“Grace, listen to me.â€? Spencer said, grasping my shoulders. “He can not do anything to do, okay? You’ve got me, okay? Okay?â€?

I nodded slowly, but still didn’t feel any better. Either Spencer thought his little talk worked or he was just pretending it worked. He sent me to the bathroom to try and clean up myself.

Inside, I stared into the mirror at a crazed image. Someone standing over my shoulder about to grab me. I almost screamed.

I splashed water on my face and fixed myself before walking back to Spencer. He smiled widely and gave me an encouraging hug. “Robert can’t come to school, Grace.â€? Spencer told me and I cracked the best fake smile I could.

He must be drunk or something right now. A blind person would be able to see how fake that smile was but Spencer took it as I was fine. We walked to class together but it felt like too many people were looking at me, making me uncomfortable.

Spencer squeezed my shoulder in comfort but I flinched. He sighed, “This is going to be harder than I thought.”