Who To Be

Chapter 9 - Stupid

By the next morning, I was up earlier than I usually was. I waited patiently for Ethan to come by and pick me up. When I heard a car pull up, I was already up my feet. I noticed it was Ethan’s car, not Diana’s that was in front of our house.

“Good morning,” I greeted him with a smile when I climbed in. I noticed Diana wasn’t in the passenger seat. “Uh, where’s Diana?” I asked.

“You can sit up front,” Ethan said sternly. I could tell he was pissed.

I kept quiet and went in front. The whole ride was silent. He turned on the player but when Ed Sheeran began singing “Lego House”, he shut it off immediately. It was Diana’s favorite song.

I figured they fought or something since we passed by Diana’s house without stopping. I saw David’s car backing out of their driveway.

We arrived in school almost simultaneously. I got out of the car the same time Ethan did. Diana was already out of the car and was walking towards the school. Ethan slammed the door and walked towards her direction.

I stopped David in his tracks, “David, what happened?”

He shrugged and said, “I have no idea. I was surprised when I saw Yana’s car at the parking lot. Then the next minute she was climbing into my car and Ethan’s was speeding through the streets.”

“Did they fight?” I asked.

“Don’t know. Nobody ever knows what goes on between those two except themselves,” he said before walking off. Hesitantly, I followed his steps towards school.

When the morning classes ended, I concluded that the two really fought. Ethan wasn’t talking, not even to David. Diana had been writing in her planner since homeroom.

David caught up with me and Lucy when we were walking towards the cafeteria.

“Hey guys,” he said as he walked beside Lucy.

“Who’s at fault?” Lucy asked him immediately.

“I think its Yana. It’s been years since Ethan got that mad,” he said. He and Lucy sighed almost at the same time. I wondered what really is going on. Does this have something to do with last night?

Ethan was nowhere to be found come the afternoon classes. He and Diana weren’t talking during lunch. Lucy had to bring the final draft of the newsletter to the printing press. David and I had to talk nonstop to ward off the silence. The two weren’t even sitting together.

When dismissal came, Diana came to me and said, “Amy, I know it’s embarrassing to ask but can I ride with you?”

“But Etha-“

“We don’t have cheerleading and David has soccer practice and I didn’t really bring my car,” she said with her head down. “Lucy has to do some errands for the paper.”

“Of course. I’ll just grab a few stuff from my locker and we can go,” I said. It was my first time seeing Diana so down. As we walked towards the parking lot, I noticed Ethan’s car wasn’t in its usual spot. I heard Diana sigh, apparently, she saw it too.

“Amy, can I ask you a question?” Diana said quietly as we drove to their house.

“Of course, what is it?” I said turning to look at her. She was looking out the window.

“D- Etha- Do you like Ethan?” she said suddenly.

“I- I-“ I didn’t know how to react. Should I lie? Should I tell the truth?

“You can tell me the truth Amy,” she said. “I don’t own Ethan.” she said quietly.

And for a few minutes, there was only silence between us.