drowning | ruel van dijk

nineteen

KATE

when i hear a knock on the front door, i swiftly walk down the stairs to open it up.

"hey kate!" elise says, walking inside. "it took me a bit, but i finally found your place." her backpack rests over her right shoulder and she tries to readjust it.

"hello! follow me up here. we'll study in my room so you don't break your spine carrying that heavy backpack anymore," i say. 

elise lets out a quick thank you and we head to my room and get settled. I offer to help her study for her ap environmental test, so we begin with that.

—————

we're just about to review our work, when my phone buzzes yet again; which totals to like the eleventh time in a whole 40 minutes.

"why's your phone keep going off?" elise asks politely.

we're working on the floor of my bedroom, papers, snacks, and electronics scattered around us. i search for my phone under all the mess, and eventually find it under elise's binder.

"uhh... it's ruel. he's sending me a crap ton of... oh they're memes," i say with a smirk, taking a look at the string of images he's sent me.

elise gives me a confused glance "who'd you say it was?"

"this guy, ruel. you know, the one i met over the summer... really tall guy, longish hair..." i try and give her some recollection.

"wait. like ruel? the singer?" at this point elise basically forgets about focusing on her schoolwork, and just stares at me, eyes wide.

she slides her phone from out of her pocket and pulls up an instagram page. "you mean this guy..." she states, offering me her phone.

"holy shit, yeah that's him! woah, he has over 1 million followers?" the information even surprises me. "i mean, he told me he was a popular singer, but i didn't know he was that popular".

"omg, no, he is so famous," elise confirms.

i sit there for a moment frazzled, not knowing what to do. should i follow him on insta?

as if elise read my mind, she suggests the same thing. "you should follow him. but tell him to shut up because your friend needs to get a good grade on her ap environmental test".

i take her up on the idea. once i press follow on ruel's instagram page, i take a screenshot and send it to him.

me ~ hehe, can i be considered a fan girl now?

almost instantly, ruel replys back.

ruel ~ ooft i've been caught! my identity has been revealed!

me ~ i'm joking :) but stop sending me memes. elise and i are trying to focus

ruel ~ so you're saying im distracting you ;)

me ~ oh shut up

—————

after about only 10 minutes, elise and i eventually give up on studying. i think we've both been unfocused ever since ruel interrupted.

"so how did you and ruel meet?" elise questions me.

the two of us are now on the couch in my living room, relaxing and eating more snacks.

i think back to when i first met ruel, unconscious on the sand after i'd saved him from downing. "well, to make a long story short, we met at the beach," i say, leaving out the part about ruel drowning.

"that sounds so cool. i wish i could meet him," elise replies, popping chips into her mouth.

we're both silent for a moment, and i think about how odd it is ruel would want to hang out with me, of all people.

"it doesn't feel right..." i blurt out.

elise stops eating and looks at me. "what do you mean?"

"well, ruel is famous and good looking and, i don't know, i'm just like every other girl who likes him," i tell her.

elise smiles. "ahh, so you do like him".

"yeah". i pause. "i kissed him today."

elise almost drops her chips all over the floor. "you kissed him!? damn, you go girl!" she hypes me up.

before i get to tell her how it all happened, my phone buzzes again. ruel.

ruel ~ sorry, but what's your instagram? can i follow you back?

"it's ruel again," i report. "he wants to follow me back on insta".

elise gives me another smile, but says she should head home. i tell her she's welcome to stay longer, but she insists she'll leave.

"i think i've done all the studying i can handle. plus, ruel seems to really want to talk to you. i don't want to get in the way", elise reasons.

i help her grab all her things and lead her to the door to say goodbye. "see you on monday! i bet you'll do great on your test!" and with that, the door closes and i'm left by myself.

ruel ~ is that a yes?

well, maybe i'm not so by myself. i have ruel.

me ~ yeah, you can follow me back. but wouldn't your fans be confused as to why you follow me. i mean, my account is private and it's not like it's a fan account...

ruel ~ are you trying to tell me you have a fan account, because if so i'd gladly follow that account too

me ~ NO! OMG NO.

ruel ~ :) i'm kidding. don't worry, no one is stalkerish enough to find out i'm following you.

i send him my username, and wait to receive the notification that i've gotten a new follow request. once i do, i hit confirm and jokingly i send ruel another screenshot.

me ~ OMG I CSNT BREATHE! RUEL FOLLWOED ME ON INSTAGRAM!

ruel ~ ahahah i'm honored. oh and also, why not instead of ft-timing, you come over to my house? i like talking to people in person... 

———————————

alright, so i've made the executive decision to write from mainly kate's pov. idk i just find it easier to write in her perspective and i don't want to do ruel's thoughts injustice. 

anyways, i've kinda been feeling unmotivated to write because I DONT KNOW HOW TO END THE STORY PLEASE HELP ME IF TOU HAVE ADVICE it would be greatly appreciated! :)