CHAPTER 28
Thursday morning I was woken up by Aunt Claire yelling my name and barging into my room. I yawned and waited for her to calm down then asked, "What's up?"
"You know how we planned to have a whole family gathering on Sunday?" I nodded, silently hoping that it was cancelled so I wouldn't have to face all those people. She took a deep breath and said, "Well, you know your Aunt Mary? Your dad's sister? She offered to hold the gathering at HER house, for a whole weekend! And the best part is, she said you can invite all your old friends too so you'll get to spend some time with them!"
"Oh."
"Aren't you excited? This will be like a weekend getaway!"
I smiled at her, trying to look excited. This wasn't just a one day party anymore, it was like a vacation, because Aunt Mary's lives in this grand house which is practically a mansion and has a pool and everything.
Claire gave me a long hug assuring me that i'll have a good time then told me to get ready for school. Before leaving the house that morning I texted Katelyn:
Seems like I'll be seeing you soon, can't wait :D Claire will call u with the details, let the others know too! Miss you :)
After that we began texting back and forth, I quickly tapped away on my phone while walking through the school corridors with my head down and my gaze locked on the screen. I bumped into someone and only a short gasp escaped my lips before I felt big, warm, familiar hands around my waist. Ethan helped me balance myself up then I looked up at his face. I almost couldn't breathe, he was so close. The urge to kiss him was so strong. If I didn't do it I'm sure he would because the look in his eyes was so intense and full of yearning.
It was like slow motion. Slowly our faces inched closer, there was no one else here except the two of us. I just needed him really bad so I closed the distance and our lips were almost touching when.. Someone coughed loudly and we broke apart looking ashamed. There stood Brianna and Tyler smirking like retards. They have such bad timing.
Ethan scowled, irritated, he looked so cute with that look on his face, "You guys just HAD to ruin it didn't you?"
Brianna winked "Can't let you two cheat now can we Tyler?"
He laughed along with her and Ethan narrowed his eyes at Bri accusing her, "You're enjoying this."
She just shrugged then dragged him away after giving me a wink. I kept my gaze on Ethan and he watched my face as he left. I smiled and just before they were out of sight he mouthed 'I love you.'
I probably won't stop smiling all day now. Or that's what I thought.
Until I saw Rebecca making her way towards me in the hallway. There goes my perfect morning. I ignored her and walked towards my locker. I knew she was following me because of the annoying clatter of her heels. I opened my locker while she stood behind me, I kept my back to her ignoring her presence until she snapped, "We need to talk!"
I sighed and turned around, she flicked her hair back and gave me a glare. I asked her, "What's going on in your little brain now Rebecca?"
She narrowed her eyes. "You," she said, pointing a finger at me, "need to back off my guy!"
"Do you seriously think Ethan cares about you, he hates you. You need to leave us alone."
She tapped her foot impatiently, "Not Ethan. He is just a worthless jerk and doesn't even deserve me. I'm talking about my Luke! You took him from me! You're not as innocent as you seem are you, first Ethan, now Luke? What a slut!"
I stared open-mouthed at her. That was probably the bitchiest thing anyone has ever said to me. She was so... Pathetic. Before I could say anything I heard Luke greet me. I turned to my right and there was with a pleasant look on his face which soon transformed into a scowl as he saw Rebecca. He practically hissed at her, "What do you want?"
"Oh Luke!" she ran over to him and put her hands around his neck, leaning her head into his chest. He looked startled for a while then removed her hands off his body slowly. She looked at him, obviously trying to look cute but failing miserably, "Luke, you have no idea what sorts of things that slut is doing. She's just trying to pull you away from me. She's fake Luke, she's going to make you fall in love with her to get revenge from me."
What the hell. I knew Rebecca was a manipulative bitch, but I didn't realise to what extent. I looked at Luke's reaction, praying he didn't fall for it for his own good, but to my relief, he looked disgusted.
He shook his head muttering, "I'm pretty sure Marissa is not the slut here." He looked at me briefy then grabbed my hand and we walked away, leaving Rebecca stunned.
Once were in class, I passed a note to him:
She says she loves you...
He rolled his eyes and wrote:
I don't care what she says, I hate her.
He was going to pass it back to me but sighed and got back to writing:
After the whole thing with Ethan, she came to me crying. And I comforted her all those days because I thought she was innocent. She told me she loved me, I believed her. But then I found out the truth about what she did to you and realised this whole time she has been lying to me. I felt so used. Now I want nothing to do with her.
I read it. I sent him an apologetic look then wrote down:
She doesn't deserve you. Now don't look so sad, smile! :D
He laughed a little and that was the end of that.
During lunch, Luke had a football team meeting so I was with Hannah and Hailey. We were talking about the history assignment we had all worked on over the summer since the teacher announced that we'll be getting our grades soon.
Brianna came out of nowhere and sat next to me. I looked over at her table and realised that Ethan, Tyler and some others were missing, they must be at the football meeting too.
"What's up Bri?"
"We need to talk.. About Luke."
I rolled my eyes, "What about him?"
"He's lying marissa, him and Rebecca are very close, he's doing this for her."
I thought over what happened this morning and knew instantly she was mistaken. I hated how no one tried to look at it through Luke's point of view. He was so heartbroken. I inhaled and told her exactly what happened this morning.
"Aw poor guy!" Hailey said and Hannah nodded. At least someone agreed with me, but Brianna looked doubtful.
She said firmly, "You don't know what he's capable of, you should stop hanging out with him."
"You're overreacting. He's completely innocent."
"No he's not!" she insisted, this was getting annoying.
"Brianna just because you have a grudge against him doesn't mean I can't be his friend! You guys need to just stop acting like kids and make up, I'm sure Ethan would agree with me."
She got up, grabbed her bag and slung it over her shoulder. Just before she left she said, "Ethan was the one who told me to talk to you, he wants you to stop being friends with Luke."
Then she left.
What? Why is Ethan being so irrational? Ugh, why am I friends with such complicated people! I took deep breaths to calm myself down. Then, Luke showed up and came grinning over to us. The instant relief when he spotted us was clear, he really was afraid of being alone.
He sat down next to me and handed me a stack of papers.
"What's this?" i asked
"You said you didn't have a printer at home, so I printed out another copy of notes for you."
He said it like it was no big deal but he actually saved me the trouble of going to a stationery shop and getting it printed there. I thanked him, giving him a grateful hug.
Just as I was about to let go of him, I looked ahead and saw Ethan staring at us, his face blank. Can I not even hug a friend?!
I let go of Luke and he pecked my cheeks. I was too shocked but before I could say anything he said, "you remind me of my little sister, her name was Lia, she died two years ago because of cancer."
I didn't know he had lost a sister, his face looked so pained, I immediately gave him another hug but regretted it as soon as I saw Ethan, he was still looking at us. I let go awkwardly.
I didn't know Ethan was so possessive and hypocritical, and to be he honest, I don't like this side of him. I had to go talk to him, before he misunderstands my friendship with Luke.
"Ethan?" he turned around, he didn't smile like he usually would after seeing my face, "Ethan, I think we need to talk.. It's about Luke."
He sighed and walked over to an empty table away from the rest and we sat around it.
He didn't even look at my face as he stated, "I think you should stay away from him. He's up to no good Marissa!"
I flinched even though he wasn't being very loud or aggressive. I shook the cowardly thoughts away, no one can tell me what to do. "Ethan, I love you but Luke is my friend, he needs me."
"What if he mistakes your friendship for something more?"
I shook my head, "he says I remind him of his sister."
Ethan sighed impatiently and said, "look I don't care, just don't be friends with him, can't you just do this one thing for me? And plus, I don't think Luke actually has a sister, he probably lying to you."
Why is he being so mean? Ugh! I snapped back, "Well that's because she died last year!"
"Oh." I could tell he was taken off guard by that but soon he composed himself and was about to say something else against Luke when I just got up abruptly, "Give him some credit Ethan, he's been through more than you know."
With that, I left. I know my words were harsh but so were his.
I hated being mad at Ethan, because I wanted to hate him, but I couldn't. Which made me even more mad. I just wished he would understand my point instead if being so prejudiced and close-minded.
All day I expected him to apologise, he was too sweet to hold a grudge. But I guess I was wrong. I decide to sleep in early since I was too exhausted from the drama but just before going to bed I checked my phone once more.
No new messages.