little lies (an e.d. fanfiction)

✭ chapter 17

claire's pov

i walk off of the bus and keep my head down while i walk into school. liz is right behind me with kimberly and they keep snickering and whispering from behind me.

i put my hoodie over my head and keep my head down, trying to avoid seeing anyone.

"hey, claire?" i hear liz call from behind me.

i freeze and turn around stiffly, "what do you want, liz?"

she chuckles, "i'm so so sorry about you finding out about ethan. that must've hurt considering he's been with that chick the entire time he supposedly liked you."

my eyes go wide taking in her last sentence, "what are you talking about?"

she looks at kimberly and bites her lip and laughs, "oh, you didn't know? he's been with her the whole time."

i shake my head and turn around. this isn't happening. this can't be happening.

i feel my body becoming numb and i don't feel the sadness taking over me because it's already present.

i start to fast walk so i can quickly get away from them and i open the main doors to the school. i speed my way through the hallway just wanting to go to class.. even though ethan's there.

i don't know what i'm supposed to do or say to him. it may be better to just do nothing at all.
i just can't believe what happened yesterday, none of it makes sense. ethan and i were never official though, so this shouldn't bother me, right?

no, it should bother me. he made me believe he cared about me. he made me believe i was worth something.

i quickly walk inside teen leadership and sit down in my usual spot by myself. i scan the room and i see that ethan isn't here yet. he always comes late and i'm always early.

i pull out my phone and see that ethan texted me. what the hell? my heart beat frantically speeds up and i feel like my heart is being ripped out of my chest. i unlock my phone and look at his message.

ethan: i need to talk to u. save me a seat next to u in 1st.

i put my phone back down by my side and my eyes go wide. my thoughts start clouding over my brain overtaking my senses. why does he even want to talk to me? what is he even going to say?

i take a deep breath and let it out slowly as i put my backpack beside me on the couch, saving the spot so no one will sit there.

after a few minutes, i hear the bell ring and see ethan jogging into class. he sees my backpack next to me saving his spot and he lets out a sigh of relief.

he walks towards me and i grab my backpack and put it on the ground beside me so he can sit.

he looks at me with worried eyes and he looks like he had a rough night. he has bags under his eyes and his face looks gloomy and sad.

"claire, i know what you're thinking right now. let me explain what happened yesterday."

i sigh, "there's nothing to explain, i already know everything."

he shakes his head eagerly, "no, no you don't. whatever liz or serena told you or whatever you heard isn't true. it's all bullshit."

i shake my head not believing him, "why would i believe anything you say? you were the one who was kissing that girl right in front of me and now you wanna say that what they told me isn't true?"

ethan places his hand on my knee, in a comforting way, and i push him away from me, "don't fucking touch me. i know i fucked things up by lying about my age, but how could you have gotten mad at me when you were the one who was with another girl the whole time? then calling me a slut, too? fuck off, dolan."