Saturday, July 20
Arabella groaned and she slid deeper under her blankets, curling up into a little ball around her teddy bear. It was mid-afternoon, at least, but Arabella didn't want to get out of her bed. She had been having trouble getting out of bed all week, to be honest. Somehow, she had managed to convince everyone around her to just leave her alone and she was thankful for that. Arabella didn't have the energy or the desire to really do anything.
It had been about a week since she had found out that the shield had been Hunter's. It had been a week since she had done anything really productive. It had been a week since she had broken up with Ethan. She had been playing that night over and over again in her head.
After walking out of the Hephaestus cabin with her necklace in her hand and ran back to her own cabin, Arabella was freaking out a little bit. Ethan didn't remember things from the night that he had supposedly saved her. The shield that Arabella had used was not Ethan's. What did this mean? Was Ethan lying to her? Arabella didn't know what she would do if he was lying to her. That would mean that their entire relationship had been a lie. She had been ready to give everything to him. She didn't think her heart could deal with the lie.
Arabella managed to pull herself together long enough to walk over to her bed. She was filled with a new determination. She had a mission now. Arabella dug around in her trunk until she found a sweater and she wrapped it around her shoulders. As quickly as she could, Arabella tied her hair back into a braid and she walked out of her cabin.
Nervously, her hands twisted around her wrist where her Barbie bracelet should have been. As Arabella walked towards the Ares cabin, her stomach twisted up into such massive knots, she thought she might be sick. What if he got angry? Arabella had seen him angry and it wasn't pretty. The last thing she wanted was to be on the other side of his anger. Before she knew it, Arabella was at the door to the Ares cabin and she was knocking on the door.
"Arabella. Hello. Again" A girl said with a bit of a sneer on her face when she opened the door. Arabella let out a little sigh and tried to keep her face calm.
"It's good to see you too, Scarlet." Arabella said and she cleared her throat, shoving her slightly shaking hands into her pockets. Scarlet was a beautiful girl with vibrant red hair and a personality to match. If she liked someone, she could be a great friend. If she didn't like someone, she would make their life hell. Scarlet didn't like Arabella and she made that clear. "Is-"
"Ethan here? Yes" Scarlet said in a cold tone and she turned away from Arabella, stepping into the cabin. "Ethan! Your blonde arm candy is here!"
"Would you shut up, Scarlet?" Ethan's voice said and Arabella listened as he rolled off of his bed and walked towards the door. Soon enough, he was standing in front of her and smiling down at her. "What's up?" He asked, leaning in to kiss her. Arabella let him kiss her but she didn't respond and she didn't lean into him.
"Ethan...can we talk somewhere? Alone?" Arabella asked him, glancing up at him for a quick moment to see if she could read his face but there was no emotion.
"Yeah, sure" Ethan said in a slightly cautious voice. Before he could take her hand or place his arms around her waist, Arabella turned and walked down towards the beach. It was late afternoon but the beach was pretty quiet. Most of the campers were up at their cabins, getting ready for supper. "So, what did you want to talk about?" Ethan asked her as they got to the sand. Arabella looked down at her feet and wiggled her toes in her flip flops a little bit, working some sand onto her pink toenails.
"Ethan, are you really the guy who saved me?" She asked him in a low voice.
"Of course"
"You're the guy that saved me all of those times last summer? Before Daniel threw that party?" Arabella looked up at him, trying to read his face again.
"Yes"
"So, you're the guy that saved me from hell hounds that very first time?" Arabella asked him, glancing up at him with big eyes.
"Yes, of course. What is all of this about?" Ethan asked her in a slightly exasperated voice.
"Why are you lying to me, Ethan?" Arabella looked up at him, looking to see if his face would betray him. Ethan looked down at her with a stunned expression, like he didn't really know how to react. There was no use in trying to deny it, really. She had caught him in a lie.
"Arabella, I-"
"No, Ethan. I don't want to hear it. I don't...I can't deal with anymore excuses or lies from you" Arabella snapped, folding her arms across her chest.
"Who told you all of this?" Ethan asked her after a few moments of silence.
"I figured it out myself." Arabella muttered. She paused for a moment then looked up at him, raising an eyebrow. "You're not even going to try to defend yourself?"
"Arabella, this is just...this is ridiculous. All of this happened so long ago and you're just over reacting" Ethan huffed, looking annoyed more than anything. When he told her that she was over reacting, Arabella could practically feel the steam coming out of her ears. How dare he? After all of the lies that he told how dare he tell her that she was over reacting.
"Over reacting? Ethan...you've been lying to me for over a year. I don't think that I could possibly over react!" Arabella snapped, raising her voice a little bit. Ethan seemed to take half a step back, like he was just trying to avoid her at all costs. "Ethan, I...I was ready to give everything to you. I trusted you and I loved you."
"So, what? Everything that we had over the past year is just...gone? Because you found out that I lied to you a year ago?" Ethan asked her.
"You've had so many opportunities to tell me the truth. We've talked about that. You've constantly lied to me over and over again." Arabella sighed. She closed her eyes for a moment but she flinched back when she could feel Ethan reach out a hand to her. "Ethan...did you really ever love me?" She asked him and glanced up at him through her eyelashes. "You know what, no...don't answer that" Arabella reached into her pocket and pulled out the necklace that Ethan gave her. "Whatever we had...it's over. You fucked up" She said in a low voice and as she walked past him, she placed the necklace in his hand.
"Arabella!" He called back to her but she didn't turn around. She couldn't look at him. She couldn't go back to him and forgive him. Too many guys had hurt her at this point and she just couldn't deal with it anymore. Ignoring every single person who tried to talk to her, Arabella walked towards her cabin. She needed to be alone and she needed time to think.
A week later and Arabella was still in her cabin, still ignoring people and still trying to think. She had broken up with Ethan and she was feeling rather horrible about it. Not that she was regretting it, just that she still felt so angry about everything that happened.
She was angry at herself, too. Arabella was sick of sitting in her bed and she needed to do something. Without really knowing what she was doing or where she was going, Arabella stood up and she quickly changed her clothes, slipping into a pair of jeans. She let her hair down and walked out of the cabin. All around her, people were getting ready to go down to the fire but she didn't really want to go there. Quietly as she could, Arabella started walking into the woods. She didn't really know where she was going but when she got to the little circle of trees, she realized where her feet had taken her.
This was the spot where the mystery guy had saved her. It all happened a year ago and while so much had happened since then, it still felt like it only happened yesterday. Arabella let out a sigh and she sat down on a log, looking around. She felt like she was lost, in a way. She was alone and she didn't really know what to do with herself anymore.
Arabella let out a sigh, pulling her knees up to her chest and resting her forehead on her knees. Why did this have to be so complicated?