Things We Never Said

Two

It's been about six months since Ethan started dating Krista but within those six months, he had changed so much. He was slowly starting to become someone I didn't know. Every day, I would wake up wondering which side of Ethan I would get. I would either get his usual, normal self or his over-protective robotic boyfriend that always defended Krista. 

That's all I could think about the next morning while lying in bed. My alarm clock hadn't gone off yet, so I had time to mull over things. When my alarm clock did go off, I got up and got ready as usual. I put a little more thought into my outfit today since I was ditching sixth period to go shopping with Nessa today. She didn't have a sixth period, so I was just going to leave with her after fifth period. 

Ethan picked me up as usual, but I didn't seem him for the entire rest of the school day. I was okay with that though. I was torn between telling him what happened yesterday or letting it go all together. 

I barely got any sleep last night because I was mulling over what to do the entire night. I was just glad I didn't have to deal with it today.

"Why are you so glum?" Nessa asked as she browsed through some clothes. 

"It's stress." 

"Lighten up. We're shopping. It's very therapeutic," she joked.

I chuckled. "You're right. It is." 

"Try this on," she said, holding up a crop top. 

I shook my head. "No, thank you." 

"Come on! It's just for fun. It's not like I want you to buy it." 

I bit my lip while debating on trying it on. "Fine," I said at last. I grabbed the shirt from her hand. Vanessa also tossed a pair of jeans at me. 

Nessa smirked. She motioned for me to go to the dressing room. I slowly walked towards the back of the store to the dressing rooms. I had asked Vanessa to help me find something to wear to the party tomorrow but now I was starting to regret asking her. 

I stared at myself and the mirror and was actually surprised with who was staring back at me. The girl in the mirror was definitely not me. Never in a million years would I wear something like this, but I had to admit, it looked nice. The floral crop top contrasted nicely with the high waisted jeans and showed just a hint of belly. 

"Come out and let me see!" Vanessa shouted from the other side of the door.

I peeped my head out. "I don't know," I said.

She rolled her eyes. "You can either come out here on your own or I can drag you out. I'm fine with either but I'd prefer the latter." She smiled brightly.

I stepped out of the dressing room. Vanessa almost squealed. And Vanessa never squeals. "You're buying it."

"I don't know." I started tugging at the shirt.

"I have a jacket that will go very well with it."

"Vanessa, I don't really like crop tops—"

"Oh, well! It looks great and you're wearing it to the party tomorrow."

I tried to protest but Vanessa shushed me and told me to change back into my clothes. That was the end of that. Long story short, I ended up buying the shirt and jeans and now Vanessa and I were sitting at Olive Garden waiting for our food.

"I can't believe you made me buy that."

"It looked good. You should be thanking me." 

I rolled my eyes. My phone went off in my pocket and I started to panic. The school had probably called my mom to let her know that I had skipped sixth period. 

I grudgingly pulled my phone out to check who it was. Relief washed over me as soon as I saw Ethan's name. I debated on opening the text. Vanessa was busy nibbling on a bread stick while checking a waiter out. 

Hey, where were you? I have your homework for Trig. 

I put my phone back in my pocket. I would just text him later. 

"Who was that?" Vanessa asked. 

I shrugged. "Just Ethan. He was telling me that he had my math homework. I'll text him later." 

Vanessa just nodded. She didn't say very much after that. Our waitress brought our food and we both ate in silence. It was kind of weird and awkward. Vanessa wasn't much of a talker, but she was talking way less than what she normally did. 

It wasn't until we were in her car that I had worked up the nerve to ask her what was wrong. She bit her lip and kept her attention on the road. I slightly turned in my seat to look out the window. 

"There was this boy that I liked a few years ago," Vanessa said out of the blue. "I never told anyone about him. He was— well I thought he was different from every other guy." She sighed. I waited patiently for her to continue on.

"I thought he was—" she paused once more, took a deep breath and said, "—everything. I thought he was the one. I put all my attention and heart into him. A few weeks later, he got together with someone else. The entire time I thought it was just me, but he had been seeing this other girl. And, well, he chose her."

My mouth fell open. Vanessa had never told me that she had dated someone before. I had never known about this boy in all the time that I had known her.

"I was heartbroken. I felt awful for months and didn't think I was going to get through it. Thank God we had gone to different schools, but it was still hard. And I knew he wasn't that great of a guy and no one liked him, but I still didn't stay away." Vanessa glanced at me. "Look, I love you. You're my best friend and I would hate to see you get your heart broken over a guy that's not worth it. There are so many better guys than Ethan."

"I'm not—"

"I know, I know! Ethan's your best friend and you can take care of yourself, but I want you to realize that just because you love him, doesn't me he has to be in your life. There are a lot of people that love each other but are not involved in each other’s life. Ethan is your best friend. That's all. I would hate for you to let him break your heart when he's not worth it."

I was a little angry. I was angry at the fact that Vanessa didn't trust me.

"Nessa, I'm going to be fine."

She didn't say anything, just glanced at me from the corner of her eye. "If you say so then I trust your judgement."

"Thanks."

It didn't take that much longer for Nessa to get to my house. I was glad to be out of that car. Nessa is my best friend and all but sometimes she was too stubborn and came off to strong. I know she was just looking out for me, but I was going to be fine. Ethan and I had been friends for a while so I was more than sure that we would be okay.

My mom's car was parked in the driveway and the lights were turned on in the house. I hoped she didn't get a call from my school saying that I had ditched my last period. I took a deep breath before entering the house. She was probably going to come running down the stairs, yelling at me.

Instead of hearing screaming, I heard laughing coming from the kitchen. I set my shopping bags down on the couch along with my purse before heading to the kitchen.

"Mom?" I called out.

In the kitchen was my mom and Ethan. My mom was wiping away tears of laughter. Ethan was sitting on a stool by the kitchen island.

"What are you guys laughing about?" I asked.

Mom shook her head. "We were talking about that time we all went on that trip to Sea World and you fell into the shrubs because you were too busy watching two birds fight each other—"

"Yeah, I don't think we should ever talk about that day."

Ethan smirked. "I think it's funny."

"Of course, you do. It didn't happen to you," I said, sitting down at the other stool.

"Are you kids hungry?" Mom asked, pulling leftovers from out of the fridge.

"I'm actually not that hungry," I said.

"Ethan?"

"I actually just came to stop by to drop something off for Rose. I'm supposed to be going to dinner with Krista tonight."

"How's that going?" Mom asked.

I felt uncomfortable and started tugging on the sleeves of my sweater. Mom didn't know how much of a b***h Krista was to me and I couldn't tell her. My mom would go crazy and probably try to kill Krista and Ethan would never talk to me again. She would probably not even let me talk to Ethan especially if she knew that Ethan just dismissed most of her actions towards me.

"It's good," he said.

"How long have you guys been together now?"

Ethan scratched the back of his head. "I'm not sure. She would actually kill me if she heard me say that." He chuckled.

Mom smiled. "Just don't let her hear you say that, and you'll be fine."

"I'm going to actually get ready for bed," I said getting up from the chair.

"It's only eight thirty on a Friday. Why so early?" Mom asked.

They both stared at me, waiting for an answer. I couldn't say that I hated Ethan's girlfriend and hated hearing them both talk about the one person that I despise.

"I still have to shower and get ready for bed. I have a long day tomorrow as well."

"Really?" Mom asked, not believing me.

"Yes. Ethan actually invited me to a party tomorrow night, so I want to do all my homework tomorrow morning."

Her eyebrows peak. "A party?"

"Yeah, um, I was actually going to tell you about that—"

"You're taking her?" Mom asked Ethan, ignoring me all together.

She had her Mom face on. Ethan got a little nervous. I could tell by the way he clenched and unclenched his fist.

"I am. I promise I'll bring her home in one piece."

She narrowed her eyes at him. "Fine. You better be home by one thirty. No later."

I nodded. I highly doubt I would be there past twelve.

"Did you still want that hair appointment for tomorrow? Bridget said you could stop by at noon if you want."

"I completely forgot about that."

"Cutting your hair?" Ethan asked.

"I might. I was just thinking about dying it."

He frowned. "I like your natural color."

"Oh?"

We both paused, staring at each other for a long moment. 

Ethan glanced at his watch. "I better get going. I left the papers in your room." Ethan gave me a kiss on the temple and to my mom, he said, "It was nice seeing you, Ramona," before leaving.

Mom was wiping down the counter when she said, "I could've sworn that boy liked you."

"What?" I asked in complete shock.

"Hm?" she said looking up.

"What did you say?"

"I thought he liked you?"

"Yeah. Why would you say that?"

She shrugged. "He spends all of his time with you."

"Not anymore," I said.

She sighed. "That kind of happens when someone finds a boyfriend or girlfriend."

"I know. I just—" I took a deep breath. "I'm just going to go to my room."

Mom nodded. "Okay, sweetie. Goodnight."

"Goodnight."