Falling

52

TRIGGER WARNING: mentions sexual assault/rape

Vinny Taylor

After being pulled out of school by Dad for the next two days, I had enough of staying home with Logan for his suspension. He had been annoying and whiny and constantly bugging me, so now that he was going back to school for his in-school suspension, I wouldn't have to deal with him.

Dad had said he was going to take Thursday and Friday off from work to stay home with me, but that would have been even worse than staying home with Logan, I imagined. So I told him I had to suck it up and go to school because, surely, all the talking had blown over.

But when I asked Carson about it the night before as the two of us walked through the park, that wasn't what it seemed like.

"People are still talking about it?" I asked, stuffing my hands into my pockets to keep from reaching out to grab his.

He grimaced as he nodded in confirmation. "Yeah, I mean it's not all bad. A lot of people believe what Darren did to you. And a lot of people are giving Seth shit for what he did in the locker room."

"He's still at school?"

"In-school suspension," Carson replied. "I guess he's getting at home suspension tomorrow and Friday. They wanted to keep him and Logan separated. I heard that he was going to get in-school suspension for the whole week, but Vice Principal O'Neil fought to give him something worse."

"I think if it were up to her, she'd expel him," I said. She was the only person who kept that school somewhat fair. She didn't care at all about someone's status as a football player and the jocks absolutely hated her for it.

"Up to her or anyone other than Principal Williams," Carson responded, letting out a deep breath and sending a cloud above us.

It was almost December now, but the two of us still wore only sweatshirts. I had my hood up, shivering as we walked. Without seeming to think about it, Carson put his arm around me and pulled me close to him, giving me the warmth of his body. It was hard to think that the two of us weren't together anymore. Especially when he did things like this.

I didn't want to ask it. I almost didn't want to know. But then I did.

"Has Darren been there?" I asked, a shiver going through my body.

"He has, but I haven't seen much of him," Carson replied, pulling me tighter to his body. "He's been kinda keeping a low profile. I don't know if he'll show up with you and Logan coming back tomorrow."

"He hasn't done anything?"

Carson shook his head. "He's been pretty much staying with the football team. I haven't seen him at lunch. I don't even know if he's going to his classes."

That somehow made me more nervous to go back tomorrow, knowing Darren was just walking around in the background and going unnoticed.

"I can walk you to your classes if you want," Carson offered, noticing my discomfort. "So you don't have to be alone."

Part of me wanted to say no, thinking I would be burdening him with taking care of me while we weren't even together. But the other part wanted to spend as much time with Carson as possible, and knew that I would have a hard time at school knowing there was a chance I could be caught alone by Darren or one of his friends.

"Okay," I said and smiled up at him.

It turned out I didn't even need Carson to walk me to class because as soon as I entered the building, I was called into the Principal's office.