5When we got in the car, my hands were shaking like crazy. Why was I so tense? I mean, it's just Ethan. Hot, sexy, charming Ethan… No, Ria stop! This was why I shouldn't have come. I was contemplating unlocking the door and jumping out to escape when Ethan interrupted my train of thought.
"So, hamburgers are okay?" He asked, glancing towards my direction while keeping a steady hand on the wheel.
"Y-yeah." I stammered and looked down at my hands in my lap.
We approached a stoplight, and I felt a pair of eyes staring at me. I slowly lifted my head and twisted my head to the side to see Ethan staring at me with concern. I flushed a bright red and promptly dropped my head once more.
"Hey, are you alright?" Ethan asked and put his hand on my shoulder.
I gulped and felt my heart beating out of my chest. "I'm f-fine. Just nervous, that's all…" I muttered the last part, but he was still able to hear me.
"Nervous about what?"
"Oh, you know… Getting robbed by a hobo, run over by a pack of wolves, kidnapped by a clown serial killer… Just the ordinary…"
I heard Ethan start to chuckle, and I felt my face flush again. His hand grabbed mine and gave it a light squeeze.
"I would never let anyone hurt you, Ria." I heard him say while staring at my hand where his hand still lay.
I looked up and saw him smiling at me. I gave him a light smile, and we locked eyes with each other. We were having these 'moments' a lot recently. What did they mean? Did it mean Ethan could possibly feel the same way I did? No… that would be preposterous. It took me awhile to realize we arrived at our destination, and I tore my eyes away from him. My hands found the unlock button, and I very elegantly clambered out of the car. Just kidding! I jumped out so fast that a second later, I found myself sprawled out on top of the asphalt.
"Oof." I muttered when my face met the ground.
"Ria! Ria, are you okay?" Ethan yelled, jogging around the hood of the car. He kneeled in front of me and held out his hand to help me up.
I ignored his offering and gradually pushed myself off the ground. Great. My shirt now had black asphalt dust on it. This day was just getting better and better.
"Here," Ethan said, shoving his arms out of his hoodie, "take this."
I shook my head. "No, no. I'm fine, really."
He ignored me anyways and handed me the jacket. I sighed and unwillingly threw on his hoodie. Mm. It smelled just like Ethan. "Thanks."
"It's fine. That was some fall you took." Ethan chuckled. He stood up, and I mimicked his action. We began walking side by side.
"Yeah, I'm not exactly the most graceful person in the whole world…" I murmured, and I felt my face getting hot again. God, what was it with the blushing today?
Ethan chuckled. "Well, at least I know you're not completely perfect."
My head snapped up. Did he... Did he just say what I think he said? He thought I was perfect? No, I must have been hallucinating. I probably received a concussion from that fall.
I let out a laugh and said, "Sorry, I must have been hearing things. What did you say?"
Ethan turned his head to me with a serious expression. "You heard what I said."
My face flushed once more, and I whispered, "You really thought I was perfect?"
"Yeah, I did. Ever since I met you, I have been trying to figure out what your flaws were." Ethan explained and let out a soft chuckle.
We approached the restaurant after a lengthy walk through the parking lot. Why did we park so far away? We entered the small restaurant, with Ethan holding out the door for me and an elderly couple trailing behind us. Wow, he sure was the gentleman. He thought I was perfect? He's Mr. Sweet-Charming-Funny-Forgiving-Sexy Ethan for goodness sake!
The waft of hamburger meat and fries greeted me as I stepped foot into the lively restaurant. The floors were decked out in a black and white checkered pattern, and red booths were lined up along the walls. Waitresses dressed up in white dresses, pink aprons, and paper hats welcomed customers as they walked in. The restaurant had a very retro feel, and in the corner sat a bulky jukebox which a group of teenage boys were messing around with.
After we settled into a booth and ordered our hamburgers, I started fidgeting again. I'm not that bad of a conversationalist, and if I were with anybody else, I would be chatting up a storm. But with Ethan… It was different. I always felt like I was being judged by him. If I made one wrong move, he might think of me differently, become disgusted by me, and dump my mom. As much as I wanted my mother and him to breakup (that sounds horrible saying it out loud), I knew if they did, I would never see him again. Why would he continue to be around me if he and my mom were no longer together? Would he want to be around me after that? Was there a possible chance that he liked being around me and not just 'hanging out' with me to spend some bonding time with his future stepdaughter?
Ethan cleared his throat, startling me from my thoughts. "So, do you want to know why I thought you were perfect?"
A part of me was afraid of hearing what he had to say, but I nodded my head anyways.
He flashed me a smile and began listing out the traits on his fingers. "Well, first off, you are super sweet and polite, unlike your sister. Second, you are very funny. Third, I can tell you care about your mother a lot. Fourth, from what Diane says, you are exceedingly bright. And lastly," Ethan paused for a moment and settled his gaze on my face, "you are extremely beautiful."
No. No, no, no, no, no. He did not just say that. I was sure I was hallucinating at this point. Ethan thought I was beautiful? No one had ever called me beautiful before! I mean sure, my mom and my friends have, but come on, they are obligated to say that! It's not like I ever believed them anyway.
Before I could mutter out a response, our food came, and I shoveled the food in my mouth like my life depended on it. Well, your life does depend on food. But I was mostly shoving food into my mouth to avoid any more conversation. Sadly, that wasn't Ethan's plan.
Ethan raised an eyebrow and said, "Wow. You must be really hungry."
I was midway of shoving a handful of fries in my already stuffed mouth. At that point, I realized he probably thought I was a fat pig. I was making an even bigger fool of myself, if that was even possible. Well, at least, there's a chance that Ethan won't think of me as being beautiful anymore. But did I not want him to think of me as being… beautiful? Was he just saying that to fill in the role of being my new 'father?' Oh god, Ethan being my father. I've always pushed that thought away from my mind.
Suddenly, I felt sick. Horribly, horribly sick. I started gagging, and Ethan looked up at me with worried eyes.
"You okay?" He asked.
"Yes, yes I'm fi-"
And then, my worst nightmare happened. The puke launched out of my mouth like a cannonball and headed straight towards Ethan's startled face.
"Ethan… I'm so sorry." I blubbered, tears escaping from my eyes.
The busboys were busy wiping up the mess I made, while shooting me evil glares when Ethan arrived back from the bathroom. His T-shirt had a stain from my puke which made me begin to sob even harder. First, I fired a vase at his head, and then, I puked on him. Words cannot even express how horrible I felt.
Ethan managed to flash me his signature smile and sat down across from me when the busboys left. "Hey, it's all good. I didn't like this shirt much anyways."
I cracked him a tiny smile, but it faded when I began sobbing even harder. An arm reached around my shoulder, and I glanced to my right to see Ethan, who was giving me a sympathetic smile.
"It hurts me to see you cry, you know." He murmured and gently brushed my hair with his fingers.
"You're… you're not mad?" I managed to choke out.
"Do I look mad?" Ethan asked, and I glanced up at his face to see him giving me a toothy grin.
I sighed and wiped my face with the back of my hand. "No, I guess not. It's just… I've caused you so much trouble in the past week. First, I threw a vase at you and then, I puked on you. You must think I'm the worst soon to be stepdaughter ever…"
"Hey, no one can be worse than Carlotta." Ethan said and winked. I giggled and nodded my head in agreement. "And I think you're going to be an amazing stepdaughter."
I gazed up at Ethan's warm face, and our faces were just inches apart from each other. My breath caught in my throat, and I said breathlessly, "You think so?"
His eyes searched my face, and I was surprised to see them land on my lips. "I know so."
At that moment, butterflies were swarming around in my stomach like no tomorrow. I even felt like I was about to puke again. We sat there for awhile in that position, with him sitting awfully close to me, his arm around me, and our faces just inches apart. My body froze when I heard a group of giggly boys behind me. It took me a minute to realize Ethan and I were in public, and I jumped out from under his grasp, startling him. A mixture of shock and disappointment (did I see that right?) appeared on Ethan's face.
I glanced behind me for a second and did a double take when I spotted an unfamiliar black haired, blue-eyed boy, who was showing a group of guys something on his phone. Ace. He looked up from his phone, and we locked eyes with each other. A smirk appeared on his smug face, and he started snickering while simultaneously shaking his head.
I climbed over Ethan and hopped out of the booth without another word.
"Hey, where are you going?" He asked, cocking his head to the side in confusion.
"I'll be just a minute." I yelled over my shoulder, stomping over to the group of guys who I recognized all went to my school and hung out with Ace all the time.
"Well, well, well. Look do we have here." Ace said, and the group of guys all began laughing their heads off once more.
Did I have something on my face? What were they all laughing about? I suddenly felt self conscious and crossed my arms across my chest.
"What's so funny?" I asked, narrowing my eyes at the scumbag.
Ace threw his head back and began cackling as if what I said were the most amusing thing in the whole world.
"What. Is. So. Funny." I repeated even louder, grinding my teeth.
"Here, why don't you see for yourself?" Ace smiled and handed me his phone.
I snatched the phone away from him, and on the screen was a video. I pressed play and saw the back of a girl's head sitting with an older looking guy. She had dark brown hair, and the guy had a lighter shade of brown hair. I gasped. It was me and Ethan! Oh no. It was a video of me throwing up on Ethan! Then, my jaw dropped when the disgusting scene played in front of me, and I felt my face flushing.
Ace snatched his phone back and shook his head with a grin on his face.
"Delete it right now!" I whined, reaching for the phone, but he effortlessly moved his hand away.
"And why in the world would I do that?" He said, raising an eyebrow.
"Because... Because…" I said, searching my head for an answer.
He shook his head once more, letting his hair fall over his eyes. Any other girl would think he looked cute like that, but I wasn't any other girl.
"This is classic. I have to send this to everyone. Right guys?" His friends all nodded in agreement and smirked at me. Stupid jocks.
"Ace, please." I murmured. Tears began swelling up in my eyes.
For a second I thought I saw a look of sympathy on Ace's face, but that look quickly disappeared. He rolled his eyes and threw his phone at me.
"Whatever. You can barely see anything in the video anyway." Ace muttered and turned around to talk to his buddies.
I sighed in relief. I took the chance to delete the video and also do some snooping while he still had his back turned to me. I scrolled through his text messages which were mostly from his stupid jock buddies, and then my eyes widened when I came across a text from his friend, John, that read, "You really like her?" Jackpot. I opened up the conversation, but before I could read through it, Ace snatched the phone away.
"What the hell are you doing?" He asked, looking down at his phone, and a blush crept up on his cheeks. "Did you read any of this?"
"Maybe. Maybe not." I said, a smile tugging on my lips. Oh, how I wished I could've snapped a picture of Ace's tomato red face.
"I gave you the phone to delete the video, not to go through my phone!" He snapped, looking down at me. Ace towered over me, which intimidated me a little since I was only 5'3, and he was 5'11.
I shrugged. "You didn't make that clear enough."
"I'll get you back for this." He fumed, clenching and unclenching his fists.
"Of course you will." I said, strolling back to my table. Ethan had been watching the exchange with raised eyebrows.
"Everything okay?" He asked as I slid in the seat across from him.
I nodded my head and grabbed my bag. "Can we just go home now?"
Ethan nodded his head and climbed out of his seat. As we walked past Ace and his group, we both narrowed our eyes at each other, having an intense stare down. My eyes didn't leave his face until, bam! I smacked right into the wall. Of course this would happen to me.
"Ria!" Ethan yelped, scrambling over to me.
I rubbed my throbbing nose and heard an explosion of laughter from behind me. My head whipped around, and Ace was hunched over, clenching his stomach from laughing so hard. My cheeks flushed red, and I quickly fast walked out the doors.
Right before I was able to escape out the exit, I heard Ace yell, "Nice going Ria!"
I detested Ace Love.
I sighed and plopped onto my welcoming bed after arriving home. It sure was a long day. I grasped a pillow and smothered my face with it before screaming into it as loud as I could manage. This was my way of letting out all of the anger and stress inside of me. Breathe, Ria. Just breathe. I slowly inhaled and exhaled, doing this technique a few more times. Ace really got me fired up. I don't know what it was about that guy. He was egoistical, arrogant, and bigheaded. He always thought he was better than me. As if! I couldn't help but wonder who he liked though. Who knew that emotionless, arrogant Ace could be capable of having feelings for someone? It's not like I cared anyways.
Knock. Knock. Knock.
I sighed. I really was not in the mood for any visitors.
"Come in."
The door crept open, and my mom popped her head in. Her platinum blonde hair was pulled up in a sleek topknot, and her face was glowing, most likely from her trip to the spa today. It always puzzled me how my mother and Carlotta looked so drastically different from me. They were the bronzed beauties, possessing beautiful tanned skin, luscious blonde hair, and sparkling sapphire eyes. I, on the other hand, possessed stringy brown hair, pale skin, and depressing grey eyes. My mother said I received my birth father's genes, and Carlotta got my mom's. I pushed away the thought of my birth father and sat up, crossing my legs underneath my body.
"What's up?" I asked, beckoning her in.
She quietly closed the door and positioned herself near my vanity, admiring the pictures of me and my friends attached to the mirror.
"So, Ethan told me what happened today."
I gulped and stared down at my hands. "Oh."
My mother whirled around to face me, and I expected to see her 'scolding face,' but I was surprised to see her flash a smile. She wandered over towards my bed and took a seat next to me.
"I have to admit, when Ethan told me, I thought it was hilarious." She said, her eyes glowing with sincerity.
"Gee, thanks. I'm glad me vomiting on your fiancé could put you in a good mood. I'll be sure to take a note of that next time you're angry with me."
She let out a soft chuckle and laid a comforting hand on mine. I glanced at her warily. We normally didn't have these mother-daughter moments, and it was kind of freaking me out. But I didn't say anything anyway, fearing that I would ruin the moment.
"I'm just so glad that you and Ethan are getting along." My mother said and sighed. "I know how hard it is for you to let people in."
I stayed quiet and pretended to be interested in picking at a loose seam in my pillow.
My mom continued. "I guess you got that from me. Ethan's the first man in years to really make me feel… safe. I mean ever since your father-"
I held up a hand to refrain my mom from continuing. "Mom, I thought we agreed to not mention him."
She cracked me a smile and sighed. "I know. I'm sorry dear. But you know what I mean right? Ethan is just so… Amazing. Kind, charming, funny, and great in bed…"
I held up my hand again and scrunched up my face. "Mom, please. I really do not want to hear about you and Ethan's sex life. My god."
I could feel anger bubbling up inside of me and snatched my hand away from under my mom's.
"Okay, okay. I won't talk about it." My mom said.
"So why exactly are you here?" I asked sharply. I didn't mean to be so harsh, but it was too late to take it back.
Her face fell, and I instantly felt regret.
"So I can't even have a simple conversation with my daughter anymore?" My mom whispered, sadness drenching her voice.
I knew that I should've felt bad, but in all honesty, I didn't. When was the last time she even bothered to 'talk?' All she's been doing lately was spending time with Ethan and planning wedding crap. Yeah, I know I sound like a jealous hag right now, and I should be happy for her. But when was the last time she even bothered to spend some time with me or Carlotta? Carlotta obviously didn't care about my mom's absence since she prances off doing who knows what most of the time and was barely at the house.
I decided to take the easy way out and apologized. "I'm sorry, Mom. I had a really bad day, and I just channeled all of my anger on you. I really do appreciate you coming in here to talk to me."
She gave me a small smile, but I could tell she was still hurt from my tone of voice I used with her. "It's alright, sweety." My mom stood up and began sauntering towards the door, but then whirled around. "Ethan and I are going out tonight and won't be back for awhile, so you have the house to yourself tonight."
"Where's Carlotta?" I questioned, although I knew the answer already.
"She told me she was with her friends. Maybe you can call Jeremy or Kaylee or your other friends and ask them if they wanted to come over to keep you company?"
"Yeah, so I don't look like a social recluse and spend my Friday night alone unlike Carlotta?" I said and rolled my eyes.
"Oh, I didn't mean it like that honey." She said and sighed.
"Whatever. I'll call them to see if they have any plans." I muttered, even though all I wanted was to be alone.
My mom gave me a tiny smile and softly shut the door closed behind her.
I fell back onto my bed and gazed at the ceiling for what felt like an eternity. Finally, I grabbed my pillow and screamed all of my anger out before reaching for my cell phone to call up Kaylee.
"Hello?" Kaylee's voice chirped on the other end of the line.
"Hey, it's me."
"Ria! What's up?"
"Well, my mom and Ethan are going out, and I didn't want to be alone on a Friday night. Do you have any plans?"
"I was just going to go out with Nate and his friends! Want to come?"
"I thought you two broke up?"
"Well, now we're back on! So you coming or not, sista?"
I sighed. I wasn't really used to hanging with Nate and his 'crowd' which consisted of jocks, cheerleaders, and more jocks. Kaylee fitted right in because she was a cheerleader herself, but I always felt awkward when she dragged me along to hang with that crowd since I was not a jock or cheerleader myself.
But since I didn't want to sound like a hermit, I said, "Sure, why not."