Three's Company

2.28 | A First Try at a Second Love

A First Try at a Second Love

destiny: [des-tuh-nee]; noun; the predetermined, usually inevitable or irresistible, course of events.

"Are you sure you're okay with this?"

The last thing Ethan wanted to do was make Nova feel uncomfortable by publicly dating him. She had made it clear that she did not want to be known as a homewrecker, but Ethan felt that she would be perfectly fine on that front; it was pretty much common knowledge that he had dumped Scarlet well before the weekend began.

And now it was Monday, almost a week after Ethan had ended his relationship with Scarlet, and he and Nova were going to school for the first time as a couple.

"I'm definitely okay with this." Nova replied, leaning over the center console and giving Ethan a quick kiss. "The only thing I'm worried about is your ex making a scene in front of the entire school."

"I can handle Scarlet, so don't worry about that." Ethan replied, unable to keep the smile off of his face. "You ready to go inside?"

"Of course!" Nova laughed, opening the passenger door and hopping out of Ethan's car. "And it's not like people are going to see us walking together and automatically assume we're dating or anything."

Ethan nodded his agreement as they opened the doors to the school.

"You're right. Unless I make it obvious."

He could see Nova blush slightly as he grabbed her hand in his, intertwining their fingers as they walked down the hallway. He could feel the eyes of his teammates and the other students on them, and the smile still wasn't wiped from his face.

He was with the right girl. Finally.

"Hey man, what's been going on? Besides the obvious." Caleb came up on Ethan's other side, dragging Sasha with him. "Congratulations, by the way."

"Thanks." Ethan and Nova answered in unison.

"How many times did I call this happening?" Caleb asked, turning to Sasha. "I told you he would end up with Nova, right?"

Sasha laughed.

"He did mention it a few times." She addressed Nova, "I think he was rooting for you guys."

"How could I not have been? You're way better than Scarlet."

"I'd have to agree." Ethan grinned, squeezing Nova's hand in his. "Far better."

"But thanks to your little breakup, Scarlet's been hanging around us." Caleb rolled his eyes, "And it's cool because she's hurting or whatever, but I didn't expect to be on clean-up duty for you, man."

Ethan laughed.

"Sorry about that. What's she been doing?"

"She came to watch your musical with us on Friday, so that was interesting." Sasha replied, "I'm not sure why she was alright with being a third wheel, or why she went to see the musical at all, but she did."

"Odd." Ethan muttered. "Well, we're heading to lockers. See you two in homeroom."

"See you."

"Sorry about the Scarlet talk." Ethan turned to Nova as Caleb and Sasha walked down a different hallway, "It's going to take a little while for everyone to get used to a change like that, you know?"

"I completely understand." Nova replied, smiling slightly as she opened her locker. "As long as you're fine with the change."

Ethan took her hand and spun her around to face him, pressing her against the locker in a display of PDA he didn't usually participate in.

"If I had it my way, this change would have happened a long time ago." He leaned down and kissed Nova, lingering slightly after pulling away. "You're all I want."

"And you're all I need."

<><><>

The ten minutes between third and fourth period were the ten minutes Nova usually utilized to use the bathroom.

The closest bathroom to her third period class was on the third floor in the back corner of the science wing, and she had to run to beat the bell. But she did it anyways, running into the bathroom after third period.

Upon arriving in the bathroom, she hardly managed to make it to a stall without seeing someone she had been dreading seeing all day.

"Hi, Nova."

Nova turned around slowly, her hand on the stall door, to find herself face-to-face with none other than Scarlet Levings.

"Hi Scarlet."

"Don't look at me like I'm going to murder you." Scarlet laughed, taking a single step closer to Nova. Anyone else who had been in the bathroom had cleared out, not wanting to be privy to one of Scarlet's outbursts.

"Well I assume you're at least going to yell."

Scarlet shook her head, her smile causing Nova to panic more than any other expression would have. She took another step towards Nova, getting so close that Nova could smell the scent of her lipstick.

"I'm not going to yell. I'm not going to get angry. I'm not going to give anyone the satisfaction of knowing that they get to me." She paused for a moment, "There are other ways to get even with someone."

"What? Get even?"

Scarlet nodded, a manic light appearing in her eyes.

"I don't take these things lightly, but I also know how to manipulate a situation. So let's just leave it at this: I've known Ethan for a very long time. I know who he's close to. I know what makes them tick. I know how to get under their skin. And ruining the lives of the people close to Ethan will ruin his just as much."

With those words ringing in Nova's ears, Scarlet smirked and left the bathroom, stalking out without so much as another sound.

Nova shook her head, clearing it of whatever Scarlet had wanted her to think.

Clear your head of it as well.

We'll get to that later.

A/N: And that's the end of Part Two! Part Three will be released shortly, so stay tuned for the final couple's story--it's my personal favorite.

-Katherine