The Darkest Eternities

XV. Anger and Silence

I punched him. I punched him in the face.

Oh my God! I had thought, panicking even more as the boy cupped his nose with his hands. He was crying by then, practically shrieking.

Still in a daze,I rushed out of the closet meeting everyone else outside. They all stared at me. Their cheeky smiles turned to frowns as they saw the nosebleeding boy in the closet.

I ran out of there as fast as possible.

And that was the last time I would ever see most of them again except for Dee. We were moving again.

The day we were supposed to move Dee came over to my house. He had a black eye. I felt so sorry for what I had done to him. He said it was alright. I offered him lemonade and we hung out outside.

I had my first kiss then. It happened outside, under a tree with Dee, the same boy I had punched just two days before.

"So, are you going?" Connor's baritone voice snapped me back to reality as I remembered my first kiss.

"Huh?"

"The trip? You're going, right?" I gave him a quick nod. "That's good. Apparently last year's trip with the previous class was great and the teachers were hardly there, just students and booze." He looked very excited. I was too but for different reasons.

I looked forward to seeing Rome, the colosseum, St . Peter's Basilica, and the Pantheon. I had only seen them online and I really wanted to be there in person, to touch the aged stones of The Colosseum and to take in the beauty and wonder of the great city.

"We're here,"Connor said as the car pulled over at the front of my house.I thanked him for the ride. "No problem."

"Bye, see you later. We should definitely hang out sometime,"I said as I exited the car. I gave him a quick wave before advancing up the path to my house. He waved back.

"Wait! I need to ask you something," Connor's voice startled me as I I fumbled with my keys trying to find the house keys. "I need to ask you something...."

I turned to him. He had an anxious expression on his face. He seemed unsure about what he was going to say.

"Will you go out with me?"He suddenly spat out as a familiar Bentley pulled up behind Connor's car. It was Ivan. It must have been five o'clock or quite a few minutes to five.

"Ummh...what?"

Will you go out with me?" Connor was asking me to go out with him. He had me on the spot.

I stared at the fast-approaching Ivan then at Connor who was anxiously awaiting my answer. An awkward situation was cooking up.

This was a first for me, having a...complicated relationship with someone then someone else asking me out. I didn't know what to say. I only considered him a friend, nothing more.

"I can't, "I said quickly. He stared at me. "It's complicated. I think of you as a friend..."

That came out horribly. Way to go, Cara.

I thought he would say something but he didn't not. His attention was trained on the man that was swiftly walking up to us.

His expression did a complete one-eighty as recognition dawned on his face. He stared only at Ivan who was just a few feet away.

It was now officially awkward.

Ivan's face was flushed with what I could only identify as anger. That anger was not directed at me but at Connor. His fists were clenched and it looked like he was about to punch Connor or worse.

He had white knuckles from clenching his fists too hard.

"Mr.Vasiliev..."said Connor, chuckling nervously. He stared at Ivan as if he had seen a ghost.

Wait a minute. They know each other?

"Ummh...Ivan, this is Connor. Connor this is Iv-"

Ivan finally spoke, cutting me off. "Leave. Now." He said in a commanding voice. His voice was deeper than usually, powerfully directed at the teenage boy.

Connor did not need to be told twice. In a flash he was off, nearly tripping as he ran down the path.

"Why did you do that?" I question in a demanding tone, glaring at him. He remained silent, refusing to answer my question. Something had shifted in him. I could see it in his eyes.

Ivan's eyes were darker than ever, practically pools of obsidian. I looked into the dark pools, searching for him -the part of him that I knew. I only saw anger. I only heard silence.

"I-I have to go."

With that, he left.