The Isadora Diaries:

Light Bulb:

Monday, April 9th

Today was the first day back at school since Spring Break ended, and it was probably one of the most awkward-est days of my life. At least, the parts with Klaus were.

Klaus and I sit next to each other in History, so you can see why that would be awkward for me, seeing as I was mean to him yesterday, and I'm not supposed to talk to him.

But I have to give the guy props.

He is quite persistent.

I got to class late on purpose so that he wouldn't have time to try to talk to me before class started. That didn't stop him, though. While we were supposed to be taking notes, he would rip small pieces off of the edge of his paper, roll them into balls, and throw them in my hair. It reminded me of the time we were in third grade, and he'd forgotten my birthday, even though it was clearly written on the classroom calendar. I was so mad at him, that I gave him the silent treatment, because I knew he absolutely hated that. He still hates it, actually...

Anywho...

I refused to speak to him, so he stole the seat of the kid who usually sat next to me, and, whenever, the teacher wasn't looking, he would rip off the edges of his paper, roll them into a ball, and throw them in my hair. since I was a kid and was more into revenge than I am today, I would calmly pick the paper out of my hair, and then I would throw them as violently as I possibly could at his face. It eventually became a small, quiet, and secret (as we were trying to keep the teacher oblivious to it) battle. It ended when one of the little balls he threw at me hit me in the eye, and I started crying. The teacher brought me to the nurse, and Klaus had to sit outside the classroom as a punishment. When the nurse declared that I would live and wouldn't lose my vision, the teacher brought me back to the classroom. Before we go back inside, Klaus got up, stepped right in front of me, and handed me a piece of paper. On the paper was a drawing of two stick people, one boy and one girl, standing next to each other. The girl had a smile on her face while the boy had a frown on his. Above the picture, he wrote: "IM SORRY. Will you please be my freind?" Underneath the picture, he wrote: "P.S. HAPY BIRTHDAY."

Punctuation and spelling errors and all.

The picture is pinned on my bulletin board in my room.

This time around, Klaus could throw as many paper balls in my hair as he wanted. I refused to acknowledge his presence. Instead of throwing the paper balls back at him like I did in third grade, I simply pulled the paper out of my hair and threw them in the trash can, which was fortunately right by my desk.

When Klaus finally got tired of throwing paper at me, he started whispering my name. "Isadora! Isadora!" That didn't last very long, though. The teacher heard hid him and told him to be quiet.

But that didn't stop that boy from trying.

When the teacher was drawing the Greece versus Rome battle map on the board, Klaus turned sideways in his seat, scooted his desk closer to me, and began kicking my legs.

I was pretty annoyed by that point. Yes, I was sorry I was mean to him, Yes, I wanted to talk him.

But I also wanted him to stop purposely trying to annoy me.

I think I may have gone about it the wrong way, though. I turned sideways in my seat and began kicking him back.

"Klaus! Isadora!" Mrs. Gabriel shouted. "Please don't horseplay in my class any more. I'm trying to do my job."

Klaus and I muttered our apologies and turned away from each other.

I thought maybe that'd be the end of it. Of course, I was wrong.

A few minutes later, Klaus placed a note on my desk.

Please talk to me, it read. Look at me.

I knew I couldn't look at him, because I knew I would probably burst into tears and beg for his forgiveness.

I couldn't talk to him, because I knew everything would come spilling out. I know for fact that he'd believe me about the video, but I also know that he'd confront Haley about it whether I wanted him to or not. She would find out I said something, and would do exactly what she said she would if I told someone about her blackmailing me.

And I refused to allow her to embarrass me or my brothers.

So I did the only thing I knew I could do without breaking. I crumpled his note up into a ball and threw it away.

That was the end of it.

At least for the moment.

Klaus didn't try anything else for the rest of the period, but I could feel his eyes on, as if he was trying to will me to look at him with his mind. It almost worked, but I didn't crack. I refused to crack. It's possible I may have come close to cracking, but it's safe to say that I didn't.

Duncan, who sits behind Klaus, called my name close to the end of the period, when the teacher stopped giving notes, and he asked me what was wrong. I shook my head, said, "Nothing," and went back to working on my homework. Klaus had been looking straight at me when I turned to talk to Duncan as well, so I accidentally looked at him when I was turning back around. When I did, I immediately hated myself.

Klaus had the most saddest puppy dog face I'd ever seen him make. If I looked at him for longer than half a second, he would've won me over.

Again, it's safe to say he didn't.

At least not yet.

I don't see Klaus again until lunch, so I was safe until then.

I was skipping lunch again, because I didn't have time to pack my lunch in the morning, and I refused to eat the school's pizza because it looks like mashed potatoes.

Everything they make looks like mashed potatoes.

I'm getting off subject.

Anywho...

I sat down in front of Jo at our lunch table. It was just us there because Katelyn and Bea were still in the lunch line.

"I have a confession to make," Jo said seriously.

"What's that?" I asked.

"I have never been on a plane."

I shrugged. "So? That's not a big deal."

"Yes it is! It's a very big deal!" she exclaimed.

I looked around the lunchroom to see people staring at us because of Jo's sudden outburst. "Calm down, Jo. Why is it such a big deal. A lot of people haven't ever been in a plane."

"Yeah, but my dad is totally afraid of heights so I can't go on because of him. o you know what he did to us this Spring Break?"

I shook my head. "Enlighten me."

"Okay, so last the Friday we got off school, we left to go south to my grandparents' lake house. Do you know how far their lake house is from here?"

"Absolutely not."

"500 miles! And because my dad refuses to ride in a plane! We had to drive 500 miles to the lake house! We didn't get there until Wednesday!" Jo ranted. The only reason why I'm here today, is because my mom, my brothers, and I took a train back. My dad is still driving, trying to get here."

"Wow," I said. "That sounds really awful."

Jo nodded. "It is. Do you know what it's like trapped in a car for 500 miles with my family? Do you, Isadora?"

"Well, she's got two hyperactive brothers and an over-enthusiastic mother, so she may have an idea."

Of course Klaus hadn't given up yet.

He took the seat next to mine and leaned towards me. "Isn't that right, Izzy?"

I tried to ignore the fact that my heart was pounding and my face was growing too warm for my own comfort and just rolled my eyes.

"You have to talk to me, Iz," he pleaded. "Please."

"Please what?" Katelyn asked, taking her seat by Jo.

"Klaus! You're in my seat!" Bea whined, but Klaus didn't move.

"Just sit on her other side," said Duncan, who just came from the lunch line as well.

"No! I have to sit on her right side or else my entire day is thrown off!"

Duncan sighed. "Come one, buddy."

Klaus got up, but he just moved to my other side. "Isadora, I won't drop this."

I ignored him.

"Okay, what's wrong?" Katelyn asked, seeing the upset expression on my face. "Klaus do I need to kill you?"

"You'd be doing me a favor," I lied in a low tone that was just loud enough to be heard. I hoped it was mean enough that he would leave me alone.

"Oh, that was a burn," Jo laughed, until she realized that she was the only one laughing.

"I'll be right back." Without looking at anyone, I stood up and headed out of the lunchroom. The only place I could think to go where I wouldn't be bothered was the girls' restroom, so I headed in that direction once I left the lunchroom.

I was just about to walk in the restroom when I heard footsteps running down the hallway, and I felt a hand grab my arm and pull me in the direction I just came. I knew who it was before I saw him. "Let go of me, Klaus!" I struggled to free myself from his grasp. "Not until you talk to me."

"I just did," I said, still trying to pull my arm away from him.

"No, I mean, really talk to me!"

"I won't!" I used my nails to pierce the skin of the fingers he had wrapped on my arm, causing him to let go. I was about to turn and run, but Klaus was too fast for me. He used his arm to block my way by putting his hand on the wall. I tried to escape the other way, but he blocked me again, so he had me trapped against the wall, facing him. "Please, don't run anymore."

I was silent.

"It should be easy," he continued with a smirk, "you hate it anyway."

I almost cracked a smile, but I kept my guard up.

"I'm sorry, Isadora," he said softly. "I'm sorry about getting upset that night. I'm sorry I made you mad, and I'm sorry that I was just being stupid. But I'm mostly sorry about not talking to you and apologizing to you earlier. Now will you please talk to me again?"

I wasn't entirely sure how to respond to that, especially under the circumstances. I was never mad, and I forgave him a long time ago.

But I couldn't tell him that.

We stood there in silence for a long time before I finally gathered the right thing to say. "Klaus," I began.

He nodded.

I spoke really slowly to make sure I wouldn't mess up, "I think it would be best if we stopped being friends." My gaze dropped; I couldn't bear to look him in the eyes.

He lifted my chin upwards gently with his finger, allowing him to see the tears in my eyes. "Okay, I know you don't mean that. Something else is wrong and you need to tell me what it is."

I shook my head, trying to look anywhere but at him.

"Please, Iz! I can't just let you sit here being upset and not do anything about it!"

I shoved his arm off the wall and ran into the restroom.

I didn't cry because I did the same thing I did yesterday at the park, where I took deep breaths and told myself things to help regain my composure.

I stayed in the restroom until the bell finally rang to get to class. I managed to avoid Klaus the rest of the day, but I have a feeling that he was letting me. He knows that I'm stubborn, after all. The best thing for him to do is wait for me to go to him, but seeing as that isn't going to happen, it would be even better if he just forgot about me. Just like Haley wants.

"Hey, did you guys hear that the rumors true?" Quigley asked as the three of us were walking home from the subway. "You really do have to dress up as your favorite character for the dance on Friday!"

"Sweet!" Duncan cheered. "No boring suits!"

"Hey, Iz," Quigley said, "who are you going to dress up as."

I snapped out of my train of thought. I was still down in the dumps about the whole Klaus and Haley thing and about how I'm such a despicable human being, so it was a pain trying to make it look like I was all right so my brothers wouldn't find out the truth. "Um," I answered, "I don't know." I turned to Duncan. "Bea told me what she might be if it the rumors were true."

"Really? What?"

"Iron Man."

"Sweet!" Duncan cheered again. "I get a cool date, too!"

"I don't think I want to be Zeus anymore," Quigley said. "I think I'll be..."

"Let me guess," Duncan interrupted. "Steve Urkel!"

"Shut up, Duncan!" Quigley punched him in the arm. Duncan only laughed.

"Well, I know who I'm going to be!" Duncan said.

"Who?" I asked.

"You'll see," he answered with a smirk. I shoved, accidentally pushing him into Quigley.

"Can you imagine Mom's face when we tell her we have to wear costumes to the dance?" Quigley laughed.

I laughed, too. "She'll probably beg us to stay home!"

"No," Duncan corrected, "she will make us stay home!"

As my brothers returned to the subject of who they could dress up as, I tried to keep my mind off Klaus and Haley and maybe try to figure who I could be. I could dress up as a Disney Princess (I love them all so much!), but I figured that a lot of girls were going to do that, and I didn't want to do something that someone else was going to do. I could dress up as Sakuya from the Akashi/Sakuya fanfic I was reading just the day before, but all she pretty much wore was a school uniform, and for a dance where you can dress up as anything, that was kind of lame. I could dress up as someone from the Harry Potter series, or the Percy Jackson series, or maybe someone from my favorite movie. At that moment, my favorite movie is Lilo and Stich, so Lilo is a serious option. If my mom was serious about me taking Mark to the dance, then I would (I kid you not) dress him up as Stitch whether he wanted to be him or not.

But if I was going to go alone (which is what I believe I will do), then I'd probably dress up as...this was really difficult. How could you possibly show up at a dance that everyone has a date to by yourself and look cool? You can't. It's not humanly possible. Kind of like what Violet said she was going to do Klaus after he made her mad at Grayson's party yesterday.

Because he brought Haley.

Oh, gods, now I just reminded myself about my situation and I NEED TO STOP THIS MADNESS.

Okay. Let's say I hypothetically decide to tell someone about Haley and how she's been blackmailing me. I could maybe get my best friend back, but I would lose every ounce of dignity in my being. Oh, and we can't forget the dignity of my brothers, they would never be able to live the embarrassment down.

Now let's say that I hypothetically keep acting like I hate Klaus and basically doing what Haley wants. I would lose my best friend forever, but I would keep my dignity and so would my brothers.

If my brothers weren't in the picture, I would have already given up this whole 'I hate you' act. Heck, I would have given up this morning and would've ran straight to Klaus's house before school to beg for forgiveness. Unfortunately, that isn't the case.

If only there was a way I could have it both ways...but that's impossible. Right? Right?

Well, inspirational speakers are always saying that anything is possible because nothing is impossible. So maybe if I think a little bit harder, I could come up with something that will give me what I need: freedom from Haley's blackmail...

What's that over my head?

Oh!

Is it...a light bulb?

I just realized that maybe I don't have just two options. I could have three, four, five if we want to get crazy with it! But I don't want to get crazy (or at least not too crazy).

I'm going to have to break Haley's deal (without her knowing, of course-at least not yet) because I'm definitely going to need help. I need someone crazy-someone really crazy. Someone who is so crazy that they can come up with a ridiculous plan that just might work.

That's right.

I need Bea Snicket.

Hm.

Maybe things will get too crazy.

Oh, well.

If everything goes wrong, at least I can say I went down fighting.

3,046

"Highs and lows
There are pits and lands
On the ground that you stand
Flux and flow
And you fix your plans
Then you trade in your hand

So, flux and flow
Flux and flow
Flux and flow
Flux and flow..."

~ Flux and Flow by Lights ft. Shad

;)