Elena's POV
Olivia is stealing from David's plate again and David is pretending to be more offended than he actually is and Ethan is laughing so hard his glasses are sliding down his nose and I am sitting here laughing at David's reaction.
Then Thomas Blackwell walks into the cafeteria.
I am mid laugh when the temperature in the room shifts slightly and my body registers it before my brain does.
I look up.
Thomas is walking with two people I do not know, suited as always, but his eyes cut across the room and land directly on me like he knew exactly where I was sitting before he even walked in.
We stare at each other for … I don't know how long, but my heart picks a race for the olympics
He looks away first this time.
I look back at my food and my face feels warm and I red all over.
David lets out a slow whistle.
"Okay," he says, pointing his fork at me. "What was that?"
"What was what?"
"That." He gestures between me and the direction Thomas walked. "That little eye moment. That whatever that was. You are blushing…"
"I don't know what you're talking about." I get interested in my pasta. Maybe my concentration will stop David from blabbing
"Thomas Blackwell just looked at you like you are the only person in this cafeteria," Olivia says, very calm, very matter of fact, chin raised in her propped hand.
"He was probably just looking in this general direction. No big deal."
"Elena." David puts his fork down saying my name in a sing song. "That man was looking at you specifically. I have twenty twenty vision. Don't play with me. "
Ethan is smiling into his cup. "Victoria Sterling is going to actually kill someone," he says. "Like genuinely. Full homicide. Over that Thomas Blackwell."
"She already threatened to pluck out my eyes," I say. "She is always confronting me"
"See." Ethan points. "Homicide."
Olivia looks between me and Ethan and then at David and then gets a slow smile on her face.
"What the fuck is going through your mind?" I charge at her, willing to shift attention from me
"Has anyone else noticed something," she says.
"What," David says.
"Our little group." She gestures around the table. "I am always next to David. Ethan is always next to Elena. It is like we naturally divided into cute pairs."
David sits up immediately with the energy of someone who has been waiting for an opening. "Olivia. Date me."
"Absolutely not."
"Why not!"
"Because you eat with your mouth open and you stress me a lot. Always taking bubble gum from my purse "
"Those are minor issues we can work through in couples therapy." he grinned, patting her cheeks playfully
I am laughing now. Ethan is shaking his head.
"What about you two," Olivia says, nodding at me and Ethan. "Elena and Ethan. It makes sense. The initials E and E"
I open my mouth.
"I'm gay," Ethan says simply.
The table goes quiet.
David's fork stops halfway to his mouth.
"Huhhh…" Olivia blinks.
I look at Ethan. He is calm, looking around at us with that steady expression.
"I was going to tell you all eventually," he says, shrugging. "It never felt like the right moment and then it started feeling weird that I had not said it yet... so." He picks up his cup. "There it is."
"Ethan," David says slowly. "Brother. You betrayer. I was going to hook you up with a hottie!"
"Oh well," Ethan shrugs
"I need a moment," David says, pressing his hand to his chest dramatically.
"You are so childish," Olivia tells him.
I am smiling at Ethan. "Okay so who is the crush," I say. "There is always a crush."
Ethan looks at me sideways. Then laughs. "Tobias Blackwell."
I feel something drop in my stomach.
I keep smiling. I keep my face completely normal. I keep extraordinary self control.
"Recently reconsidering that though," Ethan adds, wrinkling his nose. "He is genuinely quite rude. I think it has to do with his name. "
I laugh. It comes out naturally. Normal. Like I am not jealous of my gay friend over a man I should not have slept with in the first place.
Ethan turns and looks at me properly. Then he puts his arm around my shoulders and pulls me into a side hug, warm and easy. "You are my best friend in the whole world," he says into my hair. "You know that right."
I hug him back and I am smiling and my eyes are stinging slightly and I do not know why exactly. Maybe because nobody has said that to me in a very long time. Maybe because the last person who called me their best friend was Maya and we see how that turned out.
"You are mine too," I say.
The burner phone vibrates in my pocket.
I pull it out under the table.
TASK: Cut off all contact with Ethan Rivers. Starting now. One full week. No explanation, no goodbye. Do it or his father dies in a fire at the firehouse. You have been warned.
The cafeteria is still loud around me. David is still arguing with Olivia. Ethan's arm is still around my shoulders.
I go completely cold. I give an excuse, pick up my things and leave
**
I stop answering Ethan's texts that same evening.
I avoid the library. I take different routes to class. When I see him in the hallway I look straight through him and keep walking and I feel his confusion.
He runs after me.
"Elena. Hey. Elena, wait."
I walk faster.
He catches up. "What did I do? Seriously. Just tell me what I did."
I stare at a fixed point past his shoulder and say nothing.
"Is it the Tobias thing?" His voice drops. "Because I noticed you freeze when I said his name and I want you to know I am not interested anymore and honestly I think I was never really interested. I think I just thought he was pretty and that is not the same thing as actually…"
"Get away from me Ethan."
He stops.
I keep walking.
"I know you like Thomas too, I will stay away from him too. I promise. I will stay away from boys if that is what it takes for you to forgive me…"
The phone buzzes.
She has a backbone after all. Now scream at him. Public. Now.
I stop walking. I turn around. Ethan is still standing there looking at me with an expression that makes me want to sit down on the floor and cry.
It takes a lot, but I open my mouth.
"I said get away from me!" My voice comes out loud. Too loud. People turn. "Stop following me around like a foolish dog. I don't want to be your friend. I don't want to be anybody's best friend. Just leave me alone!"
The hallway is very quiet.
Ethan looks at me shocked. Embarrassed. Then he nods once, slowly, and walks away.
I turn around and keep moving and I feel a stone in my chest. Tears pricking at the corners of my eyes
***
The fire happens on Friday anyway.
Ethan texts me at 11PM. I see his name on my screen and my stomach drops before I even open it.
"My dad is in the hospital. Burns. There was a fire at the firehouse tonight. I don't know who else to tell. You are my best friend"
I stare at the message.
I did everything. Everything they asked. I hurt him. I humiliated him in a hallway full of people. I gave them the whole week.
And his father still burned.
I am at Ethan's dorm.
He opens the door and I walk in and I tell him everything.
"I need to tell you something…"
I hand him the phone. I watch him read every message slowly and carefully, his face very still.
He looks up.
"So it happened anyway," he says. "Even when you did everything they said."
"Yes."
"Obedience didn't stop it. It just decides how bad it got."
"Yes."
He is quiet for a moment. Then he pulls me into a hug and I let him.
"I am so sorry," I sob into his arms
"It's okay. They would have killed my father. You have been suffering in silence for so long…"
We stay in a hug for a long while. Then he pulls back and opens his laptop.
"Give me the phone," he says. "I am going to find this person."
I hand it over. He plugs it into his laptop and starts typing and I sit beside him watching the screen and I breathe. Maybe we will actually find the person.
His laptop pings. Unknown number. A text to his personal phone.
"Stop digging Ethan. You know what I am capable of."
We look at each other.
The burner phone buzzes in his hand.
He reads it and his face changes. He
turns the screen toward me slowly.
NEW TASK, BITCH: Seduce Professor Helena Winters. You have 72 hours.