13. Arya

I stumble after Ethan as he strides towards Seth and his little sister. Before the pair of them sees us, I grab onto Ethan's arm to stop him from causing extra drama. He spins around with a smirk, the gravel crunching beneath his boots. Mischief is clear on his face. Even in the darkness, I have no problem recognizing it. This is fun for him!

"Please. Let's just leave it!" I almost beg and Ethan's face immediately changes when he notices my distress. He looks confused, his eyes searching my face, his lips pressed together in a thin line. "That's Seth's little sister! She's kind of... the only family he has left and I don't think we should bother them."

Why am I protecting the douchebag?

Ethan snorts at that and lifts an eyebrow at me."Bother them? Please!" His statement is followed by a sarcastic scoff and he wraps his fingers around my upper arm, making me uncomfortable at the touch. With a jerk he turns me in their direction. "Look at him. He obviously cares for his sister which means that there's some humanity left in the asshole and yet... he chooses to make your life hell in school. He's obviously putting up an act in school just so he can make you miserable. That is reason enough for me to bother him. And I don't even really know you."

I watch Seth pick up Paulina and throw her up in the air. She plummets towards the ground and he catches her just a split second before she hits the gravel. Her high pitched giggles can't cover the shocked gasp that escapes my mouth. Seth's head spins around quickly and he squints his eyes at us, trying to recognize us in the darkness. He puts Paulina down. The second her feet hit the ground, she takes off towards the lake, picking up rocks and throwing them into the water as she goes.

Seth doesn't ignore us like I wish he would but comes stalking towards us instead.

"I wonder if he would do anything with his sister around," Ethan muses but I don't have to wonder. I already know the answer to that. 

"I can't believe this!" Seth's voice sends an ice cold shiver down my spine and I wrap my arms around myself. He sounds beyond angry."Are you two stalking me now?"

I know we've crossed a line. I've done it before - invaded his privacy. That did not end well.

Seth's eyes settle on Ethan in a challenging glare. He completely avoids making eye contact with me which I am grateful for. Ethan just smirks at Seth and shakes his head, touching his palm to his forehead for a second before stepping towards Seth.

"I forgot. You own this lake and the park that surrounds it. Excuse my mistake," sarcasm drips off of Ethan's mocking tone.

"Do you think you're funny?" Seth threatens in response, stepping closer to us.

"Nah man, I know I am. Now tell me, Seth... are you stalking us on our date?" I furrow my brow and try to create space between Ethan and me but he wraps his arm around my shoulder, pulling me close to him. 

Date? He must have said that to see Seth's reaction but he must not have known how uncomfortable that makes me. Suddenly Seth's eyes snap to me and his hooded eyes burn through the darkness and straight into my own. I look down at the ground and feel exhaustion take over me. Usually I would have tried to stand my ground but right now I just feel overwhelmed and extremely tired. Exhausted as though my body isn't used to this much social interaction in one day. It's pathetic really. This is probably something most teenage girls are more than used to.

"A date?!" Seth snorts and starts laughing loudly. His guffaws bellow over the stretch of the lake."You don't actually want me to believe that you're dating... her." He gasps out, pointing his index finger at me.

At least he refers to me as a human being now instead of just 'that'.

Something bubbles up inside me. At once, I force my insecurities back to where they came from and the need to defend myself takes over every sense. So I grab onto Ethan's hand and speak up for the first time. "I don't know why that would be so funny."

This just makes Seth laugh even harder and my exhaustion is replaced by fiery anger. I know that if I speak up again, the words coming from me will be reckless and below the belt but I can't stop myself. Seth thinks he can just say and do whatever he wants and I am going to prove him wrong. Two can play that game!

"You know what, Seth. Why don't you go play with your little sister and be a role model to her instead of wasting your time being an asshole here? I'm sure she could use a bit of parenting as long as your parents aren't doing that for her!" I regret the words even before I hiss them at him but I also know that I can't take them back now. Embarrassment comes over me and I realize that I have gone too far. Way too far. A crimson blush colors my face and I decide to end the conversation here.

I twist around, pulling my hand from Ethan's. My steps are fast and determined as I run from the situation. Ethan follows suit. I am almost expecting Seth to call after us but we are met with nothing but silence. 

Damn... I've really gone too far this time.

As soon as Ethan and I are back in the park and as far away from the lake as possible, I stop walking to catch my breath. My lungs burn, desperate for air and I can feel my pulse throbbing in my throat.

When I look up at Ethan, his expression is unreadable in the darkness. I don't know if he's disgusted by my outburst or impressed because I finally stood up for myself. 

"I can't believe you just told him off like that," Ethan bursts out, exhilarated. 

"It wasn't the first time, I-"

"You mean to tell me that this wasn't the first time, you gave him a piece of your mind? That's brilliant! And here I am thinking that you actually let him mess with you whenever he pleases to do so!" Ethan charges towards me again and squeezes my shoulders. I can't help the immediate discomfort at his touch. All I want is for him to stop touching me already. "Ms Arya, I think you're more bad ass than expected and that deserves a celebration!"

He wears a bright smile that takes over his whole faces and even I can't help but smile along with him. My smile falters quickly, though. I don't think what I did deserves a celebration. Ethan doesn't know the situation properly to be the judge of that either. What I said... it's just straight up hurtful. I chose what I know to be a sore spot and dug my insult into it like a sharp knife. 

"Celebration?" I question, biting down on my tongue. I have to stifle a yawn as my exhaustion returns. Not even the mixture of adrenaline, anger and shame manages to wake me.

"Yes. Let's go get a drink!"

"But... I'm only sixteen." I protest, exasperated, "I'm not allowed to drink and neither are you! Wait... how old exactly are you?"

"I'm seventeen." He smirks."Don't tell me you live in this town and don't have a fake ID?"

It almost sounds like a challenge but I just shake my head, making him chuckle as if I were a pitiful little child. I try not to get offended but fail big time.

"Excuse me for not being a criminal." I cross my arms in front of my chest and give him a sour look.

"That's not what I meant and you know it!" Ethan throws his arms into the air but a tiny smirk is still etched on his face.

But I don't know it! I want to say. I don't even know you at all!

Ethan keeps quiet for a few more seconds and I wonder if I should just leave. But when he says what he says next, I'm left stunned. "It's cute, you know... your innocence." He stops himself before continuing, a glint in his eyes. "And it also kind of makes me want to take it."

I blush and cringe at the same time. Does he realize what he just said or is that just me, being stupid? His eyes sparkle with his usual cheerfulness and before I can even open my mouth to give a retort, he shuts me up by stepping beside me and throwing his arm around my shoulders. 

Once again with the excessive physical contact!

"I know a great place just a few blocks away. My treat. We're on a date after all, right?"

I don't know why I went along with him and 'great' really isn't a way to describe this place. Despite my protest, Ethan did get us into the place. Though, now that I'm here, I realize that I would rather spend a week, locked up in school with a billion Seth's than spend a day in this... bar.

The bar can only be described as a stereotypical hole in the wall type place. I'm sure I've seen one of these places on television. It is a small with only a few tables that look as if they could collapse as soon as you put drinks on it. Drunk people are scattered around the tables, trying to talk to each other over booming music. 

"Sit down in the back there," Ethan points out a tiny table in the very back of the room. "I'll be right with you." I nod and swallow hard as I walk towards the free table Ethan pointed at just a few seconds ago.

I shuffle my feet but try to get there as fast as possible, feeling people's eyes on me. I can't tell if it's because they somehow know that I'm (that we're) not supposed to be in here of it's because of the way I look. Either way, I don't think I've ever felt this uncomfortable. Maybe this is going a little too far.

As I sit down on one of the two wooden chairs that looks just as scrubby and breakable as the tables, I watch Ethan walk up to the bar. The woman behind the counter looks to be about in her fifties with long blonde hair down to her waist. She's wearing dark smudged eyeliner that goes with her leather vest and dark washed jeans. For a second I wonder how Ethan can stay so confident in the presence of a woman like that. I surely would have chickened out of buying us drinks the second I stepped into this... establishment. 

But when I look closer, I notice that Ethan must know the bartender as she slaps his shoulder and the scowl on her face is replaced with a warm smile. They start talking to each other casually.

I try to make out what they're saying to each other but my lip reading skills are worsened by the fact that this whole place is filled with smoke that hinders my eyesight.

"That boy with you?" A man sits down at my table and throws his thumb over his shoulder, pointing at Ethan who is still talking to the female bartender. The man speaks with a thick accent that I can't place. He must be in his late thirties and I immediately regret ever entering this place. I try to make myself look as small as possible, crossing my ankles and slouching my shoulders.

"Yes, he is. He's just getting us..." I decide against telling this stranger that Ethan is getting us drinks.

"Well, when he gets here, do you mind telling him something from me?"

I nod my head and he laughs, showing off a row of crooked yellow teeth. "Good, girl. Tell him that--"

But before he can give me the message, Ethan walks up behind him and puts a hand on the strangers shoulder. He puts two glasses filled with a clear liquid on the table and the stranger gets up to face Ethan. The man is about a head shorter than Ethan and suddenly doesn't look as threatening anymore.

"Come on, Bill. Are you trying to scare off my date?"

Why can't he ist stop calling this a date?!

"Nope," the stranger, Bill, says and holds up his hands. "Was just asking her to tell you something but now that you've stopped flirting with my wife, I will tell you myself. Your uncle was here earlier and-"

"Bill, I'm sure we can talk about this later. I really just want to spend some time with my girl... so if you could please..." Bill nods his head and to my surprise, he does leave us alone. Ethan now sits down across from me, a smile still plastered on his face. Although there's now something different in his eyes.

"Do I even want to know who that was?"

"You don't," he laughs and slides one of the drinks towards me. "Try it. It's really good."

I am hesitant especially because I don't know what he just put in front of me or what the heck it's going to taste like. I take the straw between my lips and slowly suck a tiny amount of the liquid into my mouth. At first the taste is strange but I soon realize that the drink mostly consists of soda. There's only a hint of bitterness that alludes to the alcoholic part of the drink.

"Hmm," I take another sip. "It actually doesn't taste that bad."

Ethan claps his hands together and leans back into his stool, making it shriek under his weight. "I knew you would like it! It tastes even better if you put frozen berries into it but they didn't have any. I can get you another one if you like."

He eyes me as I take sip after sip and soon enough the whole drink is gone. I furrow my brow at the glass and wonder if it had been as full as I remembered or if I'm just a fast drinker.

I'm not exactly sure how much time passed but at one point I realize that Ethan and I are the only people left in the bar. I am laughing at whatever Ethan just said and he seems to have a blast, telling me jokes and introducing me to one drink after another. I am drinking enough to not even notice how drunk I am really getting but when I get up to go the toilet, I can barely stand on my own to feet and almost topple over.

"Oopsie!" I shriek when Ethan catches me and laugh hysterically.

"Yeah, oopsie is right. I think this one has had enough!" The bartender comes up behind us, putting her hands on her hips. I sway and stumble, the bar spinning around me as though the walls dislocated from the ground and are now freely swaying along with me.

"I'm not drunk!" My own voice betrays as I start giggling for no reason.

"Ethan. Get her out of here!" The woman behind me doesn't sound amused at all but I just can't stop laughing and Ethan keeps laughing along with me as he drags me out of the bar and into the dark night. 

Cold air hits me but I can feel Ethan's chest at my back and his arms wrapped around me.

"Too bad you didn't bring your car... Now we have to walk." I pout at Ethan who for some reason just looks at me with a questioning look and laughs again. We stumble down the street together, no idea where we're actually going. It doesn't matter though! The sky is mesmerizing, I can't look anywhere else but up. The stars shine even brighter than usual and the cold feels amazing against my skin.

"Whatever you just said, either I am too drunk to understand you or you're too drunk to talk."

I open my mouth to respond but can't get the words to come out, my head still tilted skywards. I sigh in intoxicated bliss and clutch onto Ethan as we change direction and start walking back into the direction we came from. Hopefully we're going home now...

"Ethan," I whisper. "What time is it?"

"I have no idea but I think it's really, really late... Or really early..." My chest shakes with laughter once again but this time it feels strange. Realization dawns on me.

"This was a bad idea," I mutter and Ethan's grip loosens on me in response. All at once he's gone from my side. "What are we even doing? I don't even know you!"

Ethan jogs ahead a couple steps before turning around to face me again, that annoying condescending smirk recognizable even in this darkness. "Take the stick outta your ass, Arya! You need to loosen up! Live a little!"

I stop walking and bend forward, hands on my knees. Ethan starts laughing again. 

"I don't even know you!"

 "You keep saying that," Ethan shouts. "How are we supposed to be friends if you don't let me be your friend?"

"That doesn't even make any sense!"

Suddenly bright headlights come towards me. A car rolls down the previously empty street and slows down as it approaches us. Once it's close enough to us, it comes to a complete halt.

"Oh shit," I hiss. "Ethan, I think we're about to get kidnapped!"

"Don't worry. I know karate!" Ethan hisses back.

A door slams and my eyes widen. Out of the car storms Sam. His face is a mask of fury and his own exhaustion is clear in his expression. My heart starts beating out of my chest, pumping with adrenaline.

"Arya!" Sam's shouts seem to shake the buildings around us. "What do you think you're doing?! I've been looking for you all night! Do you even know what time it is? You have school in the morning. And who the hell is he?!"

"That is Ethan." I state, feeling stubborn and crossing my arms in front of my chest. "He took me out to 'live a little'!" Ethan slaps his hand over my mouth and I am about to lick his palm when he is pulled off me and Sam stands right in front of me. I stumble without Ethan's support and Sam grabs me.

"Are you drunk, Arya? Are you fucking drunk?" He shouts and before I can answer, he pulls open the door to his passenger seat and shoves me in it. Then he turns towards Ethan who looks to be complaining about something that I can't quite make out through the shut door.

Before I know what's happening, Sam punches Ethan straight in the face and Ethan falls to the ground. He is out cold, not moving and I jump back out of the car, my blood boiling. I run towards Ethan and kneel down next to him on the cold concrete. Sam tries to pull me up by my shoulders but I struggle against him and shake Ethan, trying to wake him up. I don't know how I went from doubting Ethan's motives to wanting to care for him but I blame it on the alcohol that's still cursing through my veins as I now kneel on the concrete.

"Sam! What the heck did you do to him? You don't even know him!" 

"Do you?!" Sam challenges, shutting me up immediately. "Get in the car right now or I swear to god..."

"Where is Ethan gonna go?"

At that moment Ethan's eyes flutter open and he rubs his head, groaning. "What's going on?"

"Where do you live?" Sam demands and Ethan stares at him, confused.

"Over there," Ethan points to where the bar is and I grin.

"Let's get you home then-" I try to suggest but Sam quickly shuts me up.

"He can walk. Let's go home, Arya!"

If I weren't as tired as I am, I would probably protest but I can't because my eyes are closing already as I head back towards the car.