PEACH :: ETHAN DOLAN

NEUF

Alondra texts on her phone discreetly as the teacher drones on about their work for the day. She wasn't listening to a goddam thing, until she heard her name paired with Phoenix DeVall.

Eyes widening, she tunes back in. They're partners for the history work. First Ethan, now her? It had to be some sick cosmic joke.

Alondra: im about to die
Alondra: this is the end. goodbye ethan, i love you
Ethan: calm your dramatic ass down what's wrong
Alondra: I'm paired with ph-
Alondra: phoen-
Alondra: i can't even say it
Ethan: nvm damn i'll throw you a good funeral </3
Alondra: we have the worst luck in the world i SWEAR this is so unfair im gonna hit my head against this desk rn

"Can we get started?" Phoenix hisses, sliding into the empty seat next to her. "You can text Ethan later."

They work almost silently next to one another, only pointing out little things here and there. The teacher interrupts everyone working though, offering candy up at the front.

Alondra climbs up and grabs herself a lollipop, and seeing Phoenix still seated grabs her one too--reluctantly, of course. She places it on her side of the table wordlessly and gets back to work, seeing her hand it back.

"No thanks. Too sweet for me," she mumbles, looking up from it back to Alondra. "Scott likes you quite a bit, y'know."

Alondra raises her eyebrows. "Why are you telling me this?"

"Because I care about Scott, and if you're with Ethan, I think he should know before he gets more invested. And it's way too hard to tell what you and Ethan have going on, so I figured I'd ask," she sighs, looking back down at her paper. "I know what you're thinking, but Scott and I weren't serious. We've been friends for years. And I may not like you, but I know you're a... decent person, so I encouraged him to go for it if you're single. Grabbed your number for him from Grayson--which was so not easy, by the way--so he's probably gonna text you soon."

"I'm not seeing Ethan. We're just friends," Alondra says, eyeing Phoenix suspiciously. "But I don't know if I wanna date anyone."

The girl shrugs her shoulders slightly. "I'm a little surprised, honestly."

Phoenix doesn't elaborate, and Alondra doesn't ask. She's had enough of their conversation now.

Picturing Phoenix approaching Grayson to get her number was a hilarious image though. He seems to hate her more than Ethan does, so she must've been really committed to getting it for Scott.

She gets out of class unscathed, heading straight to her next one. It was her last one of the day, and it luckily went by much faster.

That was partially due to her texting Marcy through the whole thing. They'd been back in school for a few days now, and that meant she'd been back home for a few days. Alondra missed her already--but it seemed Grayson might miss her even more.

They ended up sleeping together the night of the pool party, which wasn't surprising. Ethan teased her relentlessly when he caught her trying to sneak out.

Now it seemed they were avoiding long-distance by not acknowledging how they felt. But they were both upset about it.

As soon as the bell rings, Alondra rushes to Ethan's locker. She's leaning against it when he approaches.