The Space Between Us

Chapter 18 ~ Captain

I'm outside the art building

I got that text from River as I walked to our shared Digital Art I class. Did he mean...?

Sure enough, there he was, leaning against a wall of the art building. His dark hair was fluffy today.

He smiled at me when he saw me.

"Aw, did you wait for me?" I teased as we went inside the building and began climbing the stairs.

"Yeah," he said. He didn't explain, and I didn't ask. Instead, we both smiled as we walked up the steps.

He sat next to me in the back of the class. Professor Kindler had already sent us an email saying this class was going to be the last time to work on the project together before presenting on Monday.

"Do we have to do work?" asked River, leaning on the back two legs of his chair. "Work days mean you don't have to do anything."

"They definitely do not mean that," I said sitting up straight. "C'mon, we can finish today if we try."

"I have an idea."

"What is it?"

"Let's not try."

"River."

"Fine! Fine, what do we have left to do?" River sighed dramatically, letting his chair slam down on all four legs and causing some heads to turn in our direction.

"We need a better color scheme for this poster... and I'd like to add a digital drawing here... Oh, let's change this font, too."

River and I worked on the project for about half of the class. The other half of the time, I was telling him to focus, or helping him find the selection tool in Illustrator, or correcting his spelling of simple words. It was difficult to work with him.

I rather enjoyed it.

And there was a certain satisfaction I felt when the three girls who were obsessed with River would turn to stare at us once in a while.

Class finished, and the two of us walked out together.

"We can finish Sunday," said River as we stepped outside into the sunshine.

"Sounds good," I said. "See you later."

"See ya." He gave a small wave as he walked toward the campus cafeteria for lunch.

I turned to head toward the science building to meet Alice and James on the roof when I was cornered by the three girls from art class. I groaned inwardly.

"Yes?" I knew what they wanted.

Sure enough, one girl said, "What are you doing with River Alves?"

"What are you doing with him?" I retorted.

"Excuse me?" said the second girl, her arms crossing.

"Are you doing anything with him?" I asked.

"What do you mean-"

"I suppose not," I interrupted. "Tell me if you ever do something with him, and I'll make sure it doesn't overlap what I'm doing. Have a nice day."

I left the three girls behind as I continued toward the science building.

So, this was how it felt to have River's attention. River Alves, the soccer captain. It was a side of him that I didn't know well, but I saw it in the eyes of everyone who watched me. They were jealous.

I knew how to deal with jealousy from others. Being the sister to my brother helped me prepare for all of this. This was child's play compared to what I went to in high school.

Jealous people were all the same. Shut them down, prove them wrong, stand my ground. Everyone would either learn their place or get pushed into place, and that included me.

At that moment, a spark set off an explosion of thought in my mind: I didn't want to be pushed around by jealous people anymore. That was what happened in high school, and I fled across the country to escape their judgment. But I had grown a lot in the three years that I'd been on my own, and even in this short time with River, I had learned a lot.

Besides, talking with River was worth the potential of gossip and rumors and jealousy. They could say whatever they wanted, but at the end of the day, I was the girl sharing a space with River. And they couldn't change that.

Was that arrogant of me to think? Maybe. But really, I didn't care.

❁❁❁❁❁

I met Alice and James outside of the soccer stadium at 4:30 p.m. on Saturday. Alice wore her usual all-black, James looked like a lumberjack, and I wore a long sleeve t-shirt that displayed our school's logo across the front.

We were ready for the game.

"Ahh I can't wait!" said Alice excitedly, clasping her hands together. "It's been a year since we went to a soccer game together!"

I noticed James smiling at Alice's happiness. I totally shipped them. At some point, I was going to ditch and let them be alone for the evening. Someday, Alice would thank me.

"The weather is perfect, too," said James, looking at the sky. "If the clouds stay, it'll be a pretty sunset."

Alice squealed and skipped around like a little kid.

I laughed and shook my head. "Stop embarrassing us," I scolded.

Alice grabbed my arm and laid her head on my shoulder. "Aw, Holly Bear, I'm sowwy."

James laughed as I shoved Alice off. She continued to skip ahead of us.

I nudged James in the ribs. "I'm getting a ride home from someone else today. You and Alice should go out after the game," I told him.

He looked at me, and I at him.

"You are? You mean it?"

"Yep. Think of it like... a date night."

"You're the best, Holly."

Alice was already at the stands, waving us over. James and I took seats on either side of her on the bench. Alice was leaning on the edge of her seat, her head swiveling around as she took in as much as she could of everything.

"The players are here!" she said, pointing.

Our soccer team jogged onto the field and began passing around the balls. They dribbled, shot at the goal, and passed to each other.

It wasn't hard to find River, and it wasn't hard to keep watching him, either. His hair was fluffy again, not yet tied back as he did sometimes for practices. I knew this because he would come home wearing his hair up regularly.

In the stands below us, I saw a group of girls that were clearly River's fan club. They held signs and went crazy whenever River touched the ball.

I knew River was good, but seeing him in his element was... well, hot. He passed the ball effortlessly. His movements were flowing and smooth. He looked like the star athlete that I always heard about. No wonder he was the captain of the team.

Alice, James, and I had been to games last year, but I hadn't been super focused. I hadn't had a reason to watch River closely, and I hadn't really cared about the players in general.

Now, I couldn't take my eyes off him.