Page 96 of Unfolding Ethan

“But she’s not, Papa. She is dead!” I snapped, “What do you want to talk about? And please don’t tell me you were waiting for me to talk about my silly love life, which is non-existent.”

He took a deep breath and leaned back on his chair. “Fine, you’re right. But I want to know what he did to make you cry.”

I stared at him. “I can’t tell you. He was hurt and said things he didn’t mean. Well, I hope he didn’t mean, and they were hurtful.”

Dad didn’t say anything for a while. “Do you think he will apologize to you later?”

I shrugged, pushing the food around.

“I will talk to him, then,” he said in a stern voice.

I closed my eyes and looked at him. “No, Dad. He is—”

“He made my daughter cry,” he said and pursed his lips. “I do want to talk to you about something.” He continued without waiting for my reply, “I got a job offer back in India.”

I nodded, blinking at him, “Okay. That’s good, I guess.”

Dad ran a hand down his face. “I was wondering if . . . if we could move back to India. Both of us. And Karan too after he finishes his masters.”

I dropped the spoon and shook my head. “No. I am not—I don’t want to go to India.”

He opened a paper from his shirt pocket and showed it to me. “Just think about it, Kiara. These are the universities that I hope you’d like, and you can go over them—”

I stood up from the chair. “No. My answer isno.”

Without taking the paper, I marched to my room and shut the door. I fell on the bed and screamed in my pillow. I took a deep breath and turned around to stare at my ceiling. Ethan’s scent was all over my bed and the bedsheets smelled like cinnamon with a woodsy, musky scent. And the cologne he used.

I squeezed my eyes shut when tears pooled in my eyes and slid down my face. I pressed the heels of my hand on my eyes. “Don’t cry. Don’t cry. Don’t cry. Ohmygod, stop crying.”

I started crying more and it turned into a full-on sobbing. I curled into a ball and overthought about the words Ethan had said and the suggestion of my father to go to India. My crying session was interrupted by a phone call. It was from Katherine.

“Hello?”

I heard shuffling and lots of voices in the background when Katherine said, “Kiara, finally! Can you come to the hospital right now?”

She seemed worried and I knew something didn’t feel right. “Why? What happened?”

I heard Eveline’s cry in the background, and I sat up on the bed. “Katherine, is Eveline okay?”

“Yeah, yeah, she’s all right. Ethan and Rio are admitted to the hospital.”

My heartbeat leaped. “What do you mean Ethan and Rio . . . is he okay? Are they okay? What happened?”

I paced in my room to grab my handbag and shoved in it my driver’s license and wallet.

Katherine replied, “They got in a fight with Winter High students and Ethan has a concussion, so he is still unconscious. Just come here if you can.”

“I’ll be there in ten.”

I rushed out of the room and grabbed the keys of Karan’s car and only paused to say, “I am going to the hospital. Ethan and Rio got in a fight and E is concussed. Bye.”

I ignored my dad when he called me back in the house and rushed to the parking to get to the car. I wanted to see Ethan right now. I didn’t care if he had said those words to me and meant it. I needed to be with him. I took a deep breath and bit my lip hard and tried not to cry even though tears welled in my eyes.

It felt all the same. Just like the day when Principal Inez called me in the office to tell me that my mom was in the hospital.No, no, no, no.Ethan is all right. Nothing will happen to him. I can’t lose him too. I won’t.Katherine said it’s just a concussion. But what if he—no, Kiara. He is alright. He is Ethan Kane, my best friend. He will be all right. He has to be.

After parking the car, I rushed to the lobby of white walls and it all came back to me. How I had run to see my mother and—no. This is Ethan. He will be all right.I swallowed the lump in my throat and sighed in relief when I saw Helen and Julia, Volt, and Katherine sitting and pacing outside his room.

“Is he okay?” I asked, gasping for breath. “Where is Rio?”

---