A Complete Stranger|| An Internet Best Friend Story

A Character Study, Isla Clark.

Isla's P.O.V

I'm Isla, Isla-Rose Clark. I'm 18, and from England. I know this general information is boring, but I feel like it is a necessary requirement for starting a book, or whatever this is going to turn out to be. So, this could go one of two ways.

I've always had trouble meeting people and maintaining a relationship with others. I'm no psychiatrist, but I think it was because when I was younger, I would go up to people and say "Hi, I'm Isla. Do you want to be my friend?' I think its safe to say that most people found that slightly weird, because childhood friendships were always meant to happen naturally, not make it a formal meeting at the age of 5. The people I approached normally would turn their back the other way, and didn't bother with me after that. The first friend I made was a redhead girl called Rosie and that was all the way back in reception. We actually became best friends due to her literally nearly killing me and when I mean 'nearly', I mean cracked my head open to the point where blood was seeping trough the hair that wasn't on my head. Yes, I didn't really grow hair longer than the bottom of my ears until about 6 years old. I guess the guilt of almost ending my life caught up with her so she started being overly kind. She was constantly writing me cards, drawing me pictures and walking up to me with a school pencil telling me she had gotten me a present, when in fact, she actually just stole it from the pen pot. We were best friends up until the age of about 11, when I had to move from my hometown in Wales, to what seemed like thousands of miles away in Bristol, England. It was such a drastic change. My hometown was actually a quiet and contained village where everyone knew each other, so I basically lived in Emerdale. Then I was placed in the middle of one of the biggest and busiest cities in the U.K where there were cars everywhere you looked and countless opportunities going for everyone, which was mind boggling for me, especially at the age of 11. My parents split up. They divorced. I remember the day I was told. My little brother and I came home from school and my dad wasn't there. I'm guessing he was at work. My mum sat us down in the conservatory on the beige corner sofa that was slightly discoloured and before she opened her mouth to say those dreaded words, I instantly started crying. I was only 9, but I knew. They say don't they, that children pick up on sensitive vibes. The things she said to us are still a blur, but I remember getting up off the sofa and looking in the microwave in the kitchen. I had only just stopped crying and the moment I saw myself again, I just broke down. I think that was the first time I really felt real emotions, like sadness and devastation. For the first time, I was vulnerable and exposed to the world for what it is, and it was scary. I don't think it's an overstatement to say that my brother and I, a nine and five year old were devastated to know that our parents, who we loved so much, weren't going to be together anymore. My mum, brother and I were made to move into the smallest two bedroom house 2 minuets away from our 4-bedroom family home, which my dad took. You are probably thinking exactly what I thought at the time. Why did your dad not move instead of you? The honest answer to that question is that I do not know, and I'm not even going to pretend that I understand. Enough of the sad and depressing parts of life and lets move onto something a little happier.

You may be thinking, why are you telling us this? The answer to your question (if you did think that, or even ask it out loud) is because the move from Wales to Bristol was probably the best thing that could've happened to me, no matter how many problems it caused me, which I'm sure we'll get more onto that in the next few chapters. It's how I got into Once Upon a Time, and that is how I met my best friend. This is the story, from my own point of view, of how I met my best friend Bella Hancock.