When Bad Boys Fall

The paper Trail

Mark kept his eyes on the dark road, his hands steady on the steering wheel but I couldn't stop the question from burning in my mind.

"Mark?" I asked, pulling my damp sweater tighter. "How did you get my number? I don’t remember giving it to you at the chip shop."

Mark gave a small laugh. He reached into the center console and pulled out a small plastic card. It was my student ID. "You dropped this on the counter when you were rushing out the day you got splashed. I used the campus directory to look up your name so I could return it. Your phone number was listed there for emergency alerts. I figured a massive storm counted as an emergency.

I took the card, feeling a wave of relief. "Thank you, Mark. I was... a bit overwhelmed."

"The penthouse, what were you doing there?," Mark asked, glancing at the Elite apartments in the rearview mirror. "And the guy who was at the window the whole time I was parked there. He looked like he wanted to break my windshield just for being in the driveway. I couldn’t help any confrontations so we would not catch a cold. Do you know him?"

I sighed, I didn’t realize he noticed.

"That’s just Ethan. He’s the most cold-hearted person I’ve ever met."

Mark dropped me off at the lobby. I went to bed, but sleep was a ghost. Every time I closed my eyes, I saw Ethan’s silhouette. I thought about the way he tucked my hair behind my ear.

The next morning, the sun was bright, but my head was heavy. I arrived at our 6:00 a.m. study session at the library, expecting Ethan to be different after the blackout.

I was wrong.

When Ethan walked in, his face was a mask of ice. He didn't ask how I got home. He didn't mention the candle. He just pushed a flash drive toward me.

"The bibliography is finished," he said. His voice was flat. "Review the citations. We hand it in at nine."

"Ethan, about last night…"

"There is no last night Audrey," he snapped, finally looking at me.

“No!” I protested . “ I’m not talking about the…the..”

“ The what?” He snapped again. His blue eyes were cold. “ Aside from the power outage, did anything else happen?” I was avoiding his gaze.

"We had a power outage. We got distracted. It won't happen again. Now, work."

We worked in a suffocating silence until it was time for class.

The classroom was buzzing with stress. Everyone was handing in their printed papers. Ethan stood up, walked to the front with the grace of a prince, and placed our paper on Professor Whitelock’s desk. He didn't even look at me when he sat back down.

As the class ended, a girl named Miya, who always followed Ethan around, turned to me with a mean smirk.

"Hey, Drip Queen," Sarah whispered. "I saw you at the Penthouse last night. Are you trying to f**k with the big guys so soon? I never knew you were that cheap. And then the basic silver car picking you up. Is he your boyfriend?” She smirked. “Low life. Is the King’s group partner dating a delivery boy now?"

My cheeks burned with shame. I waited for Ethan to say something. I waited for him to defend me, or at least tell her to shut up. Instead, Ethan leaned back and looked at Miya with a bored expression.

"Who she spends her time with is none of my concern, Miya," he said coldly. "As long as the work gets done."

It felt like a slap in the face. Class was over and I packed my bags as fast as I could and ran out of the room. But when I reached the hallway, I saw a familiar face.

It was Mark. He was holding two coffees and a small bag from the bakery. He looked completely out of place among the students, but he had a genuine smile.

"Hey! I thought you’d be hungry after the class," Mark said.

"Mark? What are you doing here?" I asked, surprised.

"I had a delivery nearby and wanted to check on you."

Just then,Ethan walked out, his bag over his shoulder. He stopped dead when he saw Mark.His eyes narrowed. The jaw clenched tighter than ever. "So," Ethan said, his voice a low, dangerous drawl. "This is the emergency caller."

Mark stepped closer to me, almost protectively. "And you must be the guy who leaves girls to walk home in a storm."

"She wasn't walking. She was working," Ethan snapped. He turned his gaze to me, ignoring Mark as if he were invisible. "Come pick your stuffs you left at my place last night Audrey. And don't bring... trash into the workspace."

"His name is Mark," I said, my voice rising. "And he’s being a lot nicer than you've been all day!"

Ethan’s lip curled into a tiny, cruel smirk. "Niceness is for people who have nothing else to offer. Six o'clock. Don't make me wait."

He brushed past us, his shoulder hitting Mark’s with a hard thud. He didn't look back.

Mark shook his head. "That guy is a real piece of work, Audrey. Are you sure you're safe working with him?"

I looked at the coffee in my hand and then at the back of Ethan's head. "I'm safe, Mark," I said.

But as I watched Ethan disappear around the corner, I realized I was lying.