Locked Hearts

Chapter 5

Ruby stared at me, like she was trying to find the lie in what I'd said.

She was still holding my arm tightly, which was starting to hurt now. I started to grimace from the pain.

“Then what happened in there?” she hissed.

“I don't know,” I lied. The truth was that I enjoyed kissing Ethan— and that wasn't the first time I did. A sense of guilt washed over me as I thought back to that night. The night Ethan and I—

The door opened and Kevin stepped out.

“I'm gonna go and find Matt,” he said. “I don't feel like playing the game anymore.”

Before he could leave, he said, "Ruby... go easy on her." He motioned to Ruby's grip on my arm, then he disappeared down the stairs, swallowed by the crowd.

“Look, it was just some stupid kiss. There's nothing more to it. It's just a game, remember?”

She eyed me suspiciously, then let go of my arm. “Better be,” she said as she opened the door and stepped inside the room, leaving me outside.

I rubbed my arm and followed her inside the room, closing the door behind me. I sat where I sat before. I did not even dare look at Ethan or Ruby.

“Does that mean, we're playing again?” Liz asked.

“Yeah,” Ruby answered, but I could hear it in her voice that she wasn't eager to play the game anymore, and neither was I.

I knew coming here was a bad idea, and I was right. I did not want to continue playing this stupid game anymore.

“Hey, I wanna go home now,” I said to Ian, and he nodded before getting up.

“You're leaving already?” Jessica asked, “Things were just getting interesting.” She laughed as she looked at me and then at Ethan. Ruby gave her scowl, but she did not notice it because she was too busy laughing. I gave her a look because there was nothing about this situation that I found funny.

“I'm done playing this game,” I said, getting up and walked to the door, not waiting for Ian to follow me. Someone grabbed my arm. I turned around to see that it was Ethan. My heart skipped a beat.

“It's still early,” he said. “Stay.”

I looked at Ruby and saw that she was looking at Ethan's hand that was holding my arm. I quickly jerked my arm away from Ethan's grip.

“I'm leaving,” I said, and without another word, I turned the doorknob and headed down the stairs.

The music was loud, and the party was still crowded. I forced my way through the throng and out the door. The rain was still pouring outside but I did not care. I walked as fast as my legs could carry me to Ian's car. When I looked behind me, Ian had caught up with me. He opened the doors to his car, and I climbed in the front seat. Ian started the car and drove off.

There was a moment of silence in the car, and Ian decided to turn on the radio. I drew a deep breath and looked out the window.

“Now can you tell me what the hell happened back there?” Ian asked.

“I don't wanna talk about it,” I said. And I really didn’t want to talk about it. Not tonight at least.

“Look, Zoe,” Ian said. I could see him look at me at the corner of my eye. "I like you, I really do, and I was stupid for breaking things off between us."

“Doesn't matter.” I did not dare take my eyes away from the window. “It's all in the past now.”

“No, it does matter,” he said and then his hand touched my thigh. I looked down at it, and he quickly realized what he was doing, and he took it away. For a moment, we remained silent. I looked over at Ian, our eyes met for a second before he looked at the road.

“Can we not talk about this tonight? I'm tired.”

“When will we talk about it then?” he asked, and I sighed before looking at him.

“I don't know, just not tonight,” I said.

The tires skidded a little on the wet road, but Ian managed to keep the car steady. I peered out the window. The rain was falling down heavily; it was impossible to make out what was ahead—the rain was blurring my vision. I looked over at Ian, who's eyes were fixed on the road. The windshield wipers whipped back and forth over the window, but they did little to help.

“Thanks,” I said as the car came to a halt and I quickly got out.

“Zoe, wa—” Whatever he was going to say got cut off when I closed the door.

I hurriedly walked to the front door. I fiddled with the lock before opening the door. I stepped inside the house, and as soon as I got inside, I let out a breath I did not even know I was holding. I needed to lie down because I was exhausted. I had a really long day.

I crept up the stairs to my room. I was careful not to make any noise and wake up Amanda and Jordan. Amanda was definitely going to shout at me again tomorrow. Why she even keeps me around is beyond me because all I do is cause problems for her.

Once inside my room, I turned around to close the door. I switched on the light and began peeling off the wet clothes I was wearing. I wore my pajamas real quick. I went into the bathroom to dry my hair, which, by the way, took some time. After I was done, I switched off the lights, and climbed into bed.

Sleep did not come easily to me that night. All I could think about was me and Ethan kissing, and I kept replaying the kiss over and over again in my head until my brain grew tired. And finally, I dozed off with Ethan's face the last thing I saw.

☆☆☆

I sat bolt upright in my bed with a start, woken by the pounding on my door. My eyes drifted to my alarm clock— 07:23 a.m.

I'm going to kill whoever it is that's at the door.

The pounding on my door intensified with force. “Zoe, you up yet?” Jordan shouted. “You have a visitor.”

“Tell them I'm not home.”

“Zoe, wake up!” Jordan demanded.

“Shut up!” I threw a pillow at the door. The pounding was making my head throb. Was I having a hangover? I doubt it. I did not even finish that vile liquid I drank at the party.

“Go away,” I said, almost pleadingly. It was way too early to wake up.

“Open the door first,” he said. “Then I'll go away.”

I buried my face into my pillow and let out a muffled scream. “Just go away.”

The pounding stopped. It was quiet. Finally.

I made myself comfortable on my bed, ready to fall asleep again. But Jordan pounded on the damn door so hard that I jumped up in shock, almost falling on the floor.

I grabbed my covers and threw them aside and got up. I stomped angrily to the door. I yanked the door so hard that the hinges might have come right off. Jordan was grinning like an i***t.

“What?” I asked, annoyed. “Who wants to see me?”

Jordan shrugged. “Some guy named Ethan or something.”

I froze. What? “Ethan?” I asked. “Are you sure he said his name is Ethan?”

“I think so,” he said. “He's in the living room.”

“Tell him I'll be down in a minute.”

“You aren't supposed to bring boys over,” he pointed out.

I rolled my eyes. “He came here himself, didn't he?” I narrowed my eyes at him. “You aren't gonna tell on me, are you?”

“Depends.” He shrugged.

“What do you want?” I sighed.

He grinned. “I'll think about something, soon.”

“Fine. Now go away,” I said and closed the door.

I ran to the bathroom to brush my teeth, then I took off my pajamas and put on fresh clothes. I opened my bedroom door and raced down the stairs, taking two steps at a time. Ethan was in the living room talking with Jordan. He looked up when I walked in and smiled, making my heart flutter. Ugh.

“What took you so long?” he asked as he got up from the couch, walking towards me.

Jordan took that as his cue to leave us alone.

“What are you doing here?” I folded my arms.

“At least you can pretend to be happy to see me, you know.” He moved dangerously close to me. I backed away from him.

“Does Ruby know that you're here?” I asked. “And aren’t you supposed to be at school?”

“No. Is that a problem?” he asked, his eyes on my lips. I bit the inside of my cheek.

His eyes, they had this wild hungry look in them. I didn't like it. That was the exact look he had that night. We were inches apart now. When did that happen? I took two steps backwards. He noticed. He raised his eyebrow, grinning.

“What do you want, Ethan?” I asked.

“I'm guessing you're not a morning person,” he teased, and I stared at him blankly.

“I don't like it when people disturb my sleep, so this better be good,” I said.

“Trust me, it is,” he said.

“Just tell me what you want.”

“We have to talk,” he said.

“What could we possibly talk about?” I asked.

“You've been avoiding me,” he said.

“And that bothers you?” I asked. “Is this what you want to talk about, me avoiding you?”

He nodded and said, “Yes, it bothers me.”

“And why should I care?” I asked with a sigh.

“Because I don't want you to avoid me, not after what happened that night,” he said.

“Nothing happened that night!” I hissed.

“I remember differently.”

I closed my eyes. “You promised.”

“I know,” he said, his hands on waist. “But I can't forget it.”

“Ethan?”

“Yeah.”

“I hate you.”

He laughed. “I know, baby.”

“And don't call me baby,” I said, removing his hands from my waist. I put my hand on his chest and pushed him backward, creating some distance between us. “It's weird.”

He laughed and I frowned. What was so amusing? Nothing about this was funny. He can't be here. It was a bad idea, especially after last night. Ruby was already suspicious.

“What happened that night was—”

“It was a mistake,” I said. “And it should never happen again.”

He scoffed. “Like I'd believe that.”

“Listen—”

“Are you telling me you felt nothing that night, that you felt nothing when we kissed again last night?”

Of course I did. And that's what made this whole thing messed up. It was sick. I betrayed my best friend and that was messed up and sick.

“I asked you a question,” Ethan said.

“I felt nothing.”

Without warning, Ethan cupped my face in his hands and kissed me before I could react.