by M. H. Soars
“You're not related to Mr. Gary Munroe by any chance, are you?” I quickly turned to look at him again.
“Well, yeah, how did you know?” I asked.
“When you mentioned that you were from Santa Fe and that you were visiting your cousins and uncle, I immediately assumed it was him. There aren’t many uncles raising a bunch of kids here in Santa Barbara. Plus, your uncle is a very good customer, and he talks a lot about you and your cousins.”
“I’ve always wondered where he got those, uh, interesting paintings. I assumed he had let the family dog loose on a piece of canvas.”
He frowned. “He never mentioned a dog.”
I was about to say that it was a joke when he smiled, and I felt butterflies in my stomach. He had the most beautiful smile I had ever seen, and he had dimples. I loved dimples. His face wasn’t a sculpted perfection like Matt’s or the twins’ but it definitely had personality. He had high cheek bones, emerald green eyes, sandy blonde hair, and I was sure that if I looked really close, I would find tiny freckles on his straight nose.
“I’m Ethan. You must be Alexa?” He asked uncertainly.
“Alexia. Wow, Uncle Gary does talk a lot.” I laughed nervously. God only knew what kind of stories my uncle had told him.
“Yeah, sort of, but he’s a great guy. I love to hear his stories.”
“Me too,” I answered and started to stare at him again. What was wrong with me? I quickly turned to look at some other paintings.
“Do you come here often?” he asked.
“Just in the summers.” I tried to sound casual with some difficulty, the butterflies in my stomach having multiplied by tenfold.
“That explains why I’ve never seen you before. I moved here last year, just before school started. This is my first summer in Santa Barbara.”
“Oh, I love summers here. They're great. There’s so much to do. You can go hiking, salsa dancing, you can go for a swim in the ocean…” I trailed off. During my rambling, I had unconsciously turned to face him again, and I noticed an uncomfortable look on his face. He turned and stared into nothing.
Without his face to distract me, I noticed for the first time that he sat in a wheelchair. Not that it made any difference to me, but now I understood why he had looked so uncomfortable. He couldn’t do any of the things I had just mentioned. I couldn’t believe I hadn’t noticed the wheelchair before. What kind of person doesn’t notice something so obvious? The sudden need to fix this mess somehow was overwhelming. I couldn’t stand the thought of hurting this guy I had just met. So I ended up doing something completely out of character.
“Hey, I’m supposed to meet my cousins at the ice cream shop in, like,” I paused to check my watch, “five minutes, actually.” Wow, time had gone fast. “So if you haven’t taken your lunch break yet, maybe you would like to join us?” I was breaking our cardinal rule of no boys, but I didn’t want to say goodbye to Ethan yet, and I wanted to make up to him.
His beautiful green eyes widened as he sucked in a deep breath. Maybe I had been too bold. He seemed surprised by my invitation. “Ice cream for lunch?”
“Yeah, it’s a family tradition.” I fidgeted with the strap of my purse. Suddenly, I was terrified that he was going to refuse.
“I don’t actually work here, you know,” he said.
Now it was my turn to look surprised. “You don’t? So, why…”
Before I could finish my question he answered: “The owner of the gallery is a friend of my father's. Unlike certain people,” he paused to give me a meaningful look, “I enjoy these paintings. They soothe me.” The corners of his mouth twitched up.
“Really? These paintings?” I pointed around the gallery and continued. “You’re wasting the tortured artistic soul act on the wrong girl.”
He smiled, but it didn’t quite reach his eyes. “Who said it’s an act?”
“Well, I better go then.” I turned around and started to walk toward the gallery’s exit. I didn’t think he was really impressed by me and my heart sunk. God, I was a mess.
“Don’t you want an answer to your lunch invitation?” he asked. I stopped mid step and twisted my upper body so I could see his face. I found myself holding my breath waiting for his answer.
“I would love to,” he said, then rewarded me with his dazzling smile.
The feeling of elation that surged within my chest was so absolute that I couldn’t help but grin like a fool. I didn’t care that it was obvious I had been completely taken by this beautiful stranger. Who knew, maybe I wasn’t made of stone after all.
CHAPTER 6
Alexia
I kept looking for things to say to Ethan as we walked from the art gallery to the ice cream shop, but I couldn’t think of anything clever enough. It wasn’t that I was a shy person, so my nervousness confused me. I almost made a comment about the weather but changed my mind at the last minute. I didn’t want to be one of “those people”.
Ethan also seemed to have trouble coming up with something interesting to say. Instead, he kept glancing at me. I pretended I didn’t notice it, but I knew my face was betraying me. I could feel my cheeks flushing. I stole some glances in his direction when I knew he wasn’t looking.
I had never believed in those stories of love at first sight, but I couldn’t deny that it wasn’t only Ethan’s physical appearance that was making me tongue tied. There was just something about him that I couldn’t explain.
Attracting the opposite sex had never been a problem for me, but I’d never felt that any of the guys I had dated were special. Thomas had been my one and only boyfriend.
When we arrived at our destination, Mia and Sam were waiting for us. Sam’s attention perked up when she noticed Ethan, and I saw recognition in Mia’s eyes. I should never have invited him to come along. What had I been thinking? If it was only Mia, it would have been fine, but I was terrified of Sam’s reaction. She could be really mean sometimes, and if she pointed out that I was breaking the rules, I would die of embarrassment.
Sam and Mia were staring at Ethan openly. Before we got into one of those uncomfortable silences I said, “Hi, girls! Sorry I’m late. I hope you don’t mind, but I’ve invited someone to join us.”
I crossed my fingers that they wouldn’t mind, or at least that they would pretend not to in front of Ethan. I looked at him to make sure he wasn’t ready to bolt and then took a seat. Mia made room for his wheelchair by pulling the empty chair next to mine out of the way.
“Hello, Sam, Mia.” Ethan waved at them casually.
“You know each other?” I couldn’t keep the surprise from my voice and I felt stupid the moment the words came out of my mouth. I had spent the entire walk to the ice cream shop avoiding conversation, afraid that I would say or ask something stupid, and here I was, doing just that.
Sam answered. “Of course we know who he is. Who doesn’t?” She looked pointedly at Ethan, and his jaw twitched uncomfortably.
Before Sam could say something that I would regret, Mia interrupted. “Ethan goes to Leopold James as well.” She turned to face him. “I’m sorry about the accident. How are you doing?”
Accident? I looked at him to gauge his reaction. His gaze darkened briefly like he was relieving a nightmare he would rather forget.
“I’m hanging in there. It could have been worse. Thanks for asking,” he replied.
Mia nodded, without that look of pity people get when hearing bad news. The tension left Ethan’s body, and it made me wonder how often he had to deal with those sympathy looks.
“So tell me Alexia, how did you two meet?” Sam cut in like the conversation about Ethan’s accident had never happened.
I found myself at loss for words again. I felt incredibly stupid but Ethan came to my rescue. “She came into Mr. Chambrey’s gallery, and I happened to be there.”
Sam laughed. “Alexia? In an art gallery? I would pay to see that! She doesn’t know the difference between watercolor and crayon!”
“Hey!” I exc
laimed. I didn’t dig paintings and stuff, but she didn’t need to make that comment in front of Ethan. It made me sound uncultured. “Art isn't only about paintings. I love ballet,” I added without conviction and looked at my hands.
“And she likes my photography too,” added Mia. She winked at me.
Her comment didn’t make me feel any less embarrassed. My face was probably redder than a tomato. So I started to play with the silverware rollups on the table to distract myself from it.
Ethan, having caught my distress, put his hand on top of mine. I tried not to read too much into the gesture, but the moment he touched me it was like I had been caught in the middle of a tempest. I felt alive like I had never felt before. It was terrifying and exciting at the same time. I jerked my hand from under his and looked at him, startled. We stared at each other like there was no one else around for a few seconds before Sam interrupted.
“Are you coming to Julian’s party tonight?”
I jolted in my seat, afraid that Sam and Mia had witnessed the charged moment I had shared with Ethan. I did not want either of them giving me grief over it, especially Sam. Luckily, they didn’t show any indication that they had noticed anything. Sam was texting on her phone and Mia was equally distracted with the menu. I was glad for that and the fact that I was no longer the focus of the conversation.
“I don’t think so,” he replied and I noticed the change in his voice.
“Why not?” Sam looked up from her phone. “It will be fun.”
Ethan clearly wasn’t happy about the party invitation. I wondered why.
“I…I just don’t think it would be such a great idea.” He picked up the menu, trying to hide the consternation on his face.
“Ouch!” exclaimed Sam as she looked angrily at her sister. Mia had just kicked her under the table. What was going on? Sam ignored what was clearly a warning from her sister and continued, “Well, don’t worry, Chloe won’t be there. She’s at cheer camp -”
“Sam!” Mia shouted. I guess a verbal warning was the only thing that could get Sam’s attention. She could be quite oblivious to others when on one of her rampages.
Sam looked at Mia. “What did I say? I figured he probably didn’t wanna go because of Chloe, but she won’t be there.” She gestured with her hands to emphasize her logic.
Ethan dropped the menu and announced suddenly, “I need to go back to the gallery. I promised Mr. Chambrey to help him with, uh, inventory.” He started to pull away from the table.
“But you just got here!” I said.
“Sorry, I just remembered.” He looked at me apologetically. “It was really nice meeting you, Alexia.” I could see regret in his eyes.
“Nice meeting you, too,” I barely whispered as my shoulders sagged. I waited until he was out of earshot, then turned to Sam. “What the hell was that?”
“I beg your pardon?” she asked, her eyes devoid of blame.
I glared at her. She couldn’t be that clueless.
“Don’t ‘beg your pardon’ me. First you made me look like a fool in front of him with your comments about my art handicap, and then you totally scared him away by insisting on a subject that was clearly uncomfortable for him.”
“Sorry about the art comment, Lex. I didn’t know you were that sensitive about the subject. We've always joked about that stuff together, remember?”
I did remember, and it was true that I had never minded before, but Ethan liked modern art. I didn’t want to look dumb in front of him. I didn’t know why I cared so much about what he thought about me, but I did.
“Okay, fine. But you still scared him away with your comments about the party and this Chloe person.”
At the mention of that name I had gotten insanely jealous. Why? Just because Ethan was trying to avoid her? I barely knew him so I had no reason to be jealous, but I felt oddly possessive of him. “Who is she, anyway?”
“Ethan’s bitchy ex.” Sam looked at the menu like the matter wasn’t important. It probably wasn’t to her, but it was to me. An ex that still elicited such a strong reaction from Ethan was a paramount subject to me. I tried to sound casual. “Why did they break up?”
Sam put her menu down and looked straight at me. “Okay, it’s obvious that you are smitten with Ethan, so I’ll tell you his story.”
“Okay,” I replied without denying my interest in him.
“Ethan moved here last year. He was the shiny, new toy at school, and even though he was on a scholarship, all the girls wanted to get to know him. Chloe had noticed him too, but she only made her move when he got on the football team. She only dates jocks.” At the comment, Sam scrunched up her face in dislike. “Anyway, he didn’t know her very well when they started going out, and she did put on the good-girl act. I can’t blame him for falling for it. I mean, what guy wouldn’t fall for Chloe’s charms?”
I held my hand up to interrupt. “Don’t tell me, she’s the hottest girl at your school.” But I already knew the answer to that question. Of course she was.
Sam snorted. “Of course not! The Munroe girls dominate the school in terms of hotness.” She smirked at Mia, who just rolled her eyes. Sam continued, “But Chloe is pretty good-looking, if you like the whole 'blonde ambition' thing. And she is the most popular girl in school, don’t ask me why. She even managed to turn all the girls in her Death Squad into prudes.”
I was making a mental picture of this gorgeous, flawless, blonde cheerleader when Sam’s last words penetrated my brain. “Did you just say she turned all the cheerleaders into prudes? I don’t understand.” I looked from Sam to Mia, completely dumbstruck.
“I get why you look so confused.” Mia interrupted Sam before she could reply. “Thanks to endless teen movies that depict cheerleaders as a bunch of hos, it’s pretty surprising when you come across the total opposite. But make no mistake: just because Chloe is a preaching virgin, it doesn’t make her any less evil.”
“So she claims. I still don’t buy that she hasn’t done the deed. You know how it is with those self-righteous types. They do the nasty all week, and then you find them at church on Sundays, wearing their pristine clothes and looking holier-than-thou. A bunch of hypocrites.”
I frowned at Sam’s comment. “I don’t think that all religious people are like that.”
Sam shot me an annoyed look. “Did I say religious people? No, I said self-righteous people. You know, those who think they know better and try to convince others of their beliefs? Like Chloe, for example. The moment she became head of the cheerleading squad, she made it mandatory for all her cheerleaders to be part of a sex abstinence group. I’m sure they don’t follow it, but they still have to meet every week, and they have to bring new members periodically. It’s like a cult.” Sam paused briefly to sip her water.
“Anyway, let me continue the story. So Ethan dated Chloe for almost six months, but then we started hearing rumors that the honeymoon phase was over and that they were arguing a lot. Maybe he didn’t appreciate that his girlfriend was a frigid bitch and kept trying to convert his friends to her little group.”
We got interrupted by the waiter just when things were getting interesting. I ordered the first thing I saw on the menu, dying to get back to the story. Sam ordered equally fast but Mia was less considerate and took forever to pick what she wanted. When she finally made her decision I was ready to choke her.
“Where was I?” Sam asked me.
“You were saying that the honeymoon was over.” I started to bite my nails, a sign that I was anxious to hear the rest of the story.
“Right. So, one of the jocks threw this super-big party to celebrate a big game win. We were invited, but Gary decided to take us to San Diego that weekend. What we heard later was that Ethan got pretty wasted at the party and pissed Chloe off. He asked her to drive him home, but because she's a bitch she refused. So Ethan decided to drive instead, crashed into a tree, and Bam! He became paralyzed from the waist down for the rest of his life. Good lesson there not to drink and drive, if
you ask me.”
“That is horrible! How come no one else prevented him from driving like that?” I was talking so loudly that I was drawing attention to our table.
“Please, Alexia. You know how those parties go. Everyone else was probably wasted, too. The only person who could have prevented it was Chloe, since she doesn’t drink.”
“So was that the reason Ethan broke up with her?” I truly hoped so. It would be so much better if he was the one who had decided he couldn’t possibly be in love with such a horrible person.
“Yeah, right! Ethan didn’t break up with Chloe. He didn’t have the chance. When Chloe found out he would be in a wheelchair for the rest of his life, she dumped him while he was still in the hospital.”
“What a bitch.” I was furious. How could someone be so cold? “But I’m sure breaking up with him while he was still in the hospital totally damaged her good-girl image.”
Mia said, “It would have, if Chloe hadn’t told everyone that she had insisted on driving, and that Ethan refused and pushed her away. She made him look like the bad guy. The only reason we know the truth is because Julian told Sean. Julian actually wanted to tell everyone the truth, but Ethan told him to let it go.”
“I didn’t know that part.” Sam’s eyebrows furrowed.
I was surprised to hear that Julian had stood by Ethan’s side as well. From the way Matt had behaved at the airport, I had pegged him as one of those snobby, rich kids who didn’t care about anyone. I didn’t know why Matt was so against Julian, but I liked the guy already.
“His story is worse than I thought. I could tell that the wheelchair was a recent thing, though.” I said.
“How did you know?” Sam asked. But she saw me blushing and continued before I could answer. “You checked him out, didn’t you? Even with the wheelchair, you checked him out!” She burst out laughing.
“Well, yeah. So what if I noticed he had a nice body? Wheelchair or not, he’s still hot.” I tried to keep my dignity, but my face was betraying me again.
