Serenity Falls

Chapter 44

Late again, but only by a day... so I hope you can forgive me. I also hope you can forgive me for what happens in this chapter! Happy reading :P

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"Olivia!"

At the sound of his familiar voice, Olivia pivoted one hundred and eighty degrees on her heel and began to head in the opposite direction. She was in no mood to talk now, and she doubted that she would be any time in the next century. The anger inside of her was still yet to die down and while it still bubbled inside her, she did not feel like speaking to Ethan at all.

"Olivia, wait up!" Ethan’s voice was louder now, and it was evident that he was not going to give up that easily. His walking speed increased to catch up with Olivia, dodging effortlessly round the continuous streams of people that were also in the hallway.

Olivia couldn’t help but notice how much déjà vu she was experiencing in the past couple of days. This had happened before, in almost exactly the same, but now it was for a different reason. Her heart rate increased as she could feel Ethan advancing behind her, until he was a mere few steps away. Even when she was infuriated with him, she could not stop the physical feeling that he brought to her body – something which only made her even angrier, even though this was in no way his fault.

"Olivia!" he repeated, now close enough to reach out and place a hand on her shoulder.

His touch only infuriated her and she shook it off vigorously, trying to get away from him, but he was not about to let her get away. "Please, just let me talk to you," he begged.

She froze, stopping in her tracks suddenly before spinning round again and glaring at him. "Why would I want to talk to you?" she said, her voice dripping with spite. "I think you’ve said enough already."

"Please don’t be like this," he pleaded, his eyes glazed with desperation. "I just want a chance to explain."

"Are you sure you want to be seen with me?" Olivia said, narrowing her eyes as anger boiled inside her. "Aren’t you afraid someone’s going to see us? That would damage your precious reputation, wouldn’t it?"

"I told you, I didn’t mean it like that!" he said, his voice raised more than he meant to. His face softened and he bit his lip, blushing slightly as passers-by turned to look at him. "I didn’t mean it like that."

"There’s not many meanings to something like that, Ethan," Olivia said, shaking her head. "I think I got what you meant to say."

She turned again, ready to walk off, but before she knew it, Ethan was in front of her, his hands on her shoulders, preventing her from walking forwards. "Get off me!" she said loudly, trying to push him away. The look in his eyes was hurting her, and she blinked away the tears that were forming in her own.

"Look, I really didn’t mean for what I said to sound like that. If I could take it back, I would."

"Well, guess what? You can’t. You’ve said it now, and you can’t ever change that. Now please move out of my way so I can get to class."

"Olivia, you know this isn’t me. I’ve been completely torn apart, thinking about what I did to you. I can’t bear it when you’re upset with me, and the fact that you won’t even talk to me just makes it all worse."

"I’m talking to you now, aren’t I?"

"But you’re not listening," he responded, sighing. "Please, Olivia. Can’t you just find it in yourself to really understand me when I say that I’m deeply and truly sorry?"