WINDOWS ⋮ TATBILB

THIRTEEN

When he saw he was losing Thea, he grabbed her hand to pull her attention back to him.

"It's true. When the cops broke up the party, remember how I'd taken her home? As I was driving back, she kept mumbling about how she lost 'it,' whatever 'it' was. I asked her, and she said it was your letter to Josh."

"So she did read it!" Thea cried out.

"Hey, I didn't say she was completely innocent, just that it wasn't her that leaked the letter," Ethan pointed out.

Thea opened her mouth to speak, but stopped to let her friend continue.

"She said that she'd found it when you dropped it sometime when you guys were talking, and she picked it up and read it. And she might or might not have made an extra copy as leverage."

"Are you effing kidding me right now?"

"Wait, let me finish. She knew afterwards what she was doing was wrong, and planned on returning it or throwing it away. But then at some point, she lost it, and she was got scared. She's kind of scared of you, you know."

"Yeah, whatever."

"No, seriously. She respects you and your opinion more than you think."

Thea looked down at her hands, still grasping Ethan's. She'd never found him to be dishonest at any point in their friendship, unless it was for some sort of surprise. So why shouldn't she trust him now?

"Why couldn't she have said that herself?"

"You probably would've slammed the door in her face before she even got a word out. And, as stated above, she's scared of you."

"Don't you mean 'before?' Not above."

"Well in a story, it's written from up to down."

"But we're not in a story, Ethan."

"Eh, sorry. Improper wording. Point is, don't hold this grudge for so long. Clear the air with her when you can, okay?"

She shrugged. "Sure."

"Love ya, Thea."

"I love you too, stupid," she gave him a half-smile.

He inhaled sharply, "How are you doing? Anyone contact you since the whole-"

"If you're trying to ask about Josh, no. He's called me a couple times and that's about it," Thea shrugged.

"And you didn't answer them?"

"I'm seeing him sometime tonight anyway because of New Year's."

It was true, Josh and his parents had confirmed long ago that they'd come to her house for a New Year's party. She hoped secretly that their family would not learn about what happened at school.

"You like him, Thea. A lot. And now he knows. So don't be awkward with him, and you'll make it through the night. Call me if you need anything, James and I are gonna break you out."

"Shit! You guys got together?"

"This is what you miss when you close off everyone for a week."

"It's been a week. But I'm so happy for you," she squeezed his hand tightly. "I'll let you know if I need an escape plan."

As they smiled at each other, she heard the doorbell ring again.