<b>Chapter </b><b>89 </b>
<b><i>Ethan’s </i></b><b><i>POV</i></b><b>: </b>
Ethan was still reeling for what just transpired between him and ra. After agreeing with her n, ra smiled brightly.
<i>“</i><i>Excellent</i>! I’ll <i>have </i><i>a </i><iwyer </i><i>draw </i><i>up </i><i>a contract </i><i>for </i><i>us </i><i>both </i><i>and </i><i>we’ll </i><i>get </i><i>to </i>work immediately<i>! </i><i>If </i><i>possible</i><i>, </i><i>I’d </i><i>like </i><i>to </i><i>meet </i><i>Maria </i><i>this </i><i>weekend</i><i>?</i><i>” </i>
Ethan lightly smiled; the excitement she disyed made him feel as though he was floating on feathers.
<i>“</i><i>Yes</i>, <i>I </i><i>can </i><i>setup </i><i>for </i><i>you </i><i>to </i><i>meet </i><i>with </i><i>her </i><i>as </i><i>well </i><i>as </i><i>the </i><i>rest </i>of <i>my </i><i>family </i><i>this </i><i>Saturday</i><i>.</i>”
<i>“</i><i>Excellent</i><i>! </i><i>Hand </i><i>me </i><i>your </i><i>phone</i><i>.</i><i>” </i><fn67be> ?????? ???? fin?novel</fn67be>
Ethan handed ra his phone with a puzzled look. After unlocking the screen for her, ra began punching in numbers. Suddenly, a loud song started ying from her phone. Handing Ethan back his phone, she smiled brightly.
“<i>There</i><i>! </i><i>Now </i><i>we </i><i>have </i><i>each </i><i>other’s </i><i>numbers</i>.‘
<b>?? </b>
Ah.
“Perfect<i>, </i><i>I’ll </i><i>call </i><i>you </i><i>by </i><i>Wednesday </i><i>to </i><i>coordinate </i><i>a </i><i>good </i><i>time </i>for <i>Saturday</i><i>.</i>”
ra smiled in agreement as they began cleaning up theb’s lecture room. As ra ced the final books in her bag, she realized it was already almost 8:30pm.
‘Jeez! When did it get so <ite</i><i>!</i><i>‘ </i>
Ethan also noticed the time. ‘<i>Shit</i><i>, </i><i>I </i>didn’t mean <i>to </i>keep her sote.‘ Clearing his throat, Ethan handed ra herst bag.
“<i>I’m </i>so <i>sorry </i>for <i>keeping </i><i>you </i>here this <i>long </i><i>ra</i>. Let me take <i>you </i>home.”
<i>“</i><i>No </i>worries! <i>I’m </i><i>d </i><i>this </i><i>happened</i>.<i>” </i>
9:36 <b>Sat</b>, Sep 6 <b>G </b>…
ra’s smile now showed both of her dimples; her face was like a radiant angel.
<i>“</i><i>And </i><i>no </i><i>need</i><i>! </i><i>I </i><i>have </i><i>my </i><i>big </i><i>sister Gloria’s </i><i>car</i><i>.</i><i>” </i>
<i>‘</i><i>She </i>must <i>be </i><i>referring </i><i>to </i><i>Gloria </i><i>Rhinehorne</i><i>.</i><i>‘ </i>
<b>55 </b>
Ethan thought as he watched her do one more look over to make sure she’d had
everything. Ethan learned of Gloria and Casey while ra was still at LexU. He actually
knew Gloria’s father Dr. Rhinehorne. He was d she’d been able to meet people that
cared about her.
A ping of jealousy stung his heart as he thought about how close Gloria and Casey were with ra. He found himself hoping that she would one day see him as a person she could rely on. Ethan and ra stepped out of the lecture room and walked towards the door to leave. As ra was about to open the door, Ethan called out to her, halting her
movements.
Ethan began to blush as she stared at him with those piercing eyes.
<i>“</i>ra<i>…</i><i>well</i><i>, </i><i>I </i><i>just </i><i>want </i><i>to </i><i>say</i><i>; </i><i>I’m </i><i>really </i><i>d </i><i>I </i><i>met </i><i>you</i>. <i>And </i><i>I </i><i>hope </i><i>that </i><i>you </i><i>and </i><i>I </i><i>can </i>be <i>friends </i><i>one </i><i>day</i>.<i>” </i>
ra’s cheeks began to turn red. Smiling brightly, she responded.
“I’m really <i>d </i><i>we </i><i>met </i>as <i>well</i><i>, </i><i>but </i><i>no </i><i>worries </i><i>Ethan</i><i>…</i><i>I </i><i>like </i><i>you</i>; <i>so</i>, we’re <i>already </i>friends.”
With that, ra walked through the door almost bumping into Owen, who had been standing at the door the entire time watching their interaction with amazement.
Startled, ra immediately started apologizing for bumping into him.
“<i>I’m </i><i>so </i>sorry! <i>I’m </i>terrible at watching <i>where </i>I’m going!”
ra bowed her head quickly at Owen, who was now smiling passively.
<i>“</i><i>There’s </i><i>no </i><i>need </i>for <i>an </i><i>apology</i><i>; </i><i>I </i><i>should </i><i>have </i><i>stepped </i><i>back</i><i>. </i><i>It’s </i><i>nice </i>to <i>meet you </i><i>Ms. </i><i>Rouleau</i><i>.</i><i>” </i>
9:36 Sat, Sep <b>6 </b><b>B</b>…
<b>55 </b>
ra looked at Owen with a puzzled expression. How did he know her name? Before she could ask, Ethan walked over and introduced them properly.
<i>“</i><i>ra</i><i>, </i><i>this </i><i>is </i><i>my </i><i>VP </i><i>and </i><i>best </i><i>friend </i><i>Owen </i><i>Crawford</i>. <i>Owen</i>, <i>meet </i><i>ra </i><i>Rouleau</i><i>.</i><i>” </i>
Owen smiled at ra while lifting her left hand to kiss.
<i>“</i><i>Ms. </i><i>ra</i><i>, </i>it’s a <i>pleasure </i>to <i>finally </i><i>meet </i><i>you</i>. <i>I’ve </i><i>heard </i><i>some </i><i>amazing </i><i>things </i><i>about </i><i>you</i><i>, </i><i>though </i><i>I </i>must <i>say</i><i>…</i><i>I </i><i>wasn’t </i><i>aware </i><i>of </i><i>how </i><i>beautiful </i><i>you </i><i>were</i><i>.</i><i>” </i>
ra smiled shyly; her cheeks slightly reddening. Ethan, however, began to scowl. He wasn’t sure why, but Owen being slightly flirtatious with ra was pissing him off. He cleared his throat while ring daggers at Owen.
“<i>Owen</i><i>, </i><i>would </i><i>you </i><i>mind </i><i>letting </i><i>ra’s </i><i>hand </i><i>go</i>, <i>she </i><i>has </i><i>to </i><i>get </i><i>home</i>.<i>” </i>
Ethan could feel the acid seeping through his words. Owen on the other found his friend’s reaction hrious. Suppressing augh to make sure he didn’t piss him off anymore, Owen released ra’s hand and opened the door for her. She smiled at the two men once more while waving goodbye as she made her way to her locker.
After watching her disappear from the hallway, Ethan turned and scowled once more at Owen. Ignoring his friend’s death stare, Owen adjusted his sses.
<i>“</i><i>So</i><i>, </i><i>that’s </i><i>the </i><i>infamous ra </i><i>Rouleau</i><i>.</i><i>” </i>
Ethan looked at his friend with annoyance.
“Yeah, <i>that’s </i><i>her</i><i>. </i><i>Hey</i><i>…</i><i>what </i><i>the </i><i>hell </i>was all of <i>that</i><i>!</i><i>” </i>
Owen feigned innocence. Holding his hands up, a mock look of surprise mixed with
humor now on his face.
<i>“</i><i>All </i><i>of </i><i>what</i><i>? </i><i>What </i>exactly are <i>you </i>referring <i>too</i><i>?</i>”
Ethan’s brows furrowed, he knew his friends was teasing him.
<i>“</i><i>You </i><i>know </i><i>what </i>I <i>mean Owen</i><i>! </i>‘I wasn’t <i>aware </i>of <i>how </i><i>beautiful </i><i>you </i><i>were</i><i>‘.</i>”
9:36 Sat, Sep <b>6 </b><b>G.. </b>
<b>55 </b>
Mocking Owen’s voice, Ethan demanded his friend exin himself. Owen was nowughing loudly. Very seldom did he have the privilege of seeing his friend rattled. He was enjoying every moment of this. Holding his hands up, he began to defend himself.
“<i>What</i><i>! </i><i>She </i><i>is </i><i>beautiful</i>! <i>What </i>did <i>I </i><i>say </i><i>wrong</i><i>? </i><i>Wait</i><i>…</i><i>don’t tell </i><i>me</i><i>…</i><i>you </i><i>like </i><i>her </i><i>don’t </i><i>you</i><i>?</i><i>” </i>
Ethan’s eyes nearly bulged out the sockets. Slight panic in his voice, he began to protest.
“<i>What </i><i>the hell </i><i>are </i><i>you </i><i>talking </i><i>about! </i><i>It’s </i><i>not </i><i>like </i><i>that </i><i>at </i><i>all</i><i>! </i><i>I’m </i><i>just </i><i>saying</i><i>…</i>she deserves <i>more </i><i>respect </i><i>that </i><i>being </i><i>ogled </i><i>on</i><i>.</i>”
Ethan could hear the betrayal in his own response. He wasn’t sure he convinced himself
much less Owen, who was now looking at him with full skepticism.
<i>“</i><i>Yeah</i><i>, </i><i>I’m </i><i>not </i><i>buying </i><i>it</i><i>. </i><i>I </i><i>saw </i><i>how </i><i>you </i><i>were </i><i>looking </i><i>at </i><i>her </i><i>through </i><i>that </i><i>door</i>. <i>You </i><i>could </i><i>practically </i><i>smell </i><i>the </i><i>pheromones</i>.”
“<i>Whatever</i>.<i>” </i>
Ethan dismissed Owen’sments with a half heart. The truth was for the past two years Ethan had admired ra from afar because of her brilliance. But now, after finally meeting her in person, he wasn’t sure how he felt. The image of those eyes as she told him she trusted him, he couldn’t get that look out of him mind.
Wanting to change the subject, Ethan caught Owen up on what happened during his meeting with ra. Owen stood in shock as the men made their way to Ethan’s car.
“That <i>girl </i>has <i>to </i><i>be </i><i>an </i><i>alien </i><i>from </i><i>another </i><i</i><i>! </i><i>No </i><i>way </i><i>she’s </i>some regr human and she’s THAT <i>amazing</i>.<i>” </i>
Ethan had a somber expression on his face as he reyed the evening in his mind. Her being of another world would have certainly made so much sense, but that simply wasn’t the case. She really was THAT amazing.
As Ethan started the engine, he informed Owen ra would be meeting Maria this
weekend.
“<i>That </i><i>should </i><i>be interesting</i>. <i>Are </i><i>you </i>going <i>to </i><i>tell </i><i>your </i><i>whole </i><i>family</i><i>?</i><i>” </i>
9:36 Sat, Sep <b>6 </b>G…
Ethan looked at Owen as he pulled out of the school parking lot.
<i>“</i><i>I </i><i>mean</i><i>, </i><i>I </i><i>have </i><i>too</i><i>. </i><i>No </i><i>way </i><i>my </i><i>parents </i><i>aren’t </i><i>going </i><i>to </i><i>want </i><i>to </i><i>be </i><i>involved </i><i>in </i><i>her </i><i>treatments</i>. <i>I </i><i>already </i><i>told </i><i>them </i><i>over </i><i>the </i><i>summer </i><i>I </i><i>would </i><i>be </i><i>working with </i><i>ra</i><i>, </i>so <i>they </i><i>already </i><i>knew </i><i>this </i><i>day </i><i>was </i><iing</i>.”
55
Owen looked at his friend as he drove, he could tell something was gnawing at his brain, and he could just about guess. Smiling slightly Owen’s thoughts became clear.
<i>‘</i><i>You </i><i>may </i><i>not </i><i>know </i><i>it </i><i>now </i><i>Ethan</i><i>…</i><i>but </i><i>you’re </i><i>definitely </i><i>in </i><i>love </i><i>with </i><i>that </i><i>girl</i><i>.</i>‘
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