perfectly wrong | ethma

thirteen

the time was finally right. being with him was just so easy, yet consuming. i forget all my worries when i'm with him.

"hello?" i'm snapped out of my inner monologue when ethan waves his hand in front of my face.

"sorry," i smile as i give him attention.

"what were you thinking about?" he tilts his head.

"how we all could die tomorrow and everyone is worried about the homecoming dance," i say with a playful smile on my face.

"could've sworn you were thinking about my outstanding good looks," he smirks as he wraps his arm around me.

i lean into him more. being with him and in his arms made me feel safe, secure.

my phone buzzes and i look down at it.

ethan: hey so hoco?

i laugh as i look back over towards him. he shrugs and gives me his puppy dog eyes.

"really?" i push away from him as i laugh some more. his laugh fills the room and i know that anyone who heard it was laughing too. his laugh has that effect on people.

"that's your way of asking?" i ask him while i'm still laughing.

"no, i'm just kidding. i don't know if i want to go," he lays back and wraps his arm around me.

i know it sounds silly, but that kind of made me sad. homecoming is one of the things in high school i enjoy and look forward to. it's ridiculous to some, but i was really hoping to go with ethan this year.

"yeah, i didn't either." i try to sound convincing enough for him.

"cool," he says and pays attention to the movie again.

i sigh as i turn my head back towards the tv. ironically, it was a scene of a couple at the homecoming dance.

"yeah, don't they just look miserable." i mumble.

"hmm?" he looks at me.

"nothing," i give him a weak smile and continue watching the movie.

—

"you're kidding," riley says when i tell her the news.

i shake my head. "we won't be going to homecoming,"

"when did you become 'we' people?" emily chimes in. she's looking through her bag for some notes that she lost.

"what do you mean 'we' people?" i tilt my head.

she shrugs and digs more in her backpack. "i mean, you guys come as a pair. 'we don't like this' or 'we don't like that.' if you want to go to homecoming, you can. you don't need him." emily says.

riley nods her head.

"i agree," cassie says. "come with us in a group, it'll be so much fun!"

i shrug. "i don't know. you'll all have dates and then i won't. it's weird,"

"there it is!" emily pops up from the floor with papers in her hand. she backs straight up into josh. she nearly collapses on the floor, but he's quick to catch her.

"aw, emmy. you're falling for me!" he smirks.

she gags and pushes him off. "don't call me emmy," she sneers.

he makes kissy noises as he walks away. "i'll see you in gym, emmy!"

she rolls her eyes and picks her bag up from the floor. "i won't have a date, emma! be my sexy date." she winks as me. i begin to laugh. "please, it'll be fun!"

i smile. "fine,"

they all smile and riley squeals a bit. "yay! this is going to be the best homecoming ever!" riley says loudly causing a few people to stare.

—

"hey," grayson finds me in the hallway. " can we talk?"

i nod my head. grayson pulls me to the stairwell where there are a small amount of people.

"is everything okay?" i ask.

"so remember when everyone thought ethan and jen were back together?" grayson asks. i can tell he said it as gently as he could do he didn't hurt my feelings.

"yeah," i say, nodding my head slowly. "what about it?"

"did you ever figure out why everyone thought that?" grayson presses.

my entire body tenses up. i remember ethan saying it was meaningless, but i don't know what was meaningless.

"do you know something?" i ask him.

i can tell this is eating at grayson too. i think he's in love with jen, so of course this would bother him.

"i think they slept together,"

he finally says it. the thing i've been thinking this whole time. i don't know if i wanted to throw up or cry. maybe both.

a/n: what was meaningless to ethan? do you think him and jen slept together? is there a past between josh and emily because his nickname for her? who knowssss