Chapter 10: That One Decision!

Ethan’s POV:

This peculiar coincidence startled me a bit since I didn’t expect the girl who had caught my interest here to be the first to approach me at the party. Despite getting a little flustered by Hermes’s tease, I didn’t turn her invitation down, as I was in dire need of something to distract me from all the chaos going on inside my head. 

Soon when Hermes left leaving me with Lena, I sat along with her on the velvet couch which was located on the opposite corner of the hall room. While I could feel a nervousness budding in between us now that we both were alone, Lena cordially initiated a conversation first, “Ethan, I hope I didn’t make you uncomfortable by asking for some spare time, right?” 

“O-Oh, of course not!” Quickly shaking my head in denial, when I responded to her, she seemed quite pleased with my answer, grinning broadly. 

“You must be wondering among all these students here at the party, why did I approach you here, right?” 

Her next question also winced me a little, since she wasn’t entirely wrong. I was indeed thinking about it, but averting my eyes at her, I gained the confidence to ask her, “Yes, I was wondering about it.”

“Then, I shall be honest with you. Ethan, I saw everything that happened between you and Zeus.” She narrowed her big brown eyes, and taking a big sip of the beer from her can, she continued in a hoarse pitch, “I liked how the way you stood up to that arrogant asshole, Zeus. You know what, it's quite rare to find a gutsy newbie like you on campus who has the balls to stand up to a jerk who thinks he’s above everyone else here. 

“Most of the people here are his foolish admirers and it boils my blood to realize even the boys in my Department are also blinded by his outer beauty…but not his dark inner side. So…I really liked your guts, Ethan. That’s the reason, I asked Hermes to introduce us…since I wanted to get to know you even better.” 

Her confident answer radiantly uplifted my gloomy mood, as I smiled with a wide grin, gazing intently at her. Since the morning after I bumped into Zeus, everything kept going downhill with me, making me harbor the belief inside that maybe I committed a terrible mistake by enrolling into Bordwell University, which was my dream campus. 

But her words made me realize I was never the problem! Not all the girls were insane here just as I had assumed. Honestly, I had given up on hope before but now, I couldn’t help but grin with my gleaming hopeful eyes by realizing I had found a different girl on this campus, who was perfectly my type! 

Hearing her appreciating me while I was unknowingly condemning myself, I thought maybe Lena was the blessing the heavens had prepared for me after all the chaos I went through. 

“T-Thank you, Lena. You don’t know how much I wanted to hear these words from you…I…I was dying inside to hear it from someone in fact, but now coming from you…I feel as if I am in heaven!” 

Scratching the nape of my neck bearing a flustered smile, my sincere answer made her return a wide blushing smile back. But before I could reciprocate more, I felt a thrilling shiver running down my body when I sensed she had gently held onto my hand which was resting on the couch. 

Bearing the nervous pounding of my heartbeat, when I lifted my gaze at her, I saw her eyes were watching me with an intense passion, as I could feel she tilted her head a little closer. 

“Ethan, if it’s alright with you, can we leave the party and go somewhere quiet?” 

Her unexpected approach made my heart thump so loud from the gushing adrenaline as if it was about to jump out of my chest at any moment. Excitedly I nodded my head, as I could clearly realize the hint she gave me…

Indeed just as Hermes said, it was my lucky night to secure myself with such a beautiful girlfriend! There would be no more bad luck or chaos anymore…and I was finally getting the chance to live the life I had always yearned for until now!

But fate doesn’t let things go as we plan. As I was about to tilt my head low aiming for a kiss on her eager soft lips, suddenly my eyes fell at the backyard door of the hallroom where Zeus stood proudly tall. His tinted dark eyes were gazing at the big shining full moon outside the glass window, while his facial expression seemed very dense. 

I couldn’t deny anymore that Zeus’s aura was so elegant and dazzling that it was always easy to locate him among hundreds of men, but what stunned me the most was that he wasn’t alone. 

At that moment, that pot-bellied flashy old pervert also came marching towards that door and glanced at his face keenly. Without a second delay, Zeus grabbed his arm and dragged him outside that door towards the backyard area of the restaurant. 

As much as I was startled by this absurd scenario, a sudden warning from that cab driver earlier echoed in my ears. 

Wait…didn’t he mention that the backyard of the restaurant was connected to that Cursed Black Wood forest? It was almost close to midnight. I know Zeus never seemed to me like a sane person, but did he actually mean it when he told that pervert earlier that he could show him a good time if he wanted company for the night? 

“Ethan, where are you looking? Focus…” But Lena’s gentle tap on my cheek jolted me back from my cloud of thoughts, as I realized instead of focusing on our first kiss, I was rather fixated on ardently thinking about Zeus. 

Feeling a little ashamed to keep her waiting when she initiated the kiss first, I rather tried to clear my head from thinking about that jerk. 

But the more I tried to distract myself from thinking about Zeus, that menacing warning from the cab driver kept ringing in my ears, making me ponder why would he be willing to go with that pervert to that dangerous place at this late hour. 

A thought strongly resonated in my mind, what if if the pervert had pulled him into any nasty deal after he failed to get his hands on me? I had realized that Zeus was undoubtedly the most handsome man on our campus…so it would be natural to be attracted to his dazzling charm for a pervert like him, right?

The moment when her lips were about to touch mine, my body instinctively reacted as I pushed Lena away from me, blocking her with my arms. 

She seemed really baffled at my unexpected response, staring with her wide-open eyes. But still enduring my humiliation, I blurted before her while standing up from the couch, “L-Lena, c-could you give me some time, please? I…I will go to the restroom and will be back soon. Okay?” 

“Wait…Ethan, are you seriously leaving now? The mood was so good and…” 

As much as I was flustered by her shocked murmur and her gaze of disbelief locked on me, I couldn’t control these palpitations going wild inside me while thinking about what that pervert might be planning to do with Zeus. Not looking behind anymore, I almost ran away from her while lying about going to the restroom. 

Obviously, I reached out to that backyard door and once opening it, I ran outside frantically, without thinking of anything anymore. 

The night was harrowingly cold and dark, and I realized the radiance of the moonlit had started to lessen when I ran further ahead. Though I was petrified inside to ignore that cab driver’s warning, I couldn’t halt my steps from entering the dark cryptic Black Woods visible in front of me…

On that night, only if I had known before that one choice would turn my life completely upside down, would I have still done it!? 

HELL YEAH!