It took Emma approximately four days to get over her jet lag. Then she was back to rigorously hanging out with Amanda and Olivia, who I'd been forced to run into multiple times. It made me uncomfortable each time. Sharing time with Emma was definitely not my favorite thing to do.
"It's so weird that you have other friends that aren't my friends," I admitted one day.
"What do you mean?" Emma asked, scraping pumpkin seeds off the side of her bowl that previously held a salad. "You have friends that I don't know,"
"Like who?" I said, cocking an eyebrow.
"Cubsport, the music video cast," she answered.
"We took a beach trip with them," I said bluntly.
"Olivia was literally on that beach trip," Emma said, spreading her arms in defense.
"She didn't talk to anyone!" I insisted.
"Okay, true," Emma conceded, going back to her salad.
"You made an effort to talk to everyone," I remembered.
"I think it's easier for me to talk to people than Olivia," Emma said thoughtfully.
"Every time we pass each other when I go to your house they say hi, but they seem like... I don't know... scared of me," I told her. "What have you been telling them about me?"
"Only that you're the greatest boyfriend of all time. They're intimidated by your...perfectness," Emma grinned.
"Stop it, seriously," I said, rolling my eyes.
"You're just more intense than your average 19-year-old, Ethan. You don't like to party, you like to get work done,"
"That is not true," I said quickly.
"It is so true," Emma laughed, "Grayson is even worse. That's why when you guys didn't do much for a month is was of utmost concern,"
"I can party," I said weakly.
"Prove it," Emma said frankly.
"Fine, St. Patrick's is this weekend. Let's do something fun," I suggested.
"Oh, boy," Emma giggled. "Anyway, have you talked to James lately?"
"No, not in a while," Ethan admitted. "None of us have seen each other that often. And people are starting to notice,"
"I know," Emma said. "But I think it's better that way. If I only post with girl friends then fewer people question it,"
"That's true," I said softly. "I kinda miss hanging out though,"
"I know," Emma said. "I'm not really sure what happened,"
Emma's POV
When St. Patrick's day rolled around, we dressed in green and according to Grayson; 'ready to party'.
We had convinced James to come with us, and texting in the group chat for the first time in a month was most definitely one of the more awkward events in our friend group.
Nevertheless, James acted like nothing had happened and insisted he was excited for the day. We took off in my car and Ethan's, driving two in each. I was feeling nostalgic like we were filming a video or going to Canes on a Tuesday night as we used to in the fall. James and I were laughing about something I'd showed him off the Instagram explore page before we left when he was immediately silenced.
Climbing into the car, his lips were pressed tightly together.
"What the hell is that?" he said sharply, pointing to my dash. There was a juul sitting there, leftover from after soul cycle the day before.
"Oh, that must be Lindsey's. She left it. I drove to soul yesterday," I lied swiftly.
"They smoke?" James asked uncertainly. Jesus, was he 12?
"It's not smoking, technically. It's vaping," I joked.
"And doing crack is snorting, not addiction," James snapped.
"We don't do drugs!" I exclaimed.
"'We'?" James cried. "You vape too?"
"Not often!" I insisted, realizing I'd been trapped.
"Come on, Emma," James scoffed. "Well, I guess I should have known since your social media just radiates substance abuse,"
"Damn, James, let people live," I said, growing defensive of my friends.
"Whatever," he hissed, and the rest of the ride was silent. We were going to Melrose to see what kind of parades were going on there, or if we could get into a bar with Grayson and Ethan's deceiving faces. Clearly, there would only be dancing, and no drinking with Mr. Buzzkill James.
James clambered out of the car as if it was a gas chamber when I found parking.
"Guess what? Emma vapes and does drugs with her other friends." James said shrilly.
The twins laughed, assuming it was a joke. I rolled my eyes and waiting for James to begin ranting.
"I"m serious, she has a juul in her car and her friends drink all the time,"
"You don't anything about my friends, James, just shut the fuck up and mind your business," I said, exasperated.
"Whoa, whoa," Grayson murmured, realizing it wasn't a joke. "Let's just walk for a second,"
James immediately ran to Grayson's side, leaving Ethan to fall back with me.
"You vape?" he asked casually. I shrugged.
"On occasion," I said truthfully. "James is blowing it out of proportion. I don't know what his deal is,"
"And drink?" he asked, his face unreadable.
"A few times, it's not a habit," I relinquished. "I'm sure you've done the same,"
"A few times," Ethan repeated.
"See?" I exclaimed, "James needs to untwist his goddamn panties,"
"I knew this was a bad idea," Ethan mumbled, rubbing his eyes. "None of us get along anymore,"
I didn't respond.
"I just want you to be safe, Emma," Ethan continued. "I'm not your babysitter, and I can't tell you what to do. I don't think vaping and smoking and doing whatever with your friends is a good idea, but I'm not in charge of your decisions. Only you are,"
And with that, he took my hand and we walked briskly to keep up with the other two, but his hand wasn't as soft and warm as I once remembered.
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