Individual

Chapter 25

Kay had woken up to a text from Julian.

She would be lying to herself if she said she didn’t expect the notification to be a call or a message from Clyde, but her agreeing to go out with him didn’t change the fact that he was still a busy guy with two jobs. According to Olivia, their grandmother wanted Clyde to go back to school, and Clyde had already applied to join Olivia’s school the next term.

“It will be kind of weird, but also kind of cool,” Olivia had said. “Like, I’ll be in the same year as my brother, but he’s two years older than me.”

Kay had the same feeling, but she could never imagine being in the same situation with any of her brothers. If anything, her one year older brother would be studying in university while she was still taking her GCSEs. But Olivia said Clyde was pretty smart and good at studying, so he could probably cope really well despite the three year break from school. Thanks to his better than average GCSE results and circumstances, the school accepted him despite the odd age gap between him and his new peers.

Julian: Hey Kay. [20:23]

Julian: This is a weird question, but do you have a boyfriend? [20:23]

Kay stared at the message, sort of weirded out that he’d ask her that question a day after she’d accepted Clyde’s confession. She looked at her phone and decided to ask him directly.

Me: Are you stalking me? [20:24]

Julian: What? No! [20:24]

Julian: Brooklyn told me that you had a boyfriend, and I didn’t quite believe her… [20:25]

At least it wasn’t him stalking her. Although Kay didn’t know if it was any better now that he’d sort of hinted that Brooklyn had been.

Me: How does she know? [20:26]

Julian: She said someone told her… So it’s true? [20:27]

Me: Yeah… but that’s kind of creepy. [20:27]

Me: Because I only agreed to start dating him yesterday. [20:27]

Julian: Oh, wow… that’s really creepy. [20:28]

Kay laughed to herself at his bluntness.

Julian: Well, congrats. [20:28]

Julian: I wish I didn’t hear it from her first, though. [20:28]

Julian: No wait, I didn’t mean it like it was your fault. [20:28]

Kay waited for him to finish making himself clear before she replied.

Julian: I mean, I’m pretty sure hers was just an assumption that happened to be true. [20:29]

Me: Yeah, haha. It’s all right. I would’ve told you if you asked but I guess Brooklyn beat me to it. [20:29]

Their conversation ended there, and Kay had a strange feeling in her gut. If Brooklyn knew that she was dating, or could even assume that she was dating, Kay felt that Brooklyn wasn’t going to let her have an easy time. With that girl, she constantly felt like she was paying back an unknown debt. Her phone received another notification, again a text from Julian, that wasn’t helping Kay’s speculations.

Julian: I’m not sure what goes on in Brooklyn's mind, but can you just be careful in school for the next few days? [20:31]

Me: Sure. Thanks for the heads up. [20:31]

Kay flopped backwards onto her bed, wondering how bad of a time she was in for. Considering Brooklyn's physical strength, Kay had nothing to fear. The slap was probably the furthest she could go being physical. And Kay believed Brooklyn wouldn’t resort to murder, as she was merely an immature teenager. She expected something more on the verbally attacking side, especially since Brooklyn's strongest suit was her influence in school. Or maybe her mere aura was enough to make everyone in school turn their backs on Kay.