oxygen (e.d.)

chapter twenty-six

<ethan>

rowen pouts in my passenger seat dramatically. i roll my eyes.

"it's not that big of a deal."

"what do you mean?" she yells, "of course it's a big deal."

"i don't even know her!"

a random girl (who i've never met) texted me last night with some... interesting phrases.

she must've gotten my number from one of my friends.

"that's not the point, ethan."

"i've never texted her in my life."

when i wasn't looking, rowen went through my phone. it felt like an invasion of privacy, but i'm too scared to tell her.

riley never looked through my phone.

get over it, ethan. maybe she's right. maybe this is what most couples do.

"i don't care." she spits angrily, "the point is, you're a jerk. a douchebag. maybe that's why i go to princeton and you don't."

what. the. hell.

is she seven years old?

"oh my god," i groan, "really? bringing schools into this? at least i don't get so offended over every single guy that tries to talk to you!"

rowen looks at me and starts crying.

what?!

"i can't believe you'd say that," she sobs, "i feel so targeted by you. why do you say these things to hurt me, ethan?"

"i'm sorry," i stutter, "i shouldn't have said what i said. i just thought that since you called me a-"

she wails louder and i grip the steering wheel.

"rowen," i say, getting panicky, "i'm sorry. i'm sorry."

she sniffles, and doesn't look at me.

"look at me," i say softly.

she flinches, but doesn't turn my way.

i reach out, still looking at the road, and turn her face to me.

i'm surprised to see that her cheeks and eyes are red, but there's no tears.

"are you fake crying?" i ask straight up.

"n-no. i'm not psycho. i just- i just have dry eyes."

"rowen, you've been acting weird lately."

"oh," she says evenly, and i know she's mad, "just because i won't let you throw me around like your human punching bag, i'm the weird one?"

i blink and pull back.

riley had called herself "my human punching bag" right before she broke up with me.

no.

no i need to fix this.

"i'm sorry. it's my fault. please don't be mad," i plead, tearing my eyes away from the road for 5 seconds.

she doesn't answer, so i place my hand on tops of hers, that's gently resting on her thigh.

"okay," she takes a deep breath, "i forgive you."

thank god.

i can't stand being broken up with again.

i focus my attention back on the road, and take calming breaths.

in.

out.

in.

out.

everything's okay.

she's not going to leave me like riley did.

"hey," rowen says, "what ever happened to that necklace? did your friend like it?"

i contemplate my words before i answer, "yeah. yeahs she did."