The Switch (GirlxGirl)

Chapter 22: Avoiding Disaster

Song: Heavy - Birdtalker

My day couldn't start any worse with finals tomorrow. The whole school has a different energy. Either the students are super pumped for the impending beginning of summer or they're completely losing their minds about finals. I'd say I'm the latter of the two. I've been staying up until 3 am almost every night trying to study for my exams. I don't have the best grades so these finals are very important to me.

And with the start of finals, Ethan is back today. He still has a black eye but it's not noticeable unless you know what you're looking for.

I'm sitting in Elizabeth's classroom before school. She's working intently on her laptop, ignoring my presence. I decide to pull out some study material for my maths class. As soon as I do, though, the bell rings to signal the students to make their way to their first hours.

I get up and leave her classroom without saying anything, I wouldn't want to disturb her. Either way, she looks cute when she focuses. Her tongue sticks out beyond her lips ever so slightly and it never fails to make me smile.

When I get to my first hour, I sigh as I sit down in my desk and run a hand through my hair to get it out of my face.

"Finals getting to you too?" The girl next to me asks and I nod slowly. She hands me a cup of coffee and smiles. I take it from her a bit hesitantly and take a sip of the dark brown liquid. I give her the cup back and thank her softly.

Looking out of the door, I see Ethan staring at me with eyes set to kill. Confused, I look back and my desk and once I look at him again, he motions to the girl and raises his eyebrow as if asking a question. My own eyebrows furrow as I have no idea what he's trying to say.

The teacher begins his final lecture and I look at him quickly. Looking back up, I notice Ethan is nowhere to be seen and a chill runs down my spine. When he's angry, he's completely unpredictable and it's terrifying. Anything that is unpredictable is scary but the fact that he can put my girlfriend in a prison at the dial of a phone scares the shit out of me.

***

During third hour I decided to sit in the yard outside instead of going to Elizabeth's room. With finals coming up I know we both need a break from the stress of our relationship. It hurts me that our relationship has come to this.

It feels so stressful to know that at any moment a police car could show up and take her away from me. It's all I think about, constantly. Everything was fine before Ethan started showing me that he has suspicions. I was okay with people knowing until someone actually knew.

Someone sitting on the bench next to me pulls me from my thoughts and lo and behold, it's the woman I was just thinking about.

"How are you holding up, love?" She asks softly, looking out at the grass instead of at me. I look up from my notebook and look at the grass as well.

"I'm alright." I say simply, biting my lower lip in thought.

"Are you?" She asks knowingly, finally turning her head to look at me. I look into her bright eyes that are full of compassion.

"I don't know. I just need graduation to come faster." I say quietly, telling her how I truly feel. "Mostly because after I graduate we can be free to truly love each other." I continue to rant a little, getting out of breath as I try to hide how worked up I'm feeling.

"Are you saying you don't truly love me because we can't hold hands in public?" She asks desperately, holding my hand tightly as an instinct. I look down and feel my heart rate rise partially from worry and partially from just feeling her skin against mine.