Revenge of the Undercover Nerd

Sixteen: The Reveal?!

Elodie POV

"What am I going to do?" I asked, frowning. I had just finished explaining the entire situation to a bored Kristie and a wise-ass Caleb.

"Honestly, I don't care--but I don't really know him!" Kristie added when she saw my hurt look.

"Well, this was bound to happen. You knew it," Caleb nonchalantly sipped his coffee--black, for the bitterness "dulls the aches of the heart," whatever that meant.

"I didn't fucking know shit, okay? I didn't know his crush frickin kidnaps people and extracts their knowledge so that she can terrorize the country! And now, he doesn't trust me."

Kristie raised an eyebrow. "There is someone he does trust," she said with a meaningful glance.

I nodded slowly. "Yeah..." She smirked with a knowing look. "Mind telling me who?"

"Elodie, dumbass!"

"Did you not just hear me say he doesn't trust me?"

Kristie sighed, exasperation written all over her face. "He trusts Elodie, not Ellie. Get it?"

Oh. "Oh,"

Wait a second... That means...

It's time for Ethan to learn the truth.

.oOo.

"Hi."

"Hi."

For some miraculous reason, Ethan agreed to meet with me. On a Sunday night. At 10:00 pm. And for that, I was eternally grateful for.

"So."

"So."

Well, that wasn't awkward at all.

"Okay."

"Okay?"

"Ethan."

"Elodie?"

"I have something to say."

"Are you gay?"

I narrowed my eyes.

"Pregnant? Depressed? Did your dog die--"

"Shut up before I hurt you."

Ethan laughed, the night air swallowing the sound. "You can't hurt me."

I took a deep breath, urging my fists to stay buried in my lap, rather than in his face. "Okay. Whatever. So, you know that girl you mentioned earlier? Elodie?"

He suddenly turned serious. "Yeah. What about her?"

"Well, to start, she's not dead."

Ethan's eyes narrowed. "What the hell are you talking about now? You're not trying to guilt me into breaking up with Selene, right? I swear, if you're playing tricks on me--"

"No, no. I'm not lying."

He raised an eyebrow. "Then what happened to her? Her blood was both on the banks of the river and in the river."

I took a deep breath. This was going to be harder than I expected. But then again, would it really be easy to begin with? "Well, she got kidnapped by the ASS--"