Isla Banks kept her eyes on the ground as she pushed through the hallway of River Brooks High.
Sounds of clattering and laughter filled the air as students shut their lockers, getting ready for the next period. Isla walked over to her locker next to the water dispenser, opening it and promptly shoving a pile of books inside. Sticking her arm and feeling around near the back, she retrieved a blue scrunchie and leaned over to tie her hair.
"Hey, you're Isla, right?"
Isla looked up to see a tall boy with brown hair. He looked familiar, but she couldn't remember where she'd seen him.
Forcing a smile, she slipped her scrunchie onto her wrist, pushing back strands of blonde hair behind her ear.
"Yup, what do you need?"
Isla nearly cringed at how demanding she sounded.
The boy raised an eyebrow. "I'm Joshua Chen, remember? I tried out for the track and field team."
Isla mentally face-palmed herself. How could she have forgotten? Some kind of sports captain she was.
Alana would have done bette—
"Oh yeah," Isla nodded, pushing those thoughts out of her head. She stuck her arm into her locker again, digging out some papers. She thrust them out to Joshua. "You'll just need to fill in these, and we'll let you know whether you made the cut."
Joshua nodded, taking the papers from her. He was about to leave when he turned back, "Any news from Alana?"
Isla's eyebrows shot up.
"How do you know about her?"
"Are you kidding? The whole school knows about her. And you guys were inseparable."
Isla sighed. "She isn't replying to my letters."
"Maybe they aren't getting to her."
"The detention centre allows messages to be passed on," Isla replied bluntly, slamming her locker shut. She didn't like where this conversation was leading.
"Maybe she read the paper. Maybe she's mad at you—"
"I didn't even say those things!" Isla told him, exasperated. "I've been writing and writing to explain to Alana that—"
"But she wouldn't know, because she might not even have read those letters—"
Isla huffed. "Sorry, I really got to get to class now." She pushed past Joshua, hugging her books to her chest.
Joshua made way for her, shrugging as she left.
Isla pushed through the throng of students, head down.
But it wasn't enough.
A hand caught her on the shoulder and Isla looked up to see Louise Jenkins.
Here we go again...
"Heyyy Issy!" Louise grinned as Isla spun around to face her. "You coming for the party tonight?"
Isla clenched her teeth. Ever since Alana's incident, Louise had been acting falsely friendly with her just to spite her. If it was much comfort, there was still the fact that Louise's twin brother was still in the hospital... recovering slower than the Jenkins liked to admit.
"Actually," Isla said blankly. "I've got some stuff to do."
"Like writing letters to your long-lost bestie?" Louise asked innocently.
"No," Isla retorted. "Like trying to avoid people who stick words in others' mouths to make people feel bad—like what you did."
"Oh, the paper?" Louise laughed humorlessly. "I'm sure that was an honest mistake. Maybe my dad's editors accidentally mistook my name for yours when I submitted my article. Maybe I accidentally added things that were a liiiitle far from the truth."
Isla growled, walking away. Louise's laughs echoing behind her.
Alana... I'm sorry.
I hope the detention centre is treating you well.
I don't know why they think you brought a bomb to school that day, but I know you wouldn't do something like that on purpose.
I don't know what happened... one second there was nothing, and then next there was light... and Tom was bleeding.
Alana...
I hope you're okay.