Freed

23

Caleb scoffed, setting his glass of water down. "You don't have brains, Ethan, who's lying to you?"

Ethan offered him his middle finger, before he went back to ignoring us all as his attention returned to his phone. I went back to watching our surroundings, my focus shifting from the lake beyond, back to the people scattered across the balcony of the restaurant.

My attention shot over to the doors when they opened again and a group of girls who looked around Sophia's age came out. The one who led the group had her eyes glued to her phone as she walked, a small smile lining her face.

I did a double take, not believing my eyes.

Amina looked up when she sensed eyes on her. Her dark gaze scanned the balcony until it landed on me. She froze.

Ethan was the first one who noticed my shocked expression. He twisted around in his seat and followed my line of sight. When he saw who I was staring at, a groan escaped his lips and he turned back around.

Everyone noticed his reaction and also spotted the exact person I had. All conversations halted as Amina started walking towards us, her expression confused. Her stare lingered on Elijah, and I suddenly felt uncomfortable when I realized the situation we were about to land in.

Kaiden had tensed next to me, his fingers clenching around his glass, but Elijah remained calm, one arm thrown over the back of my chair while he lazily watched Amina stroll towards us.

"Izzy," she greeted me first, smiling. It was clearly forced. "You look like you're doing better."

I ignored her.

Ethan scoffed. "Yeah, no thanks to you, psycho."

Caleb choked on a laugh, but when Amina's eyes jumped to him he quickly covered it up with a cough, picking up his glass to bring it to his lips.

"Caleb," she said next, her eyes flicking over him. "You left the hospital?"

"Round of applause for those observation skills," Ethan mocked. "It's not like he's sitting right here or anything?"

Elijah chuckled, but I was absolutely frozen as I took in Amina.

"Ethan," Amina bit out, her voice dripping with fake sweetness as she finally acknowledged him. "You're as nice as always, I see."

He winked at her. "You know it, baby."

Every word was dripping with sarcasm, and I knew he was trying to rile her up.

She forced a smile back, before her eyes drifted over to Kaiden who looked like this was the last place he wanted to be. Amina opened her mouth to speak, but Ethan, once again, interrupted.

"Nuh-uh," he clicked his tongue. "I wouldn't do that unless you wanna embarrass yourself even more."

I wasn't sure why Amina was doing this to herself. He wasn't going to stop because it was clear that his one goal was to rip apart her self-esteem. But she didn't seem to care at all.

Amina ignored Ethan, but decided to listen to his advice. He'd been right. Kaiden didn't seem happy at all.

Amina held Elijah's gaze and I shifted uncomfortably in my seat. My brother seemed unfazed by her presence.