Chapter 15 Chapter 15
Chapter 15 Chapter 15
Aria’s POV
The locker room door hadn’t even fully closed behind me before I felt it.
That shift in the air.
Heavy. Still. Watching.
I froze for half a second, fingers tightening slightly around the strap of my bag before I forced myself to look up.
And there he was.
Leaning against the lockers like he had every right to be there.
Like he had been waiting.
Ethan Cole.
Of all people.
My stomach dropped.
Not fear. Not exactly.
Just… recognition.
The kind that comes with unfinished things.
“Well,” he said, pushing himself off the locker slowly, his gaze dragging over me like he was trying to read something written on my skin. “If it isn’t Aria Bennett.”
I swallowed once, steadying myself. “Ethan.”
He smiled, but it didn’t reach his eyes. “You remember me.”
“Hard to forget,” I replied.
“Good,” he said softly. “I’d hate to think I wasn’t memorable.”
I shifted my weight slightly, my body still sore from practice, my patience already thin. “What are you doing here?”
“Visiting,” he said casually, like that explained anything.
“This isn’t your school.”
“Not anymore,” he corrected.
That made me pause.
Not anymore.
“So why are you here?” I asked again.
His eyes held mine, something flickering in them that I couldn’t quite place. “I heard things changed.”
“What things?”
“You,” he said simply.
I let out a quiet breath. “You heard wrong.”
“I don’t think I did,” he replied, taking a step closer.
Instinctively, I held my ground.
I wasn’t the same girl he knew.
I refused to be.
“You joined cheer?” he asked.
“I’m trying to.”
“And football practice too?” His brow lifted slightly. “That’s new.”
“People change.”
“Do they?” he asked.
“Yes.”
His gaze dropped briefly to my hands, then back to my face. “Or do they just get pushed until they have no choice?”
Something about the way he said that made my chest tighten.
“You don’t know anything about me,” I said quietly.
“I know enough.”
“No,” I shook my head. “You know who I was.”
“And who are you now?”
I didn’t answer immediately.
Because I didn’t have a clean answer.
Because I was still figuring that out.
“I’m someone who doesn’t walk away anymore,” I said finally.
He studied me for a long moment.
Then nodded slowly. “Yeah… I can see that.”
Silence stretched between us.
Not awkward.
Not comfortable either.
Just… full.
“So,” I said, breaking it, “you came all the way here just to have this conversation?”
He exhaled softly, running a hand through his hair. “Not exactly.”
“Then what?”
“I came to see if it was true.”
“What was true?”
“That you were still letting people walk all over you.”
My jaw tightened.
“And?” I asked.
His eyes didn’t leave mine.
“They’re not,” he said.
Something in me shifted.
Not relief.
Not pride.
Just… something quiet.
“Good,” I said.
He nodded once.
Then his expression changed slightly.
“Dominic Hayes,” he said.
There it was.
Of course.
“What about him?” I asked.
“I saw him out there,” Ethan continued. “Didn’t expect you to be around him.”
I shrugged slightly. “Life’s full of surprises.”
“He’s not the kind of surprise you want,” Ethan said, his tone sharpening just a little.
I frowned. “What’s that supposed to mean?”
“It means he’s trouble.”
“I’m aware.”
“No,” he said, stepping closer again, his voice lower now. “You’re not.”
I met his gaze, unflinching. “I’ve known him longer than you think.”
“Not like this.”
“People change,” I repeated.
He let out a quiet, humorless laugh. “You really believe that?”
“Yes.”
“And you think he has?”
I didn’t answer.
Because I didn’t know.
Because I wasn’t sure I wanted to know.
“That’s what I thought,” Ethan muttered.
“Why do you care?” I asked suddenly.
He stilled.
“What?”
“Why do you care who I’m around?” I pressed. “You left.”
His expression hardened slightly. “That wasn’t my choice.”
“It doesn’t change the fact that you did.”
Silence.
Thick. Tense.
“You think I wanted to leave?” he asked quietly.
“I think you didn’t fight to stay.”
That hit.
I saw it.
In the way his jaw clenched.
In the way his eyes flickered.
“You don’t know what you’re talking about,” he said.
“Then explain it.”
“I don’t owe you that.”
I let out a small, sharp laugh. “Funny. That sounds familiar.”
We stood there, staring at each other like we were both waiting for something to break.
Footsteps echoed faintly outside the locker room.
Voices.
Closer.
And then the door swung open.
Dominic.
Of course.
His eyes landed on me first.
Then shifted to Ethan.
And everything changed.
The air snapped.
“What’s he doing here?” Dominic asked, his voice flat but edged with something dangerous.
Ethan didn’t look away from me. “We’re talking.”
Dominic stepped inside, the door closing behind him with a quiet click. “I wasn’t asking you.”
I exhaled slowly. “He’s just visiting.”
“At school?” Dominic’s gaze moved back to Ethan. “In the locker room?”
“Relax,” Ethan said. “I’m not here for you.”
“Good,” Dominic replied. “Because I’m not here for you either.”
Their eyes locked.
And just like that, it wasn’t about me anymore.
It was something else.
Something older.
Sharper.
“You should leave,” Dominic said.
Ethan smirked faintly. “Or what?”
Dominic didn’t answer.
He didn’t need to.
It was in the way he stood.
In the way his shoulders squared.
In the way his eyes didn’t move.
Ethan took another step forward.
Not aggressive.
Not hesitant either.
Just enough.
“I heard you’re having trouble,” Ethan said, his tone casual but loaded. “Grades slipping. Team at risk.”
My stomach tightened.
Dominic’s expression didn’t change.
But something in his eyes did.
“Stay out of it,” he said.
“I’m just making conversation.”
“Then make it somewhere else.”
Ethan tilted his head slightly. “Or what?”
That again.
That challenge.
And this time, Dominic stepped forward.
The distance between them closed.
Not completely.
But enough.
“Try me,” Dominic said quietly.
The room felt smaller.
Tighter.
Like the walls were closing in.
“Stop,” I said, stepping between them before it could go any further.
Neither of them moved.
“Both of you,” I added, my voice firmer now.
Ethan’s gaze dropped to me.
Then Dominic’s.
For a second, neither of them said anything.
Then Ethan stepped back first.
“Relax,” he said, lifting his hands slightly. “I’m not here to fight.”
“Then don’t act like it,” Dominic replied.
Ethan’s eyes flicked to me one last time.
“I’ll see you around, Aria.”
I didn’t respond.
He walked past Dominic, the door opening and closing behind him without another word.
Silence followed.
Heavy.
Unfinished.
I let out a breath I didn’t realize I was holding.
“That was unnecessary,” I said.
Dominic didn’t respond immediately.
His gaze was still on the door.
Then it shifted to me.
“Who is he?” he asked.
“An old friend.”
“Didn’t look friendly.”
I crossed my arms. “Not everything is your business.”
His jaw tightened slightly. “You’re staying in my house. It kind of is.”
“That doesn’t give you the right to interrogate me.”
“I’m not interrogating you.”
“It feels like it.”
Silence again.
Then he ran a hand through his hair, exhaling sharply.
“He’s trouble,” he said.
I blinked. “That’s ironic.”
“I’m serious.”
“So am I.”
We stared at each other.
Same argument.
Different words.
“You don’t know him,” he said.
“And you don’t know me,” I shot back.
That landed.
Hard.
Something in his expression shifted.
Not anger.
Not frustration.
Something quieter.
More dangerous.
“You’re wrong about that,” he said.
My heart skipped.
Just once.
“Am I?” I asked.
He stepped closer.
Not rushed.
Not hesitant.
Deliberate.
“I know enough,” he said quietly.
The space between us felt… different.
Too close.
Too aware.
“Then you should know,” I said, my voice softer now, “that I don’t need you to decide who I talk to.”
His gaze dropped briefly to my lips before snapping back to my eyes.
“I’m not deciding,” he said. “I’m warning you.”
“There it is again.”
“What?”
“That thing you do,” I said. “Acting like you care.”
His jaw tightened.
“I don’t act.”
“Then what is it?”
Silence.
Thick.
Heavy.
Real.
And for a second, I thought he would answer.
Thought he would actually say something honest.
Something that made sense.
But instead, he stepped back.
Breakin
g it.
“Stay away from him,” he said.
And just like that, the moment was gone.
I stared at him, my chest tight with something I couldn’t name.
“You don’t get to tell me that,” I said quietly.
His expression hardened again.
Back to normal.
Back to safe.
“Fine,” he replied. “Do whatever you want.”
And then he turned and walked out.
Leaving me standing there.
Alone.
Confused.
And with one thought echoing louder than anything else
This just got a lot more complicated.