In Love With A Tomboy

Izzy's POV:

For a the past few days, Joey's been acting weirder and weirder. It's like he's a lot more...distant and even a little meaner than he ever was with me. He hardly ever wants to go out with me anymore and always giving me the same excuse of being busy. But, when I would look out my window and into his, I'd find him lying on his bed and just staring at his phone with this sad and pissed off expression on his face. I really wanted to know what was up with him, but I didn't want to seem too clingy and end up having a real fight with him or anything.

'Maybe it's because summer's coming to an end and with there only being a week left till August was over, he was just getting kind of nervous and stressed over being the new kid in school,' I thought to myself as I lay in my own bed and stared through my window and at Joey. 'Yeah, that's probably it. It's nothing big, nothing to worry about, otherwise.... Otherwise, Joey himself would've told me about it and we'd talk about it. So, that's it, there's nothing wrong. Nothing at all.'

I had to tell myself that a few extra times before I could get myself to actually believe it, but finally in the end, I was convinced that everything was fine between Joey and I and it'd all clear up soon enough.

But, there were still times when we were all hanging out together in a group and even then, Joey would act all fidgety and as if he was in another world. He would always be spacing out and getting nervous at the first touch.

So, I finally went and did the right thing, I went over to Dani's to ask for some advice. She wasn't at home, but I did find Spencer instead though. Dani and her were half siblings. I wasn't too sure which family member ended up marrying which, but what I do know what was that they ended up going from being not too close to turning into best friends.

"Hey, Spence, how come Dani's not home?" I asked her, as I walked into the house and took a seat on the couch in the living room.

"Oh, she's just at the library, returning some books," she answered me, taking a seat next to me. "Why? Did you need something?"

I began staring into space for a while, wondering if I should tell Spencer about my little predicament or not. I wondered if she'd be jealous or if she'd actually be caring and offer to be of some help.

"Well...sort of." I answered uncomfortably.

"What's the matter, sweetie? You're not getting sick or anything, are you? You look a little pale." she put a hand up to my forehead to feel if it was warm or anything.

"No, no, I'm fine. It's just that..." I started to trail off and just lean my head back against the leather black couch. "Joey's...been acting kind of weird lately," I picked my words carefully. "And it's kind of been worrying me."

"Aw, why don't you tell me about it, sweetie and I'll see if I can help you out or anything," Spencer placed a hand on my shoulder and gave it a small squeeze. "I may not be exactly like Dani, but I have learned some things from her.

I took a deep breath and let it out before beginning to tell Spencer all about how the way Joey's been acting with me and how I had absolutely no idea why he was or what I should say or do about it. By the time I was done, there were tears pouring down faster than I could stop them making my speech sound muffled and my eyes blurry.

"And-and, I-I just some times feel like it's my fault; like I probably said or did something I didn't real mean or-or he saw me do something and probably misunderstood, but I just don't know h-how I'm supposed to bring it up to him wi-without starting a fight or-or something." I finished.

"Oh honey, look, every couple goes through something like this and you know how guys are, they have issues and sometimes they just need their space and there's nothing us girls can do about it, but just wait and see what happens."

"But, Joey, dif-different!" I sobbed. "He's not like those other guys! He's the most nicest and sweetest guy I have ever met - he's perfect!"

"You may think that, Izzy, but no one is perfect. Not me, not you, and certainly not Joey. He may be cute and everything, I admit that, but everyone has one flaw or another," insisted Spencer. "Everything is going to work out just fine and if it doesn't, then it's certainly not the end for you." Spencer began wiping away my tears and straightening my hair. "I guess if it gets worse, then you and Joey should just take a break until things get better between you two. After that, if you're doing good like before, then you can just get back together again but if not, then it's a sign that it's time to find someone new."

I thought over her words for a while and began to realize that maybe Spencer was right. I mean, every relationship had its ups and downs at some point and it those particular things that really prove if our relationship is meant to be or not.

"Thanks so much, Spencer!" I wrapped my arms around her neck. "You're so awesome."

"You're welcome, honey." she replied, giving me a hug back.

I was just about to get up and return back to my own house, when I heard Spencer sigh sadly. I turned back around to see what was wrong; she looked pretty upset over something.

"Hey, is something the matter, Spence?" I asked her, walking back towards her.

"No, no, it's-it's nothing, really," she flicked her hand as if she were shooing away her issues like a fly. "I-I wouldn't want you worrying over something so...stupid."

"No way! Maybe I can help you out like you helped me."

"Um...ok." she finally agreed and I walked back over to the couch and took my seat back next to her.

"Well, for a few days now, I've been getting these...messages from someone." she began.

"What kind of messages and from whom?" I questioned.

"They're text messages - from an unknown number - and some of them are pretty disturbing."

"What do they say?" I wanted to know.

"Well...one said that..." Spencer stopped and winced a little.

She looked almost as if she were about to either go sick or start crying or probably even both. I got immediately worried and tense.

"You-you don't have to tell me if you don't want to. I mean, you could just show me them if you still have them."

"Y-yeah," she gulped. "I was going to delete them at first, but then I figured if they were serious, then it'd be best if I had some evidence so if I ever went to the police, it'd be a bit easier to find whoever is doing this."

Spencer pulled out her phone and with shaky hands began punching in a few buttons. She showed me the first message and I scrunched up my nose at how disgusting it sounded. I had to keep myself from gagging as I saw the next ones. They were all so gross and perverted, some saying things like they knew where she was and was going to come after her and do all that stuff to her and more.

"It-it just hurts so much not knowing whether they're actually serious about it or not. At night, I-I get so afraid that they'll show up on my front porch or somehow make their way into my room and-and..." Spencer couldn't go on anymore and when I looked up from her phone, I noticed why. There were big tears rolling down Spencer's beautiful, flawless face that now looked paler than ever.

'Wow, this is the first time I'm seeing Spencer cry in her whole life,' I thought to myself. 'She must really be feeling as horrible as she said.'

"Ok, ok," I took a deep breath and tried to think of an idea. "Does anyone else know about this yet?"

"No." Spencer answered timidly, sniffing.

"Why not?!" I shot up out of the couch. "Why haven't you reported it to the police or told your parents about it yet?"

"Because, I'm afraid they might do something horrible to me or Dani and I just can't take that chance!" she cried out.

I sighed deeply and looked at the ground for a few seconds, before an idea finally hit me.

"Ooh, do you at least know what the number is or is it blocked?" I asked hopefully.

"Oh yes! Here." Spencer began quickly clicking some more buttons before thrusting the phone to me.

"310-815-5187," I slowly read the number to myself. "I know this number!"

"Really?" Spencer stared at me curiously. "From where?"

I racked my brain trying to figure out from where I've read this number before. I took my own phone out then and began looking through my calls until I found the same exact number. I clicked on it without hesitation to find out who this number belong to. I gasped and almost dropped my phone in the process as I saw who it was.

"W-what is it?" Spencer asked me worriedly, placing a hand on my shoulder and trying to peer over at my phone.

"T-that's Joey's phone number." I whispered with my eyes shut tight.

"What? No. No, that can't be possible!"

"But-but, it's there, it's right there!" I stuttered.

"No, Joey, Joey would never do something like this; you said it yourself, he's way too nice and sweet."

"You're-you're right," I handed Spencer her phone back and looked down. My legs were shaking and my knees were ready to give in. Why was that? It's not like I actually believed that Joey was actually capable of something like that. Right? "I-I know my Joey and he's not like that." I said more to assure myself than Spencer.

"But..." Spencer started up again. "I don't know why, but something feels wrong. You said he's been acting kind of weird, so, what if-?" I cut her off before she could get ahead of herself though.

"No! I know my Joey! I-I'll ask him myself and you'll see, he'll clear everything up." I shot up from the couch and started towards the door.

"No!" Spencer came up behind me and grabbed my shoulder. "I mean, he-he might not understand and then you two will unnecessary be fighting again and I don't want to be the start of that."

I clenched and unclenched my jaw several times trying to figure out what the hell was going on and what I should do or say or be thinking of; everything was so confusing, it was making me dizzy.

"I'm gonna find out who's doing this to you, Spence, I promise!" I pulled away from her grasp then and marched out of the house.

'Joey is not one of those guys!' I repeated on and on in my head. 'He loves me and me only!'

I slammed the door to my room and began sliding down it. I stopped myself halfway, feeling horribly weak. I hated myself for feeling like this. I was strong, I was determined, I was Izzy the Tomboi and Izzy the Tomboi was not weak, stupid, a cry-baby! Izzy the Tomboi was going to figure this out and set everything straight once and for all!

I picked myself up and headed towards my bed. I took a seat on it and was about to lay down on it when something caught my eye. It was Joey. He was in his room as well and looking straight at me. I try to muster out a smile, but it was too hard.

I hung my head and squeezed my eyes tight. I stayed that way for a long time and when I heard the small clicking sound that my door always made when it was opened, I couldn't help jerking my head up. The light blinded my eyes a bit, but I could still make out who it was in my room. Joey himself had come over to see me.

I don't know what came over me, but as soon as I saw him, I ran over to him and hugged him close to me.

"Hey." he said quietly, kissing the top of my head.

Joey pulled away from me then and walked past to me to go lay down on my bed. He stared up at the ceiling while I stared at him for a while. Finally, I sighed and went over to him. I lied down next to him, resting my head on his chest. Joey didn't speak and just stroked my hair with his soft hands.

"I love you, Joey," I whispered. "And I know you're not capable of doing anything wrong."

"Love you too." he replied back.

I was surprised that he didn't ask me about the second thing that I had mentioned, but his whole behavior was surprising me, so I just let it go. I thought nothing of it at that time, but maybe just maybe if I had pressed him into telling me what was wrong, then everything would've turned out alright.

If only I had yelled at him, fought with him, pressured him, Joey would've finally given in and told me what was wrong with him. But, I didn't; maybe it was because I liked the way he was holding me at the time, I liked the way he had pressed his lips against my skin. I felt reassurance in those things and while my brain kept nagging me to do something, my heart felt at peace in the moment we were going through then.

I didn't want to worry about tomorrow, I liked what was going on now. And I think that might have been the biggest mistake of my life, because if I acted faster, then maybe our love would've survived.