cornelia street | ethma

17

Emma
Flashback to Senior Year

"Come on, Em! It's not that cold!" Ethan called, sprinting back to the water. I couldn't help but laugh at my best friend as he ran towards the ocean.

It was midnight, and the only light was the moon shining and reflecting off of the water, and the lights from some of the beach houses nearby.

The next thing I knew, I was thrown over Ethan's shoulder, and he was running back towards the water.

"Ethan!" I said, giggling. We weren't drunk, but we were kind of tipsy. Lena and Chase were back at the beach house we rented for the weekend doing who knows what.

It was right before our graduation, and the four of us decided to treat ourselves to a trip to Huntington Beach. It was our present to ourselves for surviving college.

Suddenly I felt the ocean all around me—Ethan had thrown me in.

I came back up to the surface, and Ethan's laugh rang through the air.

"Damn it, Ethan!" I said. splashing water towards him.

"What?" He giggled. It was the sky was pitch black, but somehow Ethan's eyes and smile were still bright and sparkly.

"I'm soaked now."

"In more ways than one, I'll bet." he teased, flashing his goofy grin at me again.

"Shut up. The water's cold."

Ethan swam towards me, lifting me up so that my legs wrapped around his torso. He had one hand resting on the small of my back, and his other hand holding the bottom of my thigh. "Warm now?" He asked, his eyes challenging mine.

I smiled, slightly biting my bottom lip. "Maybe." 

With the way he was holding me, trust me. I was warm.

His eyes caught mine again, and I didn't know what it was, but there was something about the moment. The color in his eyes, the moonlight on the water. Our arms around each other. We stayed there looking into each other's eyes, our smiles slowly fading away, and the moment becoming serious.

For the life of me, I can't remember who leaned in first, But his soft lips touched mine, sending a shiver throughout my body. 

The kiss deepened, my hands running through his hair, and his tongue slowly caressing mine. This was what I'd been wanting for a while. We wanted each other, or at least I felt like we did. Senior year was a confusing time for both Ethan and I because we didn't know what each other actually wanted, and we were both too nervous to speak up.

I loved this moment. Ethan and I were the only ones in the water, and he tasted like cheap tequila and buffalo wings that we ate for dinner that night. 

I loved feeling his hands on my body as we kissed, and I loved playing with his hair. I loved him.

We pulled away for air, my forehead against his. I wanted so badly to tell him how I felt, and looking back I should've. 

We ended up going back to the beach house and saying goodnight before parting our separate ways to our rooms.

I took a long hot shower and thought about my friendship with Ethan, and how he easily became the most important person in my life over the last year. I wanted it to become something more, but now I think maybe it wasn't the right timing for us. Maybe we wouldn't be as happy as we are right now.  

What's important is that we're happy together now. If Ethan and I would've gotten together back then, I don't know where we'd be at right now. Maybe we wouldn't be having a baby. Maybe our timeline wouldn't be different. Maybe we both needed to grow a little bit more before we could be together.