After moving to a small town for a semester and a half, Camilla Adams is relived about how great the new place and school seem to be, and how nice some people were.
But then she notices the way students treat one particular quiet guy, some horribly...
I hear a small gasp of surprise, an intake of air, and realize a millisecond later that it's me. Corey's jaw had dropped beside me, his eyes wide as we both stared at Ethan.
A not quite happy Ethan.
There's bewilderment in his eyes, his posture rigid as he scowled at us. And for a minute, he's just standing there, not sure what to do. And that's when I get up and quickly make my way to him, only for Corey to stop me five feet away from reaching him and walks a few steps ahead himself, but that's like a snap of fingers for Ethan, because he quickly gets into his vehicle and proceeds to put the key in the ignition.
"Ethan, wait!" I call but to no avail, Ethan is already driving away, and I can hear Corey cursing profanities under his breath and all I'm feeling is that I'm lost. I'm lost and I don't know what to do.
"I shouldn't have kept it from him, I should have told him," I whisper, feeling the tears collecting in my eyes as my hands trembled.
I know I didn't do anything wrong, and that I shouldn't cry, but the hurt in his grey eyes when he looked at me made me feel like I had done everything that could be done wrong. There are hands grabbing my shoulders, and Corey's face comes into my line of vision.
"Camilla, listen to me, I'll follow him and explain everything, just go inside and I promise everything will turn out okay." Corey's voice is earnest, his grip on my shoulders firm. And I want to say no, I want to say no to getting inside while Ethan is outside driving at this late hour, I want to say no to getting inside while I could follow him instead and tell him everything. Tell him sorry for hiding something from him that's too stupid to be even kept hidden.
But I realize I have no choice. I don't have a car, Dad is coming soon, and I don't think Ethan would be thrilled if he saw me with Corey in the same car right now. So I just nod, and that's all it takes for Corey to sprint to his car and drive in the same direction Ethan had taken a couple minutes ago.
The tears hadn't fallen down, and I don't let them as I run my hands through my hair to get it out of my face, plopping back down on the step that was occupied by Corey and me before everything went down.
I look back at the starry sky, and all I can do is hope.
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Ethan's foot presses a little harder on the gas pedal when he sees Mr. Anderson's Sedan following him in the rearview mirror, knowing exactly who's behind the wheel.
But he can't think of any way to lose him due to the empty highway they're taking, so he just keeps driving to his destination, glancing– or more like, glaring, at the Sedan every few minutes to see it was keeping up with him.
Ethan didn't want to jump to any assumptions, even though his mind was whirling with a lot of them after he saw his former best friend at his girlfriend's house at 11 pm.
He knew Camilla would never cheat on him, especially not with his former best friend. But he couldn't possibly think of any reason for Corey to be at her house at this late hour. Corey and Camilla talked, he knew that. They were on good terms. But Ethan didn't know it was to the point they started giving each other friendly visits an hour short of midnight.
And what most infuriated him, that they were sitting outside and looking cozy on that single step, probably not to bother a sleeping Mr. Adams, who, Ethan was sure, wouldn't have let his only daughter alone with a guy, who's not even her boyfriend, behind a closed door and out of his sight.
Ethan needed explanations, and he needed them from Camilla, not from the one who was following him currently. Because god only knew he wouldn't stop himself from punching him in the face if he said one word to him.
He knew he shouldn't have fled after he saw them at Camilla's house, and should have stayed and demanded answers, but seeing them together, and how Corey had stopped Camilla from approaching him, like he was some savage animal who was waiting to jump on his prey from the smallest fraction of movement, he just couldn't stand it and found himself mounting his truck and driving away.
Slowing to a stop to the side of the road after reaching his destination, he climbed out and shut the truck's door behind him, before making his way to the soft whitish sand, watching the Sedan from the corner of his eye as it parked, a figure getting out of it and following him.
Ethan stopped after a couple decent strides, turning around to face Corey. He wants to follow him? So be it, he wouldn't worry about how many punches he would throw. He brought it to himself.
"Ethan, you have to hear me out." Corey began, breathing heavily. And Ethan scoffed, he wanted to say "the last time I checked, I couldn't hear anything. You know, like a deaf person? Have you met one of those yet? Never mind, you will in no time, there's one in front of you, after all."
But he didn't have to, he could tell it was written all over his face when Corey flinched, before sighing and starting over. "Fine. I asked Camilla to help me with making you forgive me, okay? And I guess it was her mentioning me that made you upset tonight. But it's not her fault, she just wanted to help make things better. I was the one that called her, I was the one who asked her if I could come even though she was alone at home."
Ethan froze. And for a minute he thought back to the empty driveway of Camilla's house. His vehicle had been the only one parked there. And apart from the Sedan he noticed when he drove passed after he left, there was no sight of Mr. Adams' car.
Camilla had lied to him. He had hurt her to the point he made her make up an excuse so she could get away from him. She just wanted to help. And what did he do, he dismissed her and hurt her. And now she was probably at home worrying and guilt tripping herself that this was all her fault.
But Corey hadn't noticed the gears shifting in his head, and he continued talking. His face, his eyes, looked pleading, exasperated, but Ethan could tell his words had a kind of power behind them.
"I'm sorry, okay. I'm fucking sorry. I'm sorry for going to your girlfriend's house late at night behind your back. I'm sorry I asked her to do things for me that she didn't have to. I'm sorry for getting her into all this mess. But most of all, I'm sorry I didn't ask for your part of the story a year ago. I should have known what Penelope was trying to do. But I didn't, and I'm sorry."
The waves of the ocean crashed against the shore as Corey's arms fell to his sides limply, taking in a deep refreshing breath of the salty air like a mountain had been removed from his chest.
