perfectly wrong | ethma

fifteen

school was.. interesting. the stares i got and the whispers all around me were so fun.

not.

it was homecoming week, so everyone was dressed up for the spirit days. the theme this year was decades, so each day we'd dress as a different decade. today it was 50's. i went for more of the biker chick style, whereas emily, cassie, and riley wore the big polka dot skirt and dresses.

ethan walks in the door wearing a leather jacket, white shirt, jeans, and his hair combed. how did we manage to match the same vibe?

the voices around me become muffled as i stare at ethan walking in with confidence. we make eye contact. i immediately look away and i enter the conversation about a halloween party.

"what do you think, emma?" asked riley.

"hmm?" i snap back in. "uh, yeah. sounds good." i give a weak smile. they each look a little worried.

"you okay?" easton is the one who asks.

i nod my head. "yeah," i say. "i'm fine. no worries."

i feel a tap on my shoulder. i turn around to be faced with ethan.

my entire body freezes, my heart sinks to my stomach.

before he even gets a word out i say, "i don't have the energy for this today, ethan."

"listen, it is you. i will always want you. i will always care about you and only you-"

i hold my hand out to stop him. "if you do care about me, then please just leave me alone."

i brush past him and he grabs my arm. "ethan,"

the speakers in the school come on, interrupting us.

"we want to congratulate the students who made it onto the homecoming court this year. for your king, Easton Jackson, Grayson Dolan, Josh Weston, Jamal Williams, and Ethan Dolan." the hallway applauds as the boy nod their head. "for the queen, Riley Mables, Nia Niche, Emily Johnson, Jen Miller, and Emma Chamberlain. congratulations to everyone nominated!"

everyone congratulates me. people apart of student council start handing the homecoming court nominees sashes that we have to wear for the rest of the day.

"ah!" riley hugs me. "homecoming court, isn't this so fun? see, things are starting to turn up."

"yeah," i give her a small smile.

the bell rings and people make their way into the gym for the daily pep assembly. of course, the homecoming court nominees get stopped. i walk towards grayson, but i'm stopped.

"get with you partner," eric says.

each candidate has a homecoming court partner that they're already paired up with. we don't have any say.

"well, who's mine?" i ask him.

he sighs. "they were in order. for example, easton and riley were both called first, so they're partners. which means-"

my eyes widen. "ethan's my partner,"

my entire body fills with ache and nervousness as ethan approaches me.

"seems like we're partners," he says holding out his arm for me. we're first in line to walk out during the assembly.

"this isn't awkward at all," i say.

he shakes his head. "it doesn't have to be,"

i nod my head. "yes," i sigh. "yes it does."

"i chose you, emma. when is that going to get through your thick skull?" he asks.

i shake my head. our names were being announced. "can we not do this right now?"

"okay, then when? when can we talk?" he presses.

we're now walking out and i force a smile on my face. i try to create as much room as possible between us. it's noticeable.

"we already talked, ethan. i'm done talking to you." i look up to make eye contact. "leave me alone."

ethan and i had to play a variety of games in front of the entire school. some of the games required us to get extremely close to one another, the awkwardness hit hard.

"okay," jake, the spirit leader, says. "the pair that won overall for this assembly is.." the entire gym stomped their feet on the ground. "ethan and emma!" the students capped their hands as we gave each other an awkward smile.

"okay, you're now released to go to your first hour. thank you.." i began to tune jake out as i walk out of the gym.

"we won, em!" ethan smiles as he holds up his hand for a high five. "we make a good team."

"stop, ethan. stop with this whole 'i chose you' bullshit. i'm over it." i yell.

"okay, i understand my wording was kinda off, but does it help if i day that the choice was a no brainer? that every single nerve in my body wants you and only you." he says.

"why did you almost sleep with jen?" i ask. "why, ethan? things were going so well between us and you just had to-"

"stop blaming this on me!" he interrupts. "you're the one that ended it. you're the one that keeps bringing things up to fight about. you're the one who is just so damn sensitive!" his voice was loud. he's never been that loud with me before.

i open my mouth to say something, but nothing comes out. "i- i'm sorry?" i apologize. i don't even know what for, it just comes out. i shrug. "i don't know what you want from me. i didn't want you to chase me out here. i didn't want you to keep trying to win me back. let me move on, let me breathe."

he reaches out to touch me, but pulls back. he sighs as he runs his hands through his hair. footsteps from everyone else was heard as they started to pile out of the gym. i turn away and head to class.