Once In A Lifetime

Chapter 5 - Arguing Never Solved Us

I looked away as quick as I could, directly in the eyes of Letty. She lightly shook her head and whispered, "Don't break."

I felt tears swell up in my eyes. He came to my favorite place to eat with the girl he cheated on me with. My heart was slowly breaking inside of my chest and making it hard to breathe, I can't do this. I can't cry, not right now. I have done enough of that. I shrugged my shoulders, trying to brush the situation off and breathe again. "Ignore him," Letty whispered again. I ignored my feelings and started talking about options for all of our futures.

I was smiling again, forgetting Ethan was even there. I didn't know what table he sat at, so I was perfectly content with my placement. "I still want to be a veterinarian, just have to get a scholarship first. Jules, did you want to go into nursing or did you think of something else?" Letty said as she looked over. Jules thought for a moment and then said, "I might want to be a lawyer, I've had a lot of different ideas pop into my head but I might still go into nursing. It depends really." I looked at both my friends, they both had pretty good plans. And I was waiting to hear back from local racing areas to start off my Nascar career. Being in Malibu, California was a little difficult to get that career going but I was so determined. Within the next few minutes our plates were empty and our coffee mugs were cold. Then I saw her.

Aubrey came out to our table, her silver dress clung to her body and her shoulder length ginger red hair bounced against her skin. Her makeup was clearly over done and her brown eyes were dull, in the pretty way. All of that combined made me sick. She really did not seem like Ethan's type, maybe she was after something else. Did she even truly like him? What did she want and why the fuck was she at our table?

"Hey, Darcy, can I talk to you for a second?" Aubrey asked in her peppy tone as she smiled. I could feel the anger rising inside of my chest and my skin became hot. I stood up, same height and looked into her eyes. She had on heels, so it made her appear taller than she really was. I couldn't help but smirk, "Sure." She walked out the door, her hips swaying with her. "Darcy, don't kill her. I'll handle that part," Letty said as she gently grabbed my arm. I looked over my shoulder at her, "Don't worry, that spot is specifically reserved for you." I followed Aubrey outside and met her at Ethan's car. Great, we have to stand beside this piece of junk just to talk? What did she even want to talk about? This is getting suspicious and I'm not really sure how to react. So I played along, acting like everything was okay and I didn't want to rip her throat out. She leaned against his passenger door and faced me, smiling. I crossed my arms, "Okay, spill. What did you want to talk about? I don't want to be beside this Ford for long." She laughed, she actually laughed. It wasn't meant to be funny, I was being serious.

I rolled my eyes, waiting for her to speak. This was getting ridiculous, I turned around to start walking away. She grabbed my shoulder and I faced her. Did this bitch really just touch me? "Darcy! I really want to talk to you," she explained after letting go of me, "Fords aren't that bad, are they?" I furrowed my brow and put my hand on my hand, "You wanted to talk to me about cars, Aubrey? You only like the ones that are expensive, now what did you really want to talk about? If you keep stalling or whatever you're doing, I'm going to go back inside with my friends." She frowned, "I'm sorry, I just thought what you said was funny. Excuse me. Anyways, what I wanted to talk to you about is Ethan. I wanted him to be out here with me when I did, but he said it would just make you more angry."

"Typical guy, can't face his own problems. What did you want to talk to me about him for?" I asked, confused.

She looked down, kind of sad. It made me concerned, because when I knew her in high school, she didn't seem to have feelings at all. She just loved to hurt people, bully them. She was your usual, popular girl. Rich, adored by guys, and everything else you could possibly think of. I was never jealous of her or wanted to be like her, I only wished that she would stop doing what she was doing, and just be nice. We didn't need to be friends, she just needed to back off. "I wanted to apologize. For treating you the way I did. Ethan and I, we're not exactly dating right now. We were for a while, but for some reason he wants to take a break. I'm not sure why, but I guess what I'm trying to say is, is he involved with you anymore? And I'm not trying to be noisy, I swear, I just need to know what I'm getting myself into. When I fooled around with him while you guys were together, I felt horrible about it," she said as she seemed sincere. But it made me snicker, "I'm sure you did. Because in high school, you loved treating people like absolute shit and you were known as the boyfriend stealer. We're all in our early 20's, Aubrey. It's been years, now seriously, what do you want?"

Aubrey looked at me, with sad eyes. And, stupidly, I felt bad for what I said. Why do I feel bad? After all the crap she put me and my friends through? Then taking Ethan away? Swallow those feelings, Darcy. She's probably trying to get under your skin, getting you to somehow trust her. Don't. She's dangerous. Always has been and always will be.

"Fine. I can see you two aren't involved. I just wanted to know, but whatever. You'll always be second, or maybe not even that close. Probably last. Let's just get one thing straight, Ethan is all mine. He may be having second thoughts when it comes to cheating on you but I will have him again. You stay away from him or I'll make your life a living hell," she said as her smile came back to her face and she walked back inside. What did Ethan see in her? I mean, for a brief moment she looked like she meant what she was saying. But clearly that's not her. As usual, she tries to mess things up and just make everyone else miserable. I tried not to be irritated by it, but when I looked behind me I saw Ethan come outside, and he yelled my name, waving me to come in. I shook my head, seeing him after that conversation with Aubrey made me lose it. I began walking home.

I was walking down Birdview Avenue, tears were stained on my face but they finally stopped falling from my eyes. I kept my head up as I walked, making my way home. I did my best not to think about Aubrey and her hurtful words. I'm a strong person, but when I think of Ethan it's like my whole world crushes all over again. Just then, I recognized the most horrible engine sound coming from behind me, and I really didn't want to turn around. My heart was broken enough, I didn't want to see him, not right now and not like this. So many things were running through my head, then they just stopped when he pulled up beside me. I stayed where I was, looking forward. I didn't know whether to keep walking, look at him, or just break down. I wasn't going to do any of those, so I decided to just stand.

"Darcy, talk to me. What did Aubrey say to you?" Ethan asked me, I could hear him get out of the car. He came over, stood in front of me. I looked up at him, wanting him to apologize. I looked into his eyes, back and forth to each one and hoping he was going to say he was sorry. "Talk to me, D... What happened?" he asked.

I shook my head and walked past him as I said, "Please leave me alone." I felt my phone vibrating in my back pocket, I pulled it out and answered, "Hey boo, where are you? Ethan and Aubrey are gone, did they kidnap you?" I sniffled, wiping my tears away, "Not exactly. Meet me at my house around five, okay?" I hung up, feeling horrible that I left my friends at our favorite cafe. But I didn't want them to see my upset over this. They don't need to be worrying about me when they have enough going on trying to get into colleges and staying financially stable. "Please... talk to me," Ethan said. I felt him come up behind me, putting his hands on the back of my shoulders. I wanted to pull away, so bad, but I couldn't. The feeling of his touch reminded me of our good times. And then, within a split second, I turned around and kissed him. I honestly don't know why I did, I was overwhelmed and got carried away. I just wanted to be in his arms again, just for a moment. I needed to remember what we had. And then he wrapped his arms around me tight, kissing me back slowly. My heart was beating so fast and I didn't want to stop. But then, instead of remembering what we had, I remembered who he really was. I pulled away, disgusted with myself.

A wide smirk came across Ethan's face, "You never could stay away. Did I take your mind off of Declan for at least two seconds?" I huffed, angry, "Declan? What does he even have to do with this? I don't know the guy, I should've known you were the same, I was hoping the guy you used to be when we first got together was still inside of you, but clearly he's not."

Ethan shrugged at my response, walking back to his car, "Whatever, toots, you're the one that kissed me. Let's see what Aubrey has to say about this, she knew you would try to get me back." Again, I was heartbroken. This was too much of repeating history, and I was done with it. He started up his crappy car and drove off, jackass didn't even offer me a ride. Not like I'd ride in that thing anyway, but still. Right then and there I realized he wasn't the old Ethan anymore. Aubrey got to him, and my chances were gone.