Ethan Adams

Chapter 10

"I call shotgun!" I yell as we step outside. Everyone else around me groans apart from Ethan, who actually smirks.

It's Saturday and all of us are headed to the movie theatre because of David's free tickets. Ethan's a lot less sick than he has been this week and even Ella's coming along. She seems to be in a terrific mood but I don't really wanna ask her why because I have a feeling it's to do with the whole Josh situation.

"I don't wanna squeeze in the back!" David half wails. "Can't we take your car too Anthony?"

Anthony strokes Janet's cheek, totally lovey-dovey and also oblivious to his friend. "We can't."

"Why not? There'll be more space."

"We wanna save the environment and shit."

David glares at me and I blow him a kiss. Ethan throws a lollipop at me and sticks his tongue out while I glare at him.

We get into his car and drive towards the movie theatre. I start annoying Ethan by telling him about my love for trees, because you know, we wanna save the environment. He ends up turning up the radio to drown me out. Janet sits on Anthony's lap while Ella and David exchange awkward conversation.

When we get to the theatre, everyone wants to watch the new action horror movie. I am a wimp who enjoys cartoons and show tunes, so this is a very bad idea for me.

Luckily it turns out the action horror they all wanted to watch is sold out. The only thing left is a cheesy Jennifer Aniston romance film that my mom and I wanted to see together next week.

I sit on the aisle seat, next to Ethan with my big ass popcorn and some skittles, ready to enjoy the corny romance that is about to unfold in front of my eyes. It's super easy to get lost into the movie and pretty soon I'm oohing and laughing along at the jokes and nice romantic vibes.

"Jesus Christ, Alisa, what's so good about this movie?! You're literally squealing every time that Darren dude comes on screen!" Ethan whispers furiously. I guess my emotional investment in the male lead was louder than I thought.

"Well, he's hot." I summarise.

"Hotter than me?"

"Can't talk. Watching."

He gasps and picks up a handful of my popcorn. Instead of eating it, he throws half of it at my face. Surprised, I pick some out of my hair and throw it back again but it hits Ella. She frowns and takes a handful of her own popcorn, throwing it at Ethan who ducks. It hits me.

Soon enough, we're all throwing popcorn at each other. Well, everyone except me. I'm trying to watch the precious movie but Ethan's distracting me by stealing my popcorn. I end up giving him the whole tub and heading to the bathroom.

There's a lot of popcorn just clinging to my hair and a little butter on my chin. I manage to get everything out and clean my chin the best I can without rubbing off all of my makeup. When I leave the girls bathroom, Ethan's standing by the door, on his phone. He also lacks any traces of popcorn or butter on him.

"You can't be checking up on me after you broke up with me." He says, rubbing his eyes. I clear my throat and he sighs, spotting me. "Listen, Nicole, I've gotta go. Bye."

Despite the fact we can both hear someone speaking over the line, he hangs up. "Hey. What are you doing here?" I ask.

"You never told me if I was hotter than Darren." He says.

I roll my eyes and shove him. He laughs and the two of us head back towards the theatre where all our friends are waiting.

Unfortunately, they're being escorted out of screening, all of them covered in butter, sugar and popcorn.