Chereads / Love, Tomorrow / Chapter 10 - Ethan's Excuse

Chapter 10 - Ethan's Excuse

Too many things happened to Charissa yesterday. Today would be no different. Early in the morning, just as Charissa stepped in through the campus gates, a girl jumped on Charissa and hugged her tight saying, "My sweetie pie... How are you?" Charissa slipped through the girl's hand and turned around to see who it was.

It was Maria in a red shirt tucked under blue ripped jeans and a ponytail.

Charissa, almost shocked at the sight said, "What are you doing?"

"What do you mean? I'm greeting you silly."

"But I thought you didn't want anyone to know we were close and stuff."

Maria thought back, "Oh, you are correct. Talk to you later then." She said and skipped away.

Janet appeared from behind and tapped on Charissa's shoulder. "Yo!" She greeted.

"Oh, hey!" Charissa fist-bumped Janet.

Janet looked ahead at Maria and then looked at Charissa again, "Who was that woman?" She asked.

"Charles's bride. I'll tell you the details later."

Unfortunately for Janet and Elissa, they didn't get to spy on Charissa and Charles as they had initially planned. They were almost caught on sight by Charissa's brother when they were about to enter the mall. Charissa's brother didn't leave the entrance for forty-five minutes. And because the entrance was less crowded than the inside, they could've been easily spotted. By the time Brother left, Elissa and Janet realized they wouldn't catch up with Charissa's location, hence making them go back home on standby.

Returning to the current situation; during lunch, Charissa explained to Elissa and Janet the entire situation from yesterday.

Janet and Elissa gave out glances of disappointment to each other.

"What's the deal with you two?" Charissa inquired as she noticed the odd behavior.

"Nothing big." Elissa frowned.

"You could've at least informed us what you were going to do," Janet spoke in a worried tone.

"Things worked out, didn't it?" Charissa scanned around and leaned over to Janet and Elissa, "For now, we must find a way to get Ethan's attention toward Maria." she explained.

Ethan was at a nearby table with his two lackeys. The moment he heard his name among the chatters of the trio, he pushed one of his lackeys to eavesdrop on them.

"How do we do that? First, we were the 'Black Dirt' trying to publicly expose Ethan's true personality, and now we're trying to set up your lover's bride with him. Our prey? The victim?" Elissa inquired, confused.

"Yep, that's what we are going to do. Set up our prey with my boyfriend's bride." Charissa admitted.

Ethan couldn't hold it in any longer. His crush was talking about him and he didn't know what or why because the crowd in the canteen was too loud. He couldn't take his chance to make a ruckus as he would be kicked out by the student. They still hate him and it's all thanks to the very woman he has a crush on.

Ethan got up from his seat and walked over to Charissa's table. He leaned over her shoulder saying, "What's this about me?"

"Oh! I-Its Ethan!" Charissa pretended to be surprised. This was her expectation. She intentionally spoke about Ethan aloud to lure him into her trap. Hints were passed on to Janet and Elissa earlier to let them in on her plan.

"We were just talking about how wrong we were!" Elissa chimed in.

"Exactly! We decided to forgive you of your crimes and let you in on a little secret!" Janet added.

By now, the entire canteen's attention was on these four. Some of Ethan's old fans gathered around the table to 'publicly' eavesdrop on the conversation.

"Forgive me?! That's my line!" Ethan exclaimed, slamming his fists on the table. Staying next to Charissa was making his heart race.

"You might want to listen to us." Janet handed over her bottle of water to Ethan. It was a sign to tell him to cool down.

Ethan took a deep breath and sat next to Charissa. He looked at her and asked, "I'm all ears."

"Awww~" Elissa squeaked. "You are like an open book which makes it easier for us to tame you~" She gave an evil grin., her eyes squinting.

Charissa took out a piece of paper that she had prepared for this occasion. "This will be our secret. Open it when you get home." She said as she handed the paper to Ethan.

Ethan took it. His face was fully red and his heart was racing even more. He couldn't take his eyes off Charissa.

Once he took his moment to admire his crush's face, he reluctantly stuffed the paper in his jacket's pocket and left the table grabbing his lackeys by their collars.

Outside the canteen, sitting on a bench under an oak tree, he impatiently stared at the paper. 'She told me not to open it until I get home...' He muttered to himself.

His lackeys dubiously watched him continuously stomping his feet on the ground.

"This is a side effect of 'Love at first sight'." One of his lackeys whispered to the other.

"When can I go home boss?" The other questioned yawning.

Ethan wasn't listening. His gaze now fixed on Charissa and Charles who went into the old music room. From his position, he could see the glass windows in front of him to his right.

"Yo! Boss!" The tall lackey waved his hand in front of Ethan's face.

Ethan got mad as he was disturbed. "What do you want?! Can't you see I'm busy thinking?!" he yelled.

"I'm pretty sure you were just staring at your crush and her boyfriend." The short lackey interrupted.

"Why so obsessed with her? She might blackmail you, you know." The other added.

"Who said I like her?! I'm only keeping an eye on her!" He yelled again. "I'm leaving!"

Later, once college was over, Ethan rushed home on his motorbike. The moment he entered his room, he opened the paper Charissa gave. In it read, 'Do what we say if you don't want your 'other stuff' getting exposed. The deal is simple. Go on a blind date. Join chat for more info.' On the bottom, a link to a group chat was noted.