Let Yourself Fall // sequel to My Ethan Karpathy

Chapter 37.

CHRIS' POV:

Jai walks quickly down the aisle so I slide over. He slides into the seat next to me.

"Hey," he greets.

"Hi.. I guess I should fill you in?" I sigh.

"Wait, what happened?" He asks.

"Well, Paisley saw some dirty texts from this girl on Ethan's phone yesterday morning. She thought Ethan was cheating on her, so she ran away. She's at Grace's, but Ethan doesn't know where she is." I explain.

"Woah. Did he fucking cheat on her again!? I swear to god I will fuck him up-" Jai starts, his jaw clenching and his hands balling into fists.

"No, she got the wrong number. Chloe- that girl, was Ethan's cousin. Chloe has a boyfriend called Ethan." I explain.

"I don't believe that."

"Neither did I, but I saw the texts" I say. Jai still has this look of disbelief and hatred on his face.

"Jai, it's okay. Paisley and him just need a break I think." I say.

"Are you going to Paisley now?" Jai asks.

"Yeah, do you want to come?" I ask.

"Yeah, I kind of want to see her about something."

***

The bus pulls up across the road from graces house. We get up and shuffle down the aisle and out the door, thanking the driver on the way.

"Woah," Jai exclaims in awe when he sees Grace's house.

"I know! It's amazing! It's so big." I laugh.

"Aaaand, that's what she said." Jai cracks up.

"Wow, Man, wow." I laugh at his cheesy joke.

We walk up to the porch with this stupid grin on our faces. I go to press the doorbell but Grace opens it just before I can.

JAI'S POV:

We rock up to this big-ass house. It's massive!

"Woah," I say. Did I say that out loud? I didn't mean to.

"I know! It's amazing! It's so big." Chris laughs.

"Aaaand, that's what she said." I say as I crack up. I'm so immature when Im stressed and have a lot on my mind.

"Wow, man, wow." Chris laughs, looking at the ground and shaking his head.

We walk up to this fancy porch and Chris is about to ring the doorbell, but Grace opens the door.

"Hey..Jai?" She asks when she sees me.

"Yeah, saw him on the bus. He knows everything." Chris explains.

Grace just nods her head as she lets us inside. She takes us up these fancy stairs to what I think is her room. She opens the door and I see Paisley sitting in the corner on her phone. She's looking down, letting her hair fall in front of the right side of her face. I can tell she's been crying a lot lately, her left cheek is shiny and slightly red.

"Grace I need to talk to you. Privately." Chris says. Grace gives him a confused, Nervous stare but she takes his outstretched hand as he leads her out the door, shutting it behind him.

"Paisley," I say. She hasn't looked up, only let her hair fall further over her face and hung her head lower.

"Jai?" She asks, almost slapping herself in the rush to wipe her tears.

"Just cry. It's okay. I know everything." I assure her. I walk over and sit down in front of her. I grab her hand in mine and force her to look at me.

"Paisley, I know of someone who you need to see." I say.

"Who?" She asks.

"Your mum."

"But my mums-" she starts but I cut her off.

"I know, but how would you like to go back to drysdale with me for a week towards the start of April?" I ask.

"I don't know." she answers softly.

"I'm sorry I couldn't get tickets any closer, I am on break for a few months and I have family stuff to do." I tell her.

"Well.. Yeah, okay."

"Okay, cool." I say, smiling at her in the hope she'll smile back. But she doesn't.

"Man, that boy has fucked up big too many times." I think aloud. Wait, aloud? Shit.Paisley says nothing but starts to cry again, so I cup her cheeks and use my thumb to wipe away the tears. Then I do something I didn't plan on, but I couldn't help myself.

I kiss her.