The Hidden Pocket {ruel van dijk}

chapter four.

My heart flutters when my mother's face appears on the screen of my laptop. Her smile stretches from ear to ear and she glows.

"Genevieve honey! I've missed you so much! How is your apartment? How is Sydney? Are you settled in? How is your new school? How was your first day? Did you make any new friends?" The questions pour out of her mouth fluidly. I see my little sister run across the room behind her.

"I've missed you more. The apartment is wonderful, Sydney is beautiful, I'm still settling in, the new school is beyond words, my first day was mediocre as to be expected, and yes."

"It's been so different here without you." She says in a mournful tone, as if she'll never see me again. It is always about the melodramatics with her.

"Mom, I literally saw you yesterday."

"Well that doesn't matter. We can feel your presence missing. Hazel was asking for you this morning."

My heart sinks when she says this. The last thing I would want is to make my little sister upset but this is a once in a lifetime opportunity. Plus I'm already in Sydney.

"Tell her I miss her." I say.

"I will, I promise. I'm glad you're settling into your new life, I'm so proud of my baby."

"Oh geez." I complain. Even from 7,500 miles away, my mom can be suffocatingly lovely. But I say, "thank you mom. Really. For the apartment, the new school, letting me come here."

"I'd do anything for you." She says affectionately.

"Then can I possibly get a driver? It's a lot to walk everywhere."

She laughs.

"I'll see what I can do. I've got to go to bed now, it's late. Goodbye darling."

"Bye mom." I say as I smile softly before closing the laptop and throwing it onto my bed. I stand in the center of my bedroom for a second, spaced out and trying to figure out what to do with the rest of my day.

It's only 4:00 in the afternoon and I have no homework, seeing as it was the first day back after Christmas break. Yet, I have nothing to do and I have no yearning to leave the apartment.

So instead I take my cello out of the case and bring it into the living room. I set up my music stand and rub my bow with rosin, positioning the wooden body of the instrument in between my legs. Then I start to play. The sound of my favorite Beethoven sonata flows gingerly throughout the room. My fingers move with ease and precision amongst the strings, and my bow only leaves the strings when I need to pluck.

I play a few more pieces, throwing my emotions into the music. I let go of my fear of my new school, the new city, the new people. Right now I don't think of anything else besides my cello and the beautiful sounds the come out of it. I don't even think of Ruel.

I find myself being so hypnotized by my own playing that I don't even realize the time. I look at the clock and see that it's now 6:30.

I put my cello and it's bow back into its case, setting it back in my bedroom. I walk back out into the kitchen and open my fridge. I almost forgot that I haven't been grocery shopping, there is absolutely no food in my house. So, even though I don't want to, I pull my hair back, get dressed, and leave my apartment.

:

About an hour and a half later, I stumble back into my apartment, a bunch of bananas falling out of a paper bag. I groan and rush to the kitchen so I can set down the rest of the groceries without dropping anything else.

I stock up my kitchen and quickly realize that I still have not made dinner. I grab a box of premade tortellini from the fridge and turn on music with my speaker while I cook; or as close to cooking I can get with simply boiling already-stuffed tortellini.

I dance around a bit as I wait for my water to boil.

I soon sit down at the bar happily with a large bowl of pasta. I scroll through my Instagram feed as I eat, looking at all of the posts pinned with the location of the academy. It's not long before I find Jude's account. She had posted a photo of her and Ruel sitting on the grass in the courtyard and pinned her location.

They were both smiling wildly. They looked like the two happiest people I have ever seen. Jude was looking at the camera, her right arm wrapped around Ruel's shoulder and her left was rested on the ground. Ruel's left hand was on her shoulder, you could see how tightly he was holding her from the dents it was causing in her skin. He stared at her as though she was the only thing in color. His other hand was brushing a piece of her hair out of her face; her shining, glowing face.

I sigh and slouch forward.

I shouldn't be upset, this is stupid. I've literally known him for less than a day yet here I am; throwing a tantrum over a photo taken months ago. There is not one reason for me to feel like this. I don't know him, I don't know either of them.

Yet here I am, feeling as shitty as ever, feeling as insecure as ever, and wanting so badly to dig a hole and stay in it.

I press the "follow" button on Jude's account.

A few seconds later, she requests to follow me back. Instantly she sends me a direct message.

judewinters: Genevieve!!!! I'm so glad you found my account! I've been wanting to get ahold of you all day but didnt know how. So how was your first day?

genevievewantstoleave: it was good ! It's totally crazy being at a new school though. I kinda miss home, but I guess Sydney is ok:)))

judewinters: lol. I'm glad you found me today. I'm one of the good ones.

genevievewantstoleave: well then I'm glad too:))) thanks for taking me under your wing and all

judewinters: no worries! You seem cool anyways. Also, here's my phone number so you don't have to direct message me anytime you want to talk. 6126748991

I put her number into my phone and shut it off.

:

Later, when I'm in bed, wrapped in my sheets, the sound of the city thriving, my phone goes off. Begrudgingly, I roll over to see who it is. It's an unknown number but it says:

6129672390: Hey. Jude gave me your number and asked me to text you so you'd have my contact saved. This is Ruel, by the way.

I don't respond, instead I just laugh. What kind of pretentious prick uses perfect grammar while texting? And at 10:00 at night?

I roll back over and close my eyes.