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The phone starts vibrating again, and I repress a growl.
Izzy’s brows crawl up toward her hairline. And then she’s trying to reach around me.
“Don’t,” I say, shoving her back. “It’s nothing.”
“Is it someone from school? Are they harassing you?” she rushes out, and I shake my head.
“No, no, it’s nothing. Just spam, or whatever. What were you gonna say?”
She stares at me for a long moment. When the vibrating stops, she finally says, “Maybe you should go back to being homeschooled.”
I tense.
“I just… You don’t deserve to be treated like this. I-I’m scared, J.”
Staring at her, I try to think of something to say.
Her mouth thins, then— “Ethan’s been expelled. Dad said something about…pressing charges.”
“And Clay?” I mutter.
Pressing charges. Is that up to me, or the school?
That’s all I need…an even bigger target on my back than the one that’s no doubt been put there after today’s events.
Izzy shakes her head, outrage igniting her eyes.
Scoffing softly through my nose, I lean back against the headboard, staring up at the ceiling. “Figures.”
“J—”
“I’m sick of being weak.”
My words are met with silence, so I force myself to keep going.
“All my life, I’ve…I’ve been a coward. Doing my best to just….hide and?—”
“JJ.”
“Why should I let them win? Why should I?—”
“You’re not though,” she whispers. She sits up, leaning over me, and presses her forehead to mine, just like we did when we were kids. “You’re not weak. And you’re not a coward. You’re the strongest, bravest person I know.”
I laugh weakly. “That’s a lie.”
“It’s not,” she says fiercely. Pulling back, she scowls at me. “You put up with so much crap, but you’re still standing. Your anxiety, the bullies… You deal with so much more than any of us, but you still smile and laugh and-and…you’re here, JJ.”
An eerie sort of stillness settles over us at those two words.
You’re here.
“High school isn’t forever.”
“Okay, Mom.”
“I mean it,” she says, giving my shoulder a nudge. “A couple more years, and you can…” She inhales deeply, before releasing it on her next words, “Leave.”
My brows knit.
