The Marriage Contract [Completed]

seventeen

"Oomph, you're heavy," Ethan huffed as he placed me down on the sofa gently, despite his tone of voice. Ethan had just brought me to a clinic and I was told that I had a slight sprain.

"Obviously, i'm not a three year old," I countered as I tried to lift my foot to rest on the coffee table, but failed, rather miserably as I lost my balance and tumbled off to my side causing Ethan to let out a guffaw.

I rolled my eyes and huffed. "Its not even that funny," I bit out and sat myself upright. Ethan's chain of laughter lasted for quite awhile but once he was done, he walked over to me and picked me up once again. "What're you doing?" I frowned but he did not reply me and proceeded to carry me to the other side of the sofa which has a longer end.

"Thanks," I told him and was expecting another round of 'what did you say', but he just answered with a short "no problem" before walking off to the bedroom.

What's up with this guy nowadays? He's actually being kind of nice. Nice enough to make my heart flutter. I stopped my chain of thoughts with a shake of my head. "What the hell were you thinking?" I scolded myself harshly as I turned on the television, attempting to steer off thoughts of what my friends accused me of previously.

I felt the chair dip beside me and turned to see Ethan making himself comfortable on the sofa. "What's up with you and Xavier during break?" He questioned, his eyes fixed on the television. "Talking," I answered him in what seemed like a rather bored tone. "You call that talking?" He mocked as I felt his eyes on me. "Even if we were flirting, what can you do about it?" I questioned and kept my eyes on the television, though my attention was nowhere on it.

"Stay away from him," he warned and I threw a question to him, "what right do you have to ask me to stop what I am doing when you're doing it for the whole school to see with blondie on your lap?" I felt him take in a deep breath and just as I thought I had won the argument, I heard his teasing voice.

"Are you by any chance, jealous?" Ethan smirked and I turned to give him a 'are you kidding me?' look. "Stop trying to deny what is so obvious to see," he remarked as he inched closer to me, making me lean backwards in an effort to move away from him. I tried to get up from the sofa but Ethan's arms trapped me at my spot as he placed his hand on the armrest beside me.

My eyes widened as the distance between us closed. Do something Xael! Say something! The warning bells in my head sounded and I poked Ethan's side, catching him off guard before putting all the effort I could muster to get myself up and hopped to the bedroom, shutting the door behind me.

I sank down on the bed and placed a hand over my racing heart. "I was not nervous. Not nervous at all," I gave myself a small pep talk. "Its beating so fast because I just hopped to the room."

I laid my head down on the pillow and a minute or two later, my consciousness left me as I drifted off into dreamland.

*

My phone vibrated as a sms notification showed itself on my lock screen while I was doodling during Mathematics class.

Picking up my phone, I checked my message as discretely as possible and saw that it was Xavier texting me.

Are you free after school today? The message read.

Yep, why? I replied him.

Can you spare me an hour or two? I kinda need your help with history. Xavier asked.

Sure, but its gonna be $100 per hour. I typed.

:o there's no friend discount? Another message from Xavier came within seconds.

I laughed silently to myself. Is he that gullible?

I'm joking:p. I'll meet you at the carpark after school? I replied.

Thank god. Sure! Thanks:) Came Xavier's reply.

The rest of the day flew by in a breeze. Most probably due to me daydreaming in class.

"I'll meet you guys tomorrow. I'm meeting Xavier to help him with History," I told my friends who were waiting at my locker. They both nodded before Zoey warned me not to fall for him and bided me goodbye.

Xavier was waiting by his car when I reached. I limped over to him before apologizing for taking longer than usual. "Its okay, you're injured," he said kindly and helped me into the car. "Can we study at your house?" Xavier asked as he started up the car. "Its not exactly a good idea," I tried to say but Xavier showed me his puppy eyes.

Did I tell you that puppy eyes is my weakness? No matter age or gender. I sighed before calling Ethan. "Hold on," I told Xavier as I waited for the call to get through.

"Hey dad," I said cheerily when Ethan picked up, hoping that he could catch the hint. "What?" Ethan sounded bewildered. "I'm having a friend over for awhile, so don't come home so early," I told him. "Fine, daughter," Ethan replied the last part rather sarcastically and I held in the urge to roll my eyes. "Thanks dad." And with that, I ended the call.

"Okay, but only for 2 hours," I told Xavier and he gave a little fist pump and started driving to my apartment.

*

"Wow, the interior..." Xavier said in awe as I led him into the apartment. "Let's study on the dining table," I told him, not wanting him to explore the house further in case Ethan left his stuff lying around. "Sure," Xavier answered and took a seat on one of the chairs and I sat opposite him.

"Okay, so what do you need help with?" I asked him as I took out my History notes. Xavier pointed at some stuff on my notebook and I tried my best to explain it to him.

After an hour of studying, I decided to take a short break and got up. "Do you want anything to drink?" I asked him as I made my way to the kitchen. "Anything's fine," he replied and I took two cans of coke from the fridge before returning to our studying spot.

"Thanks," Xavier thanked me when I handed him the drink. "Do you stay here with your family?" Xavier asked curiously and I paused for a moment. "Only sometimes," I tried to give as vague an answer as I could. Xavier nodded his head in understanding and proceeded to ask me about other doubts he had.

"Uh...i think you need to go, my dad's kinda protective," I told Xavier, as I looked at the time. We had exceeded the agreed two hours by an hour.

"Okay, thanks for today," Xavier said as I sent him to the elevator. "You're welcome. See you in school," I told him, praying that he wouldn't bump into Ethan on the way out.

After Xavier left, I heaved a sigh of relief and headed back into the apartment and a few minutes later, the front door of the apartment opened.

"So the friend of yours who came over is Xavier, huh," Ethan commented as he stepped into the living room. My eyes widened when I heard that.

Oh god. Did they...