Irresistible Love

Chapter Four//Antagonist &Protagonist

~Elle Summerall~

"Shut up! I don't believe you," Nicole argued over the phone. I pushed myself back on my bed so that I was laying down and facing the white ceiling that needed some repainting. I rested my eyes as Nicole continued on. "You expect me to believe that Ethan draws really well? Why on earth would he be doing that?"

I freed my tired eyes open. "Ethan doesn't just draw, though. He sketches pictures of all the girls that were victimized by him. Every single one of them starting from Jewels Johnson all the way to the present."

The illustrations found their way back into my mind, and I pictured Ethan sitting at his desk, concentrating on making every physical facial feature precise with swift movements of his hand.

"That's gross. He's like freaking Jack from Titanic. He draws them nude?" Nicole whispered in a hushed tone.

Even though she could not see my physical actions, I rolled my eyes, preventing my annoyance from undoubtedly showing in my tone. "He doesn't draw nudes, Nicole. He's not that bad. Ethan actually portrays the girls very nicely." Even the girls that were not so beautiful or charming on the outside looked desirable in his sketches. He let their inner beauty show.

For instance, Olivia Jenkins was not quite appealing to the eye with her frizzy natural red hair and freckled-face, but she was a hell of a singer. In his sketch of her, Ethan made her a star, literally. He drew the brightest star I had ever seen and faded her face in it. It was the most lovely picture out of his illustrations.

"Are you going to use this against him? You could definitely use this as blackmail," Nicole suggested. I will admit that I considered using the newly found information against Ethan. If he ever attempted anything with me, I could have threatened him with his secret. But then I continued to ponder about it, and the guilt trip went rolling. If worse comes to worse, I finalized, I will only make use of this in desperate times.

"Maybe," I yawned, feeling the dusk of night envelope me in a desperately much-needed sleep. Listening to Ethan talk about Romeo and Juliet all afternoon eventually bored me to the point where I could not take being in the same room with him, as if I did not feel that way already. "Hey, I think I'll talk to you tomorrow. Do you want to come over and hang out? It's going to be Saturday anyway."

"Sure," Nicole agreed. "I think you are in need of a girls' day, and I can fulfill your requests."

Smiling, I laughed, bid my good-bye, and clicked the phone off. After turning off the only radiating light source in my room, which was my side table's lamp, I tucked myself in bed and fell into a sweet, sweet slumber.

~~~~~

Early Saturday afternoon consisted of "family bonding time" as my mother liked to call it. After my father abandoned us and left my mother to support for my younger sister and I, she noticed the decline in our relationship with one another. Mom decided to mend it by spending more time together, whether it was eating a meal or just sitting around in our pajamas watching television, like that specific 'noon.

"How's school, Amelia?" my mother asked the know-it-all ten year old. My mother's shoulder length black hair acted as curtains around her fair skin, smothering it's natural beauty. Her figure was thin and gaunt as she sat on the opposite side of the couch, and her stomach was so flat that it looked as though she had never popped out two babies. Mom did not look a day over twenty, which made me question why my father left her because it obviously was not due to her excessive good looks.

        "Good. We learned about the Solar System in school this week. Did you know that the sun is really a star?" She attempted to quiz us.

My mother, being the kindhearted person she was, acted like an uneducated woman around my sister to make her seem more intelligent. Bless her soul. "I didn't know that, sweetie. Wow! Paying for your school is really worth it if you are going to become this smart!" she praised. Her attention switched to me. "What about you, Elle? How's school?"