Isla Shaw
Ever since I was little, I've been notoriously good at taking advice.
When I'm seven years old, I have a high fever. Not wanting to fork out money for a hospital visit, my grandfather, Cameron Stone, feels my forehead and says, "Don't be such a wimp. You just need to tough it out."
I end up lying in bed for three days. Eventually, my fever turns into pneumonia, and I wind up in the ICU. It scares Grandpa so much that now, the moment he hears me cough, he rushes me to the hospital.
When I'm 12 years old, my homeroom teacher, Alfred Buck, chews me out for my bad grades and tells me I'm only good enough to be a garbage collector.
So, I stay up all night digging through every trash can in the school. After that, I pile three woven bags of plastic bottles in the principal's office. It scares Mr. Buck so much that from then on, he praises me for being an eco-warrior the moment he sees me.
When I'm 18 years old, the prettiest girl in school, Irene Parker, gets so sick of me following her around that she tells me to get lost and stay as far away as possible.
I drop out of school on the spot and buy a coach ticket to Daleton to pick cotton. It scares Irene so much that she travels 1,800 miles in tears. She finds me, feverish and dehydrated, in the cotton field and brings me back.
After Irene learns about my past, she buys a small yellow notebook and writes three rules on the first page.
"Words said in anger must not be taken to heart."
"Important matters must be confirmed twice."
"Only those who genuinely wish you well have the right to advise you on what to do."
At the end, she also adds, "It only counts if the person looks you in the eye and confirms the advice twice."
I carry the notebook with me for five years.
In those five years, Irene never leaves a single piece of advice in it, because she says she can't bear to gamble with my life.
But then, one month before our wedding, she cheats on me.