“You look good. Chill out, Ethan doesn’t really care about looks that much, anyway. He’s dated the most ridiculous girls,” Erica said while lying down on her bed and scrolling through my phone.
When I shot her a look, she said, “Not that I’m saying you’re ridiculous.”
I tilted my head and stared at myself. The dress was obviously much better on me. Recalling Ethan in the dress, I chuckled and my eyes widened when I realized that Erica had my phone with the pictures in it. Ethan would practically kill me if Erica saw the photograph.
“Um, Erica, what are you doing with my phone?” I asked, fluffing my already fluffed up hair.
“Just scrolling through Facebook,” she answered, shrugging. “It’s so boring.”
I relaxed a bit and nodded.
“I’m waiting for the day when Abby gets tired of Michael,” Erica said.
I laughed. “Like that’s ever going to happen.”
She sighed and continued scrolling through my phone.
"Oh my good lord," Erica said, gaping at my phone.
"What?" I asked.
"Ethan in a dress," she said, letting her jaw drop.
"Oh god, no! Please don't tease him or tell him you saw him in the dress," I pleaded.
She stared at me for a moment and started laughing.
"Ethan looks much better than you in that dress," she said pointing at my dress.
I sighed. She's not going to listen to me. Erica would grab every single opportunity she gets to make fun of Ethan or insult him. They were close when we were young. Ethan would come to the park with us and we would play tag. They would have 'special nights' where they would combine different food materials and eat it while watching a horror or comedy movie. Once, they combined gummy bears, salsa sauce and chocolate ice cream. Erica saved some for me and I almost puked when I plopped the disgusting mixture in my mouth. But now, things were different. They didn't get along that well. Erica's and Ethan's way of thinking changed; they started to disagree at almost everything. But deep down, I know both of them still care about each other.
"Man, this is gold."
"No, it's not," I grumbled, ignoring her laughter.
She took a deep breath and wiped away the tears that had escaped her eyes while she was laughing like a maniac. I walked over to Erica's closet and grabbed her only pair of black pumps which Abby had gifted her but she never bothered wearing them.
Erica’s phone started ringing and groaning, she picked it up.
“What?” she asked bluntly as she answered.
“What? Why?” she questioned.
“Who is it?” I asked, whispering.
“Ethan,” she mouthed.
“What’s he saying?” I asked quietly, sitting next to her.
Erica held up her finger, indicating me to wait. I sighed, raking my hand through my hair and wondering what Ethan was talking to Erica about. He hadn’t told me where he was taking me or what we were going to do.
Groaning, she threw her phone on the bed.
“What?” I asked.
“I wanted to stay at home and sleep,” she grumbled.
“What does that have to do with the phone call?” I asked.
“He wants me to drop you off somewhere,” she muttered.
“Where?” I asked eagerly.
She smirked and got off the bed.
“Where?” I repeated, staring up at her.
“You’re probably going to get pissed at him,” she replied.
My eyebrows knit in confusion. “Why?”
“Come on, let’s go,” she said, grabbing the car keys from a bowl full of tiny, colorful pebbles.
Glancing at myself in the mirror for the last time, I walked out of the room.
“Mom! I’m going out; I’ll be back in 30 minutes!” Erica yelled and walked out of the door.
“Ashley, you look wonderful, dear,” Mrs. Wilson said, entering the living room and giving me a bright smile.
“Thank you,” I replied politely.
Erica honked from the driveway and saying bye to Mrs. Wilson, I walked out of the door and hopped in the car.
*
My eyebrows furrowed as I frowned. “Why are we at my place?”
“You tell me!” Erica exclaimed, fiddling with the radio.
I stared at the plain house in front of me. Why would Ethan ask Erica to drop me at my house? Weren’t we supposed to go on a date?
My phone buzzed and I unlocked it to read the text I got from Ethan.
Still know how to climb pipes, Rapunzel? ;)
My lips slowly turned into a smile as I recalled the night Ethan had been my so-called knight. I would never forget that day. I got to see a side of Ethan I had never seen before; the soft, sweet and caring side of him. I remembered the amount of food of we had shoved down our throats and softly chuckled. Remembering the scared, hollow feeling in the pits of my stomach when I realized that the window might have been locked, I giggled.
“Ash, stop being such a weirdo,” Erica said, giving me a weird look.
Ignoring her snide comment, I said, “Thanks for dropping me here.”
“You better be,” Erica mumbled.
Laughing, I got out of the car and halted in my tracks to reply to Ethan.
Of course I do, why?
His reply came almost instantly.
Ready to climb a pipe now? ;)
I rolled my eyes and replied – No! I’m wearing a dress, genius.
As I looked around, I noticed that the flowers mom had planted had dried and lost their color. I sighed and walked towards the sand pot and softly touched the leaves. They instantly crumbled under my fingers and fell on the hardened sand which had cracks. Staring at the dried leaves, I realized that in life you always need someone with you; someone to take care of you. No matter how strong you are, someday you will need someone to depend on.
My phone buzzed once again and I stared at the lighted screen.
Oh damn. Why didn’t I think of that! …Just come in through the front door. :/
Surprised that Ethan was in my house, I walked towards the door. How the hell did he get in my house! Ringing the doorbell thrice, I crossed my arms over my chest.
Ethan opened the door, coughing and fanning smoke away from his face. “Are you really that eager to be with me?”
Despite wanting to, I smiled and tucked some hair behind ear. After seeing the smoke around him, I shot him a glare.
“How on earth did you get in my house! Did you break in?!” I gasped as I entered the slightly foggy room. “What did you do?! Why is there so much smoke? Are you trying to set my house on fire!”
“Ashley,” he said, gently placing his hands on my shoulder. “Calm down.”
“Calm down?!” I exclaimed, walking towards the kitchen which had utensils in the sink, a pan on the stove surrounded with smoke, a bag of groceries and some pasta sauce spilled near the stove. “Ethan, what is this?”
“First, I looked up some recipes online. Then, I realized I didn’t have all the ingredients so I went to the grocery store to buy them. Then, I tried to cook but failed badly resulting in the kitchen looking like this,” he said, pointing at the mess in the kitchen with a frown. “Then, somehow, there was smoke all around me and the fire alarm started beeping and this is what I ended up with,” he finished, burying his face in his hands.
Looking at the mess in the kitchen and Ethan’s helpless face, I laughed loudly.
“Don’t laugh,” he mumbled.
“It’s alright,” I said. “This kind of stuff happens all the time.”
“Not when you’re on a date with a totally gorgeous girl,” he muttered.
“Why, thank you,” I said and curtsied.
He chuckled and clasped my hand, sending tingles through my body. “You make everything seem so perfect.”
I smiled and turned to look at the kitchen. “Yeah, absolutely perfect.”
He laughed. I stared at him for a moment, taking in his cheeky laugh and pale lips. I don’t know why I liked him so much. Maybe it was his dashing looks or his flirty pick-up lines or his multiple attitudes or his carefree personality. All I knew was that I was in love with him and sometimes, reasons are not needed.
I freed my hands from his and tied my hair into a messy bun. “Come on, let’s clean up and make some dinner.”
Sighing, he walked over to the sink and turned on the faucet to let the cold water escape. I grabbed paper towels and wiped the counter. Connecting to the Wi-Fi on my phone, I looked up some easy pasta recipes. Ethan dried all the utensils and leaned next to me. After browsing through different recipes and arguing, we finally decided on a simple recipe with red sauce. Ethan placed a wok on the stove and dropped in a few handfuls of pasta to boil. I set up a pan to sauté the ingredients and make the sauce. Time passed by like the wind. We joked around and talked like we’ve known each other for years.
“Could you set up the dining table?” I asked, trying to blow hair off my face while tossing the pasta.
Gently, he placed his finger under my chin and tipped it up to make me look at him. My breath caught in my throat as he smoothly brushed the loose hair strands off my face and tucked it behind my ear.
“Okay,” he breathed, fanning my face. Giving me a smile, he walked over to the cabinet with the dishes.
I blushed after he walked out of the kitchen. Feeling giddy, I turned off the stove and smiled. These are the kind of things that make me want to fall for him all over again. Carrying the wok, I walked out of the kitchen and stared at the dining table in surprise. Ethan had lighted a candle with a few rose petals around it.
Placing the wok on the table, I said, “Impressive.”
“The only thing that turned out to be right tonight,” he said, pointing at the candle.
I chuckled and said, “It’s perfect.”
“Just like you,” he said, making me smile.
“Thank you,” I said shyly.
We sat down and served ourselves with pasta and salad.
“Question!” I exclaimed, realizing that I didn’t ask him how he managed to get into my house.
“Yes?” he asked, taking a bite of the pasta. “Wow, this is delicious.”
“Of course it is,” I said proudly and stuck my tongue out at him.
He scoffed. “If I would have cooked without making a mess, I would have managed to make splendid pasta.”
I snorted.
“Anyway, what’s your question?” he asked, ignoring my sarcastic snort.
“How did you get into my house?” I asked, eager to know.
“Oh, that was easy,” he said. “This morning when I came into your room, I saw your house keys lying on the dressing table and took them.”
“Do you have a good reason for that?” I asked, shocked.
“Nope,” he said, letting the ‘p’ pop.
I rolled my eyes.
“Hey, there’s this party tonight that Jared told me about, you want to go after dinner?” he asked.
“Sounds good,” I replied, nodding.
A/N: Dedicated to @AyeshaShariq for the adorable cover on the side! >>>
Hey! hey! Merry Christmas and Happy Holidays to each and every one of you! I hope you're having a great time! Have fun! Open lots of presents and eat lots of candy canes! :D
Hope you guys liked the chapter! If you did, please vote and leave a comment below! I would really appreciate that!
Do you guys think Ashan/Ethley (i dont know what to call them! D: A few readers said these so yeah, comment below and tell me!) are cute? Do you think they'll be a 'perfect couple?'
Anyway, I shall update next in 2014! So, take care and love you all <3