The space between us

Chapter 18;unexpected visit

The video was everywhere before first period.

I didn’t see it.

Liv did.

She shoved her phone in my face between lockers and my stomach dropped.

It was 6 seconds.

Grainy. From the club.

Me in the gray hoodie. Hands in sleeves.

Two guys at our booth.

Then Xavier.

His hand catching the guy’s wrist.

“Don’t touch her.”

The caption:

*new sports supervisor defending that mute girl??? who IS she*

What do they mean by that Xavier didn’t do sports or I’m I mistaking?

Comments already:

wait isnt he new??.

he’s like 20 something.

she looks like a student bro.

Tasha’s bout to be MAD.

Wait Tasha?Damn I knew she looked familiar,so she was from my school probably a senior.

So Xavier could date an high school student,I thought he was high and mighty.

Liv locked the phone. “Don’t read them.”

I nodded.

But I already had.

Because I didn’t know.

I didn’t know he worked here.

I’d only ever seen him at My house. In my kitchen. On the curb.At smith’s garage but Never in a school polo with ^STAFF^on the badge.

By second period, people were looking.

Not at me. Through me.

Whispers in the hall. Phones tilted.

“Is that her?”

“That’s the girl from the video.”

“He’s the new gym guy. Isn’t that illegal or something?”

I kept my eyes down. The halls felt smaller.

By lunch the rumor/video seemed to have died.

Liv dragged me to the library.

“Safer,” she said.

I agreed.

Ten minutes later, the door opened.

Three girls.

Tasha in the front. Not in her red dress from the club. Now jeans and a crop top.

Behind her, two girls I didn’t know. One chewing gum. One with long nails.

Liv stood up. “Library’s for studying.”

Tasha smiled. Not nice.

“We’re studying her.”

My hands went into my sleeves.

“Come on,” Gum Girl said. “Bathroom. We need to talk.”

We’re good,” Liv said.

“No” Tasha said. “She’s coming.”

She looked at me.

I didn’t move.

“Don’t make me drag you,” Tasha said.

Lila stepped in front of me. “Touch her and”

“And what?” Nail Girl laughed. “You gonna fight us, Liv?”

I stood.

Because if I didn’t, they would.

The bathroom was empty.

For now.

Tasha shut the door.

Locked it.

The sound clicked in my chest.

“Okay,” Tasha said. “Let’s talk.”

She paced. Heels clicking.

“You and Xavier.”

I stared at the tile.

“You think I don’t know?” She stopped. “I saw you. At the club. Outside.”

Lila crossed her arms. “Nothing happened.”

“Shut up,” Tasha snapped. “I’m not talking to you.”

She turned to me.

“You don’t even talk, right? That’s your thing? Mute girl?”

Gum Girl giggled.

Tasha stepped closer.

“I’ve been with him since summer. He just got hired here. You show up once, look all sad and quiet, and now he’s grabbing guys for you?”

Her voice went low. “What did you do?”

Silence.

Nail Girl leaned on the sink. “She probably led him on. That’s what girls like you do.”

“Girls like her?” Liv said.

“Girls who don’t fight back,” Nail Girl said.

My chest was tight.

The air was too thick.

I could hear the vent.

I could hear my heart.

Tasha reached out.

Grabbed my hand.

Pulled.

I stumbled back. Hit the sink.

Pain shot up my arm.

“Hey!” Liv yelled.

Tasha shoved her. “Stay out of it!”

Gum Girl filmed. Phone up.

“Smile,” she said.

Tasha grabbed my chin. Forced me to look up.

“You think he likes you?” she whispered. “He doesn’t. He’s gonna get fired for you. It’s pathetic.”

I didn’t cry.

I didn’t make a sound.

But my hands were shaking in the sleeves.

The door banged.

“Open up.”

Xavier’s voice.

Tasha didn’t.

“Go away, Xavier .”

“Open the f*****g door. Now.”

He wasn’t yelling.

But the door shook.

Nail Girl looked at Tasha. “Should we?”

“One second,” Tasha said. To me. “You’re gonna tell him it was nothing. That you followed me in here. Got it?”

I didn’t answer.

The door slammed again. Harder.

“Stacy.”

My name.

From him.

Something in me broke.

I moved.

Fast.

Before I could think. I grabbed the handle.Unlocked it. Pulled it open.

Xavier was there.

Polo shirt. SPORTS SUPERVISOR badge clipped on.

Fists up. Breathing hard.

Behind him, people in the hall. Watching. Phones out.

He saw me.

Saw my arm where I’d hit the sink.

Saw Tasha behind me.

His jaw ticked.

“What happened,” he said.

Quiet.

But the whole hall heard.

Tasha stepped forward. “She followed us in. She’s lying. She……”

“Did you touch her,” Xavier said.

Tasha blinked. “What? No. We were just talking.”

Gum Girl lowered her phone.

Xavier looked at me.

Really looked.

At my arm.

At my hands.

At my face.

“Stacy,” he said. “Are you okay.”

I nodded. Once.

He turned back to Tasha.

“You need to leave her alone.”

“Or what?” Tasha said. “You gonna get me suspended? You don’t even work here that long.”

“I’ve been here long enough to know what I saw,” he said. “At the club. And now.”

The hall got quiet.

Tasha laughed. Shaky. “You’re choosing her? Over me? She’s a 2nd grade student,Xavier.”

“I’m choosing not to watch people get hurt,” he said.

Someone in the crowd whispered. “Damn. He’s hot.”

Tasha’s face changed.

She looked at me.

Then at him.

Then she pushed past him.

“Whatever,” she said. “You’re gonna lose your job.”

Her friends followed.

Xavier didn’t move.

He looked at Liv. “You good?”

Liv nodded. Shaky. “Yeah.”

Then he looked at me.

The hall was still full.

Still filming.

Still whispering.

Staff and student.

“Come on,” he said. “Let’s get out of here.”

I didn’t move.

He stepped aside.

Held the door open.

Didn’t touch me.

I walked out.

Liv on one side.

Xavier on the other.

Three feet of space between us.

But now it wasn’t just awkward.

It was dangerous.

We made it to the library.

Empty.

I sat down.

Hands in my lap.

My arm hurt.

Xavier stood by the door.

Watching the hall.

Like he expected admin to come back.

Liv sat next to me.

“Are you okay?”

I nodded.

She handed me water.

I took it.

Xavier finally turned.

“You hit the sink,” he said.

It wasn’t a question.

I looked down.

There was a red mark on my forearm.

Starting to bruise.

“s**t,” Liv whispered.

Xavier crouched. Not close.

“Can I see it?”

I hesitated.

Then held my arm out.

He didn’t touch it.

Just looked.

His jaw was tight again.

“We should tell someone,” Liv said.

“No,” I said.

Both of them looked at me.

It was the first word I’d said all day.

My voice was rough.

“No,” I said again.

Xavier nodded.

“Okay.”

Lila opened her mouth. Closed it.

The bell rang.

Nobody moved.

Xavier stood up.

“I’ll walk you to your next class.”

I shook my head.

“I can……”

“I know you can,” he said. “I’m asking.”

He glanced at his badge. “And I’m staff. So I can.”

I looked at Lila.

She nodded.

I stood.We walked.

Not touching. But together.

People stared.

Phones were still out.

The video was already reposted.

*new sports supervisor walks student to class after fight*

I kept my eyes down.

At my classroom door, I stopped.

Xavier stopped too.

“I’m sorry,” he said.

“For what.”

“For not telling you. For me being here. For all of it.”

I shrugged.

“It’s not your fault.”

Another word.

My voice cracked.

He nodded.

“Text me if you need anything.”

I didn’t answer.

He walked away. Down the hall.

Staff. Not a kid.

Liv squeezed my hand.

“Come on.”

Inside, the teacher didn’t ask.

Nobody did.

But everyone looked.

At lunch, I sat in the library again.

Liv next to me.

The video had 5000 views now.

Even the school population wasn’t up to that

I put the phone face down.

Cole texted. Unknown number.

Hey Stacy it’s Cole are you okay

I stared at it.

How did he get my number.

I typed back. Yeah.

The bruise.I heard from a friend that you were injured.

It’s fine.

Please take care of yourself.And I hope you’re not mad at me.

The three dots came.

Went away.

Then:

I’m sorry I couldn’t come save you.

I stared at it.

Typed: Thanks for your concern.

Sent it.

The reply was fast.

Always. Even if If you still hate me.

My chest did the thing again.

Tight.

But different this time.

After school, I went home.

Mom was there.

She saw the bruise right away.

“What happened?”

“Bumped it,” I said.

She didn’t believe me.

But she didn’t push.

She just made tea.

Set it next to me.

I tried calling David but he wasn’t picking up.I really missed him.

That night, I sat in the chair.

Phone in my hand.

The video was still up.

I watched it over and over again.

Staff badge visible in the repost.

I closed the app.

Another text but this time from Xavier.

You sleep okay?

I typed: Yeah.

Did you get in trouble?

I deleted it.

Then I retyped it and Sent it.

He replied.

And no. Not yet

Make sure you look the door.

I checked.

I did.

I lay down.

The room was dark and the days event replayed in my mind.

Tears flowed freely.I caused him trouble,he might loss his job.This job was better than him working at a garage but all of that was going down the drain.

I really need to keep my distance or I could ruin him.