emma
i watch carefully as he paces back and forth sweat dripping down his forehead. he's exhausted and so am i. we've been at it all day.
"you're doing great, keep going." i scream. "push harder, don't stop."
"you know he can't hear you right?" ethan says from the bench next to me.
no shit sherlock. we're at a football game with a million people yelling, including me. either way it was kind of my job to spread positivity at our school sports games. but i always give a special cheer for my best friend grayson, but ethan interrupts—always.
"i want to encourage him as much as possible, positivity is key." i explain smiling.
"doesn't look like your 'positive remarks' are working. look at him, he sucks."
"and this is why you're benched." i spit as i skip toward mia.
"hold back the attitude emma!"
"oh shut up mia, you of all people know how he is. rude." i respond moving my eyes to the field once again.
"i may forgive easily but still, i can't forget."
i give mia a tight hug as i think back to what ethan did to her.
flashback
"ethan, grayson, go down to the office to say morning announcements." mr. romeo shouts.
"race you there!"
mia and i both face each other.
"boys" we both say laughing.
mia, grayson, ethan and i are all best friends. we call ourselves "the fantastic four". we're constantly going out together to birthday parties, each other's houses and bike rides to the park. we're practically inseparable. we tell each other everything, from crushes to even issues within our families. the fantastic four is always there for one another.
"ouu mia, three-o'clock."
mia turns her head before thinking and spots the one and only john-paul. mia has literally loved john-paul forever, but they don't talk much since he's in the other seventh grade class. ethan and i always tease mia about her crush but never publicly—we're not that mean.
"j.p. go to the office now, you're doing the announcements today too. you should know that!" mr. romeo yells. he always yells but we all give him a good reason to.
announcements finally start, i can't even hear what they're saying because everyone in the class is so loud but frankly i never listen anyway . . . until the end. everyone goes quiet when they hear ethan talking to j.p.
"mia would die to be here right now."
"huh?" j.p. replies
"she's so into you man. she loves you."
"and that's all for this morning's announcements." grayson stutters.
everyone puts their eyes on mia as she runs out the class crying.
end of flashback
whenever i think about that day, i'm reminded of one of the reasons why the fantastic four ended. and why i can't stand ethan.
ethan
i've been benched for practically the whole game. my brother is doing even more ass than i expected, why is he up there? whatever i get way more attention than he does anyway—and girls.
the game just finished and i go to the change room and put on some proper clothes although my uniform was good as new since i didn't get to use it. i walk toward grayson.
"pass the keys, i'm driving." i demand.
"no it's my car plus i'm driving emma home." gray responds.
"i need to get home now, i'm expecting.. umm.. people."
"holy shit ethan, you always do this."
"tell her to walk." i say knowing that he would never do that to her. he's the nice one. he cares for people, i mean i do to but only important people.
"we both know that i would never make her walk."
"okay stop talking, i gotta go now. just tell her to come over." i suggest.
"in that case i'm bringing mia too." he says tilting his head and raising his eyebrows. just like old times, his face says.
"sure i don't care just hurry up. it's not like i'm going to be with you guys anyway."
we get to the car, i'm driving because i said so. but honestly that was a bad decision cause now gray, emma and mia won't shut up.
"can you guys keep it down, i'm trying to concentrate." i say hoping that they understand.
"oh, you're not used to girls screaming from your back seat? you know with all of the popularity and stories i hear about you, i thought you'd be used to it by now?" mia says with pouty eyes. i. want. to. scream. in. her. face.
"nah i'm not used to them being this annoying." i spit sarcastically.
emma
e and i haven't spoken to each other in a while other than when i come over, and even then it's usually just him asking if we made food. during the short yet eye opening ride back to the twin's house, i realize that ethan was same old ethan. he hasn't changed, and frankly i don't know if he ever will.
"emma get off your phone let's do something." gray says as he snatches my phone from my hand.
"what do you wanna do?" a familiar voice says as the door slam shuts behind him. before looking up i know exactly who he is but i don't have any idea why he would come to gray's room, especially since mia and i are here. i finally look up, our eyes meet. i haven't looked into his eyes since seventh grade. but now it feels different. back in seventh grade i'd see beautiful hazel eyes and i'd see my best friend in them. now i see muddy brown—and an impudent person.
"why are you even here ethan?" gray groans. "aren't you expecting company?"
"nah i cancelled that, turns out you losers earned some fun with me."
"earned? what are you, royalty?" mia questions with sass that i didn't know existed in her.
completely disregarding mia, ethan continues. "so cards, monopoly, movie? what are you guys feeling? we'll make tonight just like old times."
old times.
a/n okay so i'm happy on how this turned out but please please let me know what you think about it so that i know if it's worth continuing or not. thank youuuu
celina :)
