17. Seth's prank
Halle Ross looked at the screen of her phone and shuddered.
Hey, sweet thing. I saw the pic you sent Wren Covington. Looking fine!
Holy plum, she thought. This is scary.
She had no idea who sent the text. The message itself wasn’t really inappropriate, but that didn’t matter. It was still creepy. Who did Wren show my picture to? Halle wondered. I can’t imagine she would do that…and then give the person my number…
The pretty teenager took a deep breath to compose herself. She wiped tears from her eyes, and dialed Wren’s number.
Wren could hear the emotion in her younger friend’s voice. “I got this weird text…” Halle began. Wren quickly figured out what had happened. When Halle asked her if she could come over soon so they could talk, Wren didn’t hesitate.
“I’ll be right over, sweetie.”
Courtenay and Dan Ross were downstairs when Wren arrived at their home. “Hi, Wren! This is a wonderful surprise,” Courtenay greeted her, with a smile.
“Thank you, Mrs. Ross. It’s really good to see both of you, too. Is Halle up in her room?” Wren asked.
Courtenay could tell something was wrong. “Yes, she is. Go on upstairs,” she invited.
She turned to Dan. “Something’s going on,” she told him, her voice just above a whisper.
Dan nodded. He wasn’t sure who was troubled—Wren, Halle, or both of them–but his fatherly, protective instincts were fully engaged. Still, he gave his daughter her privacy.
Wren tapped on Halle’s bedroom door. “Come in,” Halle whispered.
Wren came in, closing the door behind her. Without a word, she wrapped Halle up in a lingering, comforting hug.
https://i.imgur.com/SkDyl0B.png
The older girl held her for a long moment, without speaking. Halle sobbed quietly into Wren’s shoulder before she slowly pulled away and paced to the other side of the room. “I’m sorry I overreacted to this. It just freaked me out.”
Wren shook her head. “You didn’t overreact, Halle. Not at all. That was a really creepy thing for him to do.”
Halle’s eyes widened. “You know who sent it, don’t you?”
Wren nodded. “His name is Seth Turner.” She stretched out on her friend’s bed as she told the story of how Seth had grabbed her phone from her, right after Halle had texted her selfie. "He's a first year at UBrite."
“That’s just…wrong,” Halle shuddered. “I knew you hadn’t given some random guy my number.”
“Honey, if I’m going to give a guy your number, I’ll ask you first. Even if he’s really cute. And I promise you it won't be a University student.” Wren smiled, and Halle almost smiled, too.
https://i.imgur.com/4x5yF9x.png
“I still have no idea how he got my phone number,” Halle said.
Wren shrugged. “I don’t, either. He’s just…I don’t know, but I don’t like it. I don't like it at all.”
Halle thought for a moment, slowly pacing in a circle. She looked back at Wren. “You don’t mind if I tell my brothers about this, do you?”
“Oh, go ahead. I’m surprised you haven’t already. If something like this happened to me, I know I’d tell my brother. And he’s not nearly as protective of me as Cam is of you.”
“Cameron is really protective,” Halle mused. “I mean, REALLY protective.”
Wren grinned, a bit wickedly. “Seth just might be sorry he messed with you.”
“I’m going to call Cameron tonight.”
“You do that, sweetie. I need to head back to UBrite now…as long as you’re feeling better, that is.”
“I am. Thank you so much.” Wren hugged Halle once more, and said good night.
Cameron had already been planning to go over to UBrite the next day. He wasn’t working, and he had promised to visit Chloe Coleman, a high school friend who lived in Drake Hall. He caught up with her for a bit while she finished some homework.
https://i.imgur.com/7ux0QCh.jpg
On his way out of Chloe’s dorm, Cameron spotted Wren, walking across the quad. He changed direction and made his way toward her.
Wren saw him at about the same time, and for a moment, she was a bit worried. I hope Cameron knows the whole story, so he doesn’t think I had anything to do with all this, she thought.
Wren began to speak before Cameron could. “Cam, I am so sorry…”
Cameron held up his hand to stop her. “Please don’t be, Wren. I wanted to thank you for being so sweet to my sister. She told me you came over to the house and talked to her. She really appreciates it…and so do I.”
Wren breathed a sigh of relief. “You’re welcome. I’m glad I could help, since it was my phone he grabbed and all.”
“His name is…Seth Turner, right?”
Wren nodded.
“If I ever run into him, he’ll learn a lesson about minding his own business.”
Wren smirked. “I kinda hope I’m around to see that.”
https://i.imgur.com/RkBsJqb.png
