little lies (an e.d. fanfiction)

✭ chapter 36

song for chapter: i feel like i'm drowning by two feet + play on repeat!!

claire's pov

-friday, day of football game-

i watch ethan walk into class wearing his infamous football jersey.

 number twenty-three.

 on game days, all boys either wear their jerseys, or give it to a girl to wear. my eyebrows raise as i observe that ethan didn't offer his jersey to anyone.

he gives me a soft smile and i give him a weak one in return. he sits next to me like always. even though there's been constant tension between us, he has never not chosen to sit next to me oddly enough.

alex walks into the classroom not too long after ethan takes his seat next to me, "hey, claire," he says, greeting me as soon as he walks in the door.

i give him a small wave and an awkward, "hey."

alex sits in his typical spot on one of the couches, the one directly across the room from me, and grins as he continues to look at me.

i see ethan's jaw clench and his eyebrows narrow at alex, giving him a death stare. alex looks from me to ethan, and then quickly looks away the second his eyes see ethan's aggravated state.

i feel ethan move closer to me and my eyes widen without intending to. is he being protective? i look down at his legs that are much closer to mine than they once were. before i can think about his actions for any longer, mr. kemp interrupts my thoughts from the sound of him closing the classroom door shut once the tardy bell rings.

"alright, today is free friday so you guys don't have to do anything today. you know the drill, just don't get too loud," mr. kemp says as he walks back over to his desk.

i get out my phone and go onto snapchat, opening everyone's morning streaks. i respond back to some friends, snapping pictures of the upper part of my face.

i start to watch people's stories and i see one that catches my attention. brayden, a varsity football player, had posted a picture of him and some of the football boys in the locker room with the caption, "game tonight @7".

i see grayson posing for the picture with brayden and some other guys and observe the surroundings of the photo. my eyes quickly trail to the back of the picture and i see a shirtless ethan talking with cameron and jack.

my heart stops as i see his face in mid laughter with his friends and his sculpted body carved and on display. the harsh lines that were outlining his muscles made it almost impossible to click on to the next story. his abs were defined as were his arms, his biceps jumping out with his shirt in hand. it looked like he had just taken it off.

"are you going to the game tonight?" ethan says next to me, making me jump. he was clearly watching me look at the picture for far too long.

"i have to," i say in a monotone voice, now watching someone else's story. he looks at me, obviously confused, and raises the arch of one of his eyebrows as if he's asking me to elaborate.

i sigh in response, "i'm cheering at the game tonight."

his face lights up almost instantly but he quickly covers any sort of excitement or joy present on his facial features. he remains silent but out of the blue he laughs to himself, catching me off guard.

i let out a giggle involuntarily from his laugh being contagious, "what?"

he shakes his head while grinning and he looks away from me, "it just reminded me of when i told you i couldn't wait for you to be cheering for me."