The continuous beeping of Isla’s alarm drilled through her sleep.
She groaned into her pillow and dragged one hand across the mattress, unthinkingly searching for her phone.
Nothing.
The alarm kept ringing.
Her fingers brushed tangled sheets and the edge of the blanket, but met space.
“Urgghh,” Isla muttered.
Still half asleep, she reached up and peeled the relaxing eye mask from her face.
Her vision stayed blurry as she pushed herself upright, stretching lazily until her shoulders cracked.
A loud yawn escaped her throat.
When Isla opened her eyes fully, she nearly screamed.
She jerked backward so fast her hand slammed painfully against her ribs.
Jonna stood inches from the bed.
Dark circles hollowed the skin beneath her eyes, and her smile looked unhinged enough to belong in a horror movie.
She clutched her phone against her chest like she had been waiting there for hours.
“What the hell, Jonna?” she gasped.
Jonna waved her phone in the air.
“You’re trending.”
Isla blinked at her.
Her alarm started ringing again.
She looked toward the bedside drawer and finally spotted her phone vibrating against the wood.
She snatched it up and silenced it before rubbing at her eyes gently.
“What do you mean I’m trending?”
Jonna launched herself onto the edge of the bed.
The mattress dipped beneath her weight.
“You and Liam Douglas!” She blurted.
“The confrontation yesterday? People are eating it alive.”
Before Isla could process that, Jonna shoved her phone into her hands.
“See for yourself,”
Isla scrolled.
The screen was flooded with posts.
Videos.
Headline.
Comments were too much for her to read.
But his eyes caught a few of them.
Quarterback finally gets humbled?
Who’s the new girl?
Dance transfer students destroys Liam Douglas in front of everyone.
Even the blurry clips had already racked up thousands of views.
Isla scrolled for a few seconds before her eyes started hurting.
Too many opinions from people she had never met.
“So much for a first day,” she mumbled.
Jonna stared at her expectantly, probably waiting for panic or excitement or at least some reaction that made sense.
Instead, Isla handed the phone back.
“You don’t care?” Jonna asked.
Isla shrugged and pushed the blankets aside.
“Not really.”
Jonna looked personally offended by that answer.
“What?! Any girl on this campus would literally kill to be in your position right now.”
“I’m not every girl.” She said in a flat tone.
Isla slid off the bed and stretched again, this time slower.
Her body still felt heavy from yesterday’s chaos.
Between cheer tryout, the confrontation with Liam, and Dance Orientation, she already felt exhausted by Ravenhurst.
“And it’ll die down soon anyway when something new happens.” She added.
Jonna barked out a laugh.
“No way something new overshadows this.”
Isla grabbed a hair tie from the nightstand and gathered her messy hair into a loose ponytail.
“You stayed up all night reading comments, didn’t you?”
Jonna shook her head.
No hint of shame in her expression.
“Yes. And defending you, by the way.” She folded her arms.
“People have way too much to say about someone they don’t even know.”
“That’s social media for you.” Isla walked toward the mirror mounted beside the closet and studied the slight puffiness beneath her eyes.
“It’s toxic.”
Jonna stood and hurried after her.
“You don’t understand. Everyone knows you now.” She unlocked her phone again and held up another post.
“This one is the highlight of it all.”
NEW CHEER GIRL.
TRANSFER STUDENT.
DANCE DEPARTMENT.
Underneath it, there were thousands of comments speculating.
Isla rolled her eyes.
“At least they don’t know my name.”
Jonna lowered the phone slowly.
“Yet. And it won’t be long before they start digging into you. They do that to every girl spotted with him.”
Jonna’s words lodged deep under Isla’s skin.
For a brief second, her chest tightened.
She hated the attention.
She didn’t like the idea of strangers digging through lives that weren’t theirs.
Isla forced herself to stay composed.
“It’s still nothing.” She shrugged.
“Isn’t RavenHurst Secrets the biggest page on campus?”
Jonna frowned.
“Yeah?”
“Did they post it?”
“No…”
Isla spread her hands.
“Then it’s not that serious.”
The confused look on Jonna’s face was almost funny.
“You’re saying you’ll only believe you’re trending if RavenHurst Secrets posts you?”
Isla nodded once.
“Exactly.”
Jonna stared at her for a moment before cracking up.
“You are actually insane.”
“You exaggerate too much.”
“No, you underreact too much.” Jonna countered.
Maybe.
But Isla had spent too much of her life surviving real problems to care about college gossip pages.
“There is a more serious issue I have to deal with.”
Jonna narrowed her eyes mischievously.
“Speaking of serious things…” She wiggled her brows.
“Did the Quarterback text you?”
Isla snorted.
“Why would Liam Douglas text me?”
“To call a truce?”
“He doesn’t even have my number.”
“You don’t know that for sure.”
Isla pointed at her.
“If he somehow does, I’ll know exactly who gave it to him.”
“I’m just joking. You know I wouldn’t do that to you.” Jonna crossed two fingers in front of her chest.
“So what is it?”
Isla walked toward the closet and pulled out clothes for the day.
“I actually need something.”
Jonna leaned against the desk.
“What?”
“A part-time job.”
“A job?” Jonna repeated.
“Why? Isn’t your dad responsible for you anymore?”
The question hit harder than Isla expected.
For one dangerous second, memories surfaced too quickly.
Her father’s cold voice echoed in her mind.
“You need this, Isla. Everything I have ever done is for you.”
Then, the silence after arguments.
Isla swallowed it all down before it could reach her face.
She turned to face her.
“I just want to earn my own money,” she answered.
Jonna studied her for a moment like she knew there was more beneath that answer, but she didn’t push.
“Well, it’s a good thing you mentioned it. One of my brother’s old friends runs a pub off campus. They’ve been looking for another waitress.”
“Really?”
“Yeah. Hold on.” Jonna typed away on her phone.
The room fell quiet except for the tapping of her nails against the screen.
After some minutes, Jonna looked up.
“You have an interview at nine.”
Isla blinked.
“Today?”
“Yep. Is it okay?”
“Yeah. I’m free until noon.”
Jonna grinned proudly.
“I told you I’m useful.”
Isla smiled.
“What time is it now?”
“7:15.”
Isla exhaled.
“There is enough time to prepare.”
Relief loosened something tight inside her chest.
She turned toward the bathroom.
“Oh, and Isoldea reached out last night.” Jonna followed behind her
Isla paused near the doorway.
“About?”
Jonna answered, “She said you officially made the cheer team.”
A small genuine smile appeared on her face.
“Well, that’s at least decent news to start the day.”
Jonna scoffed.
“Not the fact that the entire campus is obsessed with you for the QB situation?”
“No.”
“The thousands of views?”
“Nope.”
Isla grabbed the bathroom door handle and looked over her shoulder.
“A job interview and making the cheer team sound significantly more useful.”
Jonna stared at her in disbelief.
Then she shook her head and walked away.
“You are the weirdest girl I’ve ever met.” She shouted.
Isla closed the bathroom door behind her, shutting out the noise.