One Who Flees - A Modern Cinderella Story

Chapter 16 - My Return to So-called Reality

Chapter 16 – My Return to So-called Normality

                Lying in bed next to Ethan that night after another painful evening with Tyler, my mind was racing. My heart was pounding just feeling the warmth of his body beside me. I tried to stop thinking about him but it wasn’t working. Each time I adjusted my position his arm would tighten around my shoulders pulling me closer to him. It wasn’t helping.

                I barely slept a wink all night, my mind just wouldn’t shut off. I watched the minutes ticking by until soon enough it was time to get up and deal with Tyler again. I gave Ethan a nudge with my elbow but he didn’t wake up so I decided to get up and let him sleep.

“Someone looks tired.” Tyler commented as I made my way out to the kitchen. “Have an eventful night?” I grimaced and a cold shiver ran through me.

“None of your business.” I snapped. It probably wasn’t the best reaction I could have given. It really implied everything I didn’t wanted it to imply and Tyler didn’t miss it. Just at the moment Ethan came out to join us and Tyler gave him a high five.

“Good for you dude.” Tyler smirked at me as he said this. Ethan couldn’t have looked more confused if he tried. He looked over at me for explanation but I just shook my head in a way that said ‘you don’t want to know.’ I ignored him as best I could as I made myself what had to be the world’s largest cup of coffee. After the night I’d had I would have to spend all day running on caffeine but at least I could relax a little knowing that Tyler would be gone by the end of the day. Carla had happily agreed to have me at the studio for the day both taking classes and helping her teach the little ones. She said I was there to help her but frankly I think she just wanted some gossip. And I was going to do my best to keep that from her.

A hot shower really helped wake me up. I wanted to get out as quickly as I could but I didn’t feel like that was fair to Ethan. He hated his brother as much, if not more, than I did and I had stuck him with Tyler all of yesterday and I was doing the same today. I only felt guilty for a fraction of a second though because the moment I came out of the bathroom I got a dirty look from Tyler. He very quickly got punched on the arm by Ethan, which I was pleased to see.

“You’ll be gone by the time I get back Tyler,” I grinned adding a silent ‘thank god’ in my head, “I hope you got what you wanted out of this little trip.” I smirked a little as I grabbed my bag from the back of the chair. “I’m so sorry that we didn’t get to spend more time together.” The sarcasm dripped from my voice and there was no way he could have missed it.

“I know it was such a shame.” The sarcasm in his voice was as obvious as mine. I could feel awkwardness emanating from Ethan who was stood just behind me. I pulled a quick face at Tyler before turning to Ethan. I pulled him to the side so Tyler couldn’t hear what I was saying.

“I’ll come back here to get my stuff before I go home tonight. My last class finishes at 4 so Tyler had better be gone by then because there is no way we could explain that. Plus Madison is going to be over at Karen’s tonight to see me.” I rolled my eyes and gave him a quick kiss before hurrying out of the door and down to the studio.

The moment I walked through the door I realised something was going on. I ran upstairs where I saw Carla amongst a large crowd of people staring avidly through a window into one of the studios. I gently pushed my way through the crowd until I found myself beside Carla.

“What’s going on?” I asked quietly. She had her excited look plastered over her face and whatever it was, was obviously so big that it had rendered her speechless so she just pointed. There were some taller girls in front of me so I had to get up on tiptoe to be able to see through the window. When I saw who was in there I was none the wiser. It was a girl who was probably a little bit older than me. She was tall, lightly tanned and very blonde. She wasn’t dancing particularly well so I couldn’t comprehend what had turned Carla into a ogling zombie. I nudged her side gently and finally she dragged her eyes away from the girl and looked at me. “Who is she?” I whispered. I don’ t think could have looked more shocked if she tried. She grabbed me by the wrist and pulled me to one side.