Cabin 13 ~Book 1~

22

*Jesse's POV*
I went to the only place I knew I wouldn't be bothered by anyone. I could still feel my anger boiling as my mind raced with everything Ethan had said.
They dated. They had been serious.

But there was one thing that didn't sit right. Sydney had said it didn't end well between them. If they were so serious and close, what happened?
I wish I knew. But I doubted Sydney would tell me anything after how I treated her today.
She deserves it. Stupid slut, thinking she could pull one over on me. I thought, shaking my head. But even though I was still irritated at her about what happened, I was even more upset with Ethan. Everything had been going great until he showed up.
I opened up the door to Cabin 13 and stepped into the dark room, the history of what happened here almost tangible, and I felt wrapped up in it.
It reminded me of when Syd had started freaking out when we went into the bathroom. How we'd gotten so far that night, and what would have happened if we hadn't been interrupted.
How had everything changed in just a matter of days?


*Sydney's POV*
My heart was pounding in my chest as I waited. I didn't know exactly what I was waiting for, either death or the person to reveal themselves. But as I waited my mind was solely focused on one name: Alyssa.
She'd come back. I just knew it, and she was there to kill me. Just like she'd done with Brandon. Or might have done.
Is this really the time to be correcting yourself Sydney? My mind asked.
I tried to focus and fight against the hand again, but they held onto me tightly against them. Coming from nowhere, lips grazed my ear. "Sydney, I'll only let go if you promise not to scream." They whispered.
I suddenly realized who it was, and that didn't really help me relax at all. But I made myself calm down visibly so that he could see I wasn't going to scream.
Ethan noticed the change and slowly pulled his hand away from my mouth. When I turned to see him, his left leg was in a cast.
"What the hell are you doing here?" I whispered, backing away fromhim a little. It was just a little too familiar to the time when... well, you know.

"I wanted to talk to you."
"And you couldn't have waited until the morning?" I asked, crossing my arms over my chest.
"No."
He didn't say anything else, though I wanted him to explain that. I wanted him to explain a lot of things, but I knew I wouldn't get it.
"Let's go outside." I said, hoping to put some distance between him and I.
"Okay." He agreed. When we got outside of the cabin, I helped him sat down and then placed myself in front of him as well, waiting.
"I'm sorry about what happened in the Mess Hall today. I shouldn't have pushed Jesse like that. It was stupid of me."
I blinked, my mind completely stupefied. This wasn't what I'd expected at all. I'd expected the old Ethan, the jerk who knew no boundaries. That Ethan never apologized.

"Um... It's okay. You aren't the only one to blame."
"Well, I just hope I didn't ruin things between you and Pierce."
I looked away at that, my mind flashing back to what happened outside the Mess Hall. My head still hurt from that, and I rubbed the back of it subconsciously.
"I didn't ruin things with you guys, did I?" he asked, seeing my expression.
"I think it was more of my fault than yours."
"Oh... Want to talk about it?" he wondered.

I looked up at him. I should have told him no. I should have told him that I was going to bed, and that he needed to leave and go back to the nurse or his cabin or wherever. But I didn't. For some reason, I wanted to open up to him. He wasn't Tara. He knew me better, despite what had happened.
"He said I embarrassed him because I didn't tell him the whole story about us and how serious we were. Which by the way, we weren't that serious." I reminded him.

"Right..." he said, looking sheepish. Ethan! Sheepish! It was a rare thing, like seeing pigs fly. "But... we did have a good run though. What, we went out for about six or seven months?"
"Just about." I nodded.
"But that's not the point... He really blames you for everything?"
"He said I was just a slut playing games with him, making it seem like you were better than him."

"That's complete bull." He said, suddenly angry. I noticed that the look in his eyes was similar to earlier today, only more passionate than just iron hot anger.
"It's fine. He's kind of ri-"
"I swear Sydney if you finish that sentence, I won't handle it well. He is not right. You aren't the one to blame here, not at all. And he shouldn't treat you that way either. It's not right."
"So says the one who tried to rape me." I accused, feeling suddenly defensive on Jesse's part.
His eyes flashed with something else. He was still angry, but for a moment... I thought I saw regret.
"I never really apologized for that, did I?"
"No, you didn't."
He leaned a little closer, looking me dead in the eye. "I'm really, really sorry about what I did back then Sydney. I shouldn't have tried to force you into that, and I'm glad your mom was there to stop me."
I couldn't respond. He'd leaned in close enough to where he was only a few inches away. I could tell in his eyes that he really was sorry. There was no hint of forced sincerity; it was all real and genuine.
I felt myself leaning closer to him, our lips only centimeters apart. My mind was completely blank and I couldn't even remember what we'd been talking about anymore.
Neither of us moved any closer. We just sat there, looking at each other. I could tell he didn't want to make it seem like he was trying to take advantage of me again, so he was frozen. And I was frozen as my mind suddenly realized what we were doing.
I jumped up and away from him, breaking the spell.
"Ethan I think you should go back to the nurse. You've gotta rest to get better. I'll see you tomorrow. Goodnight." I said, then ran into my cabin, shutting the door quietly behind me.
I didn't even make it to my bunk. I sunk to the floor, leaning against the door, and breathed out in relief when I'd heard him make his way off the porch and away from here.
What the hell just happened?