Hey, HAPPY TURKEY DAY!!! So I spent half the week in Virginia with the family, took my laptop, and finished this chapter quicker than I thought possible, lol.
I bet you're all tired of hearing about the drama that's up ahead for the gang and how awesome it's going to be. Your wait is over. If you couldn't tell from the title of this chapter, most of it deals with the background info on the situation the eventually branches out and hits the entire gang. The last section of this deals with a pretty big, sensitive issue, so if you're easily offended by (spoiler) rape, please proceed with caution. I don't know all that much on the subject, so please forgive me if I get something wrong :)
Chapter 27 – The Beginning of the End
192 hours, 11,520 minutes, or 17,694,720 seconds. You can take your pick to define the eight days that the senior gang was in complete and utter bliss starting the day after the dance. The sun shone brighter in the morning, cafeteria food seemed much more eatable, and even the homework load didn't bother them as much. It still piled up to the point of near suffocation, but as long as they were diving in together, they got through it with wide smiles on their faces and usually came out with more warm memories and inside jokes.
Loving dates seemed much more romantic for Troy and Gabriella. They always looked for ways to take their relationship up a notch, and Troy was the first one to come up with an idea. He told his girlfriend to meet him at the lake as usual, but this time with her bikini. After following orders and rushing up to the hill, Gabriella gasped shortly and then giggled when she found Troy standing by the shallow end of the water, shirtless and sporting only his blue and black plaid swimming trunks. He waved her down and took the playful hit to the arm when she shrieked in his ear. "Are you crazy? Do you want someone to catch us?"
He shrugged. "It's their loss when they see how much fun we'll be having. Now come on; you're not swimming in your clothes, are you?" From the way he said it, it seemed as if he were challenging her.
Gabriella grinned. She gripped the hem of her cami and pulled it over her head, revealing her pink and black bikini top from last year. Troy's breath hitched in his throat as he viewed the tight fit and extra skin that showed how much she's grown in the past year.
"Please. We could be having a skin contest and I'd kick your ass up and down this hill."
"Is that a bet?"
She paused, realizing the set-up that she had just placed onto herself. Troy's eyebrows wiggled suggestively as they dropped to her extra-short jean shorts that barely covered her long, curvy legs.
Gabriella shook her head in disbelief, but still smiled all the same. "Troy Bolton, don't tell me that you planned this."
Troy shrugged again and looked up at the glittering stars, pulling something out of his pocket. Gabriella rolled her eyes when she saw the Trojan label on the small square packet. "You're the one who said that anything can happen at any time. You have to be prepared for anything life throws at you."
He returned his gaze back to the goddess in front of him when he heard a zipper move. Gabriella was squirming out of her shorts, twisting her hips on purpose to make Troy's core heat rise even more than it did when she first walked there. She advanced on him, took the condom from his hand, and dropped it to the ground.
"Let's see how long it takes life to catch up with us while we're splashing around," she whispered in his ear and wrapped her arms around his neck. He did the same around her waist. "And if no one catches us, it'll be our little secret."
She felt his grip become tighter and lean them a little to the right. Troy's lips were just mere centimeters away from hers when he breathed "Close your eyes."
Gabriella obeyed and just as she could feel his skin on her mouth, his strong arms tossed both bodies into the warm spring water. Even when they were under, he didn't let go when she teasingly kicked him in the leg. They eventually resurfaced and he laughed loudly when her shriek sounded off in his ears.
"Troy, you're an idiot!" She snickered, running her fingers through his soaked chocolate locks. Their stare seemed unbreakable, but Troy ended it by resting his forehead against hers and feeling her long lashes flutter closed against his flesh.
"I don't care, as long as I'm your idiot." He sighed and tucked a loose strand of hair behind her ear. Gabriella raised her head and stared at him for one last second before pressing her wet lips against his, savoring his natural taste more than she was the last days of high school. Somewhere in the back of her mind, she debated which one she would miss the most when the time came to head off to college. It didn't take her very long to decide. The eyes in front of her didn't give her a choice. They never did.
As well as things were going for Troy and Gabriella, they were arguably better for Brandon and Isabelle. Ever since that Friday night before Spring Fling, their daily phone calls, texts, and IM's made them feel like the other was in the room, sitting beside them and saying the words through their own mouths. This made the distance just that much more bearable until the next time Brandon would crash through the door after school and be greeted by Izzy's starved embrace, telling each other that they loved each other more and more with each passing day. They couldn't care less about their audience, which usually only consisted of Troy, Gabriella, and Troy's parents. Sometimes Gina would drop by and watch her son collaborate with the girl that she had spent about half of her spare time learning about, whether she wanted to or not.
Never in her life had she seen so much passionate need between a teenage couple, even if it was long distance. It was like for the three long weeks that they had to go without each other, they were just barely hanging by a thread and trying to distract themselves from the pain of the other's absence. When the blonde hopped on the plane and rushed into Brandon's life again, it was like watching the life return to a coma patient. Sure, she was happy-go-lucky in front of her friends and family, but never before had anyone seen that forceful a pull that Izzy had for Brandon. It was the same with him. Mike made multiple notes of Brandon's new habit that was performed every time they were about to practice. He would take a deep breath, kiss his promise ring, and mutter "Forever." Isabelle's bright face would appear in front of his eyes and mouth "I believe in you, Superman."
Even Chad and Taylor's relationship seemed more appealing to Mr. McKessie nowadays. When Taylor came sprinting up to him in the middle of the week squawking random joys that had Chad eventually pinned against his locker in confusion and slight fear, he thought maybe she had been accepted to that fancy private college that she'd been so giddy about. He never saw the big deal with expensive private schools; he'd applied to one college and one college only: the University of Albuquerque and that was it. It was the only college that he had worked towards. It was the one that he planned to attend since he was eight years-old. He was set and happy.
However, when Taylor broke the news that her father had finally agreed to have Chad over for dinner that night, the teen nearly packed his things and ran to Taylor's treasured college with her.
But as you could probably figure out, the evening was a great success. Mr. McKessie had grown to prove himself wrong about the curly-haired basketball star. He found out that Chad was actually a very kind young man with plenty of dreams for his future, all which included Taylor by his side at all times. This scored him quite a few points with the parents, along with making the red tint creep up his girlfriend's cheeks. It was comments like this that forced the guilt into her system for turning him down on Spring Fling night. The fact that she wasn't ready to give herself to anyone just yet made the remorse a little easier to handle. Hopefully Chad would keep that in mind until she was willing and prepared.
But the best word of all? Since Gina was too busy in the morning, Brandon had asked his dad to keep a close eye on the news reports, keeping his ears open for a certain 22-year old felon that was currently serving 25-30 years in prison for countless charges. Each day, Chase would call his son at the end of the day to report a huge lump of nothing occurring in the big house. Brandon found it much easier to sleep at night when he could close his eyes and smile evilly when he visualized Brick's sorry face behind inescapable metal bars.
Yes, life was pretty much perfect for the 13 seniors. And it was about to get even better for one of them.
It was towards the end of Brandon's shift at the ASD and as he was surfing through his gym bag to locate his water bottle, a deep, masculine voice made itself known from behind him. "Brandon Montez?"
Brandon spun around and felt his eyebrows come together at the tall figure in front of him. He didn't work at the school, he knew that much, but he must have been high in authority for he was wearing a black suit and carrying a hefty clipboard under his arm. He looked to be in his mid forties with a string of white hair circling his jet black center. His eyes were a sparkling brown and his smile was strangely comforting even though Brandon had never seen him before in his life.
"Yes?" He turned his entire body to the man in front of him and crossed his huge arms across his chest.
"I'm Dale Andrews with Chapman University of the Performing Arts. I'd like to talk to you about your scholarship application."
Brandon had forgotten to screw his water bottle cap back on fully, so when it dropped from his hand it spilled all over the floor. The only way he became conscience of this was Dale's confused head watching the bottle fall to the ground. Brandon quickly bent down and picked it back up.
Dale chuckled. "Don't worry; I've seen much worse reactions. How about we take a seat and talk about your future placement in our dance program?"
Brandon had never beamed so brightly in his life.
--
The door to the Montez house ripped open and Gina jerked from her hunched over position at the kitchen island. Her eyebrows came together when her son tossed his gym bag onto the ground, ran up to his mother, and gripped her shoulders excitedly.
"YOU WILL NEVER BELIEVE WHAT JUST-"
"Whoa!" Gina slapped her hand over Brandon's mouth and shoved him back a few feet until he stopped trying to speak through her hand. He silenced himself, but his eyes were still wider than her amused smile and his barely covered chest was heaving faster than his feet had run through the door.
"Okay, Brandon, what in God's name has gotten into you?" Gina slowly uncovered his mouth and watched the sparkle in his eyes intensify with each passing second. The only other time that he looked this happy was when Izzy accepted the promise ring that he had worked so hard to pay for.
"I got it." He simply muttered. Gina could tell that he was holding back the volume that he had just used moments ago.
"Got what, a disease?"
Brandon ignored her sarcasm and grasped her hands, having his tremble in anticipation. "Mom, a representative from Chapman Academy met with me at work today. He said that he was at the championships, the nationals where we came in fifth, and at Spring Fling. He wanted to talk to me about my scholarship app."
The reality of the situation was finally beginning to dawn on the woman in her late thirties. She gripped Brandon's arms back and let her mouth drop to the ground. "Oh my God, Brandon, you got the-"
"Yes," his entire body vibrated now, "I got a full scholarship to Chapman Academy of the Performing Arts in Orange County, California!"
"BRANDON JOSEPH!!!" Gina just about choked her offspring with her arms of steel and nearly pushed him to the ground with her body weight, but he supported her by leaning against the bar. Brandon's cheerful laugh rang through her ears as she continued. "OH, GOD, I'M SO PROUD OF YOU!!!"
"Weren't you just the one telling at me to stop screaming?" He teasingly reminded her, but not really caring to begin with.
Gina resurfaced with tears in her eyes. "That was before I knew you got accepted into a private school! Aww, sweetie, this is fantastic! Who all knows?"
"Just you. I was too excited to spill it to the others or Dad at first. I don't think I even know how to break it to them."
Gina's face lit up even more. "I'm about to leave and head out to his general direction anyway. Maybe I could stop by and tell him for you."
Brandon grabbed his mother into his arms again. "Thanks, Mom. That would help a lot."
She nodded. "No problem. You'll probably be tied up on the phone with Isabelle the whole night."
The teen felt his stomach drop in panic and the wind being knocked out of him in a strange guilt. He had totally forgotten about her.
"Izzy. I need to tell Izzy. Thanks, Mom, see you later tonight." With that Brandon rushed up to his room and whipped his phone out of his pocket. He plopped himself on his bed and sat on his free hand, trying not to bite his lip too hard. Even while the phone was ringing, he was planning exactly how the conversation would play out. He would slowly lure her into remembering his application for the school and when she did, she would be in mock denial for a few seconds before flipping crap all over her unsuspecting house. If Brooke or anyone else was there, they would try and steal the phone from her to ask Brandon what he could've possibly told her that would make her react like such a maniac. Finally, she would crash off of her energy high and try not to cry while telling him how proud she was. It would be perfect.
"H-hello?"
"Hey, babe!" It was already getting so hard to contain his excitement; he didn't notice her voice breaking.
"Brandon, I–"
He didn't let her finish. "You won't believe what just happened to me today! Is it possible to get high on life and happiness, because I don't think that even rhinoceros tranquilizer will get me to stop bouncing!"
She didn't seem to be falling into his planned trap. "Brandon, I can't talk right now; I've gotta go."
The smile drifted off of Brandon's lips sadly. "But don't you want to hear my good-"
"Later, Brandon, I can't right now!" The blonde's voice was rising in frustration and what sounded like fear covering up tears. Why would she be crying?
Brandon braced himself against the bed and paused for a few seconds before speaking back up. "Izzy, are you okay?" His voice was filled with nothing but concern. If anything, he forgot all about his scholarship.
He heard her give an exasperated huff before snapping. "The faster you get off the phone, the sooner I'll be fine! Goodbye, Brandon!"
He was speechless now. He didn't even notice how stupid he looked just sitting there and staring at his green wall with an open mouth. Brandon brought the phone in front of his line of vision and stared at it for a little while, trying to comprehend what he had just heard. After ending up with just more confusion, he put it back to his ear.
"Isabelle, what the hell is going-"
"Did you get rid of him?"
Brandon could've sworn that his walls had just caved in and crashed over his frozen body, splintering and stabbing him in the back and plunging into his chest. But he was too frozen to do anything about it. Nothing could make him forget the deep, seductive voice of whatever man was with his girlfriend.
"Y-yeah…" she whimpered back. Brandon cringed when he heard her gasp the same way he did when he had her in bed. The heat from that night seemed to crawl back onto his back.
"Good. Now say my name."
The heat increased, building deeply from his inner core and slowly making itself known to the blood boiling in his veins. Brandon finally realized that this wasn't the passionate, horny heat that he had only experienced once that night eight days ago. No, this was a burn that was all too familiar to him. It was one that he had felt at least once a day for five years straight.
It was the angry, betrayal burn.
Her gasps and moans continued as well as his requests for whatever name he had to escape her lips. Brandon should've said something, anything to let his girlfriend know that he was still capable of hearing this. But he was way too stunned and choked up with rage to even blink.
Finally, the stranger growled. "Say it!"
As soon as Isabelle caved into his request, the cellular device dropped from Brandon's hand. He had tried to prepare himself for whatever name she was about to scream, but this one was the last that he expected.
"JOSH!!!"
The phone made a low thud when it made contact with Brandon's carpet, but he didn't hear it. He didn't hear it flip shut and the call finally end, either. It was too late. The information was already lodged into his head and quickly eating him from the inside out, gathering every promising word of love that his soul mate had ever said to him in the past year. The montage replayed itself over and over in his head before coming to an end with the last name that he had just heard.
Isabelle only knew one Josh, and he was here in New Mexico, in prison. How could he have gotten out? Did someone pay his bail?
And why, might he add, would he go back to Izzy? All he wanted from her was a few minutes of forced pleasure and that was over a year ago. They were the minutes that Brandon had busted his ass trying to prevent for her. All for her.
Is this how she chose to repay him?
Like a robot, Brandon extended his arm to fetch the phone back into his hands and stared at the screen. It had gone black. He exhaled, closing his eyes. This couldn't be happening. It was all just a stupid day dream that he had to snap out of. He had to prove that that phone call was non-existent and the last person that he had called was his father to check on the news. He was fine.
He was fine until he looked at his call records. Isabelle was the most recent call that he had made for the duration of two minutes and 28 seconds. Their calls were never even close to being that short.
It was like the gunshot all over again: quick, unsuspecting, and excruciating. The heat from Brandon's blood now rose above his skin, trembling his limbs the way it did when Troy used to provoke him in the early days of their war. His grip on the phone became tighter and tighter as if he were trying to squeeze the evidence from the mobile's memory and—most importantly—his own. He could hear the volume control being adjusted crazily and the camera shortcut being activated, taking a random picture of the dresser beside him.
It only helped a little to remember that Gina wasn't home; it gave him the freedom to lean his arm back and then have it snap forward, releasing the phone and listening to it shatter against the wall. Brandon could just barely hear the glass and plastic break into pieces. The loud, ear-splitting scream emitting from his throat prevented most of that chance.
He jumped to his feet and restlessly paced his room with two handfuls of raven hair in his still-trembling hands and tightly clenched teeth. The thoughts were speeding around in his pulsing brain so fast, he semi-expected it to cool it down a little, but all it did was heat up with each new notion he got out of that conversation.
Why wouldn't she hang up the phone if she knew—did she actually want me to hear that? How could she do this to me after what happened to her in the past? First, her stupid boyfriend before me, then Jo…the one that she's with as I'm thinking this…
She's with him again. She's with her attempted rapist. She wants him over me.
He could feel bloody skin begin to collect under his fingernails from squeezing his scalp so hard, but he didn't care. The only reason he let go was because he opened his eyes and found himself standing in front of his favorite—now ex-favorite—picture on the wall. Brandon and Izzy were at Lava Springs during the summer season, soaking wet from the pool and sprinklers. She was hoisted over his back and the both of them were smiling widely in the afternoon glow. It was the same picture that Isabelle had on her nightstand. He winced when her name tore at his breaking heart even more.
The glass frame that the picture used to be protected in was in more pieces than his phone that lay on the floor under it. That would make sense, since he broke a phone before and it didn't make nearly that much noise. Brandon gradually crept up on the broken picture and noticed a few remaining shards of glass around the edges, a few behind her and one in front of Brandon, as if it were about to slice through his chest. He would take that kind of physical pain any day. This mental, psychological, emotional agony was way too much. It was worse than watching Troy walk away from him six years ago, worse than watching Gabriella run away from him after he punched her last year, and he felt as if his life was altered even more than watching Troy tell him the truth after five years of feuding.
Brandon didn't even see what happened for his heart to break. He didn't see what happened for the pressure in his head to build up so much that he roared again, punching a gaping hole through his wall right where her head used to be.
He didn't see what happened to think—to know—that Isabelle, his goddess, his angel, and his lifeline, had cheated on him with Josh Greystone.
--
Isabelle lay on her purple and blue bedspread, feeling the soft San Francisco breeze hit her smooth skin through her opened windows. She was only clothed in an extra-tight cami and short-shorts, smelling of fresh body wash from the shower. It was Brandon's favorite scent on her.
Ah, Brandon…
The blonde smiled and gazed down at her pink and blue promise ring. Their names fit so well together, like his was the missing puzzle piece that she found after 17 years of ignorant searching. Sometimes she was perfectly happy being alone and saying his name, feeling it roll off of her tongue smoothly. It was one of her favorite pastimes that she was way too embarrassed to tell him about. She knew he wouldn't mind in the slightest, but the mortifying knowledge that he would always be waiting to poke some fun at her for it was a little more than she could handle.
The breeze picked up to a dull wind that raised goose bumps on her skin. After shuddering, Izzy bounced off of her bed and rushed over to her wall where the object of her attention hung lazily: a red and white sweatshirt with the large text "East High Dance" covering the front of it. She grabbed it and threw it over her head, immediately feeling much better in the cold. Brandon's sweatshirt was well-worn, that much was obvious, but it was as if he had worn it so much, some of his past heat was still stuck in between the threads. That and his smell were the first two things that she noticed on the large garment. It was his natural scent, a sweet combination of sweat, vanilla, and a small hint of Hollister. Since it's been in her possession, it was washed quite a few times and yet still held his natural perfume just as strong as it was when he first gave it to her. It was as if he was standing right beside her with his hands around her waist.
Izzy wrapped her arms around herself and, closing her eyes again, sighed. "Hi, Brandon…" She turned and before her foot hit that first step, she felt herself knock into a heated, rock solid body.
Her back hit the wall when she looked up, the first thing that she saw being the huge, 6' mass in front of her supported by massive limbs that resembled a 100-year old tree trunk. The tight black t-shirt over his chest looked ready to burst above his colossal pectorals and firm, muscular shoulders. His lips—the only slim part about him—were slowly slipping into a dangerous grin and his tanned cheeks were lifting along with them. Medium length, chestnut hair was piled on top of his gorgeous head and blowing slightly in the afternoon wind. All of these horrifying features weren't what Izzy was paying attention to.
It was his eyes. His sharp, suspenseful, chocolate brown orbs were falling ever so slowly over her half-dressed body. When they made their way back up to her head, he was grinning cockily.
"Not quite, but I'll be sure to tell him you stopped by."
The shock eventually wore off and Isabelle was somewhat able to speak. "W-who are you?"
The 22-year old man chuckled deeply, his husky bass answering surely. "I'm a friend of Brandon's. He was so worried about you, so I thought it'd be a pretty nice gesture to fly in and…check up on you."
"I'm fine!" she immediately retaliated with defiance in her voice. However, that was the only strong part about her. Her body was cowering away towards the wall.
"Oh, is that so? It seems to me that you could use a little company. Talking to your boyfriend when he's two states over doesn't sound very healthy, now does it?"
The saliva from Izzy's mouth collapsed into her churning stomach as she felt it slam against her ribcage. Or maybe that was her heart, she wasn't sure. "I said I'm fine, now who are you?!"
He grinned again and took a step to her. She slammed back further into the wall. "That doesn't really matter, trust me. You probably don't want to know, anyway."
"What's that supposed to-"
"He's around 6' tall with brown hair and brown eyes that you will never forget for as long as you live. I've never seen him in anything but a tight black t-shirt and black cargo pants with steel-toe boots. He loves to cross his arms, which brings me to my next point. If a scientist was trying to create a man from scratch and took out Troy's muscles and then mine, that wouldn't be half the weight that he is. He's huge, babe, I'm not kidding. His hands are almost as big as my head. I doubt you need to know this info, but just incase, watch out for yourself when you're alone.
And whatever you do, don't forget his name. It's short, but it'll help you out if he's ever around."
Brandon's warning echoed through her head before she could finish her sentence. She nodded after he told her this, but was really laughing on this inside. When would she ever need to know that? If anything, it would give her nightmares.
Well, the nightmare was here, standing directly in front of her with a horrifyingly beautiful grin on his face. His name flashed in Izzy's head over and over again until she gathered up the oxygen to speak.
"You. You're Brick Wolf, aren't you?" The blonde was gradually slipping back into the wall again.
Brick chuckled lowly. "It's nice to know that my name's been getting around, thank you."
Isabelle's first intention was to gulp, but the muscles in her throat seemed to be frozen. All of them were. "What the hell are you doing here? You're supposed to be in prison."
Brick shrugged as though it was no big deal. "Eh, it was fun for a while, but I eventually just got a little bored with the whole atmosphere and called a friend to help me run. There were too many attempted murders instead of the real thing. Jail's kind of like high school: so many people think that they're cool enough to face the pros and when they finally do," he smiled coyly like he was proud of what he was telling her. "They realize they're nothing more than a bunch of scared little…pussies."
Izzy cringed back when his eyes drifted downward on her body when the last word came out of his mouth.
She could feel the anger come up on her again and, although she knew what the consequence level would be, released a small portion of it. "I'm sure you were scared of the big, bad experts. And I bet you left because they were teasing you to the point where you cried your little eyes out for your dead uncle."
Isabelle reached in the pocket of her shorts before she could see Brick's teasing face drop into a hardened, livid look. She dialed a number, put the phone to her ear, and spoke again. "So let's just see what Brandon has to say about-"
The phone was ripped from her grasp and closed so quickly she didn't have time to look up into Brick's enraged eyes. He sprang forward in half a second and slammed her body against the wall, holding her up by a thick handful of Brandon's sweatshirt. Isabelle's tough façade was stolen just as quickly as it arrived. She knew that it was only a matter of time…
"You wanna run that by me one more time?" he threatened chillingly, slowly pressing his fist against her throat as if he didn't think it was hard enough for her to breathe.
"I-I…" she couldn't get the words 'I'm sorry' out fast enough for his taste. He cut her off before she could attempt any further.
"You think it's hilarious to make fun of someone who I used to idolize and practically live to please? How about I tell you that on my way over here, I paid a little visit to the cemetery and hawked all over your dad's stupid grave? And I pissed on it, just like how he was treated when his ass was alive. Those flowers shouldn't last too much longer."
As difficult a state of mind as she was in right now, she put her fear on hold and paid full attention to not letting her rush of tears fall down her flushed face. The frozen image of her father with five bloody holes in his head on Christmas Eve was on a taunting replay as if begging her to push the cries out for this monster to feed off of. If there was one thing that Brandon had taught her from his battles with Troy, it was to never let your enemy see you cry. It only gave them permission to unleash more pain onto you.
But when Brick slammed her against the wall again and knocked his fist into her throat, she presented him with a strangled cry and an ocean of fear. Her father was her biggest weakness, aside from Brandon. Anytime his name was brought up or the date of his death was spoken, Izzy was illiterate with false happiness for her peers and remorse for her departed parent.
"Now listen," Brick growled "Montez is gonna call back any second now. As soon as he does, you say whatever you have to in order for him to shut up for a few seconds. You'll let him know that there's someone else here, but my name isn't mentioned. Beg him to get off of the phone. If you take too long, I'll finish it off, got it?"
He gripped her tighter when she tried to nod.
Just as he predicted, Brandon's CallerID tone sounded off in Brick's hand. Izzy gulped and stared as his name and picture flashing on the phone's screen. She looked over at Brick one more time for any inkling that he had changed his mind, but there was no such luck. She took the phone in her shaking hands, pressed Talk, and put it up to her ear.
"H-hello?"
"Hey, babe!"
Isabelle held back a disappointed groan when she heard the happiness and excitement in his beautiful voice. "Brandon, I–"
"You won't believe what just happened to me today! Is it possible to get high on life and happiness, because I don't think that even rhinoceros tranquilizer will get me to stop bouncing!" She could've sworn that she heard a hint of an exhilarated squeal raising his voice.
"Brandon, I can't talk right now; I've gotta go." Brick looked her over one more time with her stolen insolence in his eyes. She took that as an approval sign to continue.
"But don't you want to hear my good-"
She tried to ignore the hurt and confusion in his words. The only way that this could ever be achieved was to try and block it out with loudening her voice, which also attempted to stop her scattered nerves. "Later, Brandon, I can't right now!"
"Izzy, are you okay?" Brandon was so sweet. Here he was, forgetting about whatever good news he had and trying to be there for her when all she was doing was being an unnecessary bitch. No one could ever come close to comparing to him.
"The faster you get off the phone, the sooner I'll be fine! Goodbye, Brandon!" Out of the corner of her eye, Isabelle saw Brick's hand flinch towards the phone and her eyes widened. No, please no, she thought to herself desperately, just a few more seconds with him, please. I need to hear his voice for a little bit longer.
"Isabelle, what the hell is going-"
But that was the end of it. Brick had stolen the phone from her and clicked the End Call button, flipping it to close against his thumb. Isabelle's cyan orbs were too full of tears to notice that Brick hadn't in fact pressed the red button, but the number 3 instead. And he had started closing it slowly, giving him enough time to wait for her to try and blink her tears away and only close it enough that the call was still in progress. He gently placed that hand beside her head and leaned up to her ear, a few centimeters from the phone.
"Did you get rid of him?"
Isabelle noted that for some reason, he had made his voice slightly higher, making him sound more like a teenager. It didn't take her very long to recognize whose voice it sounded like. As memories from her first East High dance replayed in her head, she whimpered. "Y-yeah…"
"Good. Now say my name." Brick was sliding his hand further up her thigh, grazing his fingers across her butt. His hot breath blew over his tongue on her skin and she could already feel the bruise start to form on her neck. Plus his hand was roaming up the back of her cami, where small trickles of nervous sweat were forming. As though the near rape memories were lonely, her and Brandon's special night eight days ago came into play. She couldn't help but close her eyes, visualize Brandon's bare, muscular body hovering over her, and let out a careless moan. But then Brick chuckled and her eyes snapped open. How dare her.
After ten seconds that felt like hours, Brick growled in her ear and order "Say it!"
His arms snapped around her and drew her closer against his rock solid—in all areas—middle section. That seemed to be way too much for the blonde. She gasped when her imagination shrunk his arms into a more decent size, but large enough to be the muscles belonging to the star football captain. Again, the past junior's face came to mind when the scream emitted from her throat.
"JOSH!!!"
No…
Brick laughed quietly again, tossing the phone on the floor somewhere behind him. "Very good," he purred "Now all we have to do is wait."
"F-for what?" Isabelle didn't even try to hide her terror anymore, or her tears. Both were all too evident on her face, in her eyes.
Brick cocked an eyebrow. "You thought I didn't know that your little clone was here? She should walk through that door any minute now…"
Another mood swing consumed Izzy's mind as she thought of her sweet and innocent, 14-year old sister watching TV downstairs. She always did have the volume too damn loud to hear what was going on in other parts of the house.
Regardless, her motherly instincts broke through her fear as she spat in Brick's face. "Don't you dare touch Sarah or I'll-"
Brick shoved her against the wall again with a sick grin on his face, his lips close enough to hers so she could taste his breath. "What, tell your lawyer mommy on me? Sweetie, my number of hit-and-run cases is higher than whatever pathetic divorce group that she's trialed. I don't think your little Barbie threat will do much good except involve more people than this has to. Capiche?"
Another defense down. Olivia wouldn't be touched either, even if Isabelle had to. She'd make sure of it.
"Izzy, I'm leaving!"
Isabelle's head turned towards the direction of her closed door. She didn't even notice the sound of the TV ending and the running car outside. Sarah was spending the night at a friend's house, she just remembered. Brick's final distraction was leaving. And there was nothing that she could do about it.
Izzy gulped away the hesitation and called back in a weak voice, trying to let her sister know that everything was fine. "O-okay. Have fun." "Don't leave me, please…"
The front door opened and closed in two seconds. Sarah was gone, leaving Isabelle alone with the criminal that seemed to get more and more aroused by the minute. She would feel nothing but pain, she knew it.
Brick's throat rumbled in a satisfied snicker again. "It's just you and me now. What to do, what to do…" His nose trailed along her jaw line and down her collarbone, down to the peak of her breasts. She swallowed back the growing lump in her throat.
It didn't work for long. The lump returned and brought tears with it. Her voice was shaky when she spoke again. "W-why are you doing this?"
Brick's hands were searching her body again, his fingers running across her smooth skin that was raised with goose bumps. He smiled again. "I think you can thank your boyfriend for it. And when you do, ask him this:"
He leaned up to her ear and made sure to slide his tongue across the lobe. "Who's the psycho bitch now?"
With that, his lips came down hard on Isabelle's and forced her mouth wide open to allow him access into her throat. He heard her choking from the lack of oxygen, but he couldn't care less. Her body vibrated against him in complete and total horror while he grabbed Brandon's sweatshirt and tore it off of her body in multiple directions, ripping it to shreds. Brick kept her quiet with his violent kiss and sharp teeth that captured her tongue between them. She couldn't utter a sound just when it mattered the most.
He wasted no time in finishing off the stripping of what little coverage that she had. Within 30 seconds, she was exposed against him, baring her all for him to ogle over. Isabelle didn't know whether or not to crush herself against him in order to hide herself the best she could or to inch away as far as possible. Neither would've helped, she soon realized. Both would just get him more excited.
Brick held her up with one hand as he stepped out of his pants and boxers, throwing them back with his foot. He pried her legs open, wrapped them around his brawny waist, and whispered in her ear one last time.
"Who do you want right now?"
She could feel him against her center, wishing that someone, anyone would hear this from the bathroom and bust through the door to kick him away from her. Izzy wanted her clothes thrown back to her without being checked out anymore than she has been and she wanted someone to tell her to run into her first cousin's safe, strong arms to carry her home. The sense of déjà vu on this wish didn't surprise her in the slightest.
There was only one person in the world that she wanted with her right now. It wasn't Brooke, it wasn't her mom, and it wasn't even her father.
She prayed to God that her boyfriend, the perfect and invincible Brandon Joseph Montez would fly through the door like her own personal Superman and tell her that everything was okay. But he wasn't here. He was two states over, just like Brick had pointed out. And there was no point in wishing him here because he would never hear her screams.
Isabelle inhaled a long, sharp breath and threw her head back, screaming the only remaining name in her vocabulary.
"BRANDON!!!"
--
He didn't close the window when he left, letting the icy breeze gush into her room like shards of glass against a water balloon. It shredded her sensitive skin, which was covered in a frozen sweat. She wasn't sure which was hers and the perspiration that was transferred from him, but she didn't care. It didn't matter. No matter what the statistics were, she still felt like a lying, cheating whore. And nothing could ever wash that away.
Isabelle sat curled up in the corner of her bedroom, naked and bleeding with her knees under her chin. She rocked back and forth while staring ahead of her, the tears covering every inch of her face by multiple layers of moisture. Her own clothes lay piled in tatters around the room, but she didn't pay attention to them. Those could be replaced easily.
What she was staring at couldn't.
Brandon's sweatshirt, the one that he had worn for almost a year and stained with his natural scent and warmth before handing it over to her, was ruined. It was as if it were paper that had gone through a shredder. There was nothing she could do to save it, she knew that, but it didn't comfort her in the slightest. The only person that would ever soothe the black hole that she called her soul was probably sulking on his bed, wondering what in the hell was wrong with his angel. What he didn't know was that the heavenly figure that Brandon had made a habit of calling her had just had sex with the man that had preyed on him for about a year now. Brick had forced himself into Isabelle and taken every shred of dignity and self-respect that she had in her. He was merciless during his vicious thrusts that left her bleeding, even though she wasn't a virgin beforehand. Somewhere in the back of her mind, Izzy knew that Brick had purposely not used any form of protection. She would have to deal with that after she had chiseled out of this iceberg of a mind.
Time was a dead factor to her now, but the clock on the wall showed that 45 minutes had passed since Brick had gently dropped her to the floor, redressed his lower region, and kissed her quivering lips one last time. She swore that she heard him laughing while jumping out of her window. As for her crawling to the corner, that memory had departed from her remembrance as well.
Isabelle carelessly got to her hands and knees and couldn't help taking her time getting to the remains of the sweatshirt. Bowing over the torn fabric, she stretched a shaking hand in front of her face and ran her uncontrollable fingers over a random slice. The only sound that came from her when she realized that this was the back of the shirt was a high-pitched whimper from the base of her throat. Large capital white letters reading "MONTEZ" seemed to ridicule at her broken body, as if saying "It was your fault! You could've called the cops, stopped Sarah from leaving, or told Brandon who the fuck was here! You're such a stupid slut! You're no different from Tori!"
She couldn't agree more.
Isabelle lowered her eyes to her promise ring and just welled up further. It was twisted on her finger so that only Brandon's name was visible. The stone was damaged, chipped probably from Brick slamming her hand into the wall. It was dimmed, like how Brandon's eyes got when he was upset over something important. The small metal framing was bent and a little crooked to force part of the stone out of the frame. It was as if there was tons of pressure being added on the stone until it finally had to snap and cut its way out of the framing. She didn't know why, but it reminded her of a very violent, painful process. This just proved to her that she was going insane.
Isabelle gathered the sweatshirt shards in her arms and laid her wet face in them, finally becoming aware of her tears and the amount that were falling down her sickly cheeks. She gasped and tried to inhale as much of his scent and warmth as possible, but Brick seemed to take that as well. He either took every good thing that had to do with her relationship or damaged it violently. How he could sleep at night knowing that he lived to break people's lives into as many pieces as the sweatshirt, she would never know.
She continued crying into the night, killing the clock in her head again, and mourning over the loss of her favorite memories, self-respect, and—eventually—trust from her boyfriend.
"I'm sorry, Brandon," Isabelle choked, rocking back and forth again. "Please forgive me, I'm so sorry. I need you here, please, I can't do this. I love you and I'm sorry. I'm sorry…"
She saw what happened for her heart to break. She felt what happened to make her wrap her arms around herself and wail loudly in her room for her Superman to help her out of this black hole that her entire being had become.
Isabelle saw what happened to know that she had just been heartlessly raped by Brick Wolf.
Ah, the recurring returns of everyone's favorite asswipe, lol. How did I do for Brick's biggest, boldest attack at the gang? What's Brandon going to do about his assumption that Izzy cheated? And how, might I ask, is the gang going to react when word gets out about this?
Is this Brick's only payback at Brandon? I wouldn't be so sure about that…
REVIEW!!! Thanks :)
~Rachel :)
P.S: Again, sorry if the rape didn't turn out quite right. That was my first time writing about it that directly. The others were just in subtle convos that didn't really give away that much detail.