lemonade | ethan

twenty four

i rub my hands together before blowing hot air into the palm of my hands. my beanie covers my ears and i pull my sleeves over my hands.

winter was coming right after this autumn. soon there would be no more beach days, no more swimming in the mountains, no more drinking smoothies while we tan.

but i loved winter in brooklyn bay. although our town had it's flaws, there was one thing i loved about it.

the holidays. wether it was halloween, or christmas. i loved it all.

we were a small town therefore we really knew how to get into the spirit.

"why are you sitting at the bleachers alone?" maya asks, sitting right next to me. i take my eyes away from the boys on the field playing soccer, to her.

she raises an eyebrow, waiting for my answer. i shrug. "just watching soccer practice, that's all."

she looks over at the team, noticing some south siders as they played. "oh. your boyfriend's on the team, i see?"

i shake my head. "did you come over here for something?"

maya sighed. i watched as her breath showed through the cold air. the wind blew, making me colder.

"clayton's throwing a halloween party. he wants it to be big, so invite your south side friends." maya says.

"why would we come to his party?" i ask.

maya shrugs. "because he wants you to come. but you won't come without your new boyfriend, so clayton's inviting him too."

i shake my head, looking back over to the soccer players again. they get called in by their coach. "he's not my boyfriend."

she quickly spits out a chuckle. "right." she says in the most sarcastic manner ever.

i furrowed my eyebrows. "what's that supposed to mean?"

"it means, you guys act like this secret, mysterious couple.. like everyone in this god damn town doesn't know you two are obviously fucking." she scoffs. "it just annoys me because you lie about it and i never knew you as a liar. you stand up for the south siders yet you're ashamed to admit you're banging one? where does that even make sense?!"

i scoff, facing my entire body and attention to her. "i'm not lying about anything." i explain. "i like the dude but... we've never even talked like that."

"wow, dev." she says, shaking her head. "feels different to not have men throwing themselves at you. you know, it's tiring trying to get someone who has absolutely no interest in you to like you. but i guess that's what happens when you spend your time on a south sider." she shrugged.

"right?" she adds, before getting up from the seat and walking back down to the other side of the bleachers to sit with the friends she had previously been sitting with.

"tsk. he does like me." i slump, looking back at him on the field. i catch his eye and he waves, smiling up at me. i wave back, forcing a smile.

does he?

LEMONADE

"don't look." he quietly says. "when he comes to the car just pretend like it didn't happen."

i nod. "okay." i reply in a low tone.

luis yells at sonny through the frame of the front door, his voice echoing throughout the entire neighborhood. sonny is already walking toward ethan's car, storming off and looking really pissed.

luis says his last words, screaming mean slurs at sonny before slamming the front door shut. gosh, that man is always angry.

sonny opens the car door, hopping in the back seat. "hey, guys." he says. ethan and him do a quick handshake while he ruffled my straight hair, making it a mess sitting on top of my head.