H2O | ✔

Chapter Thirty-Seven : I remembered

People weren't just sympathetic anymore, they were something else altogether. Strangers, students I'd never met before, told me how sorry they were about everything that had happened, while others sneered at me, calling me weak and pathetic. They shoved me in the halls, wondering out loud how I, Xander Henry, captain of the soccer team, would let my own mom beat me up so bad. They didn't care that it wasn't even my mom's fault, that it was three boys they probably knew. Heck, maybe they were them. Maybe the ones who'd attacked me were still tormenting me, continuing their sick act.

Jake and Gabe stuck to me like glue that day, and the many more to follow. They looked out for anyone who would harass me, and stood up for me to all the douchebags of our school. Even Cate Smith helped me out in English, filling me in on everything that had happened in Hamlet since I'd been gone.

I found myself staring at her during class. Her red hair was just as wild as ever, and I could practically see her blue eyes shining. In my head, I heard her shouting,"Dimples!" at Sam though the halls, and I remembered the time he'd tried to set us up. He was convinced that we'd be perfect for each other, but I honestly think he was just getting a bit jealous of all the time I'd been spending with Mesi. It was all accidental stuff, and we weren't all that close or anything, but he seemed to think we were. I dunno, he knew I'd never make a move on her or anything, so it was all a bit weird, but I was open to anything, so Cate and I ended up going out on a date one night.

That is, we called it a date. In reality, it wasn't much more than hanging out and eating pizza and talking about life. That was when I learned that she was just as into girls as I was. Supposedly, she'd just said she'd go out with me because she knew Sam wanted it to work out, and because she found me amusing, but I was never sure if she was telling the truth about that. We ended up having a nice time, but it was completely platonic, and nothing ever really came of it other than friendly waves in the halls, and maybe a text or two.

When the final bell rang, I let out a sigh of relief. I'd made it. My teachers were, mostly, very understanding of my absences, and cut me a lot of slack. I guess that was the only upside to everyone knowing all of your problems.

Gabe walked with me out of class, and we headed to my locker. As I opened it up, he scratched the back of his neck and said,"Hey, I've kinda gotta head to the weight room. Are you okay to leave on your own?"

I nodded, letting out a small laugh. "Yes, Gabe, I do know my way out of this school I've been going to for years. I'll be fine, now shoo!" I pushed him away, smiling, and thankful I had such awesome friends.

I remembered how they used to be—Jake and Gabe. They were sorta dicks. I mean, Jake was constantly working on getting some girl or other, and then dropping her the second he got what he wanted, and Gabe was scared of girls, and even more scared of admitting that, that he'd talking a big game of all the girls he'd supposedly gotten, degrading them. I knew they weren't bad guys, even back then, but they were assholes. But, it seemed, when it came down to it, they were the best people you could ever ask for.

It made me think that maybe everything that happened with Sam and Mesi and my mom and the three guys at school had affected others just as much, only in different ways. Where I'd grown cautious of everything, Jake and Gabe had grown up.

I shut my locker with a slam, slipping the lock back on and swinging my backpack around so I could slide my left arm through the strap.

The door was right there.

The door was right there, and I was almost out. I was ten feet away, then seven, then two, and suddenly I was outside in the sunshine and on my way to the Hendersons'. It would be a while before I went to soccer practice or the weight room and braved the locker rooms again, but that was okay. I'd made one big step that day, and I didn't want to push myself too far.

...

That night was just like any other before I'd been attacked. I ate dinner with the Hendersons at the table in their kitchen, and did my homework in my room, and got ready for bed.

But it wasn't until I was drifting into sleep that I remembered what happened a week before.

A/N: Hey-oh! How's it goin'? So yeah, things are starting to wrap up with this book. That's...exciting. After all is said and done, I'll probably edit this for grammatical errors, and then make a new book with other sorts of changes to the plot and stuff like that, but nothing major.

Oh, and I'm sorry for keeping that cliffhanger. I honestly meant to tell you all what happened with that mysterious visitor in this chapter, but then the way it's working out in the Sam chapters, it'd just be so much nicer if I held off one more Xander chapter. I think you'll see what I mean with the next chapter, so don't be too mad that I left you hanging again.

Ahh, all I have left to say is THANK YOU. You guys really are the best readers a girl could ask for. I mean, this book has reached 19k! That's crazy! Thankyouthankyouthankyou. Please stay this amazing (I'm counting on it).

Oh yeah, and the song up there is "Like a Star" by Corinne Bailey Rae and I've been liking it a lot lately :)