The Girl Next Door

Chapter 12

Namjoon stroked his chin as he thought. "So they really want to destroy her unless you give them personal information about yourself and Leigh-Anne?"

Jesy sighed. She was at the skate park, sitting on the bench with Namjoon. "Yes and it is driving me insane. I have literally never been through something this frustrating. I hate school." She shook her head.

Namjoon chuckled. "They must be like those hell cats from those TV shows about girls who seek to bring on each other's ends."

"You're telling me." Jesy usually spoke to Namjoon about her most personal issues –without revealing her secrets of course. He was really easy to talk to and although she was reluctant to tell him all of her issues she had been considering it for a while. "What do I do? Beat them until they can't speak?"

Namjoon laughed. "Don't do that. You'd get in trouble. We wouldn't want you to lose that part now would we?"

"To be honest, I really don't think that Ms. Marigold would allow anyone to pluck me out of the play. She seems certain that I'll make a huge impact on the acting scene." Jesy grinned while remembering what the woman had told her today about how much of a prodigy she was.

"Well that's good but beating people is still really wrong." Namjoon looked down at her hand on the bench. He shyly rested his hand on top of it.

Jesy smiled at his warmth. "What should I do then? You're smart Beanie, a genius. Help me. Help your girl."

He smiled at that but blew out air after. "I'd say to just avoid them for a bit. You shouldn't let them control you into giving them what they want. They're probably bluffing anyway. I don't think they'd do it so soon or actually do it. That's pretty harsh. They'd have to have no souls or be Donald Trump to do something like that." He thought some more. "Yeah so try that and also, tell an adult. Ms. Marigold seems to be pretty wise from the way you've been describing her. Maybe she could get them to back off."

"Tell a teacher? Like the babies?" Jesy was cringing.

Namjoon laughed. "Yes. It's not babies who tell. It's the people who have absolutely no time to deal with other people's shit." He winked.

Jesy guessed that made sense. "What else should I do?"

Namjoon rubbed his chin. "You should tell Leigh that you told them. It's not good to keep this secret. Maybe she'd know what to do."

Jesy cringed. "She's not allowed to speak to me though."

"Oh right, the punishment you told me about." Namjoon snapped his fingers. "Well, you could still try I guess." He shrugged. "I think that the best thing to do is to tell Ms. Marigold. She'd be really eager to help. I'm sure of it." He gave her a winning smile.

Jesy noogied him. "How does your hair look today?"

"Oh it's blonde. Me and Michael like dying our hair." Namjoon removed his beanie and put it on her head. "Have it. It's cold."

Jesy's eyes closed then opened. She adjusted it on her head and then thanked him. For some reason this made her feel very loved and wanted. "Don't you need it to head home?"

He shook his head. "No. I'll be fine."

Jesy smiled to herself. "Thanks."

Namjoon nodded saying 'no problem'. After that his face grew pink. "Can I ask you something Jesy?"

Jesy nodded. "Anything." She hoped it was a favour. He did so much for her. She wanted to do a lot for him.

"You like bowling right?"