Chapter 62

Seeing Mars pop his head from Olivia’s room shocked me to say the very least. I recoiled from the door, drawing my hand to my chest and stared back at him with wide eyes.

“What?” I couldn’t form a coherent sentence. My mouth opened and closed with a thousand unasked questions trying to come out all at once. So, I stared.

Mars rose an eyebrow, then asked if I was hurt or needed any immediate help.

I shook my head no.

“Then, if you don’t mind, we will continue where we left off.” His tone was cocky, so self assured. I blinked back at him, and just as he was about to close the door he added, “Don’t worry, we’ll try to be quieter.”

I turned away from the door and scurried back into my bedroom. The first thing I did was start playing music in a CD player to try and drown out any lingering noises coming from the couple. I laid back in my bed, staring up at the ceiling as I tried to sort out my thoughts.

On one hand, I felt bad for Ethan. He put all this time and effort into getting Olivia out of her engagement to Andrew, and she cheats on him the first chance she gets! It was disgusting and I could not believe her actions. From what I’d seen of her, it was so completely out of character.

On the other hand, I couldn’t help but be a little happy that she was with Mars now. Or that she at least didn’t want Ethan that badly if she wanted Mars, too. Maybe her and Ethan were never that serious and there was a chance Ethan’s feelings for me could return.

If there were any feelings for me to begin with.

I laid there all night. I couldn’t sleep. I couldn’t figure out what it was that I wanted to do. Should I tell Ethan? Should I confront Olivia?

I debated with myself until the sun came up.

The next morning, I went down for breakfast. Mars was the only one sitting at the table.

“Where’s Ethan and Olivia?” I asked. There was no hiding the attitude in my voice.

Mars looked up at me with a mouthful of cereal. Through his food he said, “Library.”

I nodded my head, turned on my heel, and marched towards the library. Seeing Mars there at the table, acting like he owned the house, I decided that I needed to tell Ethan everything and get it all off my chest. He deserved to know.

When I got to the library, the door was wide open and Ethan and Olivia were talking. They didn’t notice me yet, so I tried to listen.

“Ava is - Well she’s,” Olivia was talking about me again.

I cleared my throat and stepped into the room. I wanted her to know I was listening. Ethan’s face lit up when he saw me; Olivia’s fell. She looked concerned, but she didn’t say anything.

“Ethan, can I talk to you?” I asked with a slight quiver in my voice. I wanted to sound more sure than I did, I didn’t want to come off so scared.

Ethan nodded at me, “Of course, come in.”

Olivia stayed by us, watching me with a strange expression. I looked between her and Ethan, neither of them said anything as they waited for me to begin.

“I wanted to talk to you privately,” I clarified, shooting Olivia a meaningful glance. I didn’t want to be mean to her, or betray her. Ethan deserved to know the truth, though. He had to. I didn’t know why I was so angry at her.

I have been so anger all the time recently. It had been getting worse the more time I spent without Ethan’s company - without Ethan’s touch.

Olivia put her hands up, revealing her palms, and establishing that she was willing to leave us to our conversation. She walked out of the room and it was just Ethan and I staring at each other.

After a few moments of silence, I started speaking.

“Look, Ethan,” I took a deep breath, “I have some bad news and I don’t want to hurt you, but I think you deserve to know.”

I can practically see the gears in Ethan’s mind running at a million miles an hour. He shifted his gaze between me and the door to the library, like he was deciding if he’d be better off closing it or not. He didn’t move, though, just watched me.

He watched me like I was an animal, scared and vulnerable, ready to bolt at any sudden movement. I guess, in a way, that’s what I was.

It took me a few minutes, but I gathered the courage to spill the news that had been weighing on my mind all night.

“Last night,” I said carefully, reading his face as I talked, “I heard some odd noises coming from Olivia’s room. They were really loud and I couldn’t sleep so I went over to ask her if she was okay and to please quiet down. I thought it was you two.”

Ethan’s eyebrows rose, his mouth hung open. Of course, he knew he wasn’t there and the news was shocking to him.

“But Mars was the one who opened the door; he was half-naked, zipping up his pants.” I continued, voice shaking. I felt bad being the one to tell him, but it didn’t seem like Olivia was going to do it.

“Okay,” Ethan nodded his head, bowing his head to look into my eyes. He was looking for something in them, I wasn’t sure what.

“And Olivia was on the bed completely naked and they were…” I trailed off. Ethan quirkled his head to the side waiting for me to continue. “They slept together last night.”

Ethan watched me with a blank expression. His face went slack and he didn’t say anything. I wanted him to be sad, confused, maybe even a little angry, but he didn’t look like he was feeling much of anything.

“So?” He asked, and I couldn’t conceal the baffled look on my face.

I took a step away from him and shook my head.

“I just thought you would want to know.” I grumbled and left the library. I walked past Olivia and Mars, now in the living room, and bolted out the front door.

I needed to be away from everyone in that house. Why didn’t Ethan care? Would he stay with her even after she cheated on him? What sort of relationship did they have?

The questions pricked at my brain, sharp and unyielding.

I walked up the sidewalk, just aimlessly wandering away from the lot of them. I walked far enough to see the brick walls of the children’s home up ahead.

That’s what I decided I would do: I’d play with the children and spend time with people who valued my company.

I entered the yard and went to the playground in the backyard of the school.

Baron was overseeing a game of basketball with the entire group of kids, splitting them up and advising them to pick team leaders. I watched them for a few moments, admiring the gentle way he talked to the children and how the kids looked up at him with admiration.

Baron happened to glance up and see me. A giant smile broke out across his face, and my expression mimicked him.

He held up a hand, waving me over, and for a moment-a split second-I thought that maybe Baron was the one I needed after all.