dogfight-e.d

twenty three

he's immediately searching for her when he walks into school, without grayson as he's still beyond angry with him so he went to school alone after grayson left, all of the other faces are just blurs as he tries to spot hers among the gathering of kids. he can't help but notice theirs though, his twin and friends, well they are definitely his old friends now. he wants nothing more to do with them. the guys all look at ethan, patient smirks on their faces as they're waiting for him to come running back to them now he's lost rey. but ethan just gives them the coldest look he can before walking past them, not saying a word or even exchanging more eye contact. he just wants to find rey as quickly as he can.

rey is talking to jacob, having already spoken to the school about leaving this week so she will no longer be here and now she's breaking the news to jacob. "so its a definite?" jacob asks sadly "you moving?". rey nods her head slowly, "i'm leaving on Friday, I cannot wait to get away from this place but im gonna miss you so much j". "i'm gonna miss you more sun rey" jacob tells her and rey smiles softly at the nickname. then she remembers that ethan also called her that and her heart twists for a moment, she cant hear it in the same way ever again after ethan. he's ruined it for her.

jacob notices the flash of hurt in rey's eyes and instantly knows what its about since rey tearfully explained what had happened at the dance last night. "forget him rey" he tells her and pulls her into a tight hug "you're so much better than him, he could never deserve someone as amazing as you". "it just hurts so much j" rey whispers into her best friend's shoulder and tries to stop the tears coming again. "I know but you're gonna be okay" jacob reassures her "you're gonna move to a new school and find someone who will know how to treat you right, you'll be happy".

rey takes a deep breath and cherishes the words jacob is saying and the hug he's giving her, as it will be one of their last ones for a while.

~~~

"rey!" ethan's spotted her outside near the lunch tables while she's talking to jacob and jessy, his new girlfriend. rey feels her chest tighten at the sound of his voice and sucks her lip in, she goes to grab her bag to get away from him but he's already behind her. she can feel his tall body so close to her's but she can't bare to turn around to face him. the thought of having to look at that face, those hazel eyes which are still so beautiful to her, is too much.

"rey" ethan says her name again and this time its quiet and soft, she can hear the sudden sadness in his tone. he gently places his hand on her shoulder and for some reason rey nearly goes weak from his touch. he turns her body around to see her and rey sucks in a breath when their eyes meet. ethan looks different to before, he looks restless but just as tired. his eyes are loopy with dark circles underneath and his face a little pale. its as if he's had so much of his energy and life drained from him. rey doesn't say anything because she can't think of anything she wants to say to this boy who completely broke her heart.

"can I talk to you?" ethan whispers in a hushed voice with his eyes burning into hers. "there's nothing you can say that I want to hear ethan" rey replies firmly and ethan's lip slightly quivers from her blunt tone. he doesn't like seeing her like this, cold and distant but then again he's the one who did this to her. "please rey" ethan begs again "I just want to explain everything...". "she doesn't want to hear it you jerk" jacob suddenly snaps. rey looks back at him, surprised by his sudden outburst. "I knew you were no good, that you were just going to hurt her like this" jacob goes on, getting angrier "who do you think you are? treating people like that?".

"im sorry" ethan says sounding pained "im so sorry rey".

"he's right" rey just says and tries to keep her composure "who do you think you are ethan dolan?". ethan bites his lip and runs a hand through his messy hair, "im an asshole" he replies and there's honesty in his voice. rey lets out a stifled laugh and shakes her head, "thats an understatement" she says coldly. "im the worst person alive for doing that to you rey" ethan says and tries to take rey's hand but she pushes him off, "but I told you that I called it off when every thing changed for me and I caught feelings for you, our relationship was real to me".

"save it ethan" rey interrupts, not wanting to hear another word from him "I dont want anything else to do with you so just please leave me alone".

ethan opens his mouth to say something else but is cut off when grayson and the guys chuckle cruelly at the situation, suddenly standing to watch what's going on. rey bitterly rolls her eyes and looks to the side as the popular kids get closer. "you're not still trying are you man?" grayson asks his brother laughing "why are you so desperate to get back with this freak anyway?". rey knows that that word is supposed to hurt her but now it does nothing, she doesn't care about what these people have to say to or about her anymore. "yeah dude" jake adds, crossing his arms and looking rey up and down "you can have any girl and you pine over this mess".

ethan clenches his jaw in burning anger from the guys' harsh words, fighting back the urge to beat the hell out of all of them right here and now. "yo wideload" grayson now addresses rey with a wicked gleam in his eyes "has reality kicked in yet? that my brother didn't actually want your gross pathetic ass?". the guys all laugh at rey's expense. mikayla and kelsey are there as well, pursing their glossed lips in smirks as they look at rey, enjoying every minute of this. rey just looks back at them, a calm expression on her face. she waits for the laughs to die down before she slowly walks over to the group, ethan's eyes widen at what shes doing and he worries for what shes doing and whats going to happen. the guys look surprised as well, not expecting rey to walk towards them at all.

rey stands right in front of grayson and looks him dead in the eyes, "does it make you feel good to act like this grayson?" she asks and grayson blinks at her question. rey tilts her head, waiting for an answer. "wha...what the fuck you talking about wideload?" grayon asks and looks to his friends chuckling slightly to look cool but rey has him where she wants him. "does it make you feel good about yourself to make other people unhappy? when you say those horrible things to me do you feel pleased with yourself?" she asks again but slower. grayson just stares back at her, unsure of what to say at first but his simple mind just retorts to more insults. "you really are..." he starts to say but rey smoothly cuts him off. "weird? ugly? a freak? a loser? a pathetic fat piece of shit? im kind of bored of those ones so maybe you can use those two brain cells you have to try to think of something new and original".

grayson scoffs at her words while his friends look at each other in shock, they have never imagined someone like rey to talk back to grayson but here she is doing it. "who the fuck do you think you're talking to you bitch?" grayson snaps. "im talking to you grayson dolan" rey snaps back, feeling a new wave of power rush through her "im talking to someone who is too naïve and deluded to realise that what he's doing isn't impressing anyone who actually matters. you're all the same" rey now looks across the group, her words being addressed to all of them. "all of you think that you matter here and maybe you do, maybe in social status you're more important then me but you've only got what? a year and a half left here and then what? you're gonna go out into the real world where no one actually cares about how good looking you are or how many parties you go to or how many people you fuck in a week. none of your world actually matters. you better enjoy yourselves now because this is as good as it gets for you. and maybe one day, after what im saying really hits you because you all find yourselves lost and confused with where you are in life, you'll look back on the way you treated me and others and regret it, because the tables will have turned and we'll be the ones enjoying ourselves. what you've said and done to us won't affect us anymore. you've dedicated your time here to making me feel like im worthless because I dont look as good as you, or at least to you but I dont care. all you guys have is your looks but when they leave you're gonna have nothing. guys wont value you and girls wont fall at your feet because your personalities are equivalent to dogshit. id rather be ugly then have that be my situation."

the guys are all stunned from rey's speech, especially ethan who just stares at her in disbelief but he soon starts to feel a sense of pride towards rey. he's proud of her for standing up to those guys and putting them in their places. rey gives them one last smile, "think about it" is all she says before she turns around and walks away. jacob and jessy look towards the popular kids who are silent with their mouths open and smile, also feeling proud of rey. they turn around and follow her, leaving ethan and the popular guys who no longer have power over them. jacob wraps his arm around rey's shoulder and pulls her in for a hug. rey bursts into a smile, that power and new wave of confidence burning inside her with so much energy. ethan and jacob may be proud of her for what she just did but not as proud as she is.