Page 3 of Runaway Girl
We all made camp in his hospital room, waiting for sunrise, not wanting to leave in case he or Mum needed anything.
For the first time in hours, I was able to breathe. I settled back in an uncomfortable recliner shoved in the corner, slipped on my headphones and doom scrolled online, looking for any distraction to calm my mind.
That’s when strike three came barrelling toward me at full speed, threatening to total me to the ground without any fucking padding whatsoever.
The viral video was taken from an odd angle, the person behind the camera was inconspicuous but in the perfect position to get a clear shot of Ethan.
He stood tall and proud in the middle of a crowded bar, surrounded by a couple of football buddies and countless party girls. With quite a few drinks under his belt and an enraptured audience, Ethan’s bolstered speech carried above them all.
“This chick wants me to marry her. She’s delusional. In all these years, I haven’t even acknowledged her in public,” he claimed with a proud expression.
He can’t possibly be talking about… me?
“What if she tries to baby-trap you?” Jake asked. He was known as one of the looser cannon players on the football team, always getting into trouble.
Ethan sneered. “She won’t. She’s a good girl who listens to everything I say.”
A beautiful woman saddled up to his side, skating a suggestive hand down his arm. “That doesn’t sound like fun.” She even managed to tack on a pout at the end.
“Hmm, you may be right, darlin’.”
“Then why do you go back?” Jake asked, digging for more, egging him on to speak absolute trash.
“It’s not mewho comes back. It’s justeasy, Jakey boy. No commitments means no demands and no expectations. I getwhateverI want,wheneverI want.” His suggestive tone implied exactly what “whatever” meant.
“Hmm, I dunno. I’m not convinced. You’ve been seeing this mystery woman for a long time, bro.”
“And what? You’ve never met her, right? When I tell you this girl isn’t even marriage material, let alone mother material… ” His speech tapered off as he took a long drag from his beer while the surrounding females cackled in laughter.
His eyes spread over the crowd, his satisfied expression deepening from the enthusiastic reception. Ethan looked and spoke as if he were a king holding court amongst his subjects.
“Although, the usual does get a bit stale after a while,” he continued, his gaze catching on the woman who still hadn’t removed her claws from his fucking arm. “I probably won’t be able to resist much longer.”
The woman preened while Jake gave a mocking scoff. “I’ll believe it when I see it.”
“Is that a challenge?” Ethan asked with intoxicated and affronted eyes.
Jake’s lips twisted into a cruel smirk. “Yeah, maybe it is.”
Without a beat of hesitation, Ethan drew the woman next to him into his chest and pressed his mouth to hers, their tongues dancing together in a disgusting display of saliva.
That’s when the video cut out.
I was encapsulated in a quiet hospital room with my family, soft snores occasionally breaking through the deafening silence.
But all I could hear was an internal scream rebounding in my skull, a never-ending screech that refused to abate with the realisation of Ethan’s words and actions, sinking deep and true.
The video was only a few minutes long, but that was all it took for maximum damage to be spread.
I opened Ethan’s text thread and found a few unread messages from earlier in the night before his nauseating performance was broadcast all over the internet.
“Alright, I get it. I’ll give you some space then come and see you when I’m back.”
“I was just shocked, love. You know I’m not good at that stuff. We will talk soon.”
“Miss you.”
What a fucking joke.
