E X P O S E D
C H A P T E R T H R E E
ETHAN didn't know much about bipolar, other than that there were mood swings involved, not to mention anxiety and depression. Perhaps that explained her strange antics while they had texted- she never held back her upset, angry or joyful moods that often switched in a single conversation. Maybe that was why she was obsessed with Grayson one day, and then Ethan the next day.
"I hope you know that you being bipolar doesn't change anything for me. I still care about you, so much more than I can explain," Ethan assured her, stroking her bare arm. She looked up at him, her dark eyes filled with disbelief. Ethan knew why she had looked at him that way.
"You care about me?" Her voice had come out soft, reaching merely a whisper.
"I care about you so much, Andrea."
The girl gulped, obviously not knowing how to react. "No one's ever said that to me. I mean, my sister cares about me, I know that, but she never says it."
"I find that hard to believe," Ethan said, pulling her closer to him. His eyes set on the amusement park that radiated life and energy. He could hear the screams of those on the roller coaster and the music from all the attractions in Pacific Park. "What do you think of amusement parks?"
"Uh-"
Before Andrea could give a reply, Ethan had grabbed her hand and began to drag her towards the pier, not that she minded. Pacific Park had to have been on everyone's bucket lists- it was a dream for many, including Andrea despite her not being a fan of amusement parks, to visit the famously colourful ferris wheel and rides.
Andrea felt an overwhelming excitement bubble up inside her as soon as she entered the park with Ethan.
"Where to first?" he asked, as if she knew.
"Surprise me," she smiled. Straight away Ethan began to lead her towards the West Coaster- his words were 'to get the blood flowing'.
It had seemed like years since Andrea had gone on a roller coaster, and felt the exhilaration and adrenaline rush through her veins. She never realised how much she longed for it until she had gotten in that cart and screamed at the top of her lungs as it whizzed around the park.
After it was over and the pair had sat on a bench until they felt their legs again, Ethan's fingers intertwined with Andrea's and he led her to the nearest game stand. The game was basketball, and Ethan seemed to have practise- he scored each of his three shots and handed Andrea a blue, stuffed giraffe. Her smile was more breathtaking than anything he had ever seen, and suddenly his mission became to spoil her with all of the prizes he could win.
He bought her cotton candy the size of her head that was gone in less than five minutes, then moved onto bumper cars and apparently knocked a kid's tooth out, which had them sprinting to the other side of the park and away from the parents. With fits of giggles and tears, they clutched their stomachs that ached from laughter. Andrea never let go of her blue giraffe, whom she had named Grant after the boy who he had been won by.
Ethan and Andrea stumbled upon a shooting game, and the girl squealed with excitement.
"I've always wanted to try this, but my mom never let me. She said it was too violent," Andrea complained, her face scrunched into doubt. She was handed the gun loaded with three shots. The first shot didn't quite hit the target, which was a steel can with a red dot on it. In fact, it was so far from hitting it, that no one was really sure where the bullet went.
"Ethan, can you help me?" Andrea asked, laughing off the humiliation.
"Of course," he replied. Without hesitation, he wrapped his arms around Andrea from behind, set his hands on top of hers on the gun and helped her aim steadily. This time, the bullet had hit the can, and Andrea cheered before realising it was perhaps a bad idea to be waving a gun around, fake or not. She had one more shot which she took rather confidently and hit the target, quickly setting the gun down and squealing and giggling, like she was ten years younger than what she actually was.
What Ethan would never know is that Andrea had played shooting games millions of times before. All she had wanted was to feel Ethan's toned body against her's again, feel his warmth radiate to her and when she did, it had been indescribably magnificent.
Andrea picked a pink stuffed monkey for Ethan, so that it could be Grant's best friend.
"God, I feel like a kid again," Andrea laughed, and Ethan smiled, his body filling up with joy at the sight of such a beautiful, positive Andrea. "You gotta name it," she said, referring to the stuffed toy in Ethan's hands.
"Her name's Andrea," Ethan smiled.
"I have to change Grant to Ethan then."
"Ethan the giraffe sounds silly though. Grant the giraffe doesn't," Ethan argued, chuckling.
"And Andrea the monkey doesn't sound silly?"
"Hey! Don't judge my name-picking skills," Ethan pouted, him and Andrea playing with their toys.
After getting hot dogs, Ethan brought the girl to the line for the ferris wheel.
"I hope you don't mind waiting too much," Ethan said, wariness rising to his features.
"I'm sure it'll be worth it," Andrea assured him, taking his hand in her's.
"I'll be right back," Ethan told her, quickly scurrying out of the line and up to the man in the ticket booth. Andrea watched Ethan, her perfect eyebrows furrowed together in confusion. She wondered what he was doing and when he returned, he didn't speak a word of it.
"What was that about?" She had dared to question him.
"You'll see," he replied with a hint of a smirk at his lips.
Half an hour later, Ethan and Andrea finally boarded the ferris wheel gondola. It was barely seven o'clock- the perfect time that Ethan had been aiming for.
As the ferris wheel turned and they rose higher and higher into the air, Andrea stirred and fiddled in excitement and Ethan watched, thinking about how much she had no idea what was coming.
The girl grew more impatient with each time the ferris wheel stopped and allowed more people to enter the gondolas at the bottom. She continued to mumble 'come on' and 'hurry up', Ethan chuckling each time.
"So, how long are you staying in L.A. for?" Ethan questioned. This was the perfect opportunity to get to know Andrea: while they were waiting.
"Four more days after today," she admitted in a low tone, her eyes setting on her black old school Vans. "I wanna stay longer, but I don't think Ronnie would let me, let alone my mom. My step-mom might persuade my mom though."
"You have two moms?" Ethan's voice was laced with curiosity, and he was pleasantly surprised.
Andrea nodded her head. "It's cool. I love them both a lot. They don't take any shit. They're strong, you know?"
Ethan nodded. "It is cool. Is there any time you need to be back at your hotel at, by the way?"
"Probably," Andrea replied, checking her phone to see multiple texts from her sister. She turned the device off with a huff and shoved it back into the pocket of her denim shorts, without the intention of looking at the screen again. "But I want to spend as much time with you as I can."
"Andrea, I don't want you to be in trouble with your sister," Ethan insisted.
"It's fine. She won't care. . . hopefully."
Ethan gave the girl an unimpressed look and Andrea mimicked it, resulting in the two of them bursting into laughter.
The sky was golden, painted with pinks and reds, oranges and purples that glowed against the clouds. The sun sat on the horizon, slowly diving under the rippling, glimmering water.
"We're here," Ethan said, and the gondola came to a halt. Andrea had turned around and gasped, her jaw dropping as her eyes scanned the once-in-a-lifetime sight before her. Ethan had whipped his phone out rapidly and snapped a sneaky photo of her. Maybe not just one photo. Yeah, he had taken quite a few. "The sun's setting in about a minute."
Andrea stood up, giggling as their cart wobbled even under her small weight. She plopped down on Ethan's side, sitting as close to him as she possibly could without actually being on top of him. His arm had wrapped around her again, and her head lay on his shoulder.
"Ethan. . . I have no words. I literally- I don't know what to say other than. . . thank you. This is so beautiful and I'm so glad I get to experience it with you."
"Don't thank me, Andrea, I'm the lucky one. I got to spend a day with you. Also, there's somewhere I wanna take you after this. Unless you wanna go back to the hotel, that's perfectly fine with me," he smiled, eyes gleaming. The rays of the nearly-sleeping sun cast a heavenly glow upon his face, and he looked like an angel to Andrea.
"I want today to last as long as possible, so going back to the hotel is not an option. For now," she told him, gazing out at the view once again. The huge star was nearly gone by now; it would only last a few more seconds. When it was swallowed by the ocean, Ethan and Andrea's gondola began to move again as they stayed snuggled together. After it reached the bottom and they got off, their night was far from finished. They were off on their next adventure.
[ i hope u all enjoyed this, i'm sorry it's so long and rushed towards the end :/ ]