He's The Playmaker

Chapter 14: Carter

You know the feeling you have when everyone is in on a joke and you aren't? Well, that's how I'm feeling this morning. With all the people buzzing around whispering, you would think we're in a beehive. I looked over at a girl in my English lit class who was trying to mouth something to me, but to be honest, it looked more like she was making out with the air.

The bell rang, I gathered my stuff and headed out before she tried those moves on me. I walked to my locker when Eric came up beside me.

"Hey man, I need to tell you something."

"Does it have to do with why everyone keeps staring at me more than normal?"

I opened my locker and started to put my things away.  I looked down at my phone to see if Mere messaged me yet.

"Yes, it's about Mere and the girls."

I looked up at him, and he started to explain what happened this morning, and my temper started to overflow. My fists started to turn white. When Seth ran over, cutting into our conversation.

"Carter, you won't believe what I just heard about Mere and Stacie.. umm nevermind it looks like you know already."

"Where is Mere?" I asked; having the overpower need to make sure she is alright.

They both looked at each other when Mere's friend from this weekend came running over to us.

"Carter! I can't get a hold of Mere. Have you seen her?!"

She tried to catch her breath.

"No, she hasn't answered me."  She frowned, and tears were already starting to pool in her eyes. Seth pulled her close.

"Where did you last see her, Eric?"

"The bathroom off to the left of the main entrance."

"I'm guessing now would be a good time to mention that there's a video."  Austin said as he passed his phone to me.

The bell rang for the next period.

"I'm going to go find her. You guys go to class."

Eric grabbed my arm as I started to walk away.

"What about the girls?"

"I'll take care of them." He gave me a nod as he understood, and we went our separate ways.

I would like to say I'm a gentleman that I made sure there were no girls in the bathroom before I barged in, but that would be a lie. There's only one thing on my mind since Eric told me what happened, and that is getting to Mere and making sure she is alright. I banged on the door as I walked in.

"Coming in!"

The bathroom looked empty. I went down the row of stalls, and as I got to the last one, I saw her. I laid my head against the door. I could hear her little whimpers.

"Bug… Open up for me."

I don't know what to expect, but for her, just opening the door on my first try wasn't one that ran through my mind. She moved her body over so the door could swing past her. She looked up at me with swollen eyes, tears staining her beautiful face that was now a tint of red. I picked her up and sat her on the sink.

"It's okay, Bug. I'm here."

I moved her messy hair out of her face and grabbed a water paper towel. Her eyes never left me as she sniffled and tried to stop the little tears that were still slipping out. I placed the towel on one eye and then the other while I rubbed her arm.