#sim: isla

So she went. With Kalyn’s reassurances and comfort still fresh in her mind, she pushed open the doors to the Administration building with no real idea what awaited her.

First was a secretary with no real intentions of being any help. Levelling bored eyes on the girl in front of her, she’d insisted that Isla was going nowhere without an appointment. Bolstered by only coffee and a few pep talks from her sister during the drive home, Isla had somehow managed to circumvent her first secretarial obstacle to get deeper in the building.

She ended up waiting multiple hours in a waiting room watching scheduled appointments begin and end while she curled further and further into her chair. Eventually, after official working hours were over, she was ushered into the office of someone marginally more willing to help.

No disciplinary action was taken that day, that much Isla had expected. But the incident was on record, and being investigated. Sophia had already called and given her statement on what had happened, responding almost immediately to Isla’s texts regarding the matter.

When asked if anyone else could give a statement, there was only one person Isla could think of. Liam was perhaps just as involved as she had been that night, though she knew neither his number nor if he’d even be willing to give his account of that night.

So she went with the assurance that it was being looked into, and told to send along anyone else who’d been there that night. It still tasted a little too much like placation, but it was enough to get her out the door. She followed her growling stomach to the commons, and the promise of dinner.

--

Oddly, Sophia put up a fight when asked if she knew Liam’s number. “I don’t get why my statement wasn’t enough,” she insisted while Isla struggled to keep her phone pinned between her cheek and shoulder as she shoved sopping laundry into the dryer.

“It was, they just want as many people as possible to corroborate the story or whatever.”

There was a huff from the other end of the line, and then silence. It stretched long enough that Isla edged out a quiet, “Hello?” to assure herself that she hadn’t been hung up on.

“I’m here. I just think it’s a bad idea to open the can of Liam worms while you’re dealing with this shit.”

It was Isla’s turn to laugh. “I’m not asking him on a date, dude. I’m asking him to give a witness account of the time I was almost assaulted. I don’t get why you’re being weird about this. I'll just DM him on Instagram if it’s gonna be this much of an issue.”

“Don’t bother. I’ll text you his number.”

And that was, strangely, that.

--

She was surprised again by his voice when he picked up the phone, tone politely curious when addressing an unknown number. She couldn’t deny the curl of something in her stomach when his tone changed upon realizing it was her, a kind of bright surprise coloring his voice.

He agreed at once to call administration to give his statement, brushing off her concerns with a laugh when she tried meekly to suggest he leave out the part where he punched Kody.

“I’d rather not edit the story. Dickhead deserved it, anyway.”

She couldn’t stop the chuckle that escaped her. He wasn’t wrong, that was for sure.

“Thanks, Liam.”

His tone warmed further when he assured her it was the least he could do. “Hey, do you mind letting me know when they make some kind of decision?” he added.

Assuring him that she would, she let him go. Unfortunately, it wasn’t as easy to let go of the warmth glowing in her cheeks and dripping down into her chest. Maybe Sophia had been right. Maybe she shouldn’t have opened the “Liam can of worms” as she put it.

Maybe.

--

Liam didn’t need to wait long for an update. Mere days later, Isla was woken by the sound of her phone ringing insistently next to her head on her pillow. Grasping groggily for it, she found herself leaping to immediate alertness at the formal greeting that awaited her on the other end of the line. “Yes, this is Isla. Speaking?”

It was the Dean of Student Affairs calling to inform her that they had concluded their investigation. Kody was being expelled, and though he couldn’t officially reveal what had led to their decision, the Dean assured her that every measure was being taken to assure his peaceful removal from campus. His tone sharpened with purpose when he revealed that multiple incidents had occurred that night involving Kody, and they were working closely with all involved parties.

She knew then that it hadn’t been just her, and a vicious part of her hoped that Liam’s fist hadn’t been the only one to meet Kody’s jaw that night.

There were tears in her eyes when she thanked the Dean for letting her know, and they were as much relief as they were sorrow that someone else had seen the edge of his anger. She had escaped his ire, but send a little wish into the universe that the one who didn’t escape would see justice done.

For her though, it was over. It was over. No more worrying he’d corner her in the Commons or linger around corners in her dorm building. No more dreading her last year at university being spent looking over her shoulder. No more. In fact, after the shock faded, she found herself falling back to sleep easier than she’d had in ages following the call from the Dean.