Chapter Forty-Three: Fight & Flight

Irish had a bad day at school today. Well, bad day would definitely be an understatement, more like a horrifically awful day. She forces herself not to cry, but it's hard to keep her teary gaze steady.

She knows she really shouldn't go on the computer, knowing what waits for her when she does, but she has to know. Why do they hate her so much? She sneers softly as she opens the homepage, an attempt at masking her pain.

Who would send this to her? Why? Did they think she wanted to know how much people hated her? Irish fights her tears as she reads the nasty messages on the computer screen.


KoldBloodKilla
I hate Irish Marlin

HottieSim1991
yeah, irish is a slut! i hate her!

Glitzrgal6
me too, she's a idiot! who fucking says their a virgin? such a lier!

KoldBloodKilla
And the bitch thinks she's PERFECT

Glitzrgal66
no wat i hear? she fucks all the guys in school

Hottiesim1991
even the teachers? sick1!!

KoldBloodKilla
No! What guy would touch her? She has to be a lesbian

Hottiesim1992
a lezbo, really? what if she tries to fuck me!

Glitzrgal66
ew, wat a frreak!

She slams the computer shut unable to read anymore of those nasty words. She had finally started making some friends in the school, and they betrayed her like that! Irish felt like she was the biggest fool in Brooklyn Heights. She trusted them with her secret, that she had never been kissed, let alone have sex with anybody. And they flaunted it like it didn't matter, like she didn't matter. A small tear dripped on the desk as Irish wondered if she could trust anybody ever again.

Sniffling, she buries herself in a school assignment. Maybe the pain will go away if she just didn't think about it for a little bit?
"Alright, I know that won't really work, but I just want to stop crying." Irish mutters to herself as she tries to focus on the blurry words in front of her.

Isadora has heard all the rumors of course, and has tried to dissipate them. She even beat up a few of the biggest blabbermouths, but  it didn't do a thing. She's Irish's sister, and defending the rumors only gave them more fuel and hurts her twin's reputation even more. She feels frustrated that none of the guys who the twits claimed Irish slept with spoke up, even her friend Niles can't speak up for fear of furthering his status as a social pariah. And he has green skin and purple hair.

When she gets home, she tries to read to distract herself from the sniffling coming from their bedroom. Isa isn't really good at comforting people. She tends to make them cry more. If only this book wasn't so much like an encyclopedia, maybe she could get the image of Irish crying out of her mind...

She slams the book down, frustrated at her inability to help her sister. Irish has been there for her when nobody else has, and now she's failing at helping her back. She decides to paint an meteor, imagining the rock and flames consuming those snooty bitches.

After cleaning up, Isadora was about to start her boring assignment again when a furious Roxanne came through the door.
"The principal called today. He said that you beat up two girls in class, and one of them had to go to the hospital. What do you have to say for yourself?" Isa's shoulders tense as she glares at her mother.

Isadora shrugged, not wanting Roxanne to know about her sister's bullying. She would only make it worse. Roxanne's green eyes glimmered with fury.
"A shrug? A fucking shrug? You could have been expelled from school, that one girl has 15 stitches! You'll have detention for the rest of the year, and if you do anything horrible like that again, you'll be kicked out! Do you even get what you've done?" Roxanne screamed.

Isadora tries to keep herself calm, but it's a struggle. Her face grows redder as her mother continues to yell at her.
"Nothing to say? Come on Isa, you can't be a dropout loser! You'll be nothing if you continue this way!"
"Nothing! I'm fucking trying to defend my sister and you say I'm a loser! Fuck you, you, you stupid bitch!" Isa bellowed, her heart beating furiously. She feels triumphant at the startled look on Roxanne's face. If only she didn't have to reveal Irish's secret to get an ounce of compassion to her side of the situation.

Compassion dies down to fury quickly as Roxanne's mind comprehends the last part of Isadora's words.
"I'm the bitch! I'm the one keeping food in your stomach! I'm the one who gives you a great place to live. You think a policeman salary would pay for a place like this? In Brooklyn Heights? You're the ungrateful little bitch here!" Isadora looks like she wants to pull out Roxanne's hair out, but she forces herself to stop that train of thought. Isa hates her, but she's her mother. Besides, Roxanne would probably beat the snot right out of her, with all that manual labour.
 

Still extremely upset, Isadora tries to calm things down the best she can. She forces herself to breath a few times, she doesn't want this to get any worse.
"So we're both bitches. I can live with that, I messed up today. I should have just pranked them or something instead of hurting them. I'm sorry Roxanne." Isa mutters, looking down in shame. Roxanne doesn't take the given reprieve however.
"I'm not a bitch!" Isa is frustrated, can't she see how she's hurt her and Irish? Can't she see her own faults and admit them?
"What bullshit! I said I did wrong, but you're not copping up to any of your mistakes!"

"I've made mistakes, but I never injured anybody to the point of hospitalization!" Roxanne sneers.
"I didn't mean to go that far! I apologized to the families already! I ADMITTED WHAT I DID WRONG! But you haven't apologized for anything you've done!" Isadora just wants to punch something, the frustration is building up inside her and she can't get anything through to her.
"The only thing I regret is being a part of this fucked up family!" Roxanne screams, her voice slightly hoarse.
"W-what?" Isa wants to cry, but the tears won't come. "You hate us? Why didn't you leave then, before we could remember you? There's no such thing as a perfect family, but we try our best. Unlike you." Isadora paces around furiously, unable to look at Roxanne's tearful face.

"You really think you deserved better, don't you?" Isadora asks desperately, both hurt and angry. "How dare you? We loved you, but you were never there. We needed you, but you were always in your bloody garden! You don't deserve my love! I hate you!" Roxanne's raises her hand, as if to slap her, then it falls back down.

"I'm sorry, I didn't mean for that-" Isadora interrupts the pathetic attempt to apologize.
"You think that this is some game. That children smile all the time and play and laugh and never cry or get frustrated. Nathalie was more of a mom then you ever were! She cared!" Tears steam down Isadora's cheeks, the pain she's been denying for several days is exploding right in front of her.
"I love you -" Isadora once again interrupts her mother, she's not stopping now. Emotions she didn't even know she felt are spewing from her mouth.

"Don't start! You don't love us! You didn't want to know what was happening with us, you just wanted to hide. Did you ever talk to me or Irish about Ned's death? Nathalie's? No! Because you're too damn self absorbed! You care about those damn plants more then you ever cared about us! You're a lousy mother!" Roxanne's eyes take an inhumane glint to them. Before Roxie can think things through clearly, before she can hear the pain in her daughter's words...

A painful smack. A cry of pain.

Isadora falls back from the force of the impact. Shocked. Her mother just slapped her. She put her hands on her.

 

Breathing heavily. She just did that. She put that bitch in her place. No. She lashed out. Her daughter, her baby. Isa's not a bitch. She's her daughter. She did this. She hurt her. She gasps as the realization hits her.

Tears run down her face as she looks at her daughter's young, vulnerable face. What kind of monster is she?