Love Is Real | Sarah x Ethan

Chapter 13 Sarah's P.O.V

     I hear my ringtone, scaring me a little since I wasn't expecting it. I take my phone out of my back pocket, seeing Josh is calling.
     "Hey," I say, answering the phone, continuing to walk through the neighborhood.
     "Hey, I saw you outside. What's up?" he asks, sounding a little curious.
     "I was trying to write a story, but I couldn't think of how to start it. So, I decided to go for a walk to clear my head," I explain, shrugging although I know he can't see it.
     "Oh, okay. I just wanted to make sure you were alright," he admits.
     "Yeah, I'm fine," I reply.
     "Okay, well are you on your way back to your house?" Josh asks.
     "Um, yeah. Why?" I answer.
     "I was just wondering," he responds.
     "Okay?" I respond, a little suspicious, but brushing it off.
     "Okay, I'm gonna let you go. I'll talk to you later. Love you," he says.
     "Alright, love you too," I reply, each of us saying a quick, "bye," before hanging up.
     I put my phone in my back pocket, focusing on my surroundings as I walk back to my house. I see some people outside of their houses, but not anyone that I know or that I'm really acquainted with.
Eventually, I arrive back at my house, heading back into my bedroom and laying down. I stare up at the ceiling, not too sure what it is I'm thinking about, but aware that something's on my mind. I soon drift off to sleep, my thoughts no longer tethering me to reality.

~Time skip to 3:41 A.M~

     I open my eyes, not quite sure what time it is, but I know it's before 7 A.M. because my alarm hasn't gone off. I search for my phone on my bedside table before realizing it's in the back pocket of my jeans. I sigh, realizing I didn't change before I fell asleep.
     I stand up, stretching before heading over to my closet. I take my phone out of my pocket, throwing it onto my bed for the moment. I open the closet, taking out some sweatpants and a loose t-shirt.
     I remove the purple tank top I'm currently wearing, as well as my jeans, placing them on my bed for now. I slip the loose, grey t-shirt over my head and replace the jeans I had been wearing prior with the sweatpants I picked out.
I take the clothes I placed on my bed and put them in a pile on the floor, deciding I'll deal with them another time, if not tomorrow. I lay back down on my bed, grabbing my phone and scrolling through Pinterest. I look through a bunch of quotes, most of them happen to be kinda depressing, but it doesn't really bother me.
     After a couple of minutes, I get a text from Tori that says, "Hey, you awake?"
     I quickly reply with a, "Yup, just woke up. Can't sleep," with a shrugging emoji.
     I go back to Pinterest, now moving onto whatever artistic pins I can find, saving them to my board. I find some pretty good ones, at least they're good in my opinion. Others may think otherwise.
     My phone buzzes as an I get the notification that she texted again, "Yeah, I can't sleep either. I've been trying to sleep since midnight and haven't been able to," she uses the same shrugging emoji I had used prior, one of the multiple emojis her and I often use.
     I don't really know what to say, so I just respond with a simple, "Mhm."
     I put my phone down for a moment, staring up at the ceiling. I can imagine Josh and Cameron together in my head and it's honestly adorable. They've only been out on one date, but I hope Josh will ask her to be his girlfriend soon. They would be a really cute couple.
     I pick up my phone again, seeing Tori's text, which asks, "So, how are you?"
     I respond to her text quickly, with a simple, "Fine hbu?"
She doesn't respond at first, which is weird since she usually responds quickly, if not right away. I shrug it off, heading to Instagram and looking at everyone's stories.
     She finally responds with, "Eh, fine I guess."
     I don't really know what to think of it or know what to say so I just give a simple, "Ok," and leave it at that.
     She doesn't text again after that, leaving me to scroll through social media. I eventually get bored of social media, so I turn to wattpad, deciding to read a new story.
     After reading for about an hour or so, I begin to feel tired. So, I put my phone on my bedside table, connecting it to it's charger, and laying down. I close my eyes, hoping to fall asleep.

~Time skip to the next morning~

     I grab my toast from the toaster, putting it on a plate and sitting down at the kitchen table. I quickly eat the toast, heading into the bathroom to get ready for school.
     After brushing my teeth, I move on to brushing my hair, then proceeding to put it into some sort of bun. It's messy, but it's still a bun.
     I exit the bathroom, heading into my room and grabbing my backpack. I slip the straps over both of my shoulders and walk over to my nightstand, grabbing my phone and walking out of my room and towards the front door. I open the door, stepping out, and closing it behind me. I lock the door and walk down the driveway, heading to my bus stop to wait for my bus.
    
~Time skip to lunch~

     I sit down across from Kendall, who's already at the table with her lunchbox, but I notice Cameron isn't here yet.
     "That's weird. She's usually the first one here," I think to myself before shrugging it off.
     Usually Cameron gets here first, followed by Kendall, then me, then Tori, and finally Greyson. Tori and Kendall come together since they're in the same class for fourth period, but Tori buys a lunch so she gets to the table a little later than Kendall.
     After Tori takes her seat next to me and Greyson arrives, I really start to wonder where Cameron is. Especially since Greyson sat in Cameron's seat across from Tori instead of sitting on Kendall's left.
     "Guys, where's Cameron?" I ask.
     They all just kinda look at me for a second before Kendall responds with, "Oh, she didn't tell you? Her schedule was changed. Instead of having lunch for fourth period with us, she has it for fifth period."
     "That makes so much more sense," I reply.
     We carry on eating our lunch, making small talk and all that. Just casual stuff really.
     Towards the end of lunch, Ethan comes and sits in the empty seat on my right.
     "Hey," he says, smiling at me.
     "What are you doing? I thought you didn't have lunch for fourth period," I ask, a little confused as to why he's here.
     "I'm not. I have fifth-period lunch and just so happened to get here early," he explains.
     "Oh, okay. I guess that makes sense," I reply.
     Tori puts her hand on my arm, shaking me a little and says, "I hate to break up whatever's happening here, but we kinda have to go. The bell's about to ring."
     I look at the clock and see she's right. I turn to Ethan, a small smile on my face and I can feel my cheeks heating up a little.
     "Go ahead. I'll see you in gym," he says, smiling at me and tilting his head in an angle that makes him look even cuter.
     "Okay. See you later," I reply, waving at him and walking towards the lockers with Greyson since she's the only one out of my friends that have a locker on the same hall as mine.
     We walk to the hall that our lockers are on in complete silence, neither of us really having anything to say. When I reach my locker I put in the combination and open it, putting my lunchbox inside and just kinda standing there, thinking.
     My thoughts wander to Ethan somehow. I'm not quite sure how, but I've been seeing him differently recently. Don't get me wrong, he's still goofy and he can still be an ass at times, but I feel as if I'm seeing a new side of him. Almost as if he's showing me a side of him that I've never seen before, but if I'm being completely honest I don't care how or why I'm seeing this different part of Ethan. All I know is I like this side of him and I want to get to know him. All of him.