Him - Ruel Van Dijk

Six

Wednesday - 10:37 am

My initial thought was: how the hell did he get my number?

I figured that out as soon as I read the text.
-

Jason

hey, is this Isla?

Isla

yeah, I'm her

Jason

cool. Emma gave me your number

Isla
oh, okay.

Jason
i just wanted to say sorry

Isla
why?

Jason
i've heard what my friends are saying to you about me and i'm trying to get them to back off

Jason
so i'm sorry if it's caused any issues for you

Isla
oh, um, it's okay thanks. it's really nothing you should stress about

(seen)

-

I put my phone back into my bag and look up. I see Kylie walk through the double doors and look around.

We make eye contact and she starts jogging towards me. I stand up and swing my backpack onto my back, walking towards her.

We meet halfway, and she comes to a halt in front of me.

"Isla, Ruby, she -" Kylie is interrupted by a boy that comes up to us.

"Kylie can I talk to you?" The boy asks.

"No."

"Please?"

"No."

"Come on."

Kylie looks him up and down before saying "no" one final time. The boy huffs and walks away, mumbling something that sounds suspiciously like a really bad comeback.

Kylie rolls her eyes before turning back to me.

"What were you saying?" I ask.

"Oh right, I happened to over hear Ruby talking to some people, and by the sounds of it she was, like, really dragging you."

"But she always does that. Why are you telling me this?"

"I'm telling you because this sounds a lot more serious."

"What do you mean?"

"Isla, you have a reputation as the good, smart kid that has a really good sense of humour."

"That last bit's debatable." I interrupt.

"- That kind of a look is hard to get. If anyone believes what Ruby's saying then you're gonna be in big trouble." She continues.

"Kylie, that's the thing. I don't really care what people think of me. If they think i'm a bitch, they can think that. I honestly just don't care."

"But if this stuff escalates - which it probably will - you'll be in a whole lot of trouble. Like, enough trouble to be kicked out the school."

Before I can reply, Kylie's phone buzzes. She pulls it out of her pocket and immediately looks concerned.

"What is it?" I ask.

"Um, it's nothing." She hastily slips it into her pocket again.

"So what is it exactly that Ruby's saying?"

"You don't even wanna know. I'll just tell you one thing: it's bad."

~

It's so interesting, isn't it?