Page 63 of This I Know
She looks down and takes my hand in hers. She brings one up to the side of her face, pressing her cheek against it.
“I like you, Ethan,” she says.
I can feel the movements of her mouth as she speaks. It’s oddly intimate. She looks up, straight into my eyes. This is the seduction she’s been waiting to pile on; even her voice, which is animalistic, low and gruff.
Her hand still controlling mine, she begins to lower it, trailing both our hands together, down over the lines of her neck and onto the top of her chest. When I see she’s not going to stop, I pull away, my hand slipping out of hers instantly and with a natural ease. I did it so fast that she’s left blinking, confused at the loss.
“What’s wrong?” she says.
As if she should be confused. I know she’s seen Avery and me around school. She must have noticed the ways I defended her when no one else would.
She puts her hands on her hips. “Is this about that … that …Averygirl?” She spits the words.
She’s mad. I don’t say anything, which I know is a mistake. I don’t even try to leave, which I know is just as big of a mistake.
“What the hell, Ethan? Where did she come from? You and me, we liked each other first.” She jabs her finger into my chest.
Now I have to speak up. “I never liked you, Julia. Not like that.”
She furrows her brow and takes a step back. At least she’s doing something right; if anything, I would’ve expected her to lunge at me.
She nods her head while biting her lower lip in concern. Her eyes water. I’m ready for that switch to turn in her, the one that turns off emotion and reacts on instinct. I brace myself for the lunge. “You’re turning me down,” she says, still nodding. “You’re turning me down for a cripple girl.”
I take her by the shoulders. I’m mad, but I do it gently. The action catches her off guard and she startles. She shoots her eyeliner-clad eyes at me, glaring straight into my soul with a look that could kill.
As she should. Because right now I want to shake those words right out of her, take away from her the ability to ever say such a hateful thing again. But I would never do something like that. So instead, I say forcefully, “Don’t ever call her that again.”
She pushes my arms down and away. “Have you lost it?” She hurries over to the a console table and grabs a set of keys. “I’m getting a ride with someone else.”
She’s about to walk straight past me when I stop her. “Julia, I mean it. Don’t call her that ever again. And you better leave her alone.”
“Leave her alone? Who do you think I am? Cole?”
“Just listen to me, okay? And you know what? If it’s going to be like this, you can leave me alone, too.”
I see the flash of pain in her eyes before she huffs past me without another word.
From the top of the stairs, I watch her leave. I have a good view, although I’m decently hidden from Avery.
Julia stomps as she walks, and she needs to pass Avery on her way out. Avery is standing by the door, making small talk with someone nearby.
Don’t you dare stop, Julia. Keep moving.
She stops.
She taps Avery on the shoulder.
Avery turns, carefully cradling a drink in her hands. She smiles innocently at Julia.
My hands clutch the banister, ready to make a move.
Julia flicks her eyes up at me one last time, a menacing glare. After what just happened between us, I won’t be sorry to see those eyes go. She turns her attention back to Avery and says, “He’s all yours.”
And although I hear her say it clear as day, I only hope I can believe it. I descend the stairs quickly, forgetting all about Cole, just wanting to get back to Avery, whose heart is finally connected to mine.
Connected minus, you know, that one little piece of filthy air between us.
Avery
