Friends Don't Kiss

Chapter One

Chapter One

Rewind to that hot summer day when my best friend Ethan came back from his vacation. There was only a few months left of our summer break, and soon we'd be starting our sophomore year in high school. Everything was perfect; my best friend, myself, sitting on his porch, talking, living it up.

Now fast forward a few minutes later: Me, unconsciously leaning toward Ethan. Us, kissing. Him, pulling away in shock. You probably get the idea by now. I broke a friendship rule. I kissed my best friend. A big no-no. The result of that incident was my best friend and I drifting apart, faster than most people should. We started avoiding each other. Scared the topic of crushes and kisses would pop up.

When Ethan and I became best friends, we made a silent vow to never develop feelings for each other. Occasionally dropping hints that things between us wouldn't work out like: 'I'd die if you liked me!' and 'We can't get married, we're friends!' Essentially, we were lowkey friend zoning each other. Anyway, after a few years of being besties, I started getting this weird feeling in the pit of my stomach when I was with him. At first I was like 'No way in hell can I have feelings for him!' But then my feelings were confirmed when I ruined our friendship by kissing him.

Now let's come back to the present. It's a rainy October day here in Seattle. I'm walking down the street toward the bus stop. Usually, my older brother Morgan would drive me to school but he was sick, and there wasn't anyone else to take me to school. Well, except for Ethan. But Ethan and I aren't friends anymore.

As I waddled down the road, holding a lopsided umbrella while texting my friend Cathy. When Ethan and me stopped being friends, Cathy was the only one I could trust to tell about our kiss. She was there during those long summer nights, days before school started, where I would hug my legs to my chest and cry. I've always been a really regretful person, and this was probably my biggest regret yet.

I was only a few yards away from the bus stop when a familiar car pulled up beside me. I slightly jumped when the sound of the car horn rang. The windows of the black Toyota were much too tinted for me to see who was in the car, so I decided to pretend the car wasn't there and continued walking the last few yards. The car horn blared again when I took another step. I stared at the car windows, as if I were waiting for something to happen. Very slowly, the heavily tinted windows rolled down, revealing my ex-best friend. Ethan Howell.

His usual goofy grin was turned upside down into a small frown.

"Aren't you going to get in the car?" He raised an eyebrow at me and gestured toward the passenger seat. I was quite taken aback. I thought that we were avoiding each other. Why on earth would he approach me now after three months?

I quickly nodded my head and yanked the car door open. "T-thanks for the ride." I mentally facepalmed myself. How could I stutter when talking to my best friend?

The entire fifteen minute car ride was rode in silence. Except for the occasional 'it's really pouring down out there' or 'traffic is pretty bad today'. It was horribly awkward, I knew that we both were praying that the rode would go by quicker.

"So," I started, the silence was killing me. "What have you been up to lately?" (Facepalm)

Ethan glanced at me, I could see a trace of amusement appear on his face. But just as quickly as it appeared it vanished. "Nothing much, homework, the usual." He answerd simply. I nodded my head as I turned to look out out the window. "Oh, I also have a girlfriend now."

My vision started to get blurry. My head started aching.

"A girlfriend? Wow," I glued my eyes to the window, not daring to look back at him. "I'm happy for you." I gulped down the burning sensation in my throat and prayed that this wasn't really happening. That this was some kind of sick dream. I pinched my opposite hand hard. Nope. Not a dream.

My feelings haven't changed, and they probably won't for a long time. I sighed and ran a hand through my hair. We were here.

School.

"Thanks again for the ride, and um congrats on getting a girlfriend." I said as I scrambled out of the car. Before Ethan could respond, I was already half way across the school parking lot. I needed to see Cathy, now

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"You will eventually move on, Emma." Cathy was such a good friend. Her arm was draped across my shoulders as I hiccuped through sobs.

"How do *hic* you *hic* know that?" I sobbed into my legs. There we sat. On the bathroom floor, crying over a boy. Typical hormonal teenage girl behavior.

"I know that because, I've moved on." I looked up at her when she said this. Her brown curls were pulled back into a messy ponytail. Her hazel eyes sincere. Ever since I've Cathy, she was always has been so wholehearted and decimated to everything she ever did. She was talking about the time when she had this huge crush on this boy in our grade. For three whole years she was head over heels for him, until she realized he wasn't worth it.

I nodded and wiped the runny mascara off of my face. Cathy was right, I would eventually move on and forget about Ethan. Sooner or later he would be history and I would be happy with another man who actually gave a damn about me.

"You're right Cathy," I grabbed onto her shoulder for support as u lifted myself from the nasty bathroom floor. "Let's go." We helped each other up and freshened up. By the time we left the bathroom, the bell indicating the end of lunch rang and we said our goodbyes and went our separate ways.

I walked back to my locker and grabbed all of the stuff I would need for my next few classes. Human Biology was next. I sauntered to my class when all of a sudden I was faced with the most gut wrenching, heart breaking sight. There, right in front of me was my ex-best friend, my current crush, swapping saliva with my mortal enemy; Jessica Nelson. I stood there awkwardly trying not to stare at them as I slowly walked around their snogging session. They suddenly pulled apart, faces filled with disgusting passion. Ew. I scurried faster to class to avoid them seeing me or even other people seeing me watch them make out. Once I got into the science classroom I threw myself into my chair and sighed a deep and heavy sigh.

The late bell finally rung and Jessica suddenly ran into the classroom panting. She was probably kissing Ethan just now. I scowled at her as she found her seat in the row in front of mine. I never really realized she was in this class, I kind of forgot about her after high school started. Back in middle school she would continuously torment me for being friends with mosly boys. She would also flirt with Ethan and my other guy friends. From then on, she became an enemy to me. The incident I witnessed today only made me hate her even more. The one thing I couldn't understand was how Ethan would ever choose her, after she bullied him and me.

"Ms. Hart?" I looked up and saw Mr. Heckles staring down at me with a raised eyebrow. The entire class was turned in their seats staring at me. "Please answer the question Ms. Hart." I heard snickers and giggles from in back of me. My entire face was heating up with color.

"Could you repeat the question, sir." I squeaked. More laughter sounded from behind me, making my cheeks flush with even more color.

"Next time, pay attention when you're in class." Mr. Heckles warned and then returned to the front of the classroom. I felt a specific pair of eyes boring into me. I looked up and locked eyes with Jessica. The smirk on her face deepened when our eyes met.

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So that's the first chapter! Sorry that it's so short, I hope that my chapters will be much longer in the future. Anyway, I hope you all liked this chapter and that you guys will continue reading. I hope that I made the character's behavior and personalities clear enough, I'll be elaborating on personalities in future chapters.

-Star
_The_Fallen_Star_