uncool, stanley barber

25

25 - women are property and other bullshit rumours

at school, rumours about the library have spiralled to new lengths.

"there was an alien attack!"

"big foot came to brownsville!"

"brad and jenny got real down and dirty"

"there was an earthquake. but humans couldn't feel it"

it was getting out of control and all i wanted to do was tell the truth. sydney novak has superpowers and she blew it down with her mind. yeah, like people would believe me.

whitaker was keeping an extra eye on all of us, passing by our classrooms unnecessarily. he scared me in gym when he suddenly caught our basketball and popped it with a pen. there was no need for that.

after gym, i headed to my locker to meet stan for break. but when i shut the door, bradley suddenly pinned me against the cold metal, close to my face.

"what the fuck happened in the library?" he spat at me, making me tremble slightly.

"i-i don't-"

"i know you know what happened" he grabbed my casted wrist and held it tight. "you, barber and syd went missing for ages. now i'm being questioned about it when i didn't do shit all. so what the fuck did you do!?"

"brad!" stan shouts beside us. he's in a blue checkered v-neck sweater, looking mad. his scar above his eyebrow is prominent today. "leave her alone."

"not until you both tell me what happened!" bradley backs away from me, giving me space to breathe and letting go of my wrist. i cradle it. "this looks bad on my behalf so please, cut the bullshit and just tell me."

"we don't know what happened" stanley says, gently taking my hand and leading me away. but bradley slaps our hands apart. what is his problem?

"look, there's rumours going around that it was me and jenny-"

"and that she gave you gonorrhoea?" i ask, but he lurches for me as stanley grabs me and pulls me behind him. i apologise to his angry face, but bradley doesn't calm down.

"dina won't talk to me. it's all syd's fault. i'm gonna fucking get dina back, just stay away from us. whitaker's always watching" bradley explains before he goes to walk away.

"dina's not your fucking property!" i shout at him, to which he turns his head around. stanley's quick to grab my elbow and lead us out of the hallway, avoiding anymore confrontation.

"you're talkative today" he sighs when we're out of earshot from bradley. "you wanna get your other wrist fractured?"

"i hate how he treats people" i huff, crossing my arms as we stand outside of a classroom. "he needs to be told-"

"but not now, not today" stanley says, gesturing at me. he's mad, but he's never really been mad at me before so it's weird to see. "he's unstable at the moment, shaken up from all this dina drama. so please, lay low."

"dina's a person too" i say, getting defensive of my friend. "she has rights and to be talked about in that way; it makes me sick, stan. if i was being spoken about like that, i'd like to think she'd defend me. that you'd defend me-"

"i would, els. and you're right. but please, for the sake of the situation, don't get yourself in trouble with him" stanley says genuinely. "i care about you, you know?"

i smile up at him. he holds my hands in his as he swings them playfully. "you mean a lot to me and i don't wanna see you get hurt. anymore" he taps my cast.

i kiss his cheek, "i'll try not to." he raises his eyebrows at me before i fall back onto my heels and huff. "i won't."

stanley smiles a big smile before hugging me tightly, holding my shoulders. i wrap my arms around his waist as i feel him squeeze me. it's like he doesn't wanna let go.

"i love you, els."

"i love you too."

"i love you? gross" syd says behind us. oh, perfect timing syd.