Dear Ethan: A Second Chance Romance

Chapter 1: Electric Crush

[Gladys Knight - Midnight Train to Georgia] 

2010

*Jodie*

The thing about having a crush was you never knew when it was coming or when it would end. It could last a day, two weeks, or even the full school year if he didn't end up grossing you out before then.

Those types of crushes were rare and hard to come by.

For my best friend Sam she would get a light bubbly feeling in her stomach before getting sweaty palms when someone caught her eye. One minute they were just like any other snot-nosed boy and then he would do or say something that made her realize how hot he actually was. A verifiable sex god.

You would see the potential and then be unable to unsee it. A halo would surround him and you would be drawn in by the mystery, setting a wedding date, and wondering if your kids would look more like you or him.

Crushes were Lip Smacker exciting, worthy of a double coating of lip gloss, setting off fireworks and flurries of conversation between me and Sam when we gathered in her bedroom after school. But they could also be disappointing.

Take Shane Owens for example. In the fifth grade, the girls thought he was a lame mouth breather who ate his boogers but by middle school, almost everyone harbored a not-so-secret crush on him. Scribbling his name all over the inside of their notebooks. He had gotten taller but despite being the most popular guy in school he still acted like a skeeze.

Or Mattie Hawkins who had hung out mostly with the girls in middle school, until he started getting piercings and dressed in more of a grunge aesthetic, adding eyeliner around his dark eyes so they contrasted with his milky pale skin.

He made out with Macy Holland (with tongue) and now would only go by the name 'Hawk' during roll call. Not even the teachers said anything about the name change.

That's what happened when you achieved bad boy status in a small town like Jolene. I had seen it happen with my older brother Landon when he was a senior in high school and girls followed him around after school like lost panting dogs.

Just the thought of turning the corner and seeing Mattie and Macy go at it, his silver tongue piercing flashing, made me shudder in disgust. I was intrigued by the idea of kissing someone I cared about but not with tongue. French kissing grossed me out.

Or even little Cody Andrews, always the shortest boy in the whole grade, who played with his food and was the class comedian until he finally hit puberty in the ninth grade. All of a sudden his voice was lower and he joined the jocks and became a bro. Instead of girls running away when he tried to throw fries at them, he was now the one being pursued.

But for me, there was only one person I had my eye on. 

All the other girls and their crushes on these immature boys seemed like child's play. It hit me instantly when I saw him on the first day of high school as he came in through the double doors, the dazzling sun behind him, igniting him in a golden light.

I didn't know his name, but looking back at it now... that was the very first time I laid eyes on Ethan Majors.

And it wasn't like the light bubbly feeling Sam talked about. No, it felt like being hit by a thunderbolt, electricity coursing up and down my veins so suddenly every nerve ending tingled and frayed.

I felt my heart beat faster as I took him in, my mind doing lightning-fast calculations. I'd never seen him before, and growing up in a small town like Jolene you knew everyone.

My mind zipped around, making connections. From the way he looked, he was definitely a jock. Either soccer or basketball.

He was really tall with toned arms and tanned skin that just came back from an exotic vacation. His brown hair was a bit tousled and threaded with gold highlights. But the best part was his eyes.

He had the greenest eyes I had ever seen. 

Not green like the color of grass but almost the same hue as sea glass. A greenish blue. Turquoise.

I watched as he strolled inside. His eyes flickered to the side with uncertainty as he consulted the ancient map on the wall. He had on a pair of dark denim jeans and a faded gray T-shirt with some peeling words on it. Nothing he was wearing had any labels on it except for the large black backpack on his shoulder with the Nike symbol.

I stole glances at him behind my locker, my heart pounding. 

Five minutes into the first day of school and I already had a high school crush.

Maybe it would last for a day or a week. But at that moment, it hit me harder than any other crush I've had before. 

I watched him make his way down the hall and then disappear around the corner before I remembered how to breathe, my heart stuttering. Slamming my locker shut, I flew down the hall.

I had to tell Sam. 

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Dear readers, I hadn't planned on writing this story but I couldn't get Jodie and Ethan out of my head after writing The End Game. 

I loved the idea of them knowing each other since high school and then reconnecting years later. I felt like there was a beautiful love story waiting to be told.

And so here we are. This is the most emotional story I've written to date so I hope you all enjoy it as much as I do. 

If you want to see more, please like, share, vote, follow :) 

You can also find me on TikTok : violet.sudo to see more book content and moodboards.