Till We Pretend

Chapter Seven

Three sets of eyes now look at Kyler in a similar what-the-hell-are-smoking kind of way. I press my hands to my temples. "I think you need to rest Kyler. Clearly the lack of sleep is making you delusional."

"I would agree with Ellie here." Julie adds with just the right amount of condescension.

"My name is Ella."

"Isn't that what I just said?"

If I definitely did not know that I couldn't face a lawsuit right now on top of being homeless I'd definitely take a swing at her.

"Behave Julie and Ella," he turned to me and unleashed the full force of his eyes on me. For a second, with his attention solely on me I was transported to being back there in the water with him, ready to spill my guts to him all over again. He should bottle this particular power of his and sell it,that's how good he is.

"Please, trust me. I know this sounds crazy and I know that I've caused enough trouble in your life as it is but please give me a chance to fix this okay?"

"It's my only choice right?" I roll my eyes at him and there's the barest hint of a smile on his face.

Note to self Ella, stay away from the Hollywood heart throb.

***

I leave Kyler and his team in the living room as they plan their next battle strategy. In my heart I know Kyler will look out for my best interest. Call me a fool but when he asked me to trust him, I did. There's no excuse for infidelity or for tricking someone into thinking you're available when you're not. No one will hold him accountable as much as they will me and that makes me so angry so I clean even more. By the time I'm done cursing the entire patriarchy, the kitchen is cleaner and possibly more sterilised than an operating room. I frown at my reflection on the island, suddenly feeling self conscious about how much of a mess I truly looked like. My hair was in desperate need of a brush and without even a hint of makeup on, I looked probably around twelve. My cheeks were flushed due to heat and I was sweaty in places I really shouldn't be because of how hard I'd gone at the floors.

Oh well, I should look after this house while I still can. The thought made me said and I returned to scrubbing the stovetops with even more vigour.

Between bouts of cleaning, I heard the crisis management cell that was Kyler Blackwell and his manage and publicist arguing about several things. I tried not to eavesdrop too much but occasionally when my name would pop up, I paid a little more attention since I hardly trusted Julie or Harrison to look out for my best interests.

Kyler would though, right?

I didn't want to wake up tomorrow with the title home wrecker permanently affixed to my name. I didn't want to start what was supposed to be the best year of high school only to be looked down upon by my peers. We're teenagers, the internet is basically our only religion. If something's been posted or tweeted or regrammed enough, then surely it must be true?

Wrong.

"Uh, I think the stove's clean enough."

His voice still gave me the chills and I hated it. I hated that I was still undeniably attracted to him and that just the smooth timbre of his voice made me light up inside. I took advantage of the fact that he couldn't see my face and willed the blush on my face to go away. He couldn't know that he still affected me like that.

He was a cheater and as a rule I tended to hate their guts so why wasn't I instantly repelled by him?

Tossing the sponge aside, I straightened my back and took off my rubber gloves. He had to be kicking himself right about now. He screwed things up with a Sports Illustrated cover model because of me and here I was in all my sweaty glory. I pushed a strand of hair that was stuck to my forehead because of said sweat and tried not to fidget under his scrutinised gaze. I didn't want or need to look good when he was there.