I know, I know, I know I suck at updating! I've been trying to get college applications done along with regular schoolwork + my job! Lots of stuff to do and not enough time! I'll update as soon as I possibly can! I love writing this story and I hope I can spend more time on it!
Anyway,
Thanks for reading!
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Cora's POV
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When Kenna asked if I wanted to hang out tonight my jaw almost dropped. It's been weeks since just Kenna and I have hung out. Her time has been exclusively devoted to Liam and I've been dealing with Zayn and hanging out with Niall and Harry. It will be nice to get back together. We probably have so much to talk about but it's been so long I don't actually remember where the list starts or ends. Kenna and I used to see a movie every weekend so when she offered that suggestion for tonight something warmed inside me. I miss Kenna.
You know when you have something planned that you keep thinking about all day, so much that you're actively trying to find something to do to pass time? That's how my Saturday is going. I have been aimlessly cleaning and re-cleaning my room or even washing the dishes just to pass time. I constantly check the clock to count down the minutes until 7:30 when I am supposed to leave.
I slump down on the couch around 4:30 and decide to take a quick nap. Although evidently it isn't quick at all. I wake up at exactly 7:23 and my brain scatters. I jump up form the couch and run to my room. I quickly pull on a pair of skinny jeans and a bulky sweater with boots.
"Mom! We have to go!" I yell from my room.
I check my phone to see if Kenna had texted me but there's only one message from Zayn of all people. I decide against reading it probably because I'm in a hurry or maybe because I don't want to see what he has to say.
I scamper to the kitchen to grab my purse and check to see if my mom is ready to drive me. She's sitting calmly by the front door like we are in no rush at all.
"Mom! Why didn't you wake me up?" I ask.
"I didn't know I was supposed to." She replies without changing her expression.
She's been like this for the past week. Well since Cole got expelled and arrested. My mom won't let him leave, not even to take me to the movies.
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"I'll be back around midnight okay?" My mom calls through the partially open window of her blue minivan.
I just nod and rush inside to avoid further ruining my already distraught hair. The rain poured down harder every second. This happens every year around the time fall is in its prime.
I cautiously check my phone every 2 minutes, full aware of the short duration of time, but I check it over and over again. Kenna should be here by now. The movie starts in 3 minutes and not one single text has arrived on my phone from her.
Maybe her phone broke and she can't text me that she's running late. But the probability of this theory declines as the theories such as she forgot or she is with Liam become more likely.
A full half hour into the movie and Kenna is still no where to be seen. She is as invisible as I wish I could be right now. Its just like Kenna to get my hopes up like this then kick them right back down. I can't wait to hear the carefully worded excuse she will have all night to think of.
The cafe down the street beams light through the window and I decide I'd rather grab myself a bowl of soup rather than sit here aimlessly or see the movie by myself. I tuck my phone into my shirt and pull the black hoodie jack over my head as I push the theatre doors open with my hip and run into the rain.
My shoes are completely soaked by the time I reach the door to the cafe. I sigh in relief as I wrap my hand around the door handle. My forwards momentum is brought to a halt when the door doesn't budge. My confusion leads me to the minuscule printed "hours" placed on the door. Saturday's 11am-10pm. My phone reads 10:03.
"Ugh you have got to be kidding me!" I yell out while the rain further drenches my clothes.
A worker eyes me from inside, clearly taking into consideration my distress, but ultimately ignoring my dilemma as if would mean chopping off his left leg just to let me inside.
My eyes desperately search for even a square foot of dry land I could shield myself under for a few minutes. Attached to the cafe is a mobile insurance company with a generous amount of canopy above their door to hide me under. Of course it means stepping in a lake or two to get there but I don't realize that until I'm shin deep in water.
"As if this couldn't get any worse." I complain, hoping I didn't just jinx my night even further.
When I finally find shelter under the canopy I pull out my phone which probably has water damage due to that long and hopeless journey, Kenna's contact is already pulled up on my phone but her voice is the last I'd want to hear right now, if she even picked up.
I scroll through my contacts and consider calling my mom, but that would mean explaining the entire situation to her, including my current and ongoing fall out with Kenna, and it just isn't worth the time. My next option is Cole, but he would do little to no good without a car or a phone.
I could call Harry, or Niall, but I evidently find myself scrolling past their names, all the way down to Z. Zayn's number comes up on my screen . My thumb hovers over the green button as I decipher whether this is a good decision or not. My thumb is about to make the decision for me as an incoming call lights up on my screen, one that wasn't any of those options.
Unwelcome butterflies swarm my stomach as the name Ethan pops up. Ethan? Why would Ethan be calling me? I finally put my thumb to use and tap it down on the screen to answer his call.
"Hello?" I hesitantly answer.
"Cora, babe, how are you doing?" Ethan's raspy voice asks through the phone.
"I'm, um, I'm actually standing in the pouring rain because I was ditched at the movie theatre. How are you?" I say quite embarrassed.
"The one on Elm?" Ethan asks.
"Yeah...but it's fine I'll just have someone-"
"I'm about 5 minutes away, stay put." he says and hangs up the phone without another word.
Why did Ethan call me in the first place? Why is he so close to the theatre? From what I can remember his apartment is on the outskirts of Covington, right by the bluffs, nowhere near the town.
Almost exactly 5 minutes later, Ethan's baby blue Camaro pulls into the parking lot. I tighten my hoodie around my head again and run for the 100th time into the rain. Ethan leans over and pushes open the passenger side door before I reach the car. I swiftly slide in and close the door behind me, sighing as I pull the hoodie off my knotted hair.
"Rough night?" Ethan smirks and pulls out of the parking lot.
"You have no idea." I say and rub my hands together in front of the heater desperately trying to restore heat into them.
"I thought you dumped that boyfriend, why is he ditching you at the movies tonight?" He questions and turns the radio volume up as the beginning notes of a Black Keys song starts to play.
"I did dump him, I wasn't waiting for him. It was my friend Kenna." I tell him.
"Kenna Herrings?" he asks.
"Uh, yeah...how do you know her?" I question him.
How does he always seem to know everyone? He knew my name right off the bat yet I had no idea who he was. And now he knows who Kenna is?
"The same way I know who you are." He sarcastically says back.
"You said that the last time! That's not an answer." I argue.
Maybe I should be more cautious of this guy, I mean I barely know him at all. I don't even know his last name.
"Alright, ask me any question and I'll give you a straight answer. Promise." He holds out his pinky.
"What's your last name?" I ask, ignoring his suggested pinky promise.
"Hood." He answers quite blatantly.
Hood...Ethan Hood. That's the guy Zayn was asking me about at Harry's. My stomach turns now that I know his full name. Should I be nervous? What if he's bad or evil or something. Why did Zayn want to know whether this was the Ethan I was with or not?
"Okay, Ethan Hood, why were you five minutes away from the theatre tonight?" I further question.
"Nuh, uh, uh!" He swings his index finger back in forth. "I never said you could ask me more questions." Ethan teases.
"Yeah, well I am." I spit back.
He takes a moment to look at me out of the corner of his eye and clench his jaw.
"How about we grab something to eat to fuel your curious appetite?" Ethan suggests.
"Food isn't quite going to fill it." I say.
"Well a nice chicken strip basket might distract you for a few minutes, right?" he jokes and my body hits the side of his car door as he makes a sharp left turn into a small diner off I've seen a few times when I drive to the bluffs.
I don't know why I never questioned him where we are going. My mind seems to forget things - important things - when i'm around him. The bluffs are right outside the city of Covington and it's equipped with hills, valleys, and a cliff that overlooks the town. Zayn and I went there once. Ethan's apartment is close to the clearing, maybe 5-10 minutes away.
"Sorry," he adds when he notices my rubbing the side of my arm.
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Ethan stares at me from across the booth with his vibrant blue eyes. I can't help but grow weak under his intense stare, something that never happened with Zayn. Maybe it's the 5 year age difference but something about Ethan makes me feel less confident and more submissive. I've always been used to older guys but he's different. His cocky character is nothing but a transparent cover for his more humble and reassuring personality, that's easy to see. What I don't understand is why he feels the need to be cocky all the time.
I finish chewing the second bite of my chicken finger and swallow down a gulp of water before further interrogating Ethan.
"So," I start and then wipe the corners of my mouth with a napkin. "I know you live by the bluffs, I know you're not in college, I know your last name is Hood, I know you're friends with Gemma, and I know you're incredibly creepy yet ultimately friendly. What else should I know?" I ask.
"Creepy?" He looks genuinely surprised. "I'm not creepy." he adds.
"You're joking right? You showed up to a high school party, took me to your apartment while I was drunk, undressed me, and slept next to me in the bed. Not to mention you already knew my full name before I even knew your first." I explain.
"Okay, I see where your coming from, but I'm not creepy." Ethan states.
I was hoping maybe he'd further elaborate on his story, maybe like how he knew my name, or how he knows Gemma, or Kenna, or why he was by the theatre, anything.
I just swallow back a gulp of curiosity and chase it down with more chicken. Our booth falls silent as Ethan sips on his coke. He didn't order any food but made sure I did.
"How come I never get to ask you any questions?" Ethan breaks the silence.
I guess in the midst of my curiosity about Ethan I never really noticed he barely knows anything about me either. Or maybe he does? What else does he know about me?
"Well, what do you want to know?" I ask.
He takes another sip of coke and swirls it around in his mouth possibly pondering a good question to ask.
"Tell me about your boyfriend." he demands.
"He's not, and never was, my boyfriend. He's just this guy that I thought really liked me, but when it came down to it, he's just a coward." I explain.
"Does this coward have a name?" Ethan asks.
"You mean you don't already know? You seem to be pretty good at knowing strangers names." I tease.
"Hey, maybe I do know him, try me." his compelling smirk is more coercing than his words.
"Zayn, Zayn Malik." I say with a sigh.
Ethan's eyebrows raise about three levels and I swear I could see his eyes dilate. He must know something about Zayn to have that sort of reaction.
"So you do know him?" I ask.
"Nope, never heard of the guy." Ethan replies and brings his glass of coke back up to his lips.
"What? Then why did you look like that when I said his name?" I complain.
"Like what?"
"Surprised or something, I don't know!"
"The guy just has an interesting name that's all. You don't hear the name Zayn everyday do you?"
I slump back into the booth seat and decide to give up, for now at least. There's no way Ethan doesn't know Zayn, not with that reaction. And Zayn certainly knows who Ethan is. What am I missing here?
Ethan rests his arms on the back of the booth and nods his chin towards the waiter. Every single one of Ethan's motions flow together as fluent as Covington's creak.
He distracts himself with the bill and I take the opportunity to pull my phone out. If Ethan won't give me answers himself, then I'll just have to ask someone else.
"Hey, so, what do you know about Ethan Hood?" I send the text without hesitation and smile back up at Ethan.
Hopefully it won't take long for Zayn to text back.
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Give me your thoughts on Ethan! I'd like to hear them all :)
Thanks for reading! - C