'Omi, make sure our guest knows the house rules', said Neena as she prepared to leave for her job.

'What rules?', asked Ethan.

'No PDA, no entering our rooms, no smoking or drinking, no friends over and most importantly, the toilet seat should be down', I said and watched as his face twisted into a forced back grin.

'Oh and you can't sleepover, so even if it's 3 am, you gotta go', said Neena.

'I promise to be on my best behavior and leave like the gentleman I think to be', said Ethan.

'I like this human, can we keep him Omi?', asked Neena with a grin.

'Leave. Now', I said and she exited with a grin.

'Sorry if it sounds old fashioned but we're like that', I said as we sat down at the kitchen table to do our work.

'You don't have to apologize for having ethics. I respect your rules and I don't think it's old fashioned or anything. In a world where men prey on women and where you can't trust anyone, it's smart to have some restrictions', he said and I smiled.

'So, criticizing', I said and gave him my paper.

'To post or not post', read Ethan and I shrugged.

'You're not on social media?', he asked.

'I used to be, but I deactivated it a few years back', I said. To be honest, it was the best decision I had ever made.

'Why?', he asked.

'I'm a private person and all these posts which I feel like describe me, I get tempted to share them and then suddenly it's like my thoughts and soul are out there for anyone to judge', I said.

'Why would you care about what people think?', he asked like any sensible human.

'No, it's not just that. Like I said, I'm private and I feel vulnerable when people who I don't know get to know me. There was this one time where a guy stalked my profile and he texted me saying that he knows I like all these random things which I'm interested in and I was like anyone who follows my page would know these things. That was the day it just dawned on me', I said.

'So you'd rather be a mystery?', he asked.

'It's who I am. It's what's protected me from the wrong people all these years', I said.

'Isn't that a bit lonely?', he asked.

'No. I'm not at all lonely. I may only have a number of friends that you can count on your hands but they're the best of the best. They're like a blessing to me that I feel like God's spoilt me', I said with a smile.

'So this mystery vibe, doesn't it make people misunderstand you?', he asked.

I took a quick glance at him to see his face. He looked genuinely interested and that gave me the confidence to continue.

'Yeah, a lot of people did but I found some of my best friends that way and those people who used to misjudge me say, 'don't stop being this person'. I tried once not to be that person but it ended horribly. I got in with the wrong crowd and that's another story by itself', I said and shook my head at the old college drama which I was glad to be free of.

'That's cool. It's rare to have friends who would support a character like that', he said and I sighed as the sentence triggered a memory.

'Mysterious and secretive is your style, Omi. Don't let anyone tell you else wise'

'The truthful lie', I read as he handed me his paper.

'Somebody clearly has some issues with lies', I said with a taunting smile.

'Yes, about that, what were you trying to hide from me before in the car?', he asked and my knee jerked up hitting the table hard.

Salem's concerned face appeared next to me and it made me confused to see an alley cat that actually cared, so I shooed him away.

'What?', I asked.

'You lied to me in the car when I asked what was bothering you', he said calmly and looked at me in a gentle yet disappointed way.

I wanted to tell Ethan about Peter but was it right to tell your new male friends who you might have feelings for about your ex who you can't get over? Wouldn't I just be making things awkward?

Wait.

How on earth would it be awkward unless he liked me? But looking back at how Ethan acted around me always made me doubt if he liked me or if he was just being friendly. My intuition told me that he liked me but my head was screaming at me to think rationally.

Did I want him to like me? I'd be crazy not to want someone like Ethan to like me but even if he did, I'd only be leading him on. 

But this wasn't what he wanted to know, he wanted to know the truth.

Just as I opened my mouth to answer him, a loud growl erupted from my bedroom along with a loud screech and yowl.