didn't see him this morning we got scared that...you know...you guys got divorced." I said. My mom just burst out laughing. How can she laugh in a serious situation like this? I had no idea what was so funny in the first place. If you were about to get divorced, laughing would the last thing you would probably do.
It turned out that I had made a total fool of myself and mom and dad were doing the complete opposite. Last night, after they yelled at each other, they sat down and had a serious talk about their relationship and what was happening to it. They talked about me, Isabella and Matt and what would be best for us. They ended up saying sorry and forgiving each other, which was what impressed me most. And when dad went out last night for a long time, he was just spending hours and hours at the mall looking for the perfect present for mom to say he was sorry for everything that happened. He ended up getting her this beautiful gold necklace which had "I love you" engraved on it.
"So what's going to happen now?" I asked, feeling so much better than I did five minutes ago. I could tell Isabella looked relieved too.
"Well, you have to go back to New York today-" Jo began.
"What? If you and dad can get along fine then why can't we all move back in together?" I asked feeling shocked.
"Well honey, you're father has his job over in New York and you've all settled in your school and home, it'd just be too much of a hassle for you to move back in here. And what about you're friends over there? I'm sure they wouldn't be too happy to see you leaving so quickly. And don't you prefer it in New York?" My mom asked.
"No! I don't! I mean, I like my school and all but I love it here and I miss it too! And I've known Miranda and Gordo for much longer so I want to be with them instead. I'm sure my friends in New York wouldn't care and I can always call them." I insisted.
"Look, I'll speak to your father about it and maybe we can arrange something one day, but not now. It's too late and we don't have enough time. Now you better go and start packing your things, your flight leaves in five hours."
Isabella had disappeared for most of the morning and I had no idea where she had gotten too. I had finally sorted things out with her and now I had to go back to New York. I didn't want to stay there anymore; I wanted to be here in Hill Ridge. My mom and dad were finally back to normal so I had no idea what was stopping us.
Before we were about to leave for the airport, Miranda and Gordo had come to see me and say good bye. Surprisingly, Gordo had forgiven me for what I had done which really made my day. I found out that at the time Isabella was gone, she was Gordo, begging him to forgive me for everything. Fortunately she had succeeded and it was the nicest thing she had ever done for me. She said it was the least she could do for making my life miserable.
Miranda, Gordo and I promised each other that there would be no more lies or fights between us ever again. If we were best friends then we'd always be able to tell each other the truth. I looked over at mom and dad who were deep in discussion and I could tell by the way that they looked at each other that they loved one another again.
After two weeks of being back in New York, my dad finally confessed to me that he missed Hill Ridge and being with mom. He hadn't been a hundred percent happy living here and he preferred living over there. Then he said it, the sentence I wanted to hear from him for ages.
"Lizzie, Matt, pack your things. We're going back to Hill Ridge." He said. I screamed and hugged him. I couldn't believe it. Dad ended up resigning from his job and selling our house. Matt and I left our schools and our friend's weren't too happy about it but we promised we'd keep in touch. Mom agreed straight away that we could move back in and so did Isabella who didn't seem to mind at all.
It took a while to go through the moving process, but in the end it was all worth it. Dad sold most of the furniture back in our house in New York so we got plenty got money from that. With the money from the furniture we renovated the study room to make it a lot bigger. I ended up having the room Isabella took off me and she moved into the new room. It was still smaller than my room now, but I definitely preferred this room. Isabella and I got along great now; it was like we were best friends. I could tell every now and then she felt guilty for what she had done, but at least she had learnt her lesson. She even got along well with Matt which was a surprise. Finally, I had gotten what I wanted. We were one big happy family again and I couldn't ask for more.
I enrolled back into Hill Ridge High and was happy to see all my teachers and friends again. Especially Gordo and Miranda. Gordo and I decided it was best if we didn't see each other as more than friends because it would keep wrecking our friendship. So now we were just best friends. Miranda and Gordo finally accepted that Isabella was nice now and eventually forgave her.
So now, Isabella, Miranda, Gordo and I, hung around in one group at school. And there was also another person who was with us too. Ben. He and Isabella got along fine even though they ex boyfriend and girlfriend. I didn't really know whether I still had feelings for Ben, but whenever I looked at him, he made me smile. And the good thing about it was that Gordo wasn't at all jealous.