Closed All the Beautiful Times

[Isadora Novak]

Being back in New Zealand was weird. Nice, but weird. Isadora kept putting on clothes that were too thick for the weather, and she had found some of her mother’s Hungarian accent slipping into her own words, though she was pretty sure she had gotten rid of that already. She hated being like her mother in any way. Something else that was strange was the way her family was tiptoeing around her. Her parents were both barely talking to her, which wasn’t new, but they also weren’t talking about her sister, which was new. Natalia had moved out much faster than Isadora had imagined, and she could sense something had happened between her and their parents. But none of them had decided to explain it to Isadora.

Not like she cared, she didn’t need her family. She had her friends. Or, well, Margo. Isadora was angry with Cameron and didn’t want to group him with her friends even in her own thoughts. She had agreed to meet up with Margo, though she had the feeling Cameron would be there too. It was fine, she still wanted to see his stupid face even if she was mad at him. She waited for her friends outside the ice cream parlor where they had agreed to meet, feeling nervous. Would they have changed? Did they still need her around? Had she changed? Isadora tapped her foot impatiently as she looked around.

 

[Margo Fox]

Margo wasn't a very good liar. But sending notes and communicating through writing made it a bit easier. She had been thrilled when she heard Isadora was back in New Zealand. She had cried, again, and so hard it had scared her grandmother. But they were happy tears this time and she wasted no time organizing a trip to get ice cream with both Isadora and Cameron. It had been tricky to coordinated both of them but it had worked. She had made sure to meet up with Cameron first so she could drag him along if it came to that. She had been making small talk about a book she had finished reading when the rounded the corner. When she finally spotted her friend she knew the rouse was up but she didn't care as she raced toward the other girl. "Isadora!" she shouted it and wrapped the girl in a tight hug as if she would disappear again if she let go.

 

[Cameron Roswell]

Margo definitely wasn't being nearly as slick as she thought she was inviting Cameron out today. He figured it would be something dumb like trying to get him to help her find a Christmas present for Isadora or something, tuning her book chatter out as he eyed the nearby shops they passed suspiciously. He'd been so focused on working out where their real destination was he nearly missed Isadora entirely until Margo started running.

Just the sight of her had his stomach flip-flopping, the bubble of anger he'd been carrying around close fisted for almost a year now evaporating just at the sight of her. He hung back for a moment, trying to school his expression into something less vulnerable before approach the hugging girls, squinting as he sized Isadora up, annoyed to discover she'd almost definitely grown taller than him again while she'd been away.

"So... Is this just a visit or are you finally back?" He asked wryly, shoving his hands into his pockets to resist the urge to join Margo in the hugging. As much as his pleasure at seeing Isadora had caught him off guard, Cameron was still wary of getting too excited; for all he knew this was a belated final goodbye before Isadora disappeared into the European wilderness forever.

 

[Isadora Novak]

Isadora nearly burst into tears the moment she saw Margo. She immediately forgot her worries and anxieties as she ran toward her friend. She didn't care that she bumped into people, she just needed to get to Margo. Wordlessly, she almost ran into the girl, hugging her tight and holding her close for a moment. She nearly did start crying then, but then Cameron had to speak and Isadora knew she couldn't cry, not with him there to make stupid comments about it. Still, the sight of him made her want to cry too, in a different way. She couldn't believe he hadn't written to her once. Clearly, he didn't care. Clearly, Margo had just dragged him here. She slowly pulled away from Margo, giving Cameron a quick look, not allowing herself to linger on him. "Like you care." She snapped, before turning to Margo. "Please tell me everything I missed." She said, grabbing her hands. "I feel like I've been away for centuries."

 

[Margo Fox]

Margo took deep and shaky breaths to keep any tear under control. She had cried so much in the last year she didn’t want to waste any more time with it. She almost complained when Isadora finally pulled away but she realized Cameron had caught up with them. She hadn’t asked Cameron why he didn’t write even though she had mentioned her letters several times to him. The separation had been hard for all of them, and while she couldn’t claim to understand Cameron’s reason for not writing or Isadora’s reason for being so mad, she knew both of them were just doing what came easiest to them. Unfortunately it left her caught in the middle. She sighed at both of them and tried to think of something to say to smooth things over but Isadora was quick to change the subject and it was nearly impossible for her to resist the comfort of being around her friend again. “It has felt like forever.” Margo admitted and glanced back at Cameron. “We were both so miserable without you.” she said making sure to put extra emphasis on the ‘we’.