Chapter 20 Ch. 15.2
Ethan had only one thought as he walked through the school gates the next morning—he had to do what his father said.
Kill her.
It sounded too dramatic when he thought of it like that. But that was exactly what his father meant. No room for misinterpretation. Zara was a threat, and threats had to be eliminated.
But then, there she was.
Zara.
Back in school like nothing had happened.
Sitting on the third row in biology, tying her hair up like she hadn’t vanished for days and left his brain in a blender. Like she hadn’t stared at him that day in the nurse’s office and looked so... hurt.
He didn’t expect her to come back, at least not so soon. But she was here now, and his eyes followed her every time she moved. He didn’t do it on purpose. At least, that’s what he told himself. But every time she scratched her head, adjusted her seat, passed a note to Noah—his gaze was already there.
And she noticed.
Of course she did.
By the time they got to chemistry, she was clearly pretending not to notice. That was the only way Ethan could describe the way she refused to look in his direction. Even when she laughed at something Noah said, it felt too forced.
Ethan sat next to Yvette, who kept shifting closer every few seconds like she was trying to remind him she existed.
"Seriously," she said, flipping her hair and giving him a side glance. "You’re like, obsessed with her or something."
Ethan didn’t answer.
Yvette leaned closer. "What do you even see in Zara? She’s not even cute. Kinda basic. Her nose is weird."
He turned to her sharply. "Shut up."
She blinked. "What?"
"Don’t talk about her like that."
Yvette looked genuinely taken aback. "Wow. Okay. Chill. It was just a joke."
He didn’t reply. He just looked away, chewing on the inside of his cheek. Why had that pissed him off so much? He wasn’t even supposed to care. He was supposed to be planning how to deal with her. But instead, he was snapping at people like some wounded animal guarding its pack.
After lunch, he tried to walk out of the cafeteria to clear his head, but she caught him before he could make it past the lockers.
"Hey!" she called.
He paused.
Zara marched right up to him, her brows pulled together. "Why do you keep looking at me like you’re waiting for me to explode or something?"
He stared at her for a second. He could walk away. He could tell her nothing. He could pretend.
But he didn’t.
"Why did you tell them?"
She blinked. "What?"
He pulled her into an empty classroom and shut the door, not before looking around to make sure no one was coming around.
"Everyone knows. About me. About what I am. Even from other schools. And you—you’re the only person who knew. So, who else could it be?"
Her face scrunched in confusion. "What the hell are you talking about, Ethan?"
He laughed, dry and bitter. "Didn’t know you had such a big mouth," he said, adjusting his stance. "So what? You know something about me that I've kept hidden all my life, and the next thing? Run your mouth like a goddamn tap! How many people did you even tell? You literally don’t talk to Yvette!"
"What the hell are you talking about Ethan?"
"You know damn well what I'm talking about. You saw me in the alley, and the next thing you do is run your fucken mouth! Why? What have I ever done to you? Why couldn't you just leave everything the way it was?"
"I didn’t—"
"And you stand here to talk about what I am?" he asked, laughing again, shaking his head. "Let’s talk about what you are, Zara."
Her mouth opened, then closed again. "Ethan, I—"
"I thought something was wrong with me. Maybe I had lost it somehow. But no—no, nothing is wrong with me," he said, his voice rising, his eyes flaring red with rage. "It’s about you, because that worked on Yvette. It worked on the school nurse and three others so far. How did I not even smell you follow me? So why don’t you confess. You’re one yourself? Or a witch."
Zara let out a dry laugh. "I swear to God, you’re fucken crazy, Ethan. What am I? I don’t run races in impossible times— in fact I'm sure you've heard. I'm struggling with my goddamn races. Everyone is comparing me to Reina who wasn't even in first five in the last state championships. I don't run races without getting exhausted at the end. I don’t save a child who’s a millisecond away from dying. And I didn’t tell nobody! Absolutely no one."
They stared at each other for a moment.
Ethan felt his chest rise and fall like he’d just finished a sprint. He could feel the heat behind his eyes, the pressure in his jaw.
She wasn’t lying.
He didn’t know how he knew. He just... did.
She wasn’t lying.
"You shouldn’t have followed me that night," he said, finally.
"Yeah? Well, you shouldn't be competing amongst humans who actually have to work hard for their races."