Chapter Thirteen
"Why would someone lie about having a sister? What's the point?" I asked Bailey. The two of us were sprawled out on one of the couches in Bailey's aunt's house, stuffing our faces with Tostitos and salsa. My nose was still stuffed up and my throat hurt but the worst of my cold was over. The fever broke and I felt like I could move again.
"What do you mean he lied to you about it?" Really Bailey? I thought it was pretty much self-explanatory.
"Isn’t it obvious? Ethan told me he had a sister, right? He told me he had a sister and that's why he had a doll house on his property. The story he told me was that his sister and mother died in an accident."
"And how do you know that's not true?" Bailey asked me as he chugged soda out of a can.
"Because I met his cousin and she told me that he's an only child and his mother left him and his father five years ago," I tried to explain.
"Oh.” Bailey paused. “What makes you think that this cousin was telling the truth?” I glared at Bailey.
“Because I did research,” I told him. “There isn’t one article that mentions the death of the mayor’s wife and daughter. Nothing, zilch. There aren’t even pictures of Ethan’s mother…only ones of him and his father.”
“Weird,” he mumbled.
"That’s not even the weirdest part,” I told him. “The weirdest part is, is that we kissed. It was a pretty okay kiss but he freaked out about it and told me it was against the rules."
"What rules?"
"That's the thing, I don't know. Ethan wouldn't tell me what the rules are," I said. "Then he told me he liked me but he couldn't date me...not that I want a boyfriend or anything...but still it's weird."
"That does sound a little sketchy," Bailey said. "I’m not sure it’s a good idea to hang out with him, Amber. I don’t like the sound of this. You don’t know what he’s really up to…or what he’s capable of." Bailey flipped through the channels on the television as I stared out the window. I knew Bailey might have thought that Ethan could be dangerous, but I just couldn't see it. Ethan didn't seem like he was dangerous...like he was about to snap. He was just very, very secretive. But why? What was he hiding and who was he was hiding it for?
"But I know he lied...should I call him out on it? Should I find out why?"
"Are you crazy?" Bailey asked as he whipped his head back to me. "Who knows what he'll do once he knows you know. Do you have a death wish?" Was Bailey correct? Would he snap at any moment? Was I better off pretending I didn't know anything and just keep my head low?
"I don't know," I said honestly. "I don't know what to do." I took a handful of Tostitos and started munching on them absentmindedly. It wasn't supposed to be like this. The trip down to Virginia wasn't supposed to be so complicated and it was turning into a big mess.
Why did I have to talk to Kelly? Why did I have to know what was in that doll house? When did I become so nosy?
"So," Bailey said after a while. "You two kissed?"
"Yeah," I said shyly. "A few times."
"Did he kiss better than I did?" Bailey asked. Bailey tried to look casual and nonchalant but I could see that not knowing was killing him. His ego was on the line, waiting to hear he was better.
"It was...different," I said slowly. "It was sweet and it just...happened. It was a surprise...unexpected."
"And mine wasn't."
"And yours wasn't," I confirmed. "But yours was great...especially for a first kiss," I said. It was an easy task, smoothing over Bailey’s ego, and soon he flashed me a goofy grin.
"Good," Bailey said. Another pause. "Do you like him?"
"I don’t know how I feel about him," I said honestly. "It's like, we're friends, and my heart beat a lot when we kissed, but he's so secretive that I can't trust him enough to like him. He has the Great Wall of China around him and I can't get through. How can I like someone like that? I’m not sure if I really know who the true Ethan is?"
"Oh," Bailey said. "If you don’t like him, why are you so worried about what’s going on? Why not wash your hands of the whole thing?"
"Because…because I let him in. I let him see the real me and I feel vulnerable,” I said. “He has the upper hand and I don’t like it.”
"Most people don’t like that." To my relief, he didn't ask me anymore questions about Ethan, our kiss, or anything else about the strange situation. Instead, Bailey handed me an open can of soda and I took it greedily. The bubbles sizzled as they traveled down my throat and hit my stomach. It mixed with the Tostitos and I had to keep myself from gagging.
"Can I tell you what I honestly think about this whole Ethan thing?" Bailey asked after a while.
"Do you ever not tell me what you honestly think about anything?"
"Good point." Bailey sat up and put his arms on his knees as he stared at me.