XVIII

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

With Nathan finally being discharged at the hopsital, the familair chaos and warmness had finally enveloped the Walters household.

But other than that, Danny ignored Isaac since the welcoming party.

When you said he ignored him, he really ignored him. For the following days after Nathan was being discharged, he noticed Danny acted as if he didn't exist in this household, example being when Danny thanked Cole for passing the peanut butter spread, when it was Isaac who slided the jar towards his direction, and swore Danny witnessed it.

He wanted to make this right.

Today was the very first meeting of the cast of the play. They're currently in the auditorium, with Mr. Choudry, and the president of the drama club explaining the general guidelines of this play. Isaac, although he thought this is a boring meeting, tried to listen to them intently, but still got distracted about his plan talking to Danny. Instead, he stared at him on where he sat with his ridiculous beanie standing out, sitting a few seats away from Erin (which Isaac was genuinely surprised when he saw her name on the list).

"Okay, that would be all guys. Don't forget to check your emails tonight! Again, we'll have our very first script reading this weekend. Thanks for coming, everyone," Mr. Choudry concluded the meeting.

Mr. Choudry, Erin and the other castmates had already left, but both Danny and Isaac were the only ones left at the auditorium. Danny was putting his things at his bagpack, making this a chance for Isaac to talk to him.

"Hey, Danny," he slowly approached the older cousin. Danny, as usual, didn't acknowledged him. He continued arranging his things at the bagpack.

"Hey man. I wanted to talk to you."

Still no response.

"Danny, don't ignore me. Please."

Finally, Danny looked up and stopped what he's doing. His expression is unreadable, and Isaac couldn't tell if he's angry, annoyed, or frustrated.

"Please hear me out," Isaac started. "I'm really sorry for using your monolgue without your permission, and I'm sorry for getting the role that you've always wanted. It wasn't my intention."

Danny dropped his bag in the chair and crossed his arms, still staring at him.

"I shouldn't have shrugged you off the other day, and I should've explained to you about what happened. It pained me when you acted like I'm some kind of ghost, and I can't go on like this anymore."

Danny didn't said anything. Isaac, feeling defeated, turned his heel and ascended to the stairs.

"Isaac."

Isaac turned around and saw him following behind, one strap of his bag hanging on his shoulder.

Danny took a deep breath. "I'm sorry, as well — "

"What? You didn't do anything, dude."

"I did. Yes, I'm upset. I ignored you and I kind of lash you off, but I shouldn't have done that," Danny bit inside of his cheek. "To be honest, it still kind of stings up until now, but..."

Danny didn't continue. Instead, he pulled Isaac into a hug.

"I'm fine now, dude. Really."

Isaac sighed, the heaviness that he felt for so long finally felt lighter. He hugged him back until he broke the hug.

"I can teach you a thing or two about Benedick. Let's talk about it over lunch?"

______________

What happened earlier at the auditorium hasn't fully wrapped around Isaac's mind. Throughout lunch time, Danny was surprisingly pretty chill, telling him some tips about the play while joking at the same time. This, however, became short-lived, as Bash had to pull him off to help him some school stuff — with school stuff being an assignment that he forgot to bring at school.

As he was eating his lunch peacefully, a sound of tray dropped on his table, with another one followed. Isaac looked up feeling annoyed, but soon smiled as he saw who it was.

"Hey, Garcia."

Bea sat in front of him, followed by Phoebe who then sat beside her.

"Hey, Bee! Oh, hi— "

"Shut up. I'm here because of her," Phoebe rolled her eyes, her fork swirling with the spaghetti.

"I saw you and Danny talking. I guess everything went good?"

"Yeah."

"That's great!"

She handed him a bottle of a familiar drink that he once knew she occasionally drank since last semester.

"You can have this."

"For what?"

"Just take it," she shrugged.

"Thanks?"

Isaac was confused, but still accepted it. Bea haven't done this to him before anyways.

But hey, at least he got a free honey lemonade drink made by her cool cousin.

Remembering that he has a video gaming session wtih his brother later on the evening, he decided to take this drink as a late night snack.

"What's up with you and Danny?" Phoebe tilted her head.

"Nothing," both him and Bea said in unison. Confused, Phoebe looked at them, before resuming in eating her lunch.

"By the way Isaac, have you got an email, perchance?" Phoebe asked after slurping the spaghetti.

"Oh about Mr. Chase's class after lunch? Yeah, why — Wait how do you know?"

"Oh shit, we're classmates," Phoebe sighed, rubbing her temple.

"Wait, is this about the class that you kept ranting to me and Nathan? The one who had an official leave or something?" Bea finished half of her sandwich.

"Yeah, that one."

"Wait, what the hell? I thought you shared the whole schedule with Bea!"

"Most, actually. Their professor let me sit in with her class so I could catch up. She's so cool."

"But we had online activities, though."

"Yeah, but it ain't enough."

The school bell rang, signaling the end of lunchtime. The three of them stood up and exited the cafeteria. They soon parted ways as they reached the hallway — Bea going alone to the other side while Isaac and Phoebe on the opposite side.

Despite both of them being extroverted and have known each other for a long time, none of them uttered a word. The only noise that fell between them was Phoebe's keychains.

Isaac and Phoebe had been schoolmates ever since he and Lee moved here. They barely interacted, heck even acknowledged each other's existence. Isaac had only started to notice her since freshman, when they became classmates in P.E.

Isaac remembered trying to flirt with her for the first time in the middle of the class, and Phoebe giving him the middle finger before leaving him and he eventually got hit by a dodgeball. In every pair activity of P.E., the two would always get paired — with Isaac mostly trying to hit on with her, which eventually failed every time, as Phoebe clearly showed no interest in him.

Isaac have always thought Phoebe is an interesting person, especially how she dressed up to school — completely opposite of how everyone, including him, dressed up everyday. He can't really say they're friends, but after seeing how good of a friend she was with Bea and Nathan, he wished they were.

"So....," Isaac started. "What are you expecting for this class?"

"Huh?"

"Forgot what I said," Isaac scratched his head.

"Wait. No way you're asking me about 'school'," Phoebe scoffed.

"Is there something wrong with asking about that?"

Phoebe laughed at Isaac's confused expression. "No, just... didn't expect it from you. You would always annoy me with your stupid flirtatious acts."

"Hey for the record, I wasn't trying to flirt with you earlier."

"And how would I know that's not true?"

"Dude, I would've flirted with you just now if that's the case."

Phoebe looked at him, and now was the one who's confused, but eventually shrugged it off. They're only a few meters away to their classroom, when a voice called out his name. Both turned around and saw Tasha, walking towards them.

"Oh, hey Tash," Isaac greeted her.

"I'll go inside first," Phoebe said blankly, leaving him outside while playing the ends of her blonde hair. Isaac found it weird, but he shrugged it off.

"Guess we're classmates in Mr. Chase's class, huh?" she faintly smiled.

"Yeah, I guess."

"Hey, are you free this weekend? Chloe's having a party. You should come."

Isaac bit inside of his cheek. Like Cole, he was once a party goer, and goes to every single party that he got invited to, especially from Chloe. He met Tasha at one of her parties after the final day in Homecoming Huddle when they were still a freshman. And just like every other girls, he flirted with Tasha all night.

He cringed at the memory. "Sadly, no. I... have a rehearsal this weekend, Tash."

Tasha's eyebrow raised. "Rehearsal?" Before Isaac could answer, Tasha snapped her fingers, as if she remembered what he's talking about.

"Oh, right! You got the lead role. Saw at the bulletin board. Congrats, by the way." Tasha stepped closer, patting and squeezing his shoulder.

It was tempting to flirt her back, like giving her a wink and touched her hand. Instead, he awkwardly smiled.

"Thanks. Uh, I think we should go inside now."

"Oh — yeah, right. You're right."

Both of them entered the room. Isaac saw an empty seat besides Phoebe on the front, and immediately sat beside her.

"You don't mind me being your seatmate for the whole semester, right?"

Phoebe rolled her eyes. "Maybe, maybe not."

__________________

showing a bit of isaac's and phoebe's dynamic :)))