Spanish is my least favourite subject. It's my friend Jes's too, but she just resolves in hiding her iPhone underneath her desk. I see her screen as clear as day; I just make out "Oscar💋💋💋" at the very top of her screen.

Beneath my desk I take out my iPhone.

Special someone? 

 I hear Jess let out a loud giggle. She never could keep her mouth shut. 

"Find something funny, Miss Applewood?" Mrs Hardridge always spits when she speaks. Maybe if she didn't, I wouldn't be put off from learning Spanish.

"No, miss. Nothing funny." Jess manages to say this in her totally-not-guilty tone.

                                                    ***

"I wonder who it is!" Callie is wide eyed and ready to pounce on fresh new gossip. I’m curious too, but Jess won’t tell us anything.

I just shrug and carry on eating my cheese sandwich. 

“Hey Jess!” Callie hollers over the table. When Jess comes near, she lowers her voice to a whisper. “I heard you have a boyfriend.”

Jes’s face becomes bright pink within seconds, her words stutter. “What? No. W-why would y-you think that?” She casts a nervous glance towards me, and I can’t help but feel a pang of guilt.

                                                   ***

On the way home from school, I still have that guilty feeling in my stomach. “I’m sorry, for making a joke about who you were texting.”

Jess is silent for a brief moment. She let’s out a long sigh. “It’s okay, I just...probably shouldn’t be talking to him.”

I don’t get it. We’re fifteen, not six, we can talk to who we want. Can’t we? “Why not?”

“I’ve never met him, I talk to him on an app. I really like him, but I’m scared he may not be wo I think he is.”

A dozen thoughts wiz through me. He may be dangerous, what if she goes to meet him, and gets hurt? Then, it must be nice, having someone to talk to, someone who’s not in a place to judge.

Note from author:

Next chapter coming out soon!