hidden | ethma

forty six

"emma," weston answers on the other end of the line. "how nice of you to call."

"c-can you meet me?" i rush out, my heart beating wildly.

"meet you?" he pauses. "where?"

"uh..." i look around me. "there's a coffee shop on the corner of grocery store we were at."

"alright."

i hang up and walk to the corner, taking a seat at a table outside the coffee shop. i can't believe i'm doing this. weston is a major reason — if not the sole reason — i left california in the first place. and yet, here i am, waiting for him to meet me at a damn coffee shop at the end of my block.

my thoughts wander to ethan. believe it or not, i actually anticipate seeing him when i get home. he's proved to actually be a decent friend, and i think i was in need of one. but there's always that little nagging part of me that wants to know more about him. he has so many secrets, i know it. every time i learn something new about him, i still seem to be faced with a thousand other things that leave me in the dark.

he's like the moon, ethan is — part of him is always hidden.

suddenly, my phone buzzes in my lap. i pick up hurriedly.

"hello?"

"hey, your mail got put in my box again. what did i tell you about letting that happen?" ethan's playful tone calms my nerves slightly and i laugh.

"i'm sorry," i say. "just put it outside my door and i'll pick it up when i get home."

"very well." there's some rustling on the other end.

"ethan?" i blurt.

"hmm?"

"do you... do you believe in me?"

"what do you mean?"

i swallow. "I'm about to do something... something big. do you believe i can do it?"

ethan is silent for a few moments. "of course you can do it."

his words send a rush of joy through me, starting at my heart and spreading through my entire body. the fact that he didn't ask me what it was i was doing — he didn't badger or question me at all — makes a strong feeling of fondness toward him bubble inside me.

"that's exactly what i needed to hear," i breathe. i laugh shakily, my heart still pounding. "thank you, ethan."

"anytime, em." i hear his smile in his voice.

"i have to go, again, i'm sorry about the mail." i smile.

"you'd better be sorry. you have a shit load of magazine subscriptions, and i haven't even heard of half of them."

"bye, ethan."

"bye, emma."

i hang up and sigh, my nerves slightly calmed by the sound of ethan's voice. i look down at my lap.