Saving Melanie Deen

Chapter 24

I stared at him, confused.
"What...what business?" I managed to say.

He groaned, swearing under his breath."What do you think?" He asked, a pained look in his eyes. It was as if it physically pained him to say the truth. Like it would rip a part of his him out if he told me the truth. I knew that look. That was the look Meg gave me when we met. She couldn't find the right words to say to me. After all, my father was killed because of working for her father.

I ripped myself from my thoughts and took a look around, immediately noticing what I didn't notice at first. Rectangular packages, each one full of a white powder-like substance, were all stacked in a huge pile on a table in the corner of the billiard-room. Drugs.

My eyes raced from the packages to Ethan, at lightning speed. My heart started beating out of my chest and I just couldn't seem to find the words to say. There goes another one of those sharp pains in my chest.

"You're a drug dealer" I accused. All emotion was suddenly stripped from me, once the words escape my mouth. He nodded, slowly. Averting my stare, I bit down on my tongue. I couldn't just let myself bawl my eyes out over this. It really wasn't worth it.

He reached for me but I flinched and suddenly, the realization hit me like a truck. The clues were there all along. I was just too dumb to notice."How did I not catch on...earlier" I shook my head, eyes fixated on the floor."The huge house, the warehouse, the shady men with guns, Nick being framed for drugs...the guy in the grocery store knowing who's daughter I am..." I let my thoughts wander, out loud.

"Mel-" He touched my arm and my furious eyes snapped to him, burning through his sad ones.

"No" I spat out, not even bothering to hide my anger. Even if in reality, it wasn't just anger. I was hurt. Willwood High's stupid, wannabe-gangster, played me. How stupid of me to fall for it.

"Melanie, it isn't like that" He tried again, placing a cold hand on my shoulder. I shrugged it off, resisting a shiver from the sudden contact with him. He felt cold now. Not like before.

"What is it like then?" I stared into his regretful green eyes. A side of me wanted to tell him, that it was okay. But the other side of me...wanted nothing to do with him anymore. Drugs were pure evil to me. Drugs ruined my life before I was even born. I despised anything associated with them. And if Ethan was one of those things, so be it. I wouldn't let drugs ruin my life again. Not now...not when I'm finally free.

He struggled to answer my question, helplessly staring into my eyes. I nodded, a sad smile on my face. He didn't have to explain anything, everything was crystal clear."You don't have to explain anything" I shrugged, a tear escaping my eye.

He shook his head, his eyes following the tear slipping down my cheek."I do. I just can't right now...please, just trust me" He begged. I turned around and walked away from him, disappearing into the crowds of God only knows what kind of people.

Ethan's beautiful house suddenly turned dark and grey in my eyes. It lost its spark. Now I just saw it as a huge amount of dirty cash. Cash earned through people's suffering, weakness, and lack of willpower.

I stomped my way up the stairs, regretting every single moment I spent with Ethan Summers. I let my guard down. I let him get into my head. I let him get into my stupid heart. And there's that annoying sharp pain in my chest again.

I entered the room I slept in for so long, feeling my heart clench at the scene in front of me. "Welcome, Home"  balloons were all over the room, making it a whole lot harder to fuel my anger for Ethan. But my heart sank as soon as I realized that this was all just a cheap distraction. I made my way through the balloons, cursing the day I met him.