lemonade | ethan

forty six

i shift uncomfortably in my seat as principal huffman stared each and every one of us down. we have been sitting here for at least three minutes without him saying anything. it was making me nervous.

raymond, sonny, ethan and i sat in a row of chairs. in front of us, sat clayton and the jock raymond punched earlier, who i've learned is named isaiah. we sit in front of our principals desk.

he sighed, rubbing his eyes in frustration. "so... anyone want to tell me what the hell happened in that cafeteria?" he finally says after a while. he looks at isaiah who holds an ice pack over his bloody nose.

"don't look at me. i'm the one who got punched." he says, holding up his free hand in defense.

i mentally rolled my eyes. "people get punched for a reason." i say without thinking.

principal huffman clears his throat. "devon." he says sternly. i shut myself up, so frustrated that isaiah was acting like the victim.

as principal huffman continues to talk about unnecessary and pointless things, i find myself staring out his office window and drifting further away from his voice. my leg bounced nervously and i couldn't stop fidgeting with my fingers.

this is all my fault. i should've told clayton to let things fall into place or something. i don't know. confessing your feelings to someone doesn't always turn out right. i got lucky with ethan.

this is all my fault. this is all my fault. this is all my fault.

i feel a warm hand placed on mine and instantly, my hands stop moving and my heart rate slows down. i guess he had noticed how anxious i was. ethan slides his fingers to intertwine with mine, causing a lovely feeling of what people call 'butterflies'.

i took a deep breath, tuning myself into what principal huffman was saying once more. "two weeks of detention for all of you starting today after school. you will gather your things and meet at the library. clayton... go get cleaned up, will you?" principal huffman says. "you're dismissed."

eventually, we left the office and continued with our day normally. but even though it all looked normal on the outside, i was constantly thinking about it. about the fight, about the words isaiah said, about how sonny is doing right now.

when the last bell rung, i took my time gathering my things, for i was not excited to be in detention. this
was the first time i had ever done something like this in school. talking behind someone's back didn't earn me detention. pouring fruit punch all over someone in front of the entire school does.

i still can't believe i would do that to clayton. i just wasn't thinking. i was just so angry.

i opened the door to the library after finding myself wandering the halls for a good five minutes. everyone was here already. i must've spaced out and avoided coming here much more than i anticipated.

just as i sat down, mr kim bursts through the double doors. he gasps. "devon wu? never thought i would see you in detention!" he sarcastically says.

i let out a sarcastic chuckle. "haha. funny, mr kim."

mr kim smiles before walking up to the desk in front of us all. "you guys didn't really think you'd just be sitting here for detention, did you?" he asks. "get your butts up! nobody is leaving the library until each and every book is dusted."

i hear raymond groan, throwing his head back. "i hate cleaning." he mutters.

about forty five minutes into cleaning and i glance at the desk mr kim is sitting at to see he was dead asleep causing me to snicker.

we'd all been quiet, not causing commotion like we did in the cafeteria. i pull a book from the shelve, seeing clayton on the other side. he catches me staring at him and even though i'm embarrassed to get caught, i don't break our eye contact.

"what?" he whispers.

i sighed. "why'd you do it?" i asked, curiously.

he faked a chuckle, shaking his head as he placed a book back on the shelve. "you really don't know?"

"i wouldn't ask if i didn't already know." i told him.

clayton rolled his eyes. "sonny outed me to ethan." he explains. "he told him everything about new york. i never thought he would."

"what happened in new york?" i asked.

he shakes his head. "it doesn't matter now."

i sighed. "well, i'm sorry he did that." i truly didn't know what to say.

"i don't care anymore." he shrugs, averting his eyes. he clearly did care. he was just way too stubborn to show he was.

"clayton." he looks up from the book in his hands. "you should talk to him." i nodded my head. "you both should try understanding one another instead of pretending to hate each other because i know you don't."

"i never said i hated him." clayton simply replies, still being stubborn and avoiding everything else i say.

i scoff. "it sure looked like it." i replied. "just... please, clayton. i love you both. i don't want to lose either of you."

he stays silent, staring at his shoes before setting the book back up on the shelve and walking away from me. i sighed, shutting my eyes. this whole thing made me stressed. i hate to see people i love in bad terms.

"you okay?" ethan's comforting hand rests on my lower back, easing me of my worries.

i simply nod before burying my head in his chest. instantly, he pulls me close, hugging me tight.

i don't say anything else.

this is enough.

END OF CHAPTER FORTY SIX

uhhh i just watched fruits basket for the first time in like 10 years. i LOVE IT !!!! ahh

anyway, i'm thinking of lots of new books which is rlly bad because i still have so much work to do with other books :((