Lunch was a surprisingly pleasant affair, with most of Danielle's cheerleader friends treating me like one of the bunch, save for a few who had probably been bullied one too many times by the A-listers. Kelly, Ashley, and Mercedes, the three that had actively taken to chatting with me and Danielle had invited me to their post-game party on Friday night, to which I'd gratefully replied yes.

Class was a whole other story. Ethan was lying in wait when I strode in, as purposefully as late as I could be without missing the bell. Mr Collins called the class to order before I could sit and I thanked my lucky stars that Ethan hadn't had the time to spit out whatever it was he'd been preparing to say. Instead of the murderous expression I'd anticipated, he'd schooled his features into a mask of something close to dejection.

"We're talking later," he whispered back to me, before turning around to face the front. I rolled my eyes. Right, like I wanted to talk to him after he had me kicked out of Miss Watson's office. I distracted myself with taking thorough notes on what Mr Collins was teaching, thankful that the second half of class was devoted to quiet work and not group work. When the bell rang, I'd already packed my bag and had launched out of my seat towards the door, but Ethan must've predicted my move and was hot on my heels.

"We're taking a walk," he said, sliding his arm through mine and pulling me away from where I'd been heading for English.

"You already made me miss Chemistry today. I'm not getting grounded for skipping because you're an asshole," I snapped, trying to disengage myself from him. But he held fast, steering me out a side door into the sunny November afternoon.

"You never came back to talk with Miss Watson," he said, releasing me so he could turn and face me. I crossed my arms against the chill in the air, braced for anger when all he was facing me with was a hurt look in his eyes.

"Because it was pretty clear that you and Dakota are a thing. Frankly I had no desire to sit there and be dumped in front of that clown of a guidance counselor," I retorted. Ethan ran a hand through his hair, pacing now.

"I get why you think that Dakota and I are a thing. But we're not, not anymore. That's what I wanted to tell you in the counselor's office, but you never came back," he said, still pacing and unable to face me. I scoffed, rolling my eyes.

"When will you stop pretending Ethan? Do you really think I'm that stupid?" I demanded. At that, he turned and finally looked at me, but I cut him off.

"You and Dakota clearly have a history. I have no idea why you went after me when you two had something going on. It's not a secret because even the A's knew about you two. So cut the shit, I'm getting sick of this little game we're playing,"

"You think this is a game?" he asked, his grey eyes searching mine.

"You're a liar, Ethan, and I'm sick of it. So if this isn't a game, I don't know what it is!"

"I'm not a liar! Dakota's just...twisting the truth," he snapped, shaking his head and returning to pacing as his temper cooled, "Yes, she and I dated. But that was before you and I were a thing. I'd never asked her to be my girlfriend, but apparently that's what she'd assumed. And fine, maybe I'd led her on more than I should have, but you're the one I wanted, Maddie, not her,"

I scoffed, rolling my eyes as I took a step towards the door. Ethan cut me off and caught me by the shoulders, forcing me to look at him.

"You don't believe me," he said, searching my eyes again. I cocked an eyebrow.

"You expect me to believe anything that comes out of that mouth of yours?" I fired back, only to be cut off as he leaned down to kiss me. I shoved him away, despite the fact his kiss nearly had the butterflies rising again.

"What the hell!" I shouted, pushing past him this time.

"Madison you have to believe me," he said, sliding between me and the door. My hand was on the handle, but he leaned back against it and stopped me from opening it.

"Why are you trying so hard to save something that was never even real?" I asked, pulling the door open again. He leaned back against it to close it.

"Because I can't get you out of my head. I know it was wrong of me to not tell you the whole truth, but I thought if you found out that Dakota and I had dated that you'd never give me a shot," he said, and I couldn't decide if the sadness on his face was real or fake, "You forced my hand this morning because Dakota still thought she had a shot. I was going to break it to her gently today after practice, but instead we had to shout it out in Miss Watson's office,"

I stared at him, wondering if I was hearing more lies or the truth I'd been hunting for all day. But his face gave nothing away, save for something pleading in his eyes.

"I don't get it," I said finally, shaking my head. Ethan closed his eyes with a frustrated sigh, running a hand through his hair.

"Give me another chance, please?" he said, his hands squeezing my shoulders as I tried the door again, "Let me make it up to you,"

I chewed my lip, avoiding his gaze. The guy was making quite the case, but my brain was spinning from this turn of events. First he was asking me to leave Miss Watson's office, now he was explaining it all away as a case of miscommunication. I wanted to agree to giving him a second shot, but the red flags of Brett and Brandon's warnings were waving in earnest around the back of my brain. I knew I had to sit down and process this properly before I did anything, especially since I had been so convinced he'd been playing me for a fool.

"Let's have dinner tonight," he said, encouraged by my hesitation, "Anywhere you want to go,"

"I have to think about it," I said noncommittally as the bell rang, "And now I'm going to be late for class,"

Ethan finally slid out of the way so I could open the door and jog towards English.

*******************

I took a long run around Clairview after school to clear my head. Ethan's story was that he and Dakota had dated before but it had never been official, which was why she'd gone berserk when she'd thought we were together. But if that were true, then it made no sense that she would cover for him in the newspaper office - if they were together, she'd have no reason not to call him out for being a two-timer. Then again, maybe she had after I'd left and the whole charade of not caring had been to save face in front of me. It had been painfully clear that my sole purpose in storming the office yesterday had been to brag about Ethan, so for Dakota to admit that the two of them were dating while I was going on and on about him kissing me would have been the ultimate humiliation for her.

His story explained why Vicky, Courtney, and Tyler were so convinced that he was dating Dakota. It also explained why Danielle had seen the two of them on a date last weekend. But it didn't explain why Ethan had dragged his heels about telling Dakota. And his excuse as to why he didn't tell me made no sense coming from cocky, self-assured Ethan Wheeler.

Of more concern was that if he was really trying to play both Dakota and me, it would fit with all the warnings from Brett and Brandon. Then again, the Ethan that had dragged me outside to plead with me wasn't the cocky, temperamental guy I was used to. He had seemed genuinely upset, but thanks to all of his lies, I couldn't quite convince myself he was telling the truth.

Just to add more to the confusing mess in my head was the whole debate over whether I even wanted to date him. With everything panning out the way it was, did I only want him as a trophy of my victory over Dakota? If Ethan had indeed broken her heart in Miss Watson's office, I'd already won. It obviously didn't hurt that he was such a great kisser, but with all this drama he was most certainly not boyfriend material. Unless of course his story really was true and he was hiding Dakota from me to save face...

When I panted to a stop in the middle of town, I realized that Ethan's whole story hinged on what had happened in Miss Watson's office. If he had indeed ended things with Dakota, then maybe his whole story was true. But the possibility that he'd had me kicked out so he could give a similar conciliatory speech to Dakota had me grinding my teeth again. Deciding that a little more information couldn't hurt, I jogged towards school.

I was hoping that the administrative offices would be open until four, which could give me the chance to interrogate the cat-loving Miss Watson on my own. Much to my eternal chagrin (or maybe relief, considering how much I disliked the woman), the admin office door didn't budge when I tried to push it open.

"Can I help you?" the school secretary asked, pulling on her coat as she rounded a corner out of the teacher's lounge a few doors down.

"What time does Miss Watson get in tomorrow?" I asked. The secretary looked me over, taking in my jogging attire. I could almost hear her pegging me for an exercisarexic in her head.

"Usually a half hour before class starts," she said, hoisting her purse over her shoulder, "You can always reach her by email,"

Yeah, like I was going to put all this into writing.

"Thanks," I said, turning on my heel and heading back towards the doors. I chewed my lip as I debated my next move. I had one more potential course of action, but I didn't know if I felt like being the world's biggest jerk if Ethan had indeed been telling the truth.

But come on, I wanted answers more than I cared about being a jerk.

I took a sharp right before the doors, heading instead towards the student club rooms. Music was playing in the auditorium as the drama club worked on rehearsing Phantom of the Opera, the lead actor hitting a flat note and cutting the entire song short as someone shouted something inaudible.

When his shaky rendition of Music of the Night started over again, I slowed my pace. The next door over was the newspaper office and I strained my ears to listen for signs of life over the drama club music. The lights were on in the office, but that could just mean someone had forgotten to turn them off. Instead of sauntering in like last time, I ducked down to press my ear to the wood to see if I could hear anything. The sounds of angry guitars wafted through the wood, battling against the earnest high note the drama guy was hitting.

Bringing myself back up to full height, I looked through the glass in the door, taking a step away almost immediately. Dakota was alone, her head in her hands as she sat at her desk. It didn't take a genius to figure out what the abandoned glasses and pile of Kleenex next to her meant, especially since allergy season was long gone.

So maybe Ethan had been telling the truth.

*********

The buzzer rang and I pushed open the door to the beachside condo building. Ethan had invited me over to talk when I'd called him after my run, tentatively allowing myself to start believing his story. Dakota had clearly been upset in the newspaper office, which probably meant that Ethan had been telling the truth about their session with Miss Watson. But just because I'd agreed to see him didn't mean it was all behind us and I intended on making that clear.

The elevator whisked me up to the penthouse and my stomach felt like a bundle of nerves. It was after seven so I didn't have much time before my weeknight curfew would kick in.

"Hi Buttercup," Ethan said, smiling as he perched on the edge of the decorative table at the center of the massive foyer. I took a step out of the elevator, tentatively smiling back. He reached for my hand and I let him lead me towards the living room couch. The TV was muted, some sports show playing. Ethan's homework was spread out on the coffee table, a plate of cold pizza pushed to the side.

"Maybe we should go talk in your room," I said, shooting a nervous look towards his mom's bedroom. Ethan chuckled.

"She's away, it's just us," he said, draping an arm over the couch as he looked at me, waiting. I swallowed, distracted by thoughts of the last time we'd been alone here.

"I thought about what you said," I began and he kept watching me with those expectant eyes, "And I'm still not sure if I totally believe you,"

He nodded, looking down towards the space between us.

"So what do you want to do?" he asked, "Because I know what I want, but ultimately it's up to you,"

I sighed, chewing my lip. It would make the most sense to end things and let him grovel his way back if he really did want me, but with Ethan looking at me with those smoldering grey eyes, it didn't seem so simple anymore.

"Come on, Maddie," he said, leaning over to push my hair back from my face. Our eyes met and he tentatively leaned towards me.

"Did you really break up with her in Miss Watson's office?" I breathed, his face inches from mine.

"I did," he breathed back. I was getting sucked into a haze of slate grey eyes and longing despite my best efforts to keep my wits about me.

"You can't just kiss your way out of this," I whispered.

"But I can try," he grinned, leaning in to kiss me.

Oh I was lost. I was so so lost.

************************

So do you think Madison should've believed him or not? Did you buy Ethan's story? Was it really all just a big misunderstanding? Hope you enjoyed this chapter and please don't forget to vote and comment if you did! :)