"I came here to see you actually

Chapter 9

Kierra's POV

"Hey babe," Liliana said, standing on the tip of her toes and pressing her lips to Ethan's cheek before stepping back and glancing between Ethan and me. "How long have you been here?"

"Uh, not too long," Ethan was quick to reply. His response stung and it was a struggle to continue smiling and agree with him.

"Oh, really? Because Celine came by my place and told me that she ran into you here."

Her response caught me off guard and I got worried. Sure, Ethan and I hadn't been doing anything but he'd lied already so what was she going to think now?

Stupid Celine!

"Well yeah. I dropped by here earlier and I told Kierra I'd come by later to drop her off at home," Ethan responded and it made me wonder if he had been expecting her question.

"Oh, that makes sense," Liliana agreed readily.

"So what are you doing here?"

"I came here to see you actually. Why didn't you pick my calls?"

"I was studying and I didn't want any distractions. Did you seriously walk all the way here to see me?" Ethan asked, his brows furrowed.

"Well yeah. I went to your house but since you weren't there, I thought I'd check here and I was right because here we are. So can we go now?"

Ethan nodded and Liliana grabbed his hand and began to lead him towards his parked car. They'd just taken a few steps when Ethan stopped and glanced back at me. I still stood in the same spot I had been in since Liliana approached Ethan and me.

"Key, you coming?" he asked, and even from where I stood, I could see his eyes pleading with me but I took it as my imagination messing with me and slowly shook my head.

"You're not coming with us?" Liliana quizzed as she slowly walked over to where I stood and took my hand. "Why not?"

At that moment, I felt angry. I felt angry at Liliana for not making it easy to hate her. Why did she have to be so goddamn nice all the time? It would make everything easy if she was as despicable and cruel as Celine but she wasn't and that made me so mad.

Despite the emotions bubbling within me, the smile on my face didn't falter as I slowly freed my hand from her hold and shook my head.

"It's nothing. I just have to stop somewhere to get something," I said the first thing that came to mind.

"Ethan can drop you off then," she offered.

"No. No. It's the opposite way and I really don't want to stress you guys."

"It's really no problem, right, Ethan?" Ethan nodded silently, not once taking his eyes off me. I didn't let that faze me though and rejected their offer.

"I'll be okay by myself. You guys should go."

"But Kierra–"

"I said I'll be okay!" I insisted, a little louder than I intended. Both Ethan and Liliana seemed shocked by my tone and I took a deep breath before faking a little smile and gripping Liliana's shoulders. "I'm sorry about that but as I said, you don't have to worry about me. I'll be okay."

Liliana smiled again and nodded before stepping back and getting into Ethan's car with Ethan. Just before he got into his car, Ethan took one last look at me, his eyes speaking volumes. I could tell he had something to say but he soon looked away and got into his car. Seconds later, he'd driven off and I was left standing on the sidewalk alone.

I could feel tears pricking my eyes even as I told myself that I wouldn't cry. But sometimes it couldn't be helped. I had been deluding myself into thinking I would get to have another moment with Ethan but Liliana's appearance just served as a reminder that he didn't belong to me and I needed to remember that so I didn't become another Celine.

Once my eyes were dry, I gripped the straps of my backpack tighter and began the walk back home.

***

I started to go out of my way to avoid Ethan after the incident at the coffee shop. I saw this as a necessary measure to take if I didn't want to break the pact or lose my sanity.

It was a little hard because I did enjoy how close I got to be with Ethan but my friendship with Emily had to come first and I couldn't jeopardize that for a crush that would fade soon.

Friday soon rolled around. That was Emily's favorite day because it came before Saturday and usually the best parties were held on Friday and that was exactly where we were headed.

Being the nerd that I was, parties weren't really my scene and if it were up to me, I would never attend parties but it wasn't up to me. It was up to Emily and if she was going, I had to be there.

After getting ready in her room, Emily and I headed downstairs and even though I was trying to avoid him, I still couldn't stop myself from looking around for any sign of Ethan.

"Do you know if Ethan is going to be at the party?" I asked as casually as I could manage.

"I don't know. Probably. Hopefully, we don't run into him. Then again, this is his friend's party."

"Then why are we going again?"

"It's a party. That's more than enough reason to be there. Ethan has already ruined my life but he's not gonna keep me from enjoying it. Now hurry up or we'll be late," she said, hurrying down the stairs and out the door. I hurried after her and we both got into the Uber she'd called.

By the time we arrived at the location of the party which was Derek Jensen's residence, the party was already in full swing. The yard was littered with half-drunk teenagers, chatting and drinking at the same time while inside the house was full of teenagers making out, dancing, drinking, and other stuff that normally happened at stuff like this.

I had been to quite a few parties over the years but I tended to just sit quietly in a corner and watch over Emily. I had no intention of tonight being any different.

"So... what should we do first?" Emily asked as she turned to look at me.

"I don't know. What do you want to do?" I asked back.

"Hmmm... I think I'll get a drink. You know, now that I'm legal and all," she said with a little smirk.

"Weren't you already drinking before you turned 18?" I asked, my eyebrows furrowed. "But I'm legal now so let's go get that drink!"

She grabbed my hand and we were both on our way to the kitchen when Emily bumped into a guy who spilled his drink on her shirt.

"What the fuck?!" she cussed furiously as she looked down at her shirt.

"Oh my! I am so sorry!" The guy apologized, extending a handkerchief towards her. I was anxious just staring at Emily. She had a bit of a temper so I had no idea how bad her reaction was going to be.

"Sorry? Will your sorry clean my shirt? Will–" There was an instant pause as she looked up from her shirt at him and to my surprise, her lips curved into a smile. "Oh, hi there."

What the...? Was she actually saying hi? What in heaven's name was going on? I was struggling to make sense of it all.

"Hi. I'm really sorry about your shirt. It was an accident," he tried explaining again.

"Yeah. I know. It's no biggie," she said, dismissing it with a wave of her hand.

My eyes widened and I could only gape at Emily wordlessly even though she seemed oblivious to my presence. Was I hearing any of this correctly? How did she go from being ready to fight him to...this? Unless, of course...

"I'm Emily, by the way," she said, extending her hand forward. "Cameron. It's nice to meet you, Emily," he replied, gripping her hand firmly before he brought it to his lips and kissed the top of her hand. And then she giggled. Emily actually giggled.

That made things a lot clearer. Emily was attracted to him hence the complete switch and giggling. Emily never giggled. Ever. Unless a guy was involved. And in this case, I could see why she'd be interested.

Cameron was pretty cute. He was tall, blonde, had dark eyes and a striking jaw. Yeah, I could see why Emily was acting the way she was around him but to me, he couldn't compare to Ethan.

"So uh... would you like me to help you clean up?" Cameron offered and Emily quickly agreed. "Yes please."

But before they could leave, I stepped in. Emily was about to go off with a stranger to the bathroom and anything could happen.

"Emily, what are you doing?" I whispered fiercely after I had pulled her away from Cameron. "Um hello. Have you seen the guy?"

"Yeah, and you don't know him. What if– what if he does something?"

"Well he wouldn't be doing something I didn't already want," she commented, licking her lips as she glanced over at Cameron. I couldn't hide the look of disgust that preceded her comment. "Geez Kierra. Don't be such a prude. I'll be fine. Just go off without me and have fun. Later." She blew me a kiss before sauntering over to Cameron and I watched the both of them disappear into the crowd.

Already feeling mad and dumb that I was all alone at a party I didn't even want to be at, I decided to head to the kitchen to get a drink.

In the kitchen, there were a few people gathered by the punch bowl and fridge while others were seated on the counter. I grabbed a cup to get punch but I hadn't even taken a sip when I realized that the punch was spiked.

I dumped the cup and walked over to the fridge to get a non-alcoholic drink but all I could see was beer.

"Great. Just great," I mumbled to myself as I closed the fridge and stepped back only time end up walking into someone. I jumped away almost immediately and was about to apologize when I saw who I had bumped into.

"Rory," I enunciated, my eyes narrowed to slits as I fixed him with a glare. Well, this is an unpleasant surprise.