That night, my brother didn't talk to me. Did I mind? No. Not really.
My mom was at the dining room table. Working.
"Hi, Mom." I said sitting in the chair next to hers.
"Hi. Hey, where were you last night?" She asked.
"I was at a friend's house." I told her.
"What friend?" She asked.
"His name's Ethan." I told her.
"It's a he? Well, is he your boyfriend?" She asked.
"No! He's not!" I said. "He's just a friend."
"Well, you know Remi. You shouldn't be focusing on boys you should be focusing on school. Boys won't help you get into Harvard." She said.
"I know. Please don't tell Dad. He'll be really mad." I pleaded.
"I won't tell him. I'm just warning you. Don't let any boys distract you." She said.
I nodded and walked up to my room. I sat on my bed as I received a call from Ethan on FaceTime.
I picked up and answered.
"Hey." He said smiling.
"Hi." I responded.
I took a deep breath with thoughts running through my mind. Thoughts about him, my family, and my emotions.
"Are you okay?" He asked.
"Yeah. I'm okay. Just tired." I lied.
"It's only 7:00." He noted.
"Yeah. I get tired early. I'm wierd like that." I lied again.
"Okay." He said confused.
"So... What's up?" I asked.
"Well, I wanted to ask you something? What. What are. I mean, dang it!" He exclaimed getting fusterated with himself. "What are you doing tomorrow night?"
"Oh. Uh. Nothing. I'm not doing anything tomorrow." I said.
"Great! Well, would you like to go on a date with... you know. Me?" He asked.
"A date? You wanna go on a date with me?" I asked "Why?"
"Why not? I really like you Remi. So I want to go on a date with you." He said.
"Oh. Okay. Yes. I'll go on a date with you. But. What will we be doing?" I asked..
He didn't say anything. He just smiled.
"You're not gonna tell me are you?" I asked.
"Nope." He answered. "What are you doing?"
"Nothing. You?" I asked.
"Look out your window." He said.
I walked over to my window and looked out of it. Ethan was standing there waving at me. I hung up on the phone.
"Ethan. What are you doing here?" I asked.
"I told you I wanted to cuddle." He answered.
I laughed and rolled my eyes.
"My mom and dad will kill you if they find out you're here. They'll kill me to." I told him.
"At least we'll die together." He responded.
"Hold on." I told him.
I walked downstairs and walked to the back door.
"Ethan?" I called out opening the door.
He ran towards me.
"You gotta be quiet okay?" I told him.
"Of course." He whispered.
I grabbed his hand and led him through the house, back to my room.
Back up the stairs, Ethan tripped. He caught himself in a push-up position.
"I tripped." He said. I squated down and covered his mouth.
"Quiet." I whispered.
He got up and we finally got into my room.
"Whoa. We were like ninjas." He said.
"I guess." I smiled. "You still gotta be quiet."
He nodded and sat on my bed.
"Wow. You really do like yellow." He said.
My bed set was yellow, my walls were yellow, almost everything was yellow.
"Yeah. I do." I sat down next to him.
"I'm really glad you said yes." He said.
"Me too." I nodded.
"Wanna watch TV?" I asked.
"Sure." He said.
I turned on the TV. Finding Nemo was on. Ethan seemed really interested so I left it on.
"Cuddle?" He asked.
I nodded as we laid down. His arms were safely wrapped around me as we watched the movie.
It was different. I felt more safe around him than anybody else. He's not like Matthew. Maybe I could open up to him. Maybe I'm wrong.
But... I could be right. He could be different then I think he is. All my thoughts were stressing me out. Thoughts and emotions would always be my weaknesses.
After the movie was over I looked at Ethan. He was fast asleep. I reached for my phone. It was almost 9.
My mom and dad were asleep. My brother was probably playing Fortnite. I guess it couldn't hurt if he stayed with me.
I turned over to face him. He looked so cute when he was sleeping.
I moved a little so I could be comfy. Ethan quickly woke up.
"It's over?" He asked in a raspy voice.
"Yeah." I said.
"Aw." He whined. "I'm sorry I didn't watch it with you."
"You were tired, baby. Don't apologize. Go to sleep okay." I told him.
"But you're not tired." He said.
"I'm gonna go to sleep too." I answered.
"M'kay." He muffled.
He burried his face into my neck.
"Goodnight." I said carrsing his cheek.
"Goodnight, baby." He answered.
I shut my eyes and tried to go to sleep.
-The Next Morning-
The next morning when I woke up Ethan wasn't there. If he wasn't in my room. He could be seen. I lifted my head from my pillow and looked around. One of my bright pink sticky notes was on my pillows.
Dear Remi,
Good morning. I decided to go home so no one would find me when we woke up. I hope you slept good. I like sleeping next to you. I'll call you later.
-Ethan :)
I smiled at the note and rested my head back on my pillow.
My phone started ringing. It was Ethan who was calling.
I quickly answered.
"Hello?" I asked. My voice was all raspy. My throat was burning.
"What's wrong with your voice?" He asked.
"I'm not sure. It really hurts though." I told him.
"Will you be okay?" He asked.
"Yeah. I'll be fine." My voice was slowly slipping away from me.
"I'm exicted for tonight." He told me.
"Same here." I said. Almost no sound came out.
"Remi? You there?" He asked. He didn't here me.
I hung up and texted him.
Me|8:15
Lost my voice. 😥
Ethan💕😊|8:16
Aw. Are you okay? Do you need anything?
Me|8:17
Cuddles. I want your cuddles.
Ethan💕😊|8:18
You want me to come over?
Me|8:19
Yes. Please.
Ethan💕😊|8:19
Okay. Besides me. What else do you need?
Me|8:20
Nothing. Just you.
Ethan💕😊|8:21
Okay. I'm getting you ice cream. I'll be over in 10 minutes.
Me|8:22
Okay. See ya. 💕
Ethan💕😊|8:23
See ya baby 😜
I set my phone down and rubbed my throat. It burned. Badly.
I walked downstairs into the living room. I sat down and got on my phone.
I saw a text from my mom.
Mom|8:24
Your dad and I need to talk to you once we get home.
Me|8:25
Okay.
I assumed I already knew what it was about. My suspension. I thought they already knew, but I guess not. I knew they would make me tell them the full story. But, if they knew that Ethan was involved they'd keep him away from me. Forever. That can not happen. I don't want that to happen.
I got a text from Ethan.
Ethan💕😊|8:30
Hey. I'm here.
I got up from the couch and walked over to the front door. I opened it. Ethan was there holding a plastic bag in his hand.
"Hey." He said.
I skipped talking and just waved.
He walked into the house. He put the plastic bag in the freezer.
"I got you vanilla ice cream. I never asked what kind your favorite is." He told me.
I got out my phone.
Me|8:31
Vanila's my favorite actually :)
I sent the text to him and he looked at it.
"Good. So. Is this how we're gonna communicate?" He asked.
I nodded. "Unless you want me to talk like this." I said, sound barely came out.
He smiled and shook his head.
"Don't talk." He said. I grabbed his hand and led him to the couch.
Me|8:33
Wanna watch a movie? Or something. You can pick what we watch. Assuming you wanna watch a movie.
"Yeah. We can watch a movie. But you can pick." He said.
I shook my head. "You pick." I held my throat in pain.
"Remi, don't talk." He said.
I grabbed the remote and turned on the TV. I gave the remote to him but he pushed it away. I kept giving it to him, he turned it away everytime.
"JUST FUCKING PICK SOMETHING!" I yelled. It hurt but he was making me mad.
"Okay, fine. Let's watch Criminal Minds." He said. He turned on the show and I rested my head on his chest.
"What are we doing tonight?" I asked him.
"Like I said, I can't tell you. And you're not supposed to talk." He reminded me.
"Fuck it, I'm gonna talk all I want." I told him.
"Okay" He shrugged his shoulders. "I gotta tell you something."
"What is it?" I asked.
"I talked to Ashley last night. After I left." He said.
My throat felt dry and it wasn't because it hurt.
"Like in person?" I asked.
"No. Over the phone. We just talked about things. She yelled at me most of the time. Then I apologized and we agreed to be friends." He explained.
I wanted to tell him that being friends with her would be a bad idea. But I can't control his life.
"Is that okay? That me and her are friends?" He asked.
"Uh. Yeah. Sure. I don't care." I lied.
"You don't care?" He asked.
"Not really. I can't really control who is your friend and who isn't. It's your life. Not mine. If you wanna be friends with Ashley, I don't care." I said getting mad. I bet he could notice.
"If you don't care, then why are you getting mad?" He asked.
"I'm not getting mad. Like I said, I could care less." I said.
"No. You're mad because I'm friends with Ashley. What's wrong with that?" He asked.
I pushed myself off of him and ran up to my room. I locked my door and leaned up against it.
"Remi." Ethan said. How did he get up here so fast? He's like The Flash.
"I'm sorry. I won't be her friend if you don't want me to." He added.
"Be her friend if you want to. I. Do. Not. Care." I repeated.
"Then why are you mad?" He asked.
"I'm not. I told you that before." I told him.
"Yes you are. Are you jealous?" He asked.
"No. It's just that. I just." I stuttered. "How do I know I can trust you. I mean you say you like me and you always kiss me and stuff. How do I know any of that means anything to you?"
"Why don't you trust me?" He asked. I could hear him getting angry.
"I don't know." I said in a quiet voice. "It's hard to trust people okay? I want to trust you. I really do. I just don't know if I can."
"I won't hurt you!" He raised his voice a little getting me scared.
"How do I know that? People don't always mean the things they say. Trust me, I know." I said.
"I didn't lie to you! I won't hurt you! Why can't you fucking understand that?!" He yelled.
"Leave me alone!" I yelled back.
I sat on the floor with tears coming out of my eyes. He made me so scared sometimes.
"Remi?" Ethan called out.
"Just leave Ethan. I don't wanna talk to you." I said.
"No. I'm not gonna leave. I'm sorry." He replied.
"No." I said.
"No what?" He asked.
"No. You're not sorry." I answered.
"Yes I am."
"Go away, Ethan. I can't talk to you."
He sighed as I laid on my floor. This is exactly why I hate being in relationships. Wait, who am I kidding? This isn't a relationship. This is... I have no idea what this is.
I laid there for a whole hour. I figured he left so I unlocked my door. I opened the door and I found Ethan sitting against the wall across from mine.
He got up and walked towards me.
"Baby I-" I grabbed his face and kissed his lips.
I didn't know what I was doing. I just did it. I wasn't thinking.
I pulled away.
"I'm sorry too." I whispered.
He stroked the side of my face.
"So does this mean you're not mad at me?" He asked.
"I'm not mad anymore." I said. We both smiled and I kissed him again.