XVII

.𖥔 ݁ ˖𓂃.☘︎ ݁˖(episode 7 pt. 3 - small town rumorsthird week of January 2024).𖥔 ݁ ˖𓂃.☘︎ ݁˖

Word spread around that the drama club had already picked the casts for their upcoming play.

And Isaac doesn't want to know whether he got the role or not. He was just there for a new experience.

Throughout the day, he avoided the bulletin board like a plague, even up to the extent that he had to sped up his walking and looking down when passing by the bulletin board if his next classroom was located in the specific hallway where the board was pasted.

Thankfully, he survived. As soon as he got home with the others, he was surprised to see Will and Hailey cooking food.

His older cousin informed him that Nathan is okay. And he will be discharged tonight.

Excitedly, Isaac and the other boys helped them – cooking, cleaning, making and putting up decorations, and even helped Parker, Benny, and Jordan making a "Welcome Home!" card.

Taking a break from helping Will, Isaac plopped down to the couch with Lee and Alex. He pulled out his phone and texted Bea.

bee 🐝(+1) (***) (***-****)Today. 4:00 PM.

hey bee!good news, nathan is going to be discharged tonight

wait really?me, phoebe, and seb were actually going to the hospital rn as we speaki miss him so much

we miss him toohouse is kinda lonely when he's not aroundand uncle george and aunt kathy toohey i have an idea

yeah?

we're throwing a party for himyall could use a little help here :3alex and lee were arguing what to decor and what colors to use lolphoebe's good at designing, right?oh and also bashhim being the best chef hereand youum

???

emotional suport friend i guess

bee🐝 reacted middle finger at your message

i told sebwe're changing directions nowwe'll be there in a few

aighttt see you later bee🥰Seen. 4:05 PM.

"Yo, let's play a game," Lee handed the two game controllers and stood up to turn on the television. The three of them then started to play – their version of unwinding down after doing work in the house.

Not long after, Danny showed up. But he didn't pick up the extra controller. Instead, he stood in front of the tv, completely blocking the boys' view.

"Are you serious? Dude, move!" Lee complained.

"Get out of the way. I'm about to trash on Lee and Alex," said Isaac.

Knowing that Danny was still standing there, Alex pressed some buttons to pause the game.

Danny looked angry — eyebrows scrunching, arms crossing. His eyes were piercing at Isaac's direction. "You auditioned for the play?"

"What? Am I not allowed to audition?" he scoffed.

"You just stole my monologue! I've been practicing that for weeks!"

"Been hearing yours for the millionth time, so I used that."

Alex and Lee were silent on the side, witnessing the two arguing.

"Congrats, because you got my dream role," Danny said sarcastically. "There's no way you're going to pull this off."

"I think I will, since I got the part, Danny. Now will you please move so that we can continue the game?"

Jaw clenching, Danny left the living room. Isaac pushed some buttons on the controller to resume the game, and the three of them continued playing.

"Hey dude! Cutthroat, man," Lee slapped his brother's arm.

"Kind of not cool. You know how Danny feels about acting," Alex said. "He'll not get over that easily."

"For a minute though, thought you're going to say 'Theater chicks are hot'."

Both Isaac and Alex looked at the younger Garcia boy, eyebrows raising at his remark. "What?" Lee asked.

"I-I mean, you're not wrong though. They're hot, but they're not —"

"Yeah, I agree with your brother. What happened to the Isaac that we know?" Alex chuckled.

Feeling embarrassed and not wanting to tell the truth, Isaac shrugged them off.

"Come on, let's just play."

Isaac, now absorbing what happened just now, bit his inner cheek. Guilt slowly swallowed him whole. He shrugged it off, and let the video game distracted him.

__________________

By the time Seb, Phoebe, and Bea arrived at the Walters' household, they immediately helped them and had almost finished setting up for the party— almost meaning Alex and Lee are still arguing what color to use for the triangle banner that should be put at the living room. Phoebe had to intervened them to avoid more conflict inside the house.

Meanwhile, Bea was with Jordan for a while in the bottom of the stairs, who was showing his camera to the girl, and how he's going to film Nathan once he arrived. Bea recognized his camera, reminded her about her classmate in her hometown that had this type of camera, as well as having the same fiery passion as Jordan's in filmmaking.

"I used to have a liking in photography back when I was at the city," Bea smiled, reminiscing the time her dad got her a digital camera when she was in middle school, and the photographs that she had that was pasted inside her school locker.

"Really? No way!" Jordan grinned. "You're still doing that now?"

"Let's just say my hobby shifted," Bea shrugged.

"I see. Maybe you should also try filming. I can teach you a thing or two."

Bea loved Jordan's confidence. She can tell that this young Walter boy will go in places if he'll enhance his filmmaking skills.

"Let's see about that, Jordan."

"Hey guys, they're in the driveway! Everyone hide!" Will announced from the kitchen, and everyone moved quickly. Someone grabbed Bea's arm from behind and drag her to the living room. As she turned around, she rolled her eyes.

Isaac grinned, and quickly shushed her. The door finally opened, and footsteps were heard inside. George's voice was heard, asking the whereabouts of everyone.

"Should we go now?" Bea whispered.

Isaac shook his head, and mouthed "later".

"Surprise!" The voices of the three youngest Walters were heard. Bea looked at Isaac, and he nodded, signaling to go out from their hiding spots. Both of them and others followed, with the boys formed a group hug with Nathan. After the hug, Parker gave him a welcome card, warming everyone's hearts.

"Hey Nate," both Phoebe and Bea called him. Nathan immediately embraced the two of his best friends, the three of them now sobbing.

"You scared us to death! Damn you!" Bea choked on her own tears.

"And I miss you two more," Nathan chuckled while sniffling.

Phoebe tried to form words, but all she could let out was her sobs, which made Bea, Nathan, and even others laughed.

After the emotional reunion, all of them were now in the kitchen. In that moment, the Walter household was now back to where it was — a house full of laughter, and smiles.

Nathan told everyone that he has epilepsy, in which everyone stopped what they're doing for a while and looked at him with pity. But he reassured them that he'll be fine as he will be receiving medications and regular check ups with a neurologist that the doctor recommended.

"I'm surprised that they recommend me to your aunt, Bea. I'm confident I'm in good hands," Nathan smiled. Bea's eyes soften, agreeing what he said.

Bea stood up and went to the other side of the kitchen to picked up some snacks that Seb made. She noticed Cole standing in the corner, an apple in his hand.

They didn't said a word to each other, as Bea was busy finding the perfect snacks for her post-dinner sesh, not until she remembered about something that she hasn't seen a while– or rather, someone.

"Hey Cole, where's Jackie?" Bea asked.

"She went out for a jogging," Cole took a bite of his apple.

"Shouldn't she be back by now? It's getting dark," she pointed out.

Just then, the telephone rang. Cole picked it up, and listened. He quickly grab his keys and hang up the phone. "It's Jackie. She's lost. I'll be right back," Cole said, then left.

As she went back to dining table, her seat beside Nathan was now taken by—

"Skylar?"

Skylar smiled. "Hi, Bea! You don't mind me taking your seat right?"

She would mind. It's been a while since she saw her best friend, and she wanted both of them to catch up.

That is until she looked below and saw them holding hands. Even Phoebe, who was sitting beside Nathan on the opposite side, mouthed "no".

"Uh, no! I don't mind Skylar."

Skylar gave her a smile, then went back conversing to Nathan. Nathan glanced at her best friend for a second, and Bea mouthed "chat. tea.later."

Deciding to let both of her friends have their moment (Nathan with Skylar & Phoebe with Benny & Parker, who was designing random cards), she went to the living room, meters away from the noise and laughs in the kitchen room.

She was expected to be alone in the living room, but was surprised to see Isaac there — full attention on the screen, fingers continuously tapping on the buttons on the controller. Bea slowly sat on the edge of the couch, not wanting to disturb the boy.

Isaac's character in the game was fighting a monstrous figure, possibly the game's final boss of a certain level. Despite Isaac's effort, the monster thrashed his character and threw it around, ending his character's life. Groaning, he quickly shut the T.V. down.

"You can always play that again," Bea broke the silence. Isaac turned his head around, and he composed himself.

"Oh hey, Bee. Wanna play with me?"

"No, I'm good."

"Eh. Suit yourself."

He restarted the level and started fighting the monster.

"Anything new happened, Isaac?"

They haven't talked much since Cole dropped her off at the house after the hospital incident, with Bea processing what happened with her best friend that time and catching up with the school activites that she had missed.

"I auditioned at the play. Wanting to start something fresh," he said it casually.

"Oh? Since when?"

"I got the lead role," he ignored her. "And—"

The monster, once again, defeated and killed Isaac's character. Frustrated, he shut the down the tv and threw the controller on the table.

"Woah! What's up with you?"

"You don't understand, Bee. I've been in this goddamn level since winter break and this fucking villain is so hard to beat!" Isaac snapped. "Lee and Alex had already beat this, but I'm still here and...," his voice halted at the end.

Bea, not sure how to react, just stared at him. Isaac cleared his throat, arms crossing, and looking anywhere but the girl.

"I-I'm sorry for that. It's just....."

He didn't continue. His gaze lingered at his controller — jaw clenching, and his right leg bouncing.

"Yeah?" she whispered.

"Going back to what I said, I auditioned at the play because I-I wanted to try something new this year," he gulped. "I thought I was doing good, but it was the complete opposite."

His gaze shifted to Bea. She looked back at him, eyes softening. She didn't say anything until he continued. He then expressed about the last day of the audition, coming to the audition unprepared, and using Danny's monologue.

"Actors can use any monologue, but the judges still the one who decided what role you'll get right? Anyways, when the results came, I didn't know I got in until Danny confronted me about it, saying I stole the role that he always wanted."

Isaac sighed, remembering how he treated Danny earlier. "I shrugged him off because he was disturbing our game, and I continued to play with Lee and Alex." He put his hands on his palms and groaned.

"I should've done that. I feel like shit."

Bea shifted closer to the boy. She's still in the process of what he said, thinking about the right words to comfort him.

It's a tricky situation to be in. Danny must've felt angry at him, thinking Isaac stole his dream role, and Isaac, who only wanted to experience new things, fumbled up.

"Isaac, to be honest, this is awful."

Isaac looked up.

"I know I'm the bad—"

"Listen," she cut him off. "This is awful, but I'm not saying you're a bad guy. I get it you wanted to experience something new, but it came at his expense."

Isaac stared intently at the girl, anticipating the next thing she'll say.

"I know you care about Danny, and you didn't mean to hurt him, but shrugging him off made things worse, you know?"

He nodded.

"Try to talk to him if you're ready. Let him hear your side, but don't expect forgiveness quickly."

He chuckled at the last sentence. "Yeah, you're right," he smiled. "Thanks, Bee. I felt a little lighter."

"Always happy to help, Garcia."

__________

omg i totally forgot to put this in the last few chapters but omg 1k+ reads in my book is insane 😭😭 yall r insane and i love yall for that😭

thanks so much for taking time to read, vote, and comment :)))