The Boyfriend Factory

Chapter Six

It's not a date.

It's totally not a date.

Then why were we meeting up on a Saturday and out of school?

I'd decided a while back now that I'd be immune to Ethan's charm and advances. I didn't know what sort of power he thought he had over me, or any other girl for the matter, but I wasn't going to play his little game. I hated boys like this. And there was no way in hell I was going to let one drag me through the mud, neither was it part of the plan.

I'd underdressed as much as possible.

It took me a minute to dig through my wardrobe and find the most casual clothes I could. My Mum had a tendency to buy me flashy and almost skimpy outfits I'd never have the confidence to wear. Ever. When I was about fifteen or so she'd finally settled on me being able to pick out some of my own clothes too, without her arguing about how a slim black dress would 'do wonders for my figure'.

I threw on a baggy dark purple t-shirt that had some unknown brand scrolled out on it in large white block capitals. I was wearing a dark blue not-so-skinny pair of jeans and threw on a tattered light blue woollen cardigan. I had on a pair of my Mum's old trainers and had tied my hair back into an extra messy bun. I brought a brown satchel with me I'd slung across my frame. I wasn't wearing makeup either, not that I ever wore any in the first place.

I was definitely not what I'd like to call red-carpet-ready.

I sat near the park on the bench, staring down at my phone. The time marked 9.37am and I hadn't received any new texts. I unlocked my phone and swept through my messages, tapping on the one Ethan had sent me this morning after I'd told him we needed to meet up to discuss our next move.

'You decided last time. My turn.

West Mall, 9.00am. Meet at the bench outside the park'

Frankly, it was a pain in the ass to have Ethan Stone in my contacts.

He'd constantly send me these weird images he thought was funny in group calls that didn't quite fit my social circle and random texts I didn't think I quite understood and were most likely meant for someone else. I mean, sure, he'd managed to keep a good distance from me at school now but he made it a job to bother me twenty-four-seven.

I remember vaguely one time he'd even called me in the middle of the night to tell me a walrus fact.

Why the heck was Ethan searching walrus facts at one in the morning?

I'd decided to rule it out as him not really being quite interested in me. He'd probably been high or something. It was common knowledge that the popular kids did most of all the drugs.

This guy was probably having fun teasing me.

He didn't really care.

For goodness sakes – he was practically forty minutes late. And he was the one that'd planned out this meet up. It was ridiculously insane.

Because to him it was all a game. One big game.

My fingers squeezed round the strap of my satchel and I glared into the distance. I felt a spike of anger in my stomach and I clenched my jaw. I hated boys like him.

Guys like him made me sick.

I tried to compose myself.

But I know how to fix guys like him.

"Did you crawl out of a hole or something?" a snarky voice said from beside me. I looked over and my stomach tightened. Ethan, of course. He had that stupid smirk on his face again. He cocked his head and eyed me. "So this is how you dress for the guy you like?"