Serenity Falls

Chapter 24

So I hope you like this chapter, there's a new character and I promise she will cause a lot of drama! I am almost at 15,000 reads so thank you so much everyone :) Remember to vote if you like it! <3 leigh_

PS: The image on the side is of Sammi. That's not exactly how I imagine her to look, but it's very difficult to find a good picture. But well done to KristenBusbee who found the closest one so far :D

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It was a few days later, before school, when Ethan was standing at his locker, taking out the books he needed for his first couple of classes. The morning had been somewhat stressful for him – his younger siblings had been screaming even louder than usual and his mom, having been up most of the night with them, had been tired and irritable. Being cooped up in a tiny house with all of them was close to torture, and he’d been thankful when it was time to leave for school.

So, it wasn’t the best of days to hear that voice call his name from across the hall.

"Ethan!"

As he glanced over his shoulder, he recognised her straight away. That sleek black graduated bob, the hitched up skirt to show off the tops of her tanned legs, the cat-like narrow eyes outlined thickly in kohl and the sweet, mischievous smile on her face that he had once adored. Who else could it be?

"Sammi? What the hell are you doing here?"

He hadn’t meant for his words to sound so sharp, but he was unable to mask his shock. What was she, his ex-girlfriend, doing here? She had mysteriously dropped out of school months ago, with no reason and no goodbye. It had been a couple of weeks after they had broken up, following an argument over something Ethan couldn’t even remember, and no one had had any contact with her since. Rumours had flown about wildly for weeks afterwards – some of the most popular ones alleging that she was pregnant, or that her mom had been arrested for dealing drugs.

"Wow, good to know you’re glad to see me," Sammi said sarcastically, stepping over to her ex. Even in heels, she was still only about 5 foot 4 inches tall, and had to look upwards to see Ethan’s face.

"I’m sorry, it’s just... surprising," Ethan admitted, reaching his hand up to scratch his head. "I mean, what are you doing here?"

"Don’t I at least get a hug or something?" Sammi asked, ignoring his question. She reached out her arms and pulled him in awkwardly, her overpowering perfume-y smell lingering by Ethan’s nose even after they had broke apart. That smell – that smell he had once thought the best thing in the world, yet now almost repulsed him.

"Where did you go?"

"Oh," Sammi rolled her eyes. "My mom thought I was getting out of control or something, so she sent me to this super-strict Catholic boarding school, thinking it would ‘sort me out’. Well, guess what. It didn’t work, so I guess her stupid little plan backfired."

"You were at a Catholic boarding school?" Ethan raised his eyebrows, almost disbelievingly. Sammi was the last girl on the planet he could imagine at some strict religious school. Especially after dating her, he knew what she was like a great deal more than anyone else.

"Yeah, and it sucked. I swear, it was absolute shit. The girls there had never even been near a guy before, and they all thought I was some massive slut. So did half the teachers. And we had to sing all these stupid songs about God or whatever every morning. I know, every morning! It’s all a load of crap. So I got myself chucked out of there and then... just begged my mom to let me come back here. So, here I am!" She rolled her eyes at Ethan’s expression. "God, don’t get too excited."