Dear Ethan: A Second Chance Romance

Chapter 3: I Like Sports

[Foolish One - Taylor Swift] 

*Jodie*

"Did you see Mattie Hawkins' tattoo?" hissed Stacey as she leaned over to us during lunch.

Sam and I looked at each other. 

Stacey was the biggest gossip in the school and whenever she had a good tidbit she would stop by every clique to tell them the news. Including me and Sam who were not so much a clique as an inseparable twosome others had dubbed the Siamese twins. The nickname never bothered me. If I had to be joined at the hip with anyone it would be Sam. People were just jealous of our unbreakable bond.

But unlike last year we only had Biology, Drama, and spare time together. Truly disappointing since we had always been in the same classes since first grade. Our streak was coming to an end.

The thing with Stacey was if you looked too interested she would mistake you as being romantically interested in whoever she was talking about. I took off the saran wrap on my sandwich and bit into it, "Haven't heard a thing" I answered breezily as Sam ate her pudding calmly.

Sam had talked about Mattie's abs all summer but Stacey didn't need to know that.

Stacey rolled her eyes as if we were the only two losers in school who were so behind on the gossip rounds. "He got a dragon tattoo all over his body. His parents are furious and are threatening to homeschool him if he doesn't get it removed. Macy is fucking devastated."

We all glanced over at Macy being consoled by the entire drama club as she sniffled dramatically and refused to eat anything. That's what you get for dating the bad boy.

I gave Stacey noncommittal answers, knowing she was just here to get information out of us. She was always in everyone's business. But I was a great secret keeper. I would protect the identity of Sam's crush until my death. No one would be able to wring it out of me. And I know she would do the same with me when it came to Ethan.

My heart practically glowed when I thought of Ethan. Unlike the rest of the boys we already declared he was a unicorn. Nice, kind, and a good student. Everyone wanted him on their team during P.E.

In the past few days, I studied him like I was going to be graded at the end of the year about Ethan's likes and dislikes.

He was really into sports. People described him as kind of shy but nice once you got to know him.

The next day Cody sat with us at lunch and we grilled him about Ethan again. He was allergic to peanuts, watched a lot of football, and enjoyed playing video games. Oh, and Amber had a crush on him.

'What?" I whipped around, hitting Cody in the face with my ponytail. He kept shoveling food into his mouth, not even phased. "When we played flag football yesterday, he sprinted after her and captured hers. She's kookoo crazy for him right now." 

I scanned the other tables and made out where Amber was sitting with her preppy friends as they glanced over at Ethan's table before bursting into giggles and whispers.

I was hoping to keep Ethan as my secret crush but there was no denying how attractive he was. He was already getting noticed and it wouldn't be long until he shot into another stratosphere before I could talk to him.

"She's really staring him down," murmured Sam, while she ate her pudding and licked the spoon. "You have some competition now."

I glared into my mac and cheese. There was no way I was going to let Amber get her grubby hands on Ethan. I had found him first even though I didn't voice it out loud.