The Space Between Us (15 page)

  
I walked with her back to our room and watched as she slid into her bed and hid under the covers. Asher sat on the edge of my bed looking at me expectantly. I quickly changed into my pajamas and walked over to where Asher sat and leaned down to kiss his forehead. The care and gentleness he showed Reeve in the last hour had blown me away. I knew he was constantly irritated by her interruptions and her boy-crazy ways, but she was also his friend. We'd grown up together. Granted they were probably only friends because of me, but they were friends, nonetheless. As I leaned up from the kiss he wrapped his arms around my waist and pressed his cheek into my stomach. I slowly moved my hands through his soft hair, letting him take the comfort from me he was obviously seeking. When he finally pulled away and looked up at me, I saw a new worry in his eyes and I knew what he was thinking.

  
He was glad it wasn't me who was assaulted at the party and felt guilty for thinking it at all. I wrapped my hands around the back of his neck and sat on his lap straddling him, bringing my face close to his.

  
“Hey,” I whispered quietly, hoping to not let Reeve hear me. “I'm ok. Everything is ok.”

  
“Everything is not ok, Charlie.” I could feel his hands on my back, pulling me into him as if he needed to crawl inside of me. “I never thought anything like that would really happen. At least not to someone I know. What if Caleb had tried that on you? There's nothing you could have said to keep me from killing him, Bit. You're lucky I didn't kick the shit out of him as it is.”

  
“Asher, nothing like that is going to happen to me. Does this suck? Yes. Did Reeve deserve this? No. We are going to tell the authorities and they'll take care of him.”

  
“I don't know what I'd do if anything ever happened to you,” he said, looking into my eyes.

  
“You won't ever have to find out.”

  
He brushed his lips against mine and the kiss was tender, controlled, and loving. Passion was always under the surface of our kissing. I could always tell how he felt about me in his kiss, but this one almost felt like he appreciated the fact I was even there; I was his and I was ok. I felt the same way and tried to convey that to him. His hands still roamed over the skin of my back under my nightshirt and when I felt his loving kiss turn into something more carnal I pulled away. Bringing my hands up to his face I whispered to him, “I think I'm going to sleep with Reeve. I don't want her to be alone.”

  
He nodded his head in understanding.

  
“Will you stay? I would feel safer knowing you were here.”

  
“Of course. Always.”

Chapter Three

  
The following weeks were hellish. The campus police partnered with the local police and charges were filed against Caleb. He was arrested by the police and the Greek Council at the university banned him from the Greek system. We all had to attend a hearing at the school for the university to decide if he was guilty and to sentence him. Reeve, Asher, some of the brothers from the fraternity, and I all had to testify.

  
The school found him guilty of attempted rape, which was a violation of the student code of conduct, and he was expelled. We were all so glad when the trial was over and done with, hoping once we could move past everything Reeve's mood would improve. The whole ordeal, from that terrible night at the frat house until the day of the sentencing, took about two months. The entire time Reeve was a shell of her former self. It was terrible watching her live as a hermit, only going to class, just scraping by with her studies, sleeping all day long sometimes. She didn't want to go anywhere or do anything. She never said more than a few words to me, even though I tried daily to break her out of her trance.

  
Two weeks after Caleb was expelled, I was beginning to worry she was never going to come back to me. It angered me to think that one very stupid guy took my best friend away from me. He had impacted her in such a way that she wasn't even the same person anymore. It wasn't fair – not to me and, most importantly, not to her. This was college and she should be having the time of her life. As I was walked to class with Asher, I tried to explain my frustration.

  
“I just want my best friend back. I feel like if she doesn't get better soon, there's really nothing stopping her from dropping out and going home at semester break. I know she's unhappy.” Asher squeezed my hand and smiled sweetly at me.

  
“Everything will work out. Just give her time. I'm sure it's hard for her to just go back to the way things were before.”

  
“I know.  I'm not expecting her to just forget what she went through, or to flip some sort of switch and snap out of it, but something needs to give. I'm afraid I'll lose her if this goes on much longer.”

  
“I think I have an idea,” he said excitedly, out of nowhere.

  
“You do?”

  
“Yeah. Be in your dorm room at seven tonight and make sure she's there with you.”

  
“Ok... I'm a little confused. What are you going to do?”

  
“It's a surprise. I don't know if it will work, but it's worth a shot, right?” He kissed me quickly on the forehead, let go of my hand, and started walking quickly in the opposite direction.

  
“What about class?” I yelled at his retreating back. He turned back towards me, but continued walking backwards.

  
“This is more important,” he said with a smile. I couldn't argue with him, so I just waved. He winked and turned back around, continuing on his way.

  
Later that night I sat nervously in my dorm room, pretending to study, but really just staring at my psychology textbook. At seven on the dot, the dorm phone rang.  I didn't know if I was supposed to answer it or not, so I pretended to be so wrapped up in my homework that it forced her to get out of bed and answer it.

  
“Hello?” Her voice sounded strained. I knew it was because she didn't use the phone very much anymore. I watched her face as she listened to the person on the other line who I assumed was Asher. I saw her eyes dart at me and I quickly looked back down at my book. I had no idea what was going on, but I didn't want to ruin it. She was out of bed and had said a word – vast improvements over yesterday already.

  
“I don't think so,” she said quietly. She opened her mouth to say something else but was obviously cut off by the person on the other line. She rolled her eyes slightly and even seeing her do that made me smile. “Fine,” she answered and hung up. She turned towards me with apprehension.

  
“What's up?” I asked, trying really hard not to look like I knew something was up.

  
“Uh, that was one of Asher's frat brothers. He said that something happened to Asher and that we should get over there ASAP.”

  
“What?” I shrieked. This was not discussed as part of the plan. Had something really happened to him? Or was this just the ploy to get her to his house? I was up and off of my bed instantly, grabbing my shoes and jacket. Reeve took a seat on her bed and began to pull her covers up over her lap. “What are you doing? You've got to come with me!”

  
“Charlie, I don't feel like leaving. Text me when you find out what happened.” That was it. The straw that broke the proverbial camel's back.

  
“Are you
kidding
me? After everything Asher has done for you through this whole mess, after all the years of friendship, after
everything
, you're just going to wait for a text to see if he's ok? Who are you?” I breathed quickly, my harsh breaths making my chest heave up and down. “Get your fucking shoes on and come to the frat with me. Now.”

  
“Holy shit, Charlie. Calm down.” She got up and I let out a loud breath when I saw her start to get ready to go. We walked to the frat but I was a good ten feet in front of her the whole time, too pissed to be next to her. The anger helped to ease the fear that something was really wrong with Asher. I tried telling myself that it was all part of the set-up, but I needed to see him just to make sure.

  
When we came to the frat house it looked dark and abandoned. It was rare to see a house forty college guys lived in with all the lights off, with no one on the lawn playing football, or passed out on the couch on the front porch. Something was off. We entered through the two sliding doors on the side of the house that led directly into the dining room.

  
“Asher?” I called out, hoping to hear his voice answer me. I didn't hear anything. “Reeve, who called you?”

  
“I don't know, just some guy.”

  
I tried to make my way into what I thought was the TV room, but with no lights it was hard to tell if I was going to walk into a wall or not. As soon as we came around the corner and through the doorway, lights flashed on and I heard a large group of people shout “Surprise!” Once my eyes adjusted to the unexpected light I was completely shocked at what I saw.

  
The room looked like someone had shaken a bottle of Pepto all over it. There were pink streamers hanging from the ceiling, pink pillows and blankets were all over the floor.  An abundance of pink cotton candy was everywhere, big jugs of pink lemonade, and a big pink banner hanging above the large fireplace that read “We Love You, Reeve”. There must have been forty girls in the room, all dressed in pink. Some were from our sorority and surprisingly some were girls Reeve and I were friends with from high school. The swarm of girl came towards Reeve and started enveloping her in hugs. I felt the tears building in my eyes as I saw her smile. She was actually smiling. The grip that had been squeezing my heart for the last six weeks eased at seeing her enjoying the company of all of her friends.

  
“Hey you,” I heard from behind me. I knew instantly it was Asher, but turned around just needing to see his face. I ran right into his arms.

  
“You're ok,” I breathed into his ear.

  
“Yeah, sorry. I had to come up with something that would make her come too. I was hoping if you had an emergency she'd come out of her funk enough to at least come over here with you.” He nodded towards her. “Looks like it worked.”

  
“You did all of this?”

  
“Well, it was my idea, but all the brothers helped out. One of them even drove back home to pick up a few girls who couldn't get rides down here. We all feel really bad about what happened, and the house owes her this. We need to make it right for her.” In that moment, I was so honored to even know Asher, let alone be his girlfriend. What eighteen-year-old guy says something like that? Or even comprehends the complexity of this situation like he did? And how was I so lucky that he wanted to be with me? I shook my head as all those thoughts raced around my brain.

  
“What is it?” He asked, looking in my eyes with his slate gray ones blinking back at me.

  
“Who are you, Asher? What kind of heart is beating in your chest that makes you the most compassionate and thoughtful man I've ever met?” I don't think I've ever referred to Asher as a man before. He had always been a boy, or a guy. But never a man. This was exactly what it was to be manly – to stand up for someone you cared about, to recognize a need they had, and do everything in your power to make a situation right. I never considered myself a woman either. I was a girl. But standing here in Asher's arms, knowing what he had done for our friend, made the woman in me want to be enough for this man. His answer was simply to lean down and kiss me. He pulled away and reached down to a table behind the couch. He turned back to me and handed me a bullhorn. I looked down at it with confusion.

  
“So, the brothers are all strictly ordered to stay upstairs. There are enough blankets and pillows and stuff so all you girls can enjoy your sleepover. Pizza is on the way.  A sappy chick flick is in the DVD player. If you should need anything, use the alarm on the bullhorn and a brother will be right down.”

  
“Are you serious right now?”

  
“Yeah, we don't play, Bit. Anything you girls need, let us know.”

  
I looked down at the bullhorn and thought of all the possibilities that were held in my hand. I looked up at him through my lashes, trying to hide my smile.

  
“So, no boys allowed downstairs, but can the girls go upstairs?” He pulled me to him swiftly and tugged on the tail end of my hair angling my head up towards him.

  
“Anything you need, Bit, I've got it for you.”

  
“Good to know,” I managed to squeak out, causing him to smile and laugh.

  
“There are some pink pjs in the bathroom next to the kitchen for you and Reeve.”

  
“You've thought of everything haven't you?”

  
“Pretty damn close.”

  
Asher kissed me then, long and deep enough to hold me over for a while, but I wasn't sure I'd be able to stay away from him all night. After we changed into our pink pajamas, Reeve and I went back into the party.  I smiled watching her talk with all of her friends, people she hadn't seen or spoken with in weeks. I thought about how it might have been hard for her to be back in the frat house, but all the girls were providing enough of a distraction that she didn't seem to be bothered by being back at the scene of her assault. I was glad for that. It would be hard to avoid Asher's frat, and I didn't want anything to come between her and I.

  
Throughout the night we found silly reasons to blow the bullhorn: asking for more pillows, asking the boys to turn down the thermostat, wanting our pizza to be warmed up in the microwave. After about five errands, one of the girls got the bright idea to mandate the boys do our bidding in their underwear. One of the upperclassmen, Miles, got on the bullhorn and made the announcement.

  
“Alright Beta men, hear this! When it's your turn to service the ladies downstairs,” he waggled his eyebrows at us as he said this, “You must do so in your underwear. Boxers or briefs boys, no commando – none of them want to see that.” A few girls groaned at the last part of the statement, and I was sure he was wrong about that. I looked over at Reeve and her face was bright with laughter. The boys were doing a great job of cheering her up. For the next few hours we did everything we could to get every Beta downstairs in his underwear.

  
Eventually the boys got creative and started fashioning underwear out of weird things you'd find around the house. One guy came downstairs with just a box a cheerios in front of his crotch. It was worth it to see the tears streaming down Reeve's face from laughing so hard. He hadn't really thought his idea through all the way and when he turned to leave, after bringing Reeve the ridiculous Q-tips she had requested, he forgot we could all see his naked ass. Hoots and hollers flooded through the room at the sight of his bare backside.

  
I tried to wait anxiously for Asher's appearance. Finally, Reeve got on the bullhorn and shouted towards the stairs, smiling through it all.

  
“Asher Carmichael, you get your ass downstairs and give my best friend a kiss!” All the girls in the room started clapping and yelling. It was pandemonium. I had seen Asher in his underwear, or less, many times, but it was a little nerve-wracking knowing that all the girls in the room would see him in the same state. He had an amazing body and I usually liked that I was the only one who got to see it. Right now, however, I would look past my feelings on the matter and just enjoy whatever he had planned. There was no way for me to prepare myself for what I saw when he came around the corner.