HATEFUL LOVE | ej caswell

the end of the great war

After the whole fiasco that happened, Nadia refused to speak with EJ at all. According to her friends, he had kept on asking them what Nadia had been saying but she had said nothing about the situation to any of them.

She didn't want to.

She realized that she had been hypocritical because she was also keeping a secret, but she technically hadn't been lying like EJ had been; she hadn't accepted Duke's letter.

She also wanted to know how EJ even knew that she had received a letter from Duke. The only person she told was Marcus and she trusted his word that he didn't tell him, they were twins after all.

But at least she now knew that she had been wrong about EJ cheating on her wirh Val. The blonde siding with Nadia during their argument made her realize that Val was only trying to help EJ out and their was no affair going on there.

Now, she had been walking around camp just trying to take in the fresh air before she rounded a cabin's corner and was met with EJ. "Nadia," he began, stepping towards her.

"No," she immediately said, holding up her hand as she tried to turn back around.

"Wai — Please, just wait!" EJ quickly exclaimed as he followed after her, not wanting to let her go so easily. "Can we just talk? Please?"

Nadia stopped walking and shut her eyes, releasing a sigh. She slowly turned back around, crossing her arms over her chest as she waited for him to say something.

"I made a phone call last night," he started to say, making her brows furrow a bit. "I'm taking some big steps to make sure the show is perfect."

She scoffed. "EJ, this isn't about the show," she told him, getting ready to turn away again.

He quickly went around her, which made her stop in place. "But a perfect show is how I stay in Salt Lake. A perfect show means that my dad sees that I'm great at something and he doesn't send me to leadership training." He then reached for her hand, which she reluctantly allowed him to take. "A perfect show is how I stay with you. If...you don't go to Duke, that is. Which is totally your decision!"

Nadia looked down at their intertwined hands, releasing a soft laugh after she took in his meaningful words. "I don't know what I'm doing about Duke. They said I have until end of the summer to make a decision, but...I didn't tell you because I didn't want to hurt you. I know how much Duke meant to you," she explained.

"I know, that's I figured but I totally just took it out on you 'cause you were taking it out on me," he replied, causing them both to laugh.

"How did you know about it, though? Marcus said he tell didn't you."

EJ shook his head. "He didn't. I...overheard a conversation that you had with him, but I didn't want to bring it up. I wanted to let you tell me first," he revealed, which made her eyebrows raise. "It's okay, though. We were both keeping secrets, but now we explained ourselves. We can go back to the way we were."

Nadia started to grin. "Can we?" she asked teasingly, which made EJ's face fall. "Kidding! I'm kidding!" she quickly added, making him sigh in relief. "So, what's on the agenda for today, Elton?"

EJ rolled his eyes at his real name. "Color War," he answered.

"Right. I forgot about that."

"Yeah. I'll make sure we're on the same team," he winked, causing her to laugh. "Come here." He pulled her closer and they shared a small kiss, the both of them smiling into it since they were happy about making up. "Okay, meet me at the amphitheater," he told her after pulling away, starting to walk off. "Oh, wait, was anyone looking for me?"