bittersweet // ej caswell

(13)

word count: 750

"Wow," Miss Jenn claps her hands. "That was- a rehearsal."

She dismisses us for a short break and I sit against the wall, pulling out my phone to text Eric.

Eric
what are you doing after school?

Me
Jesse and I were going to get some homework done at Mona's.

I pause before sending another text.

You should come.

I watch the screen as text bubbles appear and disappear.

Eric
Yeah I'll be there

"Who's that?" Bas asks, sitting next to me.

"My friend Eric," I reply, feeling my face turn red.

"Friend Eric," Bas wiggles his eyebrows.

"Do you know Eric Reed or Eric London I guess? He graduated last year," I ask. "Changed his name over Christmas break."

"Oh, I remember him," Bas snaps his fingers. "Tall, tan, dark curls. He was really cute. Dressed like a hippie?"

"Yeah, sure," I nod.

"You hang out with Eric Weed?" He asks.

"Don't call him that," I say defensively. "Sorry, habit."

"No, my fault," Bas replies. "I just came into high school hearing rumors about him."

"I know you did," I sigh. "My sister heard the same ones. God, it's like this school picks a single event from your sophomore year and decides that it will define you forever."

"Giving me something to look forward to," he jokes. I smile at him before lightly pushing his head.

Miss Jenn claps her hands to get everyone's attention and calls us back to resume rehearsing.

"Oh goodie," I groan, standing up. I hold my hand out my hand to Bas, who reluctantly takes it.

*****

"Emma! Emma Bradley!"

I spin around to find who's calling my name. Jesse runs at me. I pause and wait for him to catch up. He flips off a silver Honda that near hits him as he rushes across the parking lot. When he gets to me, he's out of breath.

"It looked like you were going to leave without me," he pouts.

"I would never," I reply. "But Eric is waiting at Mona's for us, so could you get a move on?"

"Oh, we could never leave Eric waiting," Jesse holds his hand up in surrender.

"Hey, you're already late to all of his open mic nights," I defend, getting settled in my car before starting up the engine. "Don't make me late to this too."

"Jesus, when will you stop pretending you're not into him?" Jesse asks, buckling up. "Just ask him out already."

"I'm not into Eric," I shake my head. I can feel my face turn red, betraying me. I'm not lying, but I don't think I'm exactly telling the truth either.

"Please, I see it all the time with you two," he rolls his eyes. "He flirts with you, you get all flustered, he wants to ask you out, but he knows that you care too much about literally everything else in your life to worry about having a serious boyfriend but he doesn't want to do the whole hook up thing because he knows that that's not good for you or him. Blah, blah, blah."

"I really don't think that was necessary, Jes," I laugh, backing out of my spot and leaving the student parking lot. "And my hook ups are not bad for me, thank you very much. Some of them were a bit questionable in the past, but I'm doing just fine now. They're great. I get what I want without any strings. It's great."

"You're such a liar," Jesse argues. "You're a hopeless romantic and you know it."

"Everybody is a bit of a hopeless romantic, with the exception of aromantic people maybe," I say, glancing over at Jesse. "I just don't have time to swoon right now. I'll fall in love after grad school."

"I'm not aromantic, Em, we've talked about this," he says.

"You have zero interest in dating anyone," I reply. "I thought maybe you were just gay when you would talk about how uninterested you were in pursuing any relationships with women, but you and I both know you definitely are not attracted to men."

"This isn't even about me," Jesse crosses his arms and huffs. "We're talking about you avoiding serious relationships."

"That just leads to getting hurt," I shake my head. "I don't want to get hurt, I want to have fun and be free. Then, when the time comes I can settle down and adopt a dog or something."

"I'll never disembark the 'Emma should date Eric' train," he smiles over at me as I park the car outside Mona's. "You're inevitable and I will be there to see it happen. I'm determined."

"Keep dreaming, Pitt," I fake a smile and poke his nose before getting out of the car.

A.N. (12/21/2023)

Wow! Hi!

I am home for winter break from uni, which means lots and lots of writing (which hopefully in turn means lots and lots of updates). I'm so happy someone started reading this story and was leaving comments, because I sort of forgot about it.

Anyway, I hope you enjoyed this chapter and please... leave so many comments, I love reading them! As always remember to vote and share as well. (And make sure you check out some of my other stories as well)

I love you all and I hope everyone has an amazing holiday!

-Redd