"Kiera I need your help"

Chapter 15

Kierra's POV

I was unable to take my eyes off Ethan who was standing behind me and staring at me with an intense look in his eyes. There was barely any space between us and I wondered how I hadn't noticed or heard him walk in.

He was about to say something but we heard a bunch of voices getting closer and before I could react, Ethan pulled me into one of the stalls. We both stayed still and silent with Ethan standing with his back pressed to the door and his arms wrapped around me.

I managed to keep a cool and silent exterior but it was the complete opposite inside. My heart was beating like crazy, the butterflies in my stomach seemed to have tripled and it felt like my stomach was doing flips. I could only imagine how my face would look if my insides felt this way.

The girls who came into the bathroom talked and talked for a while and the subject of their discussion was Ethan.

It wasn't anything that I hadn't heard before but it felt very different when the subject of their discussion could hear them.

"I wish Ethan was my boyfriend. I really do," one of the girls remarked and the other snorted. "As if. Have you seen him and Liliana together? They're like an old married couple. They'll probably be together forever."

"Exactly why I wish he belonged to me. He's like so loyal and the perfect gentleman."

"Yeah, he is," her friend responded and I heard one of them enter the stall beside the one we were in. I held my breath so as not to make a noise as I waited for her to be done and hopefully, they'd leave. After she was done and flushed, I heard the both of them leave and finally released my breath.

With them gone, Ethan let go of me and we both stepped out of the stall. Neither of us made a move to leave the stall and all I could think about was the conversation we'd just overheard.

It was the same thought I had always had about Ethan and Liliana's relationship. They seemed like the perfect couple who would go on to date throughout college, eventually get married afterward, live a perfect life with jobs they loved, and tell their perfect kids that they were high school sweethearts.

Ethan was loyal to Liliana which was an admirable quality I liked about him but if he was so loyal, what were we doing here?

I didn't have an answer to that so I took a deep breath and readied myself to ask the question.

"Why are you here, Ethan?"

"What do you mean?" he asked back.

"I mean, why are you here, Ethan? In the girls' bathroom? You shouldn't be here."

"You're right," he answered. "I shouldn't be here."

"Uhh, so why are you?"

"Well–" he ran his hand through his hair like he was having trouble asking what was on his mind–"I saw you and Chase in the cafeteria and you guys looked pretty... uh– do you like him?"

I was caught off guard and a little puzzled at his question. Why would he want to know if I liked Chase? Why did he need to ask me that so much that he followed me into the bathroom?

"And is there any reason why you want to know this?" I folded my arms and waited expectantly for his answer.

Ethan scratched the back of his head awkwardly again and seemed to be having problems coming up with an answer to my question.

When minutes passed and Ethan still hadn't said a word, I decided to just save both of us from the awkwardness and just leave.

"I should get going," I said, already making my way past him and out of the bathroom but I stopped to say, "and FYI, I don't like Chase."

Once out of the bathroom, I decided I was done with lunch and didn't need to go back to the cafeteria so I headed to my locker instead and grabbed the books I would need for the next period before heading to the class I had next.

I was doing a little pre-class study session while I waited for the bell to ring when I heard someone walk in. Unable to tame my curiosity, I looked up from my book and saw that it was Celine that had stepped into the classroom and she was heading right towards me.

I had a lot of thoughts running through my mind as I watched her approach me. Was she going to threaten to tell Liliana all about Friday? Blake has said he'd handle it but I'd never really asked him what he meant by that or if he handled it? Maybe she was going to do something much worse?

After all, we were all alone and I couldn't take her in a fight. Maybe I could make a run for it.

I estimated how fast I'd be able to get from my seat at the very back of the room to the door before Celine caught up to me.

"Hey Kierra," she said with a little wave and I stopped. 'Hey?'

Celine and I weren't talking to each other and now she was telling me 'hey'? Maybe she wasn't here to beat me up... Why did I even think that in the first place?

I watched her occupy the seat in front of me warily while glancing at the door and wondering if I still had time to make a break for it. Celine's next words, however, made it almost impossible for me to leave.

"Kierra, I need your help."