... not in love with Kale Eddison (5 page)

Izzie gave her
a friend a sarcastic look, “Yeah, ‘cause you asked so nicely! No,
I’m going to pass thanks.” She opened the door and got out, “Have
fun at the party but I’m not going. Don’t know why you’re getting
so worked up anyway … it’s not like he’ll be there.”

Izzie started
to walk off but Maddie yelled after her, “Who won’t be there?”

Izzie rolled
her eyes and shouted back, “Don’t play dumb … Kale! Now go have fun
living in your fantasy world!”

Maddie said
nothing but drove away with an angry screech as Izzie went back
inside the house. She couldn’t get over Maddie’s psycho mood
swings; well she wasn’t putting up with it anymore – she was
finished! As if she wanted to go to that party anyway, she amused
herself at thinking how livid Maddie would be when she found out
that Izzie was right; there was no way Kale was going to that
party. Izzie may not have known him long or even know him that well
but that was the one thing she was sure of. She sighed as she
flopped onto her bed and kicked off her shoes; she still failed to
grasp what all the fuss was about. What was so special about Kale
Eddison? The thought really baffled her … it wasn’t like he was
that good of an actor; his last role was the ‘hero’ in a romantic
comedy! She shook her head; the world truly had gone mad if they
cared so much about a guy who acted in such ridiculous and
pointless films.

Izzie decided
not to let this fact bother her anymore and she turned on her
laptop. She really needed to do some research for the formal but
she found her heart wasn’t it in. Instead she found herself
reluctantly looking at one of the gossip columns about Kale. They
all talked about his decision for a normal life and how he was
going to cope at school. Izzie sighed and shut down her computer
after reading several more; she was fed up reading, hearing about
and looking at Kale. The sooner he flaked out of school, the
better.

She rolled onto
her back on her bed and let out a frustrated sigh; everything had
gone so wrong ever since Kale had shown up – it was all his fault.
He was the reason Maddie wasn’t talking to her and the reason why
Jake had taken a sudden interest in her life; although the latter
was something Izzie thought she shouldn’t complain about. She
sighed once more and then decided to go to bed, even though it was
still freakishly early, especially for a Friday night. Everything
would seem better in the morning – it had to.

Chapter
Five

Izzie woke up
the following morning feeling a lot better; it was Saturday, she
didn’t have to work (for once!) and she had formulated a plan to
seek Maddie’s forgiveness – even though she really hadn’t done
anything to annoy her friend. She got out of bed, she was feeling
very optimistic about today; she didn’t know why exactly but she
could just
feel
something good was going to happen. Izzie
happily changed into a comfy dress, a pair of leggings and her grey
boots and went downstairs to make some breakfast.

She ran into
her grandmother in the kitchen who looked very surprised that Izzie
was up so early on her day off and that she was looking so happy as
well.

“My, someone’s
full of beans!” Grandma Frank teased, “And looking very perky as
well, I might add …”

Izzie laughed,
“Yeah, well I’m off, the sun is shining and I’m in a good mood – so
sue me!”

Her grandmother
chuckled, “Ok, whatever you say … you normally don’t even crack a
smile this early no matter what day it is! There’s something
different …” she trailed off and looked deep in thought and then
she looked at Izzie suddenly, a look of surprise crossing her face,
“I knew it! I knew it! You’ve got a fella, haven’t you? You’ve been
courting with some lad!”

Izzie burst out
laughing at her grandma’s ludicrous suggestion, “No, I haven’t got
a fella! And no, I haven’t been
‘courting’
as you put it –
nobody calls it that anymore, just so you know … oh dear, next
you’ll be saying ‘gentleman caller’ – listen, you can rest easy; I
don’t have a boyfriend or any intention in getting one anytime
soon, ok?”

Charlotte
looked at her granddaughter carefully; there was definitely
something different about Izzie, something had changed and she was
determined to find out what it was – no matter how long it would
take.

Izzie quickly
grabbed a cereal bar and her car keys and headed out the door to
avoid her grandmother’s curious stares. She jumped into her little
Nissan Micra and turned up the heater; it was a lot colder than she
had thought despite the sunshine. She glanced at her watch once she
had pulled out of the driveway, 10.30 am. – Maddie definitely had
to be up by now. Izzie made a few stops before she arrived at her
friend’s house; she quickly ran to the door and rang the bell.

A few minutes
later and Maddie appeared; she was slightly bleary eye and her
curly hair was sticking up all over the place but at least she was
dressed, even if it was only in old tracksuit bottoms and a hoodie.
Izzie couldn’t read the expression on her friend’s face but she
didn’t look like she was about to attack so Izzie thought that was
a good sign at least. She smiled and waved the pastry bag at
Maddie’s nose.

“I brought the
croissants from that bakery you like, can I come in?”

Maddie grabbed
the brown bag and nodded, “Sure, let’s go into the living
room.”

Izzie breathed
a sigh of relief, followed Maddie down the hall and flopped down
onto the comfy brown sofa. Maddie didn’t say anything as she tucked
into the warm croissants but Izzie could tell her friend was on the
verge of forgiving her; the slight smile on her face was evident of
that. After Maddie had devoured the last one, she lay back and
looked at Izzie. “You have no idea how much I needed that!” she
sighed to Izzie.

Izzie grinned,
“Call it a peace offering. So, rough night then?”

Maddie laughed,
“Ok you’re forgiven … oh Iz, talk about a crazy night!”

Izzie smiled,
“That good, eh? What happened? Anything exciting that you
remember?”

Maddie giggled,
“I look
that
bad, huh? Yeah, I definitely enjoyed myself
then but I’m feeling it now – hangovers are no fun … no more vodka
for me! You missed a great night but there really isn’t much gossip
… well, only that Jake seemed kinda pissed that you weren’t
there.”

Izzie was
intrigued despite promising herself not to care anymore, “Oh? How
come? Was he really mad?”

Maddie shook
her head, “Nah, he wasn’t ‘mad’ pissed, more like ‘disappointed’
pissed – if I didn’t know any better I’d say he likes you Iz!”

Izzie laughed
and blushed slightly; she knew she shouldn’t get giddy just because
a guy appeared to show the slightest bit of interest in her but she
couldn’t help it. “So, did he say anything specific?”

Maddie smirked,
“Well he just said something like ‘I wish Isobel could’ve made it,
I even told her to bring someone if she wanted to.’ I told him next
time I’d make sure you’d come. Oh, that reminds me, I’m really
sorry about going nuts on you … I really didn’t mean to fly off the
handle – I was just so hyped up thinking that Kale would turn up
and that I wouldn’t get a chance to talk to him – but you were
right.”

Her expression
suddenly turned serious, “As much as it kills me to admit it but
you were right; he didn’t show but I had a good night anyway but it
still doesn’t mean that I had the right to treat you the way I did
… so, sorry.”

Izzie was quite
shocked; it was very rare indeed when Maddie admitted she had done
something wrong – in fact it wasn’t rare, it was never! “It’s ok,
what are friends for? So what are the plans for the rest of the day
then?”

Maddie smiled
at Izzie, “Give me ten minutes and we’ll go shopping and then for
lunch, my treat.”

Izzie grinned,
“Ok, it’s a deal.” Maddie got up while Izzie remained on the sofa
wondering about the sudden change in Maddie’s behaviour; usually
she would huff for days until Izzie practically begged her to be
friends again – maybe she was finally growing up. What Izzie didn’t
know was that she was very, very wrong.

When the girls
sat down to lunch sometime later, Izzie was beginning to get
suspicious about Maddie’s suddenly super nice behaviour; first
buying bracelets that Izzie had admired and now treating her to
lunch … something was up – Izzie was sure of it. Interrupting her
thoughts, Izzie realised that Maddie was asking her something, “You
want dessert? You have to get dessert.”

It had occurred
to Maddie earlier when Izzie had shown up at the door, that no
matter how mad she was at her, she could use Izzie to get closer to
Kale. She hadn’t liked telling Izzie she was right about Kale’s ‘no
show’ at the party the night before but if she wanted more time
together with Kale, she figured she would have to grit her teeth
and do what was necessary; after all, Kale seemed to stick around
longer when Izzie was there. Maybe after a while though, Maddie
hoped, maybe he’d stick around when Izzie wasn’t there. But for now
she would have to endure Izzie’s company if she wanted even the
smallest amount of time with Kale; she would have to suffer but
hopefully it would be worth the pain when Kale realised how great a
girlfriend she, Maddie, would make. Maddie just couldn’t believe
how easy it had been to get Izzie to think Jake was interested in
her; he hadn’t even mentioned Izzie at the party but what Izzie
didn’t know wouldn’t hurt her … Maddie needed her to get to Kale so
she had to do what was necessary and she knew Jake was Izzie’s
Achilles Heel whether she’d admit it or not.

After lunch,
Izzie left Maddie home and had to be quite abrupt to get away from
her; Izzie really wanted to get home and think over some things but
Maddie seemed adamant at doing something else. In the end, Izzie
had to lie about her mother wanting her to help her with some
cleaning. She felt bad about it; what kind of person was she if she
lied straight to her best friend’s face? However, she really felt
that something odd was going on. As much as she hated thinking it,
she just had a gut feeling that something was not right; Maddie was
up to something. Sure she had been chuffed when Maddie had told her
about Jake but hadn’t she already decided that he was only
interested so he could get all friendly with Kale? Izzie really
didn’t understand why Kale seemed to have taken an interest in her
– if anything she thought it was because he knew it annoyed her and
he pestered her deliberately – but it was not ideal. Maddie was
turning into somebody she failed to recognise as her friend and
everyone was sure to ask her favours in regard to Kale, once they
all found out that he liked to talk to her. Izzie sighed, she
figured she’d just have to be extra careful of everybody and make
sure Kale stayed well away from her.

Later on, when
Izzie had eaten dinner, she decided to do something relaxing; she
had been busy all week and she deserved break – Kale had said she
never seemed to relax so here was her chance. Her parents were due
to go to some event hosted by the charity her father supported so
it would just be Izzie and her grandmother.

“Hey Gran, how
do you fancy doing something tonight?” Izzie called into the living
room while she packed away the last of the dishes from the
dishwasher.

Izzie heard the
familiar shuffle and her grandmother appeared in the kitchen, “Well
what did you have in mind dear?”

Izzie shrugged,
“Dunno, you choose – I really don’t mind.” She saw her grandmother
look pensive for a moment and then shuffle closer to Izzie.

“I know what we
can do,” she whispered to Izzie; a look of mischief on her
face.

Izzie was
intrigued, “What? Why are you being so secretive?”

Her grandmother
chuckled softly, “I don’t want your mother to overhear and besides
an old woman like me should know better than to lust after a lad
that’s young enough to be my grandson.”

Izzie rolled
her eyes, “Uh, not you too Gran … of all people!”

Her grandmother
looked at her innocently, “What? If I want to stare at Dean Jameson
on the big screen, I will. Humour an old woman, would you? We’re
going to the cinema to see his new film whether you like it or
not!”

Izzie felt
herself redden, “Oh, sorry Gran, I thought you were talking about
someone else. That’s ok but you do know that he’s like forty so
he’d hardly be young enough to be your grandson – son maybe – but
not grandson.”

Her grandmother
laughed loudly, “We’ll that actually makes me feel better … I’m
only twenty years older than him then! Come on, I think the next
showing’s in half an hour, if we hurry we’d make it.”

Izzie did as
she was told and quickly grabbed her bag and car keys. They arrived
at the cinema with fifteen minutes to spare which was just as well
since there was quite a queue. Izzie joined it to get the tickets
while her grandmother got them some drinks and popcorn. The queue
moved quite slowly and Izzie was ticked off by the amount of giddy
teenage girls who were there to see the new Kale Eddison film; she
recognised them as mostly the second years from Hartside.

Finally the
queue moved along and Izzie was next in line when the cashier
announced that the Dean Jameson film, ‘Rising Suns’ was sold out
for the rest of the evening. Izzie groaned and her grandmother
battled her way through the crowd to reach the ticket booth where
Izzie was standing.

“Now what do we
do?” her grandmother moaned, “I’ve bought the drinks and
everything.”

Izzie shrugged
and moved closer to the booth since she was next to be served,
“What’s left?” she asked the cashier behind the plastic window.

The cashier
looked very bored and uninterested in what Izzie was asking; she
had bleached blonde hair, too much make-up on and was chewing gum
very crudely – slapping it about in her open mouth. She sighed and
pointed to the board to Izzie’s left which had now been updated.
Izzie and her grandmother looked up at it and saw that only 2 films
were not sold out; a children’s film called ‘Harry’s Horses’ or
‘Midnight Kiss’ with the one and only Kale Eddison. Izzie sighed
and her grandmother looked disappointed that she wouldn’t get to
gaze at her hero for two hours.