Lost and Found

Chapter Ten

Sometimes love deserves a second chance because they weren't quite ready for the first one -author unknown

***

"Anyways moral of the story never feed a turtle leftovers," Paul told me. We had been sitting in a restaurant for the last hour, him telling me random stories, me pretending to listen. My phone was positioned so I could read incoming text from Ethan. I was beginning to see, even more clearly, that I had no feelings whatsoever for Paul.

Our waiter came back over. "Here's your check," he told us. I reached for the check.

"I got it," Paul told me. As I watched him pay the rock in my stomach grew. How was I supposed to hurt somebody who was so sweet?

We got up and walked out of the restaurant. Just like at subway we entered the bustling mall.

"Paul we should talk," I mumbled.

"What's wrong, Baby?" he asked, grabbing my hands. What are you doing, I thought, he loves you. He'll never leave like Ethan.

I smiled. "Nothing," I lied on again.

My phone beeped again. I looked down to see a picture of Ethan on my screen. I opened his text.

He texted: Party at my place. You in? You can bring Layla.

"So do you want to do something else?" Paul asked.

I looked at Paul's brown eyes, then thought of Ethan's blue eyes. "Um, I have to go," I responded before walking to my car.

***

Before going to the party I stopped at Layla's to change. Because let's be honest, party clothes and date clothes are very different.

I threw on a pair of dark, skinny jeans and a loose purple shirt. Then I paired them with gray Converse.

"Where are you going?" asked Layla as she entered the room.

"A party. You should come."

"We have to be back by ten-thirty."

"Okay."

A few minutes later Layla and I were walking to my car. When we reached our destination it wasn't hard to tell there was a party happening. The street was filled with car.

"Juliette you made it," Ethan said once we were inside. He pulled me into a hug. Then, after he pulled away, threw an arm over my shoulder.

I looked around, the small house was a mess and the music was pounding into my ears. "I'm here too," Layla said over the music.

"Cool. You still with that Shawn guy?" Ethan asked.

"Yeah." Ethan lead us to the kitchen. Once we got there, he opened the fridge to reveal several different drinks.

"Want something?" he asked as he bent down to grab himself a beer. Then he popped the tab open.

"I'll have diet Coke," I said.

Back when I was little my father did allow me to drink a little sip of beer from time to time. But I knew that he would be extremely disappointed if I underage drank without his consent.

"Me too," Layla responded. Ethan gave me his beer to hold so he could grab our pop.

As we popped open the tabs on our drinks I saw a familiar face coming towards us.

"Hey," I told Ethan, "you're girlfriend's here."

Ethan rolled his eyes. "How many times do I have to tell you that she's not my girlfriend?"

"Words mean nothing when actions prove otherwise."

By this time Valentina had gotten to us. She pushed me away from Ethan so she could wrap her arms around his neck and kiss him.

"Ethan, do I get you alone tonight?" she said into his ear, but just loud enough for us to hear, as her red lips parted into a sneaky grin. Her blond hair was styled and she was wearing a short, black dress.

"Not now. I'm here with Juliette." He peeled her arms off of him and Valentia moved away from him. A frown had replaced her smile. When Ethan finally looked towards me I was disappearing into the crowd.

***

Two hours later Ethan found me sitting on the steps of his porch. He sat down next to me, but I refused to look at him.

"Juliette are you okay?" he asked.

Completely changing the subject, I said, "Do you remember our first kiss?" I could hear happiness in my voice as I recalled the memory.

Ethan chuckled. "We were playing Truth-Or-Dare and Jess dared us to kiss."

I shook my head. "She should have stayed out of it," I snapped, finally looking at him.

The minute I looked at him I wished I didn't. His hair was messed up and there was a trace of lipstick by his ear. It didn't take a genius to tell that he was fooling around with somebody. What I couldn't figure out was the rock that was forming in my stomach.

"You have something," I traced by my ear. He quickly removed the smear. "I gotta go."

I started to get up but Ethan grabbed my wrist. "Juliette, please, you know I like you. You're more important than any girl in there."

"What the hell. You just made-out or more with another girl! I'm never gonna believe that! You can't just say one thing and do another! Then come running back saying sorry!" I yelled. Ethan just stared at me confused. I would bet a girl never turned him down. I looked at the ground a second before glaring at him. "Am I just a game to you? Is that really all I am? After everything we've been through. Look me in the eyes and tell me I'm not."

His face turned to the ground.

"That's what I thought." That was when Layla walked out of the house.

I was given a confused look as she asked, "What's happening."

"We're leaving," I responded.