PEACH :: ETHAN DOLAN

QUATRE

With a groan, Ethan sits down next to Phoenix in physics class. They were paired together for the day.

"Don't act so excited, E," she rolls her eyes. "Let's get this over with."

"Could you stop calling me that?" He snaps, scribbling their names at the top of the sheet. Only people he was close to called him that, and she made it clear she didn't care about him. "You don't give a shit about me, Phoenix."

She scoffs, surprised he snapped at her. "It's a habit."

Ethan still missed her like hell, but he was finally, maybe, starting to make progress on that. Because now he found himself getting irritated at her, or at the thought of her, a lot more often than before.

As she's talking about their work, he tunes her out. Instead, he checks his phone.

Alondra: it turns out i hate perspectives in literature
Ethan: trade places with me?
Ethan: im in physics. partnered with phoenix :/
Alondra: ok you win
Alondra: we could totally skip and meet in the auditorium
Ethan: yeah she... knows that trick. she'd probably get us caught if I left her to do all the work

"Alondra?" Phoenix laughs. "She that girl who was clinging to you last week at the movies?"

"Don't look at my phone," he mutters, stuffing it into his pocket. "Look, why don't we just split the work so we don't have to talk?"

She eyes him up and down, then simply nods. "Fine by me."

The two sit side by side, Ethan trying to pretend the love of his life, that he currently dislikes, isn't right there. But he doesn't have to look at her, or argue with her, which is a plus.

It's going fine, as fine as it can with what's happening, until the teacher leaves the room for a little while. As soon as she does, Phoenix flick a few pieces of paper at one of the guys sitting ahead of them.

"Scott," she whines, finally getting his attention. "C'mere." Ethan feels a pang in his chest as she smiles, pulling the boy in for a kiss.

He can't tear his eyes away even though he feels sick to his stomach. Her smile stays on her lips as they pull away, the boy's gaze lingering on her for a moment.

She raises an eyebrow when she sees Ethan staring. "Problem?"

"You."

He breathes it out instinctively, immediately regretting the word. Phoenix knew she was getting to him, he didn't need to say it aloud.

With an innocent look, she shrugs her shoulders. "I can kiss whoever I want."

"Yeah, you did that while we were dating too," he bites. "I know you're not blind. Maybe you didn't care about me, but I really fucking cared about you. We were friends before we dated. You know that I'm struggling, and you're watching with a smile on your face because you know you're the cause.

"You know how much it hurts me to see you with someone else, and you don't care."

It's been a few weeks coming. Ethan had a lot to get off his chest--he still found himself lost as to why she did it and didn't want to just accept that she was a bad person.

Phoenix's eyes widen for a split second before she narrows them again. "I'm not trying to hurt you anymore, Ethan. Not everything is about you."

With a huff, she reaches into her things and pulls out a peach. She's still glaring at him as she bites it.

Her teeth dig into it's soft flesh, tearing a chunk from it while maintaining eye contact. Some of the juice drips down her lips and chin, his eyes carefully watching her wipe it.