8: Normal, happy summer

Chapter 8: Normal, happy summer

Kelsey's POV

*****

"Kelsey why hasn't Ethan come back yet?" Noah asked, after realising that Ethan had been gone for about half an hour, none of us knowing where he went.

The kids had gotten tired by then, and a lot of them wanted to go back home. That, of course, could not be done without Ethan.

"I don't know, but I should probably go look for him," I said, swimming out of the water as soon as I noticed that they were all worried about him, draining the fun out of what we were currently doing.

"I'll come with you," Meg offered, her accusing look finally replaced with one of understanding and sympathy.

"I think it's better if you stay here with the kids," I replied.

I couldn't have her come with me and leave the kids on their own in the ocean with only two 15 year olds looking after them.

"Can I come with you then?" Noah asked, his tone full of concern for his brother.

I could tell that Noah was worried about Ethan and I couldn't understand why Ethan would disappear for such a long time, knowing that they were all going to be worried about him. Even if it was because he was mad or upset about something, he shouldn't have been so reckless.

"Sure, of course," I replied, handing him my hand so he could take it.

He took my hand and we got out of the water. After quickly drying ourselves, we walked along the beach to try and look for Ethan. I felt horrible for what happened. In order to try and not make things between Aaron and I awkward, I ended up making Ethan feel uncomfortable.

Aaron and Ethan knew each other, it wasn't like they were strangers. Despite that, I should have realised that Ethan did not want him around.

"Ethan?" Noah yelled as we headed towards were his car was parked, hoping that we could find him there, or at least get a sign whether or not he was still there.

As soon as I caught glimpse of his car, I couldn't help but sigh in relief. No sane person nor leave their car behind, especially not Ethan who treated his car like his own child.

"Where is he Kels?" Noah asked me after a while looking, a defeated look on his face.

I could feel guilt gnawing at my insides. There was no direct reason for me to feel guilty, that much I knew. I would have told Aaron to leave if I realised straight away that Ethan did not want him there, yet I was stupid enough not to.

"Don't worry, No we'll find him," I said stroking his hair to calm him down and trying to reassure him.

Ethan wasn't one to spend much time with his family instead of with his friends, but when he started doing so the kids were much happier. Examining Noah, I instantly realised that he often got worried sick about Ethan whenever he got home late, and it wasn't the first time he asked me to call him to make sure that he was fine, feeling too shy to call him himself.

He cared for his brother, despite not wanting him to find that out. I couldn't blame him for being worried whenever Ethan was out drinking late, knowing that he had to drive himself home.

As we walked further up, Noah halted suddenly, making me bump into him, wincing at the slight pain I felt with the impact.

"There he is!" Noah said with wide eyes, pointing ahead.

Looking to where Noah was indicating, my stomach suddenly dropped at the sight of Ethan, who was sitting on a bench talking and laughing with a beautiful brown haired girl who I instantly recognised as Anna, one of his closest friends from school.

Or at least I thought she was just a friend.

Noah and I stared as Ethan tucked a strand of her hair behind her ear, and started leaning in right before Noah stormed off in their direction.

"Ethan what the hell are you doing?!" Noah said angrily, pulling him away from Anna.

I was shocked at Noah's outburst. What Ethan did wasn't cool, but we had no right to stop him from doing what he was about to do. The situation, after all, did not call for such a dramatic reaction.

Ethan looked at us with wide eyes, probably surprised we even found him given that he was hidden rather well.

"I saw her while we were at the beach and ran up to talk to her before she disappeared. I haven't seen her since school ended and thought it would be cool to catch up," he replied coldly.

"It's fine Noah, I think we should go. At least now we know that he's safe," I said, giving Noah a small smile before starting to walk off.

I didn't want to keep interrupting Ethan from doing whatever it was he was doing. He had every right to hang out with his friends.

"Yeah, it's better if you leave," Ethan said. "Besides, I think Aaron might be missing you already."

And that was when I froze in my steps.

As soon as those words left his mouth, I turned around and walked over to him. The second my hand made contact with his cheek I immediately regretted it but I couldn't deny that it felt so good.

I couldn't believe that he ditched his siblings just because he was jealous that Aaron was there. There was no reason for him to be jealous. Aaron was simply my ex, and even if so, Ethan and I were just friends. I certainly did not like him any more than that. How could I have feelings for someone I could barely figure out?

With that being said, I had no feelings for Aaron either, and he had none for me. We hadn't seen each other in years, and our relationship was never even that serious.

I didn't know who Ethan Walker truly was, and by how things were going, I certainly wasn't going to any time soon.

"What the hell do you think you're doing?" Anna snapped at me, standing up right between me and Ethan.

At that point, all I could see was red. I was a rather level head person, trying not to let things overwhelm me and lead me to making rash decisions, but Ethan's attitude was childish, and I was not going to stand for that.

"That's what he deserves for ditching his siblings to come here with you," I spat back, feeling angry and annoyed.

She smirked and put her hand on her hips, looking between Noah and I before speaking, her malicious words angering me. "Maybe that means I'm way more fun then his siblings, and you."

I tried to take deep breaths, not wanting to do anything I would later regret. All I could do in that moment was talk to her. Talk to her in a not so gentle way.

"How dare you talk like that about them?" I practically screamed at her.

She could have said anything she wanted about me, but when she practically said that Ethan's time would be better spent with her than with his siblings, she really crossed the line.

There was absolutely no way she could know just how much they cared about him, and how much they enjoyed having him around. Their smiles always seemed a little bit brighter whenever they were around Ethan.

"Anna, stop," Ethan said, his voice dangerously low as his fists clenched.

"Is that all you're going to tell her Ethan? To stop?" Noah said, pain evident in his voice. "I thought you changed bro, but I guess not," he continued, before walking away from us.

My heart ached for Noah. I couldn't imagine how he could have possible been feeling in that exact moment. He was so happy to finally have his brother back, only to seem like he was losing him again.

For a girl who had no respect for family.

"I'm sorry Ethan, but you went too far. Not only did you leave them to be with a girl, but you also allowed her to bad mouth them. I honestly thought that I was wrong, and that you were better than that," I said before walking after Noah, undoubtedly disappointed at what had just happened.

I truly thought that I was wrong about Ethan. I felt bad for having judged him, but after what he had done, I could no longer feel guilty about it.

I pitied the girls who smiled as brightly as the sun as soon as Ethan joined us again after a while, oblivious to everything that went down only minutes before. It was clear that something shifted between him and I, he wasn't talking not looking at me and he constantly tried to avoid my gaze.

What was worst was that I actually felt upset about it.

After a couple of minutes filled with awkwardness and a tense air around us, Aaron came up to us again to say goodbye, making me roll my eyes at his timing.

"Thank you for giving me the chance to talk to you again," he said, hugging me.

I awkwardly patted his back and sent him a small smile as soon as he let go, not wanting to give off any extra friendliness than was necessary.

"It was nice seeing you again," I said, just so that I could be nice.

"Look, I'll call you later, for real this time," he said sending me a genuine smile.

I smiled back and nodded my head before he said goodbye to everyone else and turned around to leave.

It wasn't long before we all decided that we had to head back to the house. Everyone seemed to have gotten tired, and with Meg, Noah, Ethan and I acting all weird and quiet, it was best to just go.

As we were walking towards the car, Meg quickly walked up to me and put her hand around my shoulder.

"Do you want to talk about it?" She asked, looking at me sympathetically.

"How about you sleepover today?" I asked her.

I didn't want to hear Meg's questions about Ethan or Aaron, but as my best friend, I knew that she was the only one who could actually help make me feel better and forget about all the things that unfolded on that day.

"I'll ask mom but I'm sure she'll let me," she said, stopping next to her car. "I'll text you later," She continued, waving at me before leaving with May.

"May is so hot," Noah said as we entered Ethan's the car, making my head snap towards him.

I had never heard Noah talk that way about somebody before, and I was certainly surprised to hear him do so.

"Noah, not all girls like it when you call them hot," I told him, giving him a small glare.

"Really? Ethan said they love it," he said, making me direct my glare at his brother instead.

Of course he did.

"Well, not everyone is like the girls your brother decides to run after," I said, giving a side glance to Ethan.

"I'll say," Ethan muttered, starting the car.

I rolled my eyes at that statement, still feeling slightly weird about what happened. That day was supposed to be fun. A day where the kids could relax and have a day off from arguing and spending time on their gadgets.

Instead, it all got ruined because of one appearance.

"Let's just go," I said as I buckled up my seat belt, right before Ethan backed out of the beach's parking lot.

The car ride to the Walker residence was silent. I could feel the tense air around me, and no matter how much I tried to ignore it, I just couldn't.

When we arrived at the house everyone took a shower and went downstairs to watch a movie. All except for Ethan who locked himself in his room.

I was hoping we could maybe clear some things up before we went to bed, but I guess not. I hated arguing with him, and it certainly didn't make babysitting any easier.

Meg had texted me saying that she could come over and I couldn't wait to get everything off my chest.

Everything was suddenly feeling so difficult. One moment, I thought that Ethan and I were starting to understand each other more and become friends, and the next we seem further away from becoming friends than we had been before.

I was sick of all of it, and all I wanted was to lead a normal happy life for once, and the fact that my life was slowly turning like that of a movie didn't excite me at all.

I just wanted one normal, happy summer.

Was that too much to ask?

A/N: Hellooo, so for some reason the last chapter I updated looks like I only wrote half of it so please comment whether or not you guys have the full version. (It finishes with an author's note) If not please tell me so I can publish it again.

Anywayss, I hope you guys enjoyed this chapter as much as I enjoyed writing it, and I promise you that I will be back with an update very soon.

~M