Sitting down was the last thing Isa wanted to do but she pushed herself forward, flopping down onto the couch while Lindsay turned the light on.

"Where were you?"

"Uh… I had to… I mean, I was going to… it was just…"

"That's what I thought."

"I didn't do anything wrong, we were just hanging out-"

"You snuck out of this house and you asked Sarah and Avery to lie about it."

"They told you?! They swore they wouldn't rat me out!"

"Are you three years old?" Lindsay asked, voice finally cutting deep. "Avery lied for you and it wasn't until she threw up from feeling so guilty about it that Sarah told me what happened. And even if they hadn't, Hannah heard you sneaking out so you're not as great at it as you think."

"You used to sneak out all the time!"

"I also stole a car once, does that make it okay for you? And what do you think you're doing smoking at fourteen years old?"

"I wasn't, someone else was! Besides, ma does it so what does it matter?"

"Isabeth your mother is an adult and she is allowed to make that decision for herself. Don't make excuses for yourself using the mistakes of someone else; you've been making your own decisions since you were 6 months old, and you and I both know no one has ever been able to make you do something you didn't want to do."

"Right, and you can't tell me what to do right now either."

"Isabeth Messer you stay on that couch and do not get up until I tell you to."

She'd never heard that tone of voice before and she sat back, watching as Lindsay picked up her phone to make a call. It rang through and she put it on speaker, while Isa quaked back and forth, hearing the voice of her mother.

"H'llo?"

"Hey, sorry to call so late."

"Early. Wait, what's wrong?"

"Isa snuck out."

There was a long pause and Isa could hear rustling around before Austin cleared her throat.

"Isa snuck out? What do you mean she snuck out? Where is she?"

"She's back now. Hannah heard her leaving a while ago. She just came skulking through the door a few minutes ago; smells like she smoked an entire pack."

"I wasn't smoking!" Isa shouted, arms crossed over her chest.

"Isabeth, I don't believe a word you say right now so keep your mouth shut."

She didn't want to, she had a few very choice words for Lindsay, but she forced it out into a glare instead, sinking back against the couch. This was very, very bad.

"What do you want me to do with her?" Lindsay continued, eyes never leaving Isa's face.

"Whatever you think is necessary, Lin."

"Alright."

"I'm really sorry about this Linds."

"Don't be sorry Austin, you didn't do it."

They said goodbye and Isa began to feel ill. Ross punishments were much worse than Messer punishments, which was probably why the Ross kids tended to learn their lessons the first time, unlike herself, who had to be taught over and over again.

"I want you to go upstairs and take a shower, then come back down here so we can talk about this."

"Oh, so now you want to talk to me instead of just jumping to conclusions-"

"Isabeth Grace you do as I said right now."

"I hate you."

"Good. Get upstairs."

She obeyed angrily, stomping up the stairs and not caring who woke up. Muttering under her breath and ignoring the stares from Sarah and a sniffling Avery, she grabbed new pajamas from her bag and went into the bathroom, turning the water up as hot as she could stand before sliding under the spray. It washed over her painfully and she yanked the shampoo bottle open, pouring a generous amount into her hand and scrubbing at her scalp until the tears finally became the release for her anger. Frustrated that there was nothing to hit, she cried until she couldn't breathe, so mad at herself, at Lindsay, at her mother, at the world. It wasn't fair, and she knew that she wasn't the only one thinking that either.

The water ran cold after a while and she was vaguely aware of the headache that was starting to throb behind her eyes. Just great.

She cleaned up after herself and stomped back down the stairs, finding both couches made up with a pillow and blanket, Lindsay sitting on the end of one, legs crossed and expression neutral.

"What…"

"I don't trust you not to leave again, so I'm going to sleep down here with you."

"Are you kidding me?"

"No, I'm not. Sit down, Isabeth."

This was much, much worse than getting into trouble with her parents. You were supposed to fight with your parents. You were supposed to rebel and test boundaries. But this was different. So very, very different.

She sat.

"The rest of this weekend, you will not set foot outside this house," Lindsay started, voice even. "You will be responsible for all of the dishes after every meal and you will handwrite letters of apology to Avery and Sarah for bringing them into this mess in the first place."

"Okay."

Not leaving the house wasn't that great but the rest of it was fine, probably enough to make up for the worry she'd put Lindsay through.

"Once your parents get back, you will be on one month of house arrest."

They'll never go for that, it's way too much work to keep me in the house, she thought, somewhat triumphantly.

"They have agreed with me that this is the best course of action."

"What?"

"Furthermore, your concert weekend is cancelled-"

"That's not fair!"

"And you will instead spend that weekend doing whatever it is your parents decide will help you to understand what you did wrong. Understood?"

"You can't just-"

"That's it, Isabeth. I didn't. You did. You made bad decisions knowing full well that there would be consequences if you were caught. Did you think that because I love you and because you're not technically my kid, I would go easy on you? Well now you know for next time, don't you?"

"I hate you. I really, really hate you."

"That's fine. In a few years when you get your head back on straight, you won't hate me anymore, but for right now I really don't care how you feel. Lay down and go to sleep."

"Ma and dad are never going to follow through with this."

"Yes they will. They're not the pushovers that you seem to think they are. Go to sleep Isabeth."

The use of her full name stung hard and she flopped onto the couch, pulling the blanket over her head while Lindsay turned the light out. It would be a very long time before this blew over.

"Avery, I'm really sorry about-"

"I do not want to talk to you, Isa."

"But Aves, I want you to know I'm sorry."

"I always say I'm sorry when I hurt someone, but mostly because it makes me feel better to say it. I think that is what you are doing now. You asked me to lie to mama. And I should have said no, that was my bad decision. But you are also the bigger kid and you should look out for me and teach me the right things. My feelings are very hurt for what you did, and because I broke trust with mama just to keep trust with you. I am very upset and I want to wait some more before I speak with you again."

"I really am sorry Aves. Truly. I never meant to hurt you like that. I was selfish."

"I love you very most, Isa. But at the moment I am still upset and I would like to not say anything mean so it is best if I not talk with you right now. But I still love you very most. Okay?"

"Okay."

Avery cast a sad look in her direction, then headed downstairs where the rest of the kids were. Isa had secluded herself in Avery's room, headphones in and face buried in a pillow since everyone had returned from their various extracurricular activities. Being confined to the house was bad enough, but the fact that Hannah had been there to keep an eye on her was almost too much. This morning had been hard, not only facing the rest of the kids who knew what had happened, but seeing the look of deep disappointment on Adam's face, even though he'd hugged and kissed her to say good morning. It was a face she would never forget.

"Isabeth?"

"What?"

Lindsay hesitated for a moment in the doorway; she didn't like how things were and she wanted to smooth it over but she knew Isa was at the age where smoothing things over could do a lot more harm than good.

"It's time for dinner."

"I'm not hungry."

"That's fine, but you'll be joining us at the table anyway."

"I get that you're mad at me, but don't you think it's a little much to make me go down there and sit with everyone when they know what I did?"

"If you're not ready for people to know what you did, then you're not ready to do it. Downstairs."

Grumbling under her breath, Isa stood up and brushed past Lindsay on her way down the stairs.

"When is this going to be over?"

"Not soon enough."

She was definitely not a fan of arguing with Lindsay and she hated the feeling that she'd disappointed her, but she wasn't going to let that show. She was stronger than that. She could stand resilient, even show the other kids that she wasn't ashamed.

She flopped down in her normal chair at the table, scowling when Colton tried to get her to eat something. She couldn't tell if he was being overly nice or if he didn't care, but either way she didn't really want any attention on her right now.

"Hey Princess, you sure you don't want to eat anything?" Adam asked, leaning over to grab a bowl from Avery.

Isa's eyes stung immediately and she blinked hard, shaking her head back and forth, chin meeting her chest. Of course he would use that nickname right now, of course he would use that voice, of course his sincere question of concern would make her feel even worse. She couldn't meet his eyes but moved to sit on her hands instead, fuming to herself, though she wasn't exactly sure why. What was wrong with her?

"Could we go on a family walk after dinner?" Ben asked after a while. "I want to see if I can catch some more bugs."

"Yeah, and Thomas needs to have her walk," Avery added, shoving a giant forkful of green beans into her mouth. "She likes it when she has more company."

"Averylin, please chew your food before you talk honey."

"Sorry mama."

She swallowed her food and wiped her mouth with the back of her hand.

"As I was saying, Thomas likes company on the walk but only if no one watches while she does her business."

"Who'd wanna look at that?" Daniel laughed.

"Nobody, but Thomas is very self-conscious. She gets stage fright."

Daniel laughed and nodded his head.

"I bet she does. Maybe you should build her a bathroom."

Avery snorted a laugh and nodded.

"Could we do that daddy? I would be sure to change the T.P.!"

Everyone was giggling at the mental image now, but Isa sat quietly, not participating.

"Sissy, do you think she would go in there with a newspaper?"

"Sure! She likes to be well-read," Avery giggled.

"I can't believe we're talking about this at the table," Sarah grinned, shaking her head.

"Yes you can," Colton chuckled. "You've been in this family your whole life, nothing should surprise you anymore."

"Guess so."

"Anyway," Ben sighed, wiping his eyes. "Could we go on a walk after dinner?"

"Yes, that would be fine."

Isa didn't miss the look that Adam and Lindsay shared and she had no reservations that it was about her. She couldn't leave the house and one of them was going to have to stay with her. This was ridiculous. She was fourteen years old, she wasn't going to get injured by herself and if they really thought she'd sneak out again, they were sadly mistaken. She might do it at home, and she knew that sneaking out here had been much riskier, and now she'd seen enough to know that it wasn't worth it.

Her parents would be back in a week and she was pretty sure her friends weren't planning any nighttime excursions until then anyway. She wasn't missing anything. And she didn't need to be babysat.

She sat quietly through the rest of dinner, then stood up and began to gather plates, remembering that the dishes were a part of her punishment. She hated that the warm water and smooth motions were calming her down; she wanted to stay mad, she wanted to yell and scream, she wanted to use the words that she didn't dare speak in front of them. But she was trapped, scrubbing at dishes and putting them away properly, then wiping down the counters and making sure the leftovers were put away. It didn't take long, and usually the kids would team up together to get it done but she wasn't going to ask for help or take longer because she was doing it alone. It wasn't going to bother her at all.

"You might want to grab some shoes," Lindsay said, coming into the room to fill up water bottles. "I know you usually go barefoot but we might walk pretty far tonight."

"I have to stay in the house, remember?"

"I remember, but we're all going out and the punishment isn't going to ruin that for everyone else."

"Maybe you should have thought of that before you punished me then."

"We're leaving in five minutes," Lindsay replied, voice bright as she ignored what Isa had said.

The teenager grumbled and wiped her hands off, then stalked upstairs for shoes. When she was told she couldn't leave all she wanted was to go, and when she was told she had to come along, she wanted nothing more than to stay.

"Hey Isa, I'm bringing jars to catch bugs in. Want one?" Ben offered, holding up an old baby food jar.

"No thanks."

"Okay. Lemme know if you do. I don't keep the bugs for long. I free them after I look at them real close, so you don't have to worry about that."

He gave her a smile then walked closer and hugged her. At one point in time she would have sighed and pushed him away, but right now this helped so much, and she put her arms around him tightly.

"Thanks Ben."

"You're welcome. C'mon, let's go!"

She followed him down the stairs with a sigh. This wasn't going to be resolved in a timely manner at all.

She didn't want to laugh or smile or have any fun, but she couldn't help it. Colton was her best friend for a reason and he'd always been able to pull her out of a funk. They hung back from the rest of the family, swinging their hands between them as they walked. He regaled her with stories from his summer activities, throwing in impressions and exaggerations until she clutched at her sides and shook her head. It felt like it always had, before middle school, before they'd started to grow apart. It felt like home, and maybe that was what she needed right now.

"In two years we're going to be driving," Colton mused, as they rounded a corner. "We could go anywhere."

"Yeah Colt, I don't think my jail sentence is going to be up by then."

"I'm sure it will."

"No, you don't understand. I screw up all the time but this time I screwed up in front of Indy and there is no way my ma is going to let that one slide."

"Fine then, we'll wait until we're 18 to go anywhere we want. It's only two more years on top of that."

"Colt."

"What? We always said we were going to take adventures together. Why would we give up on that?"

"I don't know, I just want to be a pessimist right now."

"Okay then, I guess I'm going to whine that my best friend doesn't even want to go on a road trip with me. In the future."

"You're so stupid Colt," she laughed, using her free hand to punch his shoulder.

He grinned and let go of her hand, dropping his arm around her shoulder instead. She was quickly catching up to him in height and for the first time in his life, she was almost too tall to walk comfortably under his arm.

"Hey Sweet Thing?"

"Hmm?"

"You know I love you right?"

"Yeah… of course. Where is this going?"

"Nowhere. I just want you to know I love you, even though we have other friends and don't see each other as much as we used to. You're my number one."

"You're so cheesy, Colt," she said with a roll of her eyes. "But I love you too. More than anyone."

"If I tell you something, do you promise not to get mad?"

"I think I'm pretty burned out on intense emotions right now."

"Maybe it would be a good idea if now that you and mama are more cooled off, you talked to each other about all this. I know she doesn't like you guys fighting. And she loves you, you know. As much as she loves all us kids."

"I know that, Colt. I do. And I don't really like it, but she is right. I shouldn't be… well, I'm not making very good decisions, that's true."

"Then can't you talk to her and tell her that?"

"Saying it to you is a lot easier than saying it to her. It's okay that she's mad at me. She probably should be. I don't like the disappointment though. That really hurts and I kind of want to wait until that look goes away before I try and talk to her."

"Fair enough."

"Colt, how did I screw up so bad?"

"You looked before you leapt, Isa. Who were you with anyway?"

"You don't know them."

He made a huffing sound but kept his arm around her, obviously not thrilled with that answer.

"I don't know them like I'm not friends with them, or I don't know them like they're not from our school at all?"

"The last one."

"Are they older?"

"Some of them."

"Don't do anything stupid, Isa. Be really careful, okay?"

"Yeah, okay."

He gave her a squeeze and they continued to walk, ending the conversation right there. He wouldn't let on how worried he was, but that didn't mean he wasn't going to try and figure out who her new friends were either.