after storming off from the cafeteria, I walk down the hallway until I see a janitor's closet nearby. my blood feels like it's boiling after everything julian and I said to each other. but everything I said was true. he doesn't have a say in anything I decide to do and he sure as hell doesn't have the right to judge me for it.
what kind of fucking best friend does that?
once I'm in the closet, I close the door behind me and then hold onto one of the shelves to breathe. I close my eyes and let my mind clear, needing this time to not do something I'd regret. if I stayed any longer talking to him, I probably would've said something I couldn't take back. he sure did.
and he acts like I'm changing when it actually seems to be him. everything I'm doing is literally for the sake of the plan, not because it's in any way who I really am. but he's taking it all way out of proportion. and who cares what I do with my own body? for crying out loud, I've even fucked gilinsky. what's the big deal who else I sleep with at this point?
I hear the sound of the door opening and then clicking closed again, now aware that someone just came inside. I push myself off the shelf, facing whoever it is. I faintly see their figure, and I'm surprised it isn't julian wanting to take back what he said.
"evie." ethan's raspy voice sounds through the closet. I can feel him take a step closer to me so we're only inches away from each other.
I swallow, looking to where his eyes would be. "of course it'd be you, of all people, in here."
"I need to talk to you." through the dark, I see him looking around the small space for something. "is there a light switch in here somewhere?"
sighing, I reach my hand to the wall on my left where the switch is. "yeah, right here."
the room is instantly illuminated, and ethan's eyes find me right away. I know I still have an annoyed expression on my face because I'm still upset about julian. and he must notice because his eyes suddenly soften, something I don't get to see very often. or ever.
"what's wrong?" he asks in a gentle voice. I try my best to lose my attitude and not take it out on ethan because it's not him I'm mad at. right now.
"nothing. nothing's wrong," I respond, taking a deep breath after. immediately, he gives me an incredulous look.
"you're clearly pissed off," he persists. "besides you storming off from the lunch room, you look pretty damn irritated. so what's up?"
I fold my arms across my abdomen and look away from his eyes. "I can't really talk to you about this. and even more so, I don't want to talk to you about any of this. I came in here to be alone."
"well, we don't always get what we want, now, do we?" he cocks his head to the side and sarcastically raises an eyebrow. for once, he isn't wrong. "I get that you probably don't trust me and very well might hate my guts, but I can be a good listener." he gives me a small grin. "if you want one."
well, isn't that the lie of the century. I specifically remember him being a sucky listener at the party when I was venting about my dad, which was very personal for me to talk about. but calling him out on his bullshit won't help my case.
I lick the inside of my cheek and bite my tongue. "I really just don't want to talk about it."
"alright, that's fine. you don't have to." he backs off a little, but I notice his eyes still holding something close to concern. "you seem really fucking stressed. I can help you with that, you know." he raises an eyebrow seductively at me.
that damn eyebrow.
"ethan." I warn him seriously despite my pulse jumping in interest at the offer.
he breaks into a wide smile, showing off his dimple. "it was a joke! god, you don't gotta be so serious all the time, princess." he shakes his head, still smiling at me.
"I'm not serious all the time," I defend myself. in reality, I'm the least serious one out of me, reese and julian. but with ethan I really need to keep my walls up. "as a matter of fact, I'm very fun. but your dirty ass little mind just never seems to let up."
"so just because I find you sexy as hell means we can't have fun?" heat immediately rises to my cheeks, and I feel myself getting warm as I blush. I feel the need to look away from his eye contact because I hate feeling so vulnerable.
"shut up." I tell him, not knowing how else to respond without losing my cool.
he watches me for a moment, and then comes closer to me. so close I can smell the downy on his clothes. "I make you nervous, don't I?" he asks in a softer voice. he knows the answer and seems to enjoy making me flustered.
I unfold my arms and swallow apprehensively. "not at all." but when it looks like he's not buying it, I realize I need to make him believe he doesn't have an effect on me.
I place a hand flat against his chest, feeling how warm he is. his eyes travel down to where my hand is and then back up, a curious look on his face. I then walk and push him backwards until he's pressed against the shelves and I'm up against him.
before I can even speak, he has a cocky grin on that stupidly attractive face of his. "I like this."
"don't get any ideas," I tell him with my hand still pressed against him. "I just want to make myself very clear, ethan. you don't make me nervous. I don't want to have sex with you. and I don't even find you attractive."
"oh, now you're just lying to yourself. at least I admitted it." he sighs, and I feel his chest rise and then fall with his breathing under my hand. "by the way, this all reminds me of a very distinct fantasy I once had."
I give him a dubious look. "this reminds you of that? us being in a janitor's closet?"
"yeah. public sex? hot. you being dominant? hot. this whole situation is just amazing for me." again, he smiles and his dimple peeks out. I'm noticing how much I like his dimple.
I take my hand off his chest, realizing that nothing gets through to this boy. "okay, so all we've established is that you're horny. no news there." I take a few steps to the other side of the closet and reach down to grab my schoolbag.
he pushes himself off the shelves, stepping beside me. "hey, it was finally getting fun. where are you going?"
"to class. the period is almost over." I pull on my backpack and then start to the door. but he blocks my path with his large body.
"wait, hold on," he makes me pause from walking. "I've been meaning to ask, earlier, in the cafeteria, why didn't you sit next to me?"
that's right. I'm reminded of why I've been so pissed off at him all day. my issues with julian distracted me from it, as well as everything that just happened here in the closet.
what's truly mind boggling is how two sided he is. when we're alone, he's a completely different person than he is when I'm not around. he's more playful and honestly more likeable—just slightly. but otherwise, he's even more arrogant than usual and a complete man whore. over the month we've known each other, he has to have already slept with at least five different girls.
it makes me feel icky just being near him.
I hold onto the straps of my backpack and shrug my shoulders. "you know, I just didn't really feel like sitting with you after seeing you sucking a girl's face this morning."
he looks stunned for a moment, and I see his adam's apple bob while he swallows. I guess kellan didn't tell him I saw that. "that wasn't anything."
"ethan, I get it." I try my best to make my voice sound neutral and not jealous. because I'm not in the slightest bit jealous. "you have needs that you have to take care of."
he looks very confused at how I'm responding. again, I start walking towards the door and this time, he lets me pass him.
as I reach for the doorknob, I pause and turn to look at him before I say, "but I have needs, too."
with that, I open the door and walk out, leaving him behind. he doesn't say anything more or even follow.
he has no idea what's coming to him.
___
A FEW DAYS LATER - FRIDAY
ETHAN'S POV
"lennox, grayson, lets go," I call out the car window and groan, pushing the horn on the steering wheel a few times. I've been waiting for them for over twenty minutes. it's a friday and I just want to get the fuck home already.
lennox finishes chatting with her redheaded friend and gives her a hug goodbye, then rushes over to my car. she opens the passenger side door and tosses her backpack on the floor before hopping in.
I glance at the time displayed on my phone. "about goddamn time, lenny."
"patience is a virtue, ethan." she tells me sarcastically while pulling the top mirror down to inspect herself.
I roll my eyes, watching as she fixes her eyelashes. "I don't give a fuck about patience. school is finally over and I want to leave already but you and my brother drag." I look out the windshield and see grayson still talking to levi and jack. "doesn't he know we're all gonna see each other tonight at the football game?"
"guess he doesn't care." she flips the visor back up and looks at me. "see, I'm not the problem here. I'm not even seeing my friends tonight and I still took less time than him."
"speaking of which, who is your friend?" I ask, intrigued by the girl with the gorgeous red hair. I've never seen her before. but lennox immediately gives me a disapproving look.
"leave her alone, ethan. she's the literal sweetest person I know, and I don't want you tainting her." she rests back against her seat, looking straight ahead now. "forget you ever even saw her."
"you know I can't do that. and what the hell do you mean 'tainting' her? is she like a virgin or something?" I look at lennox curiously.
she shakes her head. "I don't think so but she's just so pure. you wouldn't be good for her."
"I'm not good for anyone," I correct her. she should know this by now. I sigh and look out the windshield again to see if grayson's coming back yet but he isn't. before I look away, though, I see that familiar dark head of hair walking straight towards him.
evie and I haven't spoken since the janitor's closet a few days ago. she's also been eating lunch with her friends and I've been giving her space. that's obviously what she wants. even if it isn't what I want.
meanwhile, I've been much more careful about the girls I've been seeing. if I'm ever going to get her in bed with me, which I've been basically fantasizing about at this point, I need to stop fucking up. she seems like she has trouble trusting people and I need to get her trust.
I watch as evie approaches grayson, a sweet smile across her lips. lennox notices them interacting, too, and looks over to me to see my reaction.
"why are they talking?" she asks me, still peering out the window with me. I barely register her question since my focus is on them. I notice how smiley evie is the entire time. something I never get to see.
unconsciously, I keep clenching my jaw until I pull my eyes away from them. there isn't a need for me to be babysitting her or who she talks to. it isn't any of my business.
but still, why the fuck is she talking to my brother and not me?
lennox notices my irritation. "weird how she suddenly loses interest in you and is now gushing over grayson." it's almost like she's pointing it out to spite me.
"she isn't gushing," I clarify to her. evie doesn't gush, especially not over guys.
lennox pushes out her lips and shrugs. "how would you know if she barely even smiles when you're around?" her words are just getting me angry and I know that's what she's trying to do.
"why're you such a pain in the ass?" I narrow my eyes at her, irritated by her always trying to rag on me just because it's fun for her. she's dark like that.
"it's what I do best. and you know you're only upset because it's true." her eyes find mine as she licks her lips and gets more serious. "not all battles have to be won, ethan. you've been trying with her for a month now. just throw in the towel already."
"no." I rest my hands on top of the steering wheel, gripping them while I look back to evie. her and grayson are still talking. I hover my hand over the horn on the steering wheel again, about to push it to get grayson to quit talking to her already, but lennox grabs my wrist and stops me.
"don't do that, do you wanna look desperate?" she urges me, her eyes intense on mine. "honk your horn and she'll know you've been watching them. and I'll bet that's what she wants."
I turn my head to face her. "evie isn't like that, lenny. she doesn't plot and scheme like all the fucking fake girls here do. she's normal." unlike the mental chicks I've encountered here, she's just chill. and now it looks like she's into grayson.
"well, she seems smart to me." lennox crosses her arms and slouches back in her seat. "can we just go? quit wasting your energy on her. let them be." she sighs dramatically and pouts.
"fuck it. let's go." I grab the gear stick and shift it into drive, but right as I'm pulling out, grayson and evie finally stop talking and grayson starts making his way back to the car. I quickly put the car back into park and unlock the car doors for him. evie starts walking away in the other direction, probably towards her car.
"about time you inconsiderate dick," lennox tells him as he gets into the backseat. "you had us waiting on you for centuries."
he closes the car door and claps my shoulder a few times from behind my seat. "not my fault people love me."
I shift into drive again and start exiting the school parking lot. "conceited ass," I mutter under my breath. lennox glances at me for a moment before turning her attention back to grayson.
"since when are you friends with evie?" she asks, and I'm thankful for her prying nature because she's asking what I don't want to.
"we're not, really. we've just talked a few times," he says in a neutral voice. "hey e, have you guys been fucking? like, is she off limits?"
I swallow the air in my throat, my grip on the steering wheel tightening. I don't want to sound attached, especially since we haven't even talked in days and are in fact not having sex. or any kind of sexual contact. "no," I reply with underlying frustration that I don't think he notices. "she isn't off limits. we're not doing anything."
"good," he says, and I can practically hear the smirk on his face. "because she wants me to take her to the game tonight."
______
I've got so many ideas for this book, like it's gonna be a good time.
hope u liked the long chapter, it was fun to write. next one will be the football game and evie doing some teasing... I think lol
love u guys, please vote and comment so I feel motivated to keep writing for you <3
- lexi