is it casual now? - e. edwards

chapter five

november 2021

lacy and ethan's mutual dislike grew over the months. small misunderstandings and awkward interactions compounded into full-blown chaos. lacy stopped trying to bridge the gap, and ethan continued to keep his guard up. they settled into a routine of avoidance, their interactions short and filled with unspoken tension.

neither of them wanted to admit that the other got under their skin more than anyone else.

but it wasn't until the hockey team had the idea to throw a party after one of their wins against ohio state that the chance of ethan and lacy ever liking each other grew from slim to none.

"you look good pierce" stella says as she eyes me up and down after i walk out of the bathroom

i didn't really want to go to the party but i felt like i owed it to luke as i missed the said game to study for one of my test.

"let's go, i want to get the good alcohol before everyone gets there" arabella whines as she rushes us out the door

when we arrived at the frat house,
the party was in full swing, music pumping through the speakers and people dancing and chatting everywhere. luke welcomed us in.

of course the first guy i see when i walked in with luke and the girls was of course ethan.

god i hate that he looks cute, i thought mentally cursing myself for thinking like that.

ethan and lacy both kept their distance at first, but as the night went on, circumstances pushed them closer together.

their real hatred started off with a set of small misunderstandings.

ethan had been talking to a girl at the party, and lacy saw him laughing, looking more relaxed than she'd seen in a long time. the whole time she's even known his name. she couldn't help but feel a pang of jealousy, even though she knew she had no right to. she was with her friends, he was with his, but her eyes kept drifting towards ethan.

luke, who was normally quite was fairly loud and giggly when he drank enough so he—unintentionally, of course—brought the two together. he was tipsy and decided it would be a good idea for everyone to play a party game.

they reluctantly joined the circle, sitting opposite each other. the game was lighthearted at first, but as it progressed, it somehow turned into a discussion about past misunderstandings and grudges for the two. someone had made a comment that hit a little too close to home for ethan, and he snapped.

this brought a drunk ethan and lacy outside the party.

"why don't you just say it, lacy?" ethan's voice cut through all the noise from the party inside. "you think i'm an asshole, don't you?"

lacy blinked, obviously taken aback. "excuse me?"

"you heard me," ethan said, his eyes blazing. "you've thought i was a jerk from the moment we met."

"that's not true," lacy shot back, her own temper flaring. "but you sure haven't done anything to change my mind."

"oh, and you're perfect, right?" ethan retorted. "always playing the victim, like everyone should be falling over themselves to be your friend."

"you don't know anything about me," lacy replied, her voice shaking with anger. "you've never even tried to get to know me ethan. you're drunk and so am i.
we probably won't even remember this" she rolled her eyes at the boy in front of her

"why would i get to know you? you're always latching onto luke, acting like you're better than everyone else." ethan ignored her last sentence

"that's not fair, ethan," lacy said sighing when she realized ethan wasn't going to let this go, "i never did anything to you. you decided you hated me from day one."

ethan felt a pang of regret seeing the hurt in lacy's eyes, the achilles making the tension between them strong and making them both lash out on each other but his pride wouldn't let him back down.

"maybe if you weren't so busy trying to be the center of attention, you'd see that not everyone is out to get you," he snapped.

lacy stood there shocked, "gosh you're such a hypocrite," she said, "you know what, maybe if you weren't so busy acting like a self-righteous asshole, you'd realize that you're not as great as you think you are. ever wonder why reagan treated you like crap? maybe she was just reflecting how you treated everyone else."

ethan felt the sting of her words like a slap. "you don't know anything about that," he said, his voice cold. "you know what your problem is, lacy?" he retorted, his voice cold. "you think everyone should cater to your feelings, but you're just a spoiled little princess who's used to getting her way. you're probably only friends with the hughes because it benefits you. using their success to support yourself."

lacy stood there, stunned into silence by his words. the hatred in them hurt more than she cared to admit. lacy had heard enough. she started to walk off but stopped abruptly, to get the last word of course.

"you're such an ass ethan," she said, her voice barely above a whisper. "you're the one who's always pushing people away. you're too busy wallowing in your own self-pity to see that people actually care about you."

with that, she turned and walked back inside the room, leaving ethan standing there, feeling a mix of anger and guilt.

naturally, in their drunken state, they didn't remember much in the morning but remembered enough to know the both had hurt each other more than they thought.

that night was the start of some tension between lacy pierce and ethan edwards.

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i actually updated!
thank you so much for reading! <3