By the time Friday came around, Jane had cooled off with me a bit. When I picked her up for school on morning of the party, she sat with her hands folded in her lap and told me coolly that I can be friends with whoever I please, but should not forget who has been my best friend since grade school. I assured her quietly that I hadn't forgotten and hoped she would have a good time tonight. Jane said, "And I hope you have a good time with Isaac too." Her mouth was pulled in a tight line.

I have been thinking a lot about why Jane has acted so harshly about me 'ditching' them to study with Isaac. Possibly it's to do with me never having a boyfriend (or a friend who's a boy who isn't Stiles) so she's not used to me hanging out with a guy instead of her. But Isaac isn't my boyfriend and I don't want him to be. The amount of times that I have told Jane with certainty that I am perfectly happy by myself must be in the hundreds, so she shouldn't be worried about anything like that. She's not jealous, is she? That would be ridiculous… I mean, I did tell her that we had organised this study night before she told me about the party, so it's only fair…
Maybe she's just being stubborn. Or annoyed that things tonight aren't going as she planned. Or… maybe it's me? Maybe she's thinking that her best friend is turning into a complete loser and wanting to study instead of going to a party is not how normal teenagers act.

The day started passing and my stomach was growing tighter and tighter. I picked at my sandwich at lunch and found myself chewing at my lips more than once. I noticed the anxious habits but couldn't decide what the cause was.

I passed Scott and Stiles in the corridor and felt a wave of anxiety. I then sketched out two more extremely similar scenes to the one in my painting during Math and had to excuse myself to the bathroom to try and calm down. It's like my pen had moved on its own. A mindless doodle, I told myself in the mirror. I ran the water and splashed my face lightly to try and get rid of the two red circles on my cheeks.

Lydia Martin had walked in on me, thankfully ignoring how dishevelled I seemed, and leant against a bathroom stall.
"You're coming tonight right?"
I must have blinked at her blankly because she smiled beautifully and waved a hand, "The party, remember?"
"Oh, uh, yeah, definitely."

I exited the bathroom wanting to smash my head against a locker. Yet again I failed to think before I spoke. Now Lydia is going to expect me there tonight. And she's going to think I'm a complete freak when I don't show. Just as she was beginning to like me. My feet grinded to a halt. Since when did I need Lydia's approval? I sound like Jane. So what if she thinks I'm weird, Isaac and I are going to have a great night. My stomach turned into a knot and twisted.

I'm so confused.

A shrill bell rang out and students began to flood the corridors. Isaac found me standing where I stopped and raised an eyebrow.
"Emily?"
I shook my head and my worries away.
"Isaac, great! I'll just be two minutes, I need to get a book from my locker."
He nods and we walk down the corridor together. I instinctively clasp my hands together tightly to stop me… wait, to stop me doing what? 'Holding his hand' flashes into my mind for a split second. Stop. He's just my friend.

As I put in my combination and tug the door open, Jackson passes behind me, shouting his mouth off to Danny.
"That little squirt. I'm going to kill that McCall one day." Jackson growls. I turn my head to watch him as he passes.
"You probably just lost your footing," Danny comforted his friend with a small smile on his face.
"Lost my footing?! I just spent an hour in the medical bay thanks to McCall flooring me! He made me look like an idiot!"
"You always look like an idiot," joked Danny, grinning.

I roll my eyes at Isaac as they saunter away, but inside I take note of Scott's out of character behaviour. Nope, I am not going to think of the painting. Nope. Isaac and I are going to study.

Once I had grabbed my textbook, I led Isaac to my car. He sat in the passenger's seat uncomfortably with his school bag by his feet.
"Your friend glared at me earlier. Jane, I think she's called."
I put my car into drive and rev on the gas, "Oh. Really." I say through a clenched jaw.
"Yeah… I just wanted to make sure everything is okay… Have I done something wrong?"
"Nope. Not at all." I drive down the road, clenching the steering wheel tight.

Isaac is silent and watches the road ahead. I glance in my mirrors and speed up, filled with angry thoughts of Jane taking her sulking out on Isaac. The next thing I know, he is raising his hand to pry one of mine off the steering wheel. My mouth drops open. Just like I did to him in Chem. I realise I was shaking. I put both hands back on the wheel and continue with a looser grip.
We don't say anything for the rest of the drive home.

"Want a drink or anything?" I ask the boy as we enter my house and walk into the kitchen.
"No, I'm fine, thank you."
He's lying. Probably doesn't want to inconvenience me. I recall how anxious I would be about going to a near stranger's house and acknowledge that I would probably be doing the same.

Isaac and I sit down next to each other on the sofa in my living room and he glances about the room. Awkwardly, I realise how many baby pictures there are of me. As an only child, my parents have gone a bit nuts recording everything from my first tooth to my first drawing to having a broken arm, oh god you name it. The ends of his mouth turn up in a smile.
I whack him on the top of his arm lightly, "Stop laughing. My parents are weird."
He shakes his head, "I'm not laughing. I think it's great."

I set out my textbook on the coffee table and pull out some sheets of paper covered in notes. It takes a while for Isaac to relax, but we eventually are talking with no awkwardness or embarrassment – I find myself joking about, speaking to him as if I was around Jane; Complete comfort. I make us a mug of coffee each, despite Isaac's protests but they are both left cold and half drank.

At half 8, my Dad comes home from work- my parents both work at the hospital (I always say that I imagine them meeting each other by locking eyes over an open heart surgery, to which my parents find hilarious). He hangs his coat up and steps into the living room, obviously tired from the day's work. His dark hair is out of place and his tall frame is slightly slumped.

"Hey, Dad." I am snuggled up at the end of the sofa with my knees up.
"Hey, kiddo," Dad rubs an eye and then blinks at Isaac who is frozen, pen in hand, "Wow is that an actual boy in my house." Despite his weariness, I'm surprised my Dad can still bring out all the bad Dad jokes.
"This is Isaac," I laugh, waving my hand dramatically.
"Well, Isaac, I am glad to see another male in this house, I'm sick of all these women," He jokes, throwing Isaac a wink. I see Isaac visibly relax, his shoulders unclenching and a small smile growing on his face.
"Need a cup of tea or anything, Dad?" I ask, concerned.
"No, don't worry about it, kiddo. Your Mom's back late tonight so I might get some sleep before she comes in and starts snoring." Dad grins at us. Isaac looks to me to see if it is okay to laugh before joining in. It made me warm inside to see his blue eyes squinting and his teeth showing through his laugh. At school, I hardly can get a smile out of the boy, but he seems happy here.

As if just remembering, my Dad leans against the door frame and cocks his head to one side, "Were you not going to that party with Jane tonight?"
My jaw drops and Isaac gives me a confused stare. I find my throat dry when I speak, "Oh uh, how did you know about that?"
"I saw her mom today at work," Dad regards me suspiciously. Damn, I forgot that Jane's mom was a paramedic. She probably just assumed that I was going too.
"Oh, right. Well, I already had plans and didn't really feel like going."
When my Dad raises his eyebrows and glances between Isaac and I, I feel like I have to ease the suspicion. "You should be proud of your daughter, choosing to study instead of drinking and getting up to who knows what at a rowdy party!" I exclaim, my voice getting higher the more I speak.
"Right… okay. Tell my daughter that Jane's mom would be very concerned if Jane was going to a 'rowdy' party by herself." My Dad disclosed to us before making his way to the kitchen to cook himself some dinner.

Isaac and I sat in silence for a moment.

"I'm sorry I-" We both said at the exact same time. Isaac's blue eyes met mine before we burst out laughing.
"Let's agree to not apologise to each other unless it's really important from now on," I breathe through giggles.
Isaac inhales and nods before his face settled into his usual mask of unhappiness, "Why didn't you tell me you had a party to go to?"
"I-"
"And don't tell me that you didn't want to cancel, because that's a lie. You'd rather be at that party, wouldn't you?"
He was surveying me with those wide eyes. I sat up and stared him down, "No. I wouldn't."
Isaac smiles sadly as if he doesn't believe me, when an idea hits me.

"Isaac," I declared, "I have an idea."

…

How I persuaded Isaac that we had clearly done enough work to call it a night and go out, I have no idea. This way we got the best of both worlds. I ran upstairs to get changed quickly, choosing a sleeveless cream blouse and tucking it into a black body con skirt. On the way out I knocked over my easel and the painted canvas crashed to the floor, completely out of mind.

When I arrived back downstairs, I found my Dad eating pasta out of a bowl in his hand from where he sat on the sofa with Isaac. Unseen, I lingered in the doorway to the living room and watched. Isaac was talking comfortably about his position on the lacrosse team while my Dad listened, nodding and reacting excitedly when he could.
"I'll have to come to a game sometime, kid. I've not been to a sporting game in years." Dad stretched out and forked some pasta into his mouth. I smiled fondly at the pair of them. It would be nice to see him at a game supporting Isaac and hanging out with me. I'm not someone who's embarrassed to be around my parents… unlike Isaac is with his dad, I guess.
"Yeah, that'd be cool!" Isaac's eyes were lit up like he'd just been offered a million dollars. Now that I thought of it, I hadn't seen his Dad at any games last year. I would have remembered his face, surely. I could tell that my Dad's comment had meant a lot to him.

Gingerly, I stepped into the room and held my car keys off one finger, "You ready?"
Dad and Isaac's mouths drop open slightly – but I think (rather hoped) for different reasons.
"Is that a skirt or a belt, huh?" Dad joked, covering his eyes with one hand.
"Shush." I did a twirl, "Just because I don't make an effort 99% of the time doesn't mean I don't scrub up nice."
"You look great." Isaac bursts out, shocking him as well as me.
"Thanks," I gave him a shy smile, tugging the hem of my skirt down, suddenly self-conscious of what he was thinking.
"Well play safe and all that," Dad insisted, giving Isaac another wink when joined me at the doorway.
"Yeah, yeah, see you later. I won't be home late, promise!" I called back as Isaac and I exited the house and jumped back into my car.

"Your Dad is really cool," Isaac tells me with a smile.
"I know," I agree. I was raised well and had loving parents and sometimes, that's all a girl needs.

A.N.

Thanks for sticking with me this far! I hope you liked Isaac being in it more. Get ready for the next chapter, it's all going to kick off! Please review and I'll be updating this pretty quickly :)