Game Theory × NH

102 | nobelium

× Mercury

The moment he told me who he was, it all came back to me. That game last year, and then again over a month ago in the grocery store...

Ethan Vendor was Katie Vendor's cousin, or in other words, the referee who called Katie's move against me last year fair game, resulting in not only a lost game for UCLA, but Katie getting away with purposely sabotaging my future career.

The only time I ever saw Ethan was at that game, the beach, and the grocery store, each time was a short encounter so it didn't come to a surprise that I didn't recognize him right away. But now that he was standing in the doorway of my room, I remembered clear as day.

"Why are you here?" I asked him.

"I need to talk to you," he responded desperately. He made a move to step into the room, but Jamie was right there to block his path.

"Whatever you have to say, I don't want to hear it," I sneered. "What happened last year was wrong and you know it. But it's in the past. I've moved on."

Ethan looked Jamie up and down, probably determining if he was able to take her out, but from the death glare she was giving him, I was surprised he didn't just drop dead.

"This isn't about that game," he explained, looking back at me - pleading for me to let him clarify. "It's something else, something that's been eating me alive. I'm in London for a scholar opportunity and I couldn't pass up the chance to talk to you. I need to talk to you."

"If it's not about the game, then you can leave," I advised.

"It's about your parents."

My heart went cold.

The guy had no right to be talking to me about my parents. He didn't know them. He didn't know anything about them or me. And the simple fact that you would dare utter anything about them made my blood boil.

I glared at him. "What about my parents?"

"I know they died in a house fire," Ethan clarified, taking another step toward me. "And that-"

I didn't give him the chance to continue before I was on my feet, Jamie quickly coming to my side. "Lynn, you need to stay off your ankle," she advised, her hand wrapping around my bicep, trying her damnedest to get me back on the bed, but I was too determined to budge. "The doctor said-"

"How do you know that?" I demanded from Ethan, shrugging off Jamie's grip. "How do you know they were killed in a fire?"

Ethan looked between me and Jamie anxiously. I noticed that he kept playing with his fingers and messing with his hair and I wondered if he had ADHD or some kind of nervous tick.

"Do you think we can talk about this alone?" he finally asked.

"Seriously, Lynn," Jamie stressed. "You need to sit down."

"Ethan, I swear to God I'll call campus police if you don't tell me what you came to say."

"Okay, okay," he said, holding his hands up in surrender. "I know your parents were in a house fire because I was the one who started it."

The moment the words were out of his mouth, Jamie removed her hands from me, like she too couldn't believe what he just said. I tried desperately to connect the dots, the sparks in my brain trying everything they got to understand, but instead just causing a short circuit.