Chapter 3:Hallway shutdown
723 Words
Stacy’s Pov s**t,I was running late. It was already 9 and I was late for school.Donno what happened but my alarm clock just stopped working.Even my phone was switched off. I quickly took my bath and brushed my teeth,then I took my backpack and went downstairs. Xavier was gone,David too.But there was a note on the counter:Gone out for a walk,have breakfast before you leave.
Coward.
---
*School.*
Liv caught me at my locker. “You look like hell. Or heaven. Is it a guy?”
“Shut up.”
“Is it the hot ex-convict living with you?” She waggled her eyebrows. “Knew it.”
“Xavier’s not—”
“Stacy Carter?”
We both turned.
Xavier.
In my school hallway. Black tee. Grease under his nails. Holding a brown paper bag. Every head turned.
My heart dropped to my stomach.
“What are you doing here?” I hissed, dragging him toward the stairwell.
“You forgot lunch.” He held up the bag. PB&J. Cut diagonal. The way I liked. “David said you’d starve otherwise.”
David sent him. Of course.
“Thanks,” I mumbled. Took the bag. Our fingers brushed.
Xavier’s eyes flicked to my mouth. Then away. Fast.
“You good?” he asked. Voice too low for a school hallway.
“Peachy.”
“Stacy”
“Miss Carter?” Principal Reeves appeared. “He’s not a student here.”
Xavier stepped back. Put space between us. Smart. “Dropping off lunch. I’m leaving.”
He walked out. Didn’t look back.
But Liv was staring. “Holy forbidden-trope”. “Liv,I’ve told you before there’s nothing going on between i and Xavier”i said.”Also stop calling him an ex convict.
“I’m the best, and you’re deflecting.” She lowered
“No, seriously. He looks at you like you’re the last slice of pizza and he’s starving.” She grabbed my arm. “Did something happen? Because you’re vibrating.”
“We drove. That’s it.”
“Liar.” She bumped my shoulder. “You like him.”
“Nope,I don’t”.
---
Classes dragged. Every text I expected from Xavier didn’t come. By last period I’d convinced myself the lunch drop-off was closure.
Liv found me after school at the bus loop. “Earth to Stacy.You coming?”
I stared at the student lot.Half hating myself for looking.
Nothing. Just kids and exhaust.
“Yeah,” I said. “Let’s go.”
We got on Bus 22. Same one we’d taken since freshman year. Liv took the window seat and immediately started in again.
“So. Hallway showdown. He brings you lunch. Principal yells. You look like you want to crawl out of your skin. Coincidence?”
“It’s complicated.”
“It’s hot.” She stole my chips. “David’s gonna kill him, right? Big brother, off-limits, whole deal?”
“He knows nothing is going on.” I told her.
Liv whistled. “Damn. So what now? You just… stop?”
I watched houses blur past. “I have to.”
“Bull.” She kicked my shoe. “You like him. He likes you. David’s being a caveman.”
“He’s twenty, Liv.”
“And you’re almost eighteen. Two years. That’s nothing in five years.”
“It’s everything now.”
The bus hit a pothole. My phone slid out of my pocket. Lock screen lit up.
Unknown number.
_You made it home okay?_
I froze.
Liv saw it. “That him?”
I didn’t answer. Typed back: _Bus._
Three dots. Then: _Good.Get home early.I’m waiting.
_Are you okay?_ I sent before I could stop myself.
Long pause. Then: _Yeah. I am._
Liv was reading over my shoulder now. “Tell him how you feel.
I locked my phone. “No.”
“Stacy—”
“I can’t.” I stared out the window. “If David kicks him out, he’s got nowhere else. His dad…”
“Oh.” Liv went quiet. Then: “Still. He showed up for you.”
That was the problem.
---
We got off at my stop. Walked the last block in silence.
David’s car was in the driveway.
So was Xavier’s duffel bag. On the porch.
My stomach sank this was more than torture.
- Writer
