dead | ethan dolan

text fest

chapter thirty two
——mackenzie's pov
february 14th, 2019

that afternoon there was a pink slip on my desk in spanish class. for the past two weeks all the juniors had been getting called to the guidance office to talk about college applications. looks like it was my turn. as i strolled into the office, my heart instantly sank. hammond lidison was sitting on the couch in the waiting area, slumped back with his legs splayed. he sat up straight the moment he saw me.

"i'm here for mrs.lorter," i said to the secretary.
"she'll be with you in just a sec, hon," she replied as she typed frantically on her keyboard. "have a seat."

i looked over at the couch. if possible, hammond sat up even straighter, then shifted his bag to the floor to make room for me. fabulous. i walked over and dropped down next to him.

"hey, kenzie. happy valentine's day," he said.
"yeah. you too," i replied flatly.
"got any big plans?" he teased.
i blew out a sigh. "no."

"looks like you got a lot of flowers there." he leaned forward as if to see them better, his hands folded between his knees. "i'm impressed a norm would spring for something like that." he shrugged.
"how do you know they're from a norm?" i snapped. he laughed. like anything else was inconceivable. imagine if he knew they were from his best friend.

"come on, mack. who's the lucky guy?"
"i don't know, ham. they're secret admirer flowers." i said in a condescending tone.

"huh." he dropped down against the back of the couch again. "when you get a bunch like that, i guess you don't notice one more."
i turned and looked him in the eye for the first time, my heart pounding blood through my veins at an alarming rate. hammond's light blue eyes danced happily, like he was oh so proud of himself.

"so, it was from you."
he shrugged and looked away. "maybe. maybe not."
"have you forgotten that you have a girlfriend?" i said through my teeth, feeling warm and conspicuous.
"so?" he said, smirking at me. "didn't matter the last time."
"you are such a pig!" i blurted.
the secretary looked over at us with that expression of impatience that half the faculty wore every day.

"i'm just kidding!" hammond replied at a half whisper, like i was being so immature. "calm down, ryan."
"i am calm," i said. "but just so we're clear, that night was a mistake, okay?"
a slight, embarrassed blush rose up onto his cheeks, and i instantly felt bad for being so blunt.

"whatever," he said. he slumped down on the couch and crossed his arms over his chest, looking like a petulant kindergartner. "i was just trying to be nice. i figured no one would send you flowers, and i didn't want you to walk around school all day feeling all pathetic."

"well, guess what? i did get flowers. so you didn't have to take pity on me," i shot back.
mrs.lorter walked out of her cubicle with another student and sent him on his way. i was out of my seat, clutching my bag and my carnations, before she could even say my name.

"and if you want to be nice to me, how about you stop acting like i don't exist when you see me in the halls?" i said, looking back at hammond. "i'd appreciate that a lot more than a flower."

he shook his head in exasperation, still staring straight ahead, but i could tell by the increased blotchiness of his face that he'd heard what i'd said. maybe, just maybe, i'd finally gotten through to one of them.

after talking with mrs.lorter, i headed to history. i had that class with ethan. i walked in and set up my laptop, already dreading the notes we had to do today.

i sat in history class the following afternoon trying desperately to stay awake, my eyes crossing as i retyped mr.lewis's notes from the board and into my laptop. outside, snow swirled and the wind whistled past the windowpanes. i was just about to let it all lull me to sleep when i saw my phone light up out of the corner of my eye. it was inside my bag but sticking out of the interior pocket just enough for me to see the screen. i glanced at the back of mr.lewis's balding head. he hadn't turned around in at least fifteen minutes, so enthralled was he with his own musings and getting every word of them down on the board. i snatched the phone into my lap. my heart started to pound, and suddenly i was wide awake. the text was from ethan.

will any1 notice if i start snoring???

i glanced over my shoulder at him. he smirked and flashed his phone at me under the desk. i texted quickly, my fingers trembling.

idk, how loud do you snore?

his response was immediate.

idk, sleep over sometime and maybe then you can let me know ;)

i laughed out loud and slapped my hand over my mouth. kylie turned around and shot me a reproachful look, her perfectly pink and plumped lips pursed. that was kylie for you. captain of the manners police. i loved how she didn't feel the need to acknowledge my existence unless she was silently telling me what to do.

"something funny about the war of 1812, miss ryan?" mr.lewis asked.
"no." i squeaked.
"good. then let's get back to it!"
my phone lit up again.

busted!
i smiled and texted back.

thanks for the flowers

what flowers?

lol very funny dolan

i have no idea what you're talking about

i froze. it wasn't possible, was it? it had to have been him who sent the secret admirer flowers. he drew the shield and sword. no one else would have—

gotcha!

i bit my tongue to keep from laughing. we texted for the rest of the class period. i found out his and grayson's birthday was coming up in march. i told him mine was in may. he confessed that his favorite snack dip was hummus. i told him mine was pineapple salsa.

ready 4 big game tn?

valley high is going down! u coming?

will b there cheering 4 u.

i blushed so hard that i thought i might pop.

cool :)

when the bell rang, i tucked my phone away and closed my laptop. my pulse raced as i wondered what to do next. clearly ethan and i had just taken our relationship, whatever it was, to some new level. should i go talk to him? was he going to come talk to me? maybe just a smile over my shoulder and—

but then he walked right by me and over to kylie and faith, without so much as a nod. my heart fell. apparently, the text fest hadn't changed a thing. but then why had he started it? what was the point? was he really just that bored? maybe he spent every class period texting someone, and he'd simply run through his entire address book.

as i lifted my bag onto my shoulder and started for the door, i loathed myself for getting so excited. just before i got to the hallway, my phone lit up again. it was from ethan.

same time tomorrow?

my heart, all of a sudden, was back from it's trip to my toes. i texted back.

i'm in.

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i love you all<3
[1271 words]
-m
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