Teenage love

Chapter 8: Confrontations

Chapter 8

Ethan

The dinner at Abbi’s house is very nice. Brandon asks me a lot of questions and I try to answer them the best I can.

Mr. Norris seemed to like me but I'll not get my hopes up in advance, I want them to know that I am a decent guy.

"Ethan is the best at decorating cakes, they are so beautiful", I hear Abbi tell her mother and Mr. Norris.

"Mr. and Mrs. Norris, Abbi is exaggerating a bit," I say and feel my cheeks heat.

"Please Ethan, call us Marie and Buck," Mr. Norris chuckles. ”We are not very formal”.

Abbi looks askance at Mr. Buck but she smiles anyway.

"Okay," I say, smiling. "But as I said, Abbi is exaggerating a little".

"I'm not Ethan", Abbi says. ”They are magical".

I laugh but then quickly closes my lips again.

"Yes, Abbi has always been a little drama queen," Marie giggles.

"She sings very nicely, she’s going to..." I say, but I interrupt myself when I feel a sudden pain in my leg. Abbi kicked me on my shin. I look confused at her and she gives me a knowing look. She hasn't told them that she's going to be in the show and sing solo.

It seems like the three members of Abbi’s family now noticed that something is up because they are looking at us.

"What is Abbi going to do?" Bran asks and looks at me.

"Uh ..."

I feel like it's not my place to tell Abbi’s family about this, I thought they knew about the solo, who this is my mistake but I really thought they knew. I hear Abbi sigh and I feel disappointed in myself.

"I’m going to sing a solo in the show," she mumbles.

Brandon starts clapping his hands and Marie becomes tear-eyed, I don't think that Abbi sings out loud very often, to be honest, they seem very surprised by this.

I look down on my plate feeling ashamed, now they understand that Abbi tells me things before she tells her family. But no one mentions it so I lift my face and look at them instead.

"It was about time," Buck says. "You should have done that a long time ago Abbi."

"You know that I don't like to sing in front of people," Abbi hisses.

"Oh the world should hear my daughter sing," Buck says. ”You sing very beautifully”.

"Stepdaughter", Abbi corrects.

"And why did you agree to sing now?" Buck asks as if he hadn't heard what Abbi said.

Abbi’s cheeks heat up a bit, she's obviously ashamed over her motive.

"She figured that she's a sophomore so if not now, then when?" I say. "And the choir's leader has been nagging on Abbi for a solo ."

Abbi looks at me, I can see that she's grateful for my answer and just I smile at her.

I look around and notice that I'm not the only one who has finished eating. Everyone's plates as clean and there are no leftovers on any of the plates

"Thank you very much for dinner, Marie", I say. "It was very good."

"Thank you so much Ethan”, Marie smiles.

"Ethan I must say, I like you a lot and I must say that you are so much better than Mark," Buck suddenly says.

Abbi drops her water glass and it falls to the floor and breaks into a million pieces.

"Do you have to bring Mark up?" Abbi asks horrified.

I don't really understand why Abbi is so upset right now, there wasn't anything wrong with what Buck said. She is pretty sensitive about this Mark guy though. Buck looks like he regrets what he said when he realizes that Abbi is upset by the mention of Mark.

"Abbi I'm sorry, I know you don't like it when someone mentions him," he says.

Abbi nods and stands up. ”It's okay," she says and takes the broom lying in one corner and begins to sweep up the pieces of glass from the floor.

After what must have been several hours I stand up from my chair.

"I should probably get going now, it's really late and my parents wouldn't like it if I'm home too late," I say.

Abbi knows that my mother would be angry at me if I came home late and she knows that it's not good.

"I'll walk you to the door," Abbi says and stands up.

She walks ahead of me fast out of the kitchen. I remain in the kitchen and turn towards Abbi’s parents.

"Thank you so much for having me," I say. "It was great to meet you and really fun to meet you, Brandon."

Bran smiles at me before he jumps down from the chair and hugs me.

"Aww," I hear from behind me.

We turn around and see that Abbi has come back to the kitchen.

She looks at us with a big smile.

"Bye," I say to Buck and Marie.

"Bye Ethan," both of them said and I follow Abbi.

"That was the cutest thing I've ever seen in my entire life," Abbi says to me as we approach the hall.

I take her hand when she opens the door. She follows me out but stops when we get to my car.

"I wish I could jump in and join you," she whispers, leaning toward me.

I put my arms around her waist and pulls her to me. We stand together in a warm embrace for a short while.

"Do it," I whisper to her while my lips rest against her neck.

"I can't," she chuckles. "They would kill me."

Oh yeah.

Abbi pulls her hand at my chest up towards the neck and cheek, and finally to my head where she pulls her fingers through my hair.

I lift my lips and touch her bottom lip with my tongue and she let me. I press her harder against me when our lips intertwine and I don't ever want to let her go.

But in the end, I literally force myself to pull away from my beautiful girlfriend. Abbi looks disappointed and I smile at her.

"Bye Abbi," I say low.

"Bye Ethan," she says.

I kiss her on the cheek before I open the car door and jump into the car.

I start the engine and begin to slip away.

I see Abbi in the rearview mirror. She's smiling and waving at me.

*

"So Bran liked you?" Sky asks as we move towards the lockers.

"I think so, he hugged me before I left", I say.

"Good job Ethan," Sky says seriously. He's not mocking me, apparently, Bran means a whole lot to Sky. ”It's not very easy to get him to like someone," he says.

"Nope," I say a little absent.

I haven't forgotten about what happened last Saturday when Buck mentioned Mark. Why did Abbi get so upset?

"What's the matter with you?" Sky asks and opens his locker while he looks at me suspiciously.

"Nothing, I was just thinking, when Buck mentioned Mark ... Abbi became very upset and broke a water glass, do you know what was happening between them? She really looked like she had been slapped by Buck when he mentioned Mark," I say worried.

Sky gets a watchful look into their eyes.

"No, I really wish I did though," he said quietly. "Grace and Wendy knows, I have tried to persuade Grace to tell but she refuses, those two would never do that to Abbi."

"That's good, but I just wish I knew, so I could help her, you know," I say and take out my books.

"I know," Sky says thoughtfully. "Me too, Grace went home to Abbi every day with Wendy, she refused to leave her room for two weeks, you remember when she was away from school those two weeks at the beginning of the year?"

Well of course I remember. Two weeks went by before I saw her, of course, I remember it, what do you think?

"Yeah, I remember that," I say and close my locker.

"Well that was when it all ended between her and Mark", Sky says. "But I don't understand why she was so upset about it, they were only together for like two or three months or so I think, she wasn't that in love with him, you could see that at her, so I know that something happened."

"How do you know she didn't love him so much," I ask Sky.

"She would never kiss him in front of someone," Sky says. "But she looks like she wants to throw herself on you every time she looks at you." I look at him. "Calm down, I don't think that anyone else notices it," Sky says fast. "All the girls look at you in that, but she didn't though, not before you got together."

I smile to myself, but the smile must have crept up on my lips.

“Is that so?” I ask.

"Calm down Lover Boy," Sky says. "Wait until you're at home or something."

I roll my eyes and hit him on the arm. When we get to the entrance hall and we were about to take the stairs up to the classroom, we hear mocking voices so we turn around.

We see Abbi, she must have just come through the doors and met with Tiffany and her gang on the way in.

"Oh, are you alone now? Where do you have your little friends? What're their names again? Grace and Wendy? They don't seem to like you very much," Tiffany says mockingly. Abbi looks hurt at her. But she says nothing. She tries to get past them, but Tiffany's two closest companions Viv and Tracy stand in front of her. ”You're pretty pathetic you know that?" Tiffany asks. "You couldn't even keep a boyfriend for more than like what, three months, before Mark got tired of you."

I stretch my muscles and feel that I want to grab Tiffany and throw her across the entrance hall.

Abbi’s beautiful silvery-blue eyes turn black and she looks like she got a slap.

"You know nothing," Abbi says and suddenly sounds intimidating. "You know absolutely nothing."

Tiffany looks surprised by Abbi’s tone of voice. But then looks mockingly again. Everyone in the entrance hall stops and looks at them.

"Oh, I don't need to," Tiffany says with a false smile. "When you say that, you acknowledge it. You must have been very boring because he got tired of you so fast, didn't you give him anything?"

I take a step forward but Sky grabs my arm. I look at him and he shakes his head as if to say, "Let her do this herself." But it must be painful for him. “She has to”.

Grace and Wendy find their way to us, they start to walk past us but I take hold of Wendy, and Sky grabs Grace. He put his arms around her. They start to protest. They have tears in their eyes. They don't want Abbi to suffer like this. It's also about the fact that Tiffany brought Mark up, and they know what happened between them.

Wendy tries to get out of my grip but I don't let go of her wrists.

"You know nothing," Abbi spits, she’s not really acknowledging the fact that half the school has gathered around them.

"Yes, you've said that already," Tiffany says mockingly.

Tracy snatches Abbi’s bag from her.

"Maybe there's a diary here," she says mean and opens the bag.

There is, Abbi, reveals that by shouting. She grabs the bag and snatches it before Tracy can pick up anything. Abbi is much stronger than her.

I feel so bad about just standing here when she needs us. I look at the other three and see the same painful look on their faces that must be on my own.

"Your friends don't think you are worth helping," Tiffany says.

"No they don't, they know I can take care of myself, that's all," Abbi says casually.

I feel proud of Abbi. Tiffany and her gang laugh in her face.

"Yes, of course, and what was that a few weeks ago? You thought that Ethan Scott is your friend?" I strain my jaws and narrow my eyes. “If you think that Ethan is your friend, you should forget about that," Tiffany continues. "Who by the way would want to be friends with you? You are so insecure, ugly, and useless."

And that’s when it happens. The shortcoming of Abigail Thompson. I see her hand raise and she throws a slap on Tiffany’s cheek with all the strength she could muster.

"The reason you expose people for this is that you are so fricking insecure" Abbi mills. "But I’m telling you now to not tell me who my friends are or are not, I’m not going to tolerate your bullying, not anymore, and you don't know s**t about me or about my friends, I have four friends and they are worth a thousand times more than all your fake followers, and you know why? Because they actually care". Tiffany looks like she wants to cry, but she doesn't. “And you know nothing about what happened between me and Mark, and I promise you that you will never know," Abbi continues. “Over my dead body”.

Tiffany steps closer to Abbi. They are both with narrowed eyes, so close that their noses almost touch each other.

"That can be arranged," she says.

"Good luck," Abbi sputters. "I don't know what is going on inside the brain you once had, but you cared about people at one time at the time you were my best friend, but you know what, that person ceased to exist several years ago, before I'd do anything for you, but now I would be the first one to laugh at your funeral".

And with that Abbi storms away from Tiffany. She walks past us and rushes up the stairs.

Grace and Wendy rush after her.

"Abbi," I hear Grace shout after her.

I see that Tiffany looks struck, she’s clearly affected by what Abbi told her. But I don't care, I walk with everyone else who starts to move up the stairs along with Sky.

"Finally," Sky says to me. "I have waited too long for that smackdown”.

"Yeah Abbi did good," I agree.

"You must have given her the courage to stand up for herself," Sky smiles.

I shake my head. “No, she has always had the courage within herself," I say.

"But you indeed got me to develop it," I hear a voice behind me say.

We turn around. It's Abbi with two proud friends behind her.

"What?" I ask in surprise.

"Just what I said," Abbi says and smiles.

"Were you serious when you said that you would laugh at her funeral?" Sky asks smiling.

"Of course not, and she knows that too, she knows me too well," Abbi says. "I just wanted to be mean to her."

"Rightly so," Grace says, and put an arm around Abbi's shoulders.

The rest of the day is quite peaceful. People seem to have forgotten that Abbi gave Tiffany a slap which Abbi seems to be very grateful for.

However, the end of the day is the end of peace.

Sky and I are waiting for the girls besides their lockers while they gather their stuff. Suddenly Mark approach. Abbi becomes stiff.

"Hey," he says to all of us before he turns to Abbi. "Can I talk to you ... alone?"

"No," Abbi says short.

"Please?"

"No".

"Abbi ..."

"What?"

"Please?"

"Okay! Just stops nagging," Abbi says and follow Mark, they keep a distance from us, so we can't hear what they say. But we can see them at all times.

"This isn't good," Grace says anxiously.

"No, it really isn't," Wendy says.

"Why?" Sky asks. "What happened between them?"

"Beware Skyward, you can hurt yourself if you're so curious all the time," Wendy says, suddenly threatening.

"I'm sorry," Sky says quietly. "But she's one of my best friends, I was friends with her before you girls were, of course, I'm worried."

"We know Sky, but this is something you shouldn't know about," Grace says softly. I'm about to say that I should know because I'm Abbi’s boyfriend but Grace gets there before. ”No Ethan, particular not you."

Particular not me? And what does that mean? We move closer so we can hear what they say but they don't seem to see us at the moment.

Abbi’s eyes are filled with loathing and fear. But her voice is hard and cold.

"Please take me back," we hear Mark beg.

"No".

"Please, Abbi."

"NO Mark!"

"Abbi please forgive me, it was not on purpose," Mark says.

Grace and Wendy snort.

"Yes, it was," Abbi says.

"I'm a better person now, I promise, give me another chance," Mark says.

"No".

"Please."

"No".

"Please."

"Are you going to keep saying that all afternoon or what?"

"If I have to, yes”.

"Okay, you can keep on saying it then," Abbi says and now she raised her voice.

People have stopped and stood and look at Abbi and Mark. Most people look happy, this is the second time in a day that Abbi is in a fight and she has never fought with someone at school before. Not ever. I see Tiffany and her gang stand and watch, but Abbi does not seem to notice them, she has all her attention directed to Mark. Why do people have to be so nosy?

"Huh?" Mark asks.

"You may stand and say that I don't care," Abbi says. "I'm not taking you back."

"Please?"

"No, what the hell do you not understand?" Abbi is now talking so loud that she is about to scream. "I. Am. Not. Taking. You. Back".

"Abbi forgive me ..."

"Save your breath Mark," Abbi says.

"But Abbi ..."

Now Abbi lowers her voice. It's just me,

Sky, Wendy, and Grace who can hear what she says because we are so close, even though Abbi and Mark don't even notice any of the commotions in the hallway and that we are so close to them.

"Mark, you r***d me and you want me to take you back?" She asks angrily.

What the actual f**k? This can't be true. What is Abbi saying? Mark is not denying this, so it has to be true. Oh no, please no. Not Abbi.

"I'm a better person now Abbi," Mark says.

I look at Wendy and Grace, they look at me and Sky with tears in their eyes, which means it's true. I look at Sky. He's pale in his face. My poor Abbi. I feel like my heart is broken.

"No you're not," Abbi says.

Mark grabs Abbi and kisses her. Abbi tries to push him away but he is too strong for her. Everything turns red for me and Sky.

We take a few steps forward and pull Mark away from Abbi and press him up against the wall.

"We heard everything Mark, you’re never touching her ever again," Sky screams in Mark’s face.

"Who decides that?" Mark asks.

"We do," I scream at him. "You're not going anywhere near her, you understand? We heard what you did to her, be glad that the whole school didn't hear, and be glad that Sky and I won't kill you at the spot!”

And that's when he noticed everyone standing and staring and becomes pale in the face.

"Be glad that I don't broadcast the whole school with what you did to her," Abbi screams.

I knee Mark in the stomach before we let go of him. I grab Abbi's arm and drag her protectively me and out of school.

Sky, Wendy, and Grace follow us. I continue out on the parking lot and open the door to the passenger seat and push Abbi inside.

The other sits in the back seat and I start the engine.

"Why didn't you say anything?" I ask Abbi angry.

"Because it wasn't important," Abbi says. "He didn't come very far, Wendy and Grace came into the room before he could do too much."

"It doesn't matter Abbi, he r***s you!" Sky says. "After all our years of friendship, you could have told me, and Ethan because he's your boyfriend, we are two guys who care about you very much, you know."

"I know, I know," Abbi says with tears in her eyes but she isn't crying.

"Abbi they're right," Grace says and takes Abbi’s hand between our seats.

"Okay then," Abbi said. "But it's not really important."

Now I had enough. I drive to the side of the road and put on both the winkers.

"Abbi, of course, it's important," I say. "You're the most important person in my life, everything is important, it's like Sky said, I'm your boyfriend, and you can trust me."

Then the tears start flowing down from her beautiful gray eyes.

"I know," she whispers. "I never felt secure in my relationship with Mark, I didn't want to be with him really but he had been nagging so much and Wendy wanted me so much to have a boyfriend and hooked us up so I thought I would give him a chance you know".

"I didn't think he would do that to you", Wendy says desperately.

"I know Wendy I know," Abbi says, keeps talking. "It worked great in the beginning and all, he was kind and sweet, he bought me flowers and stuff, but I kissed him just sometimes, I don't know, I thought his kisses were so aggressive but I figured it wasn't his fault. But then came that day, he had been nagging a little before, that he wanted us to do it, but I didn't want to, not with him, and that day he asked me again and I said no, we were by ourselves at my house and he ... forced me down on the bed and started ... but you know how it is, he r***d me, but Wendy and Grace came in after a few minutes so he didn't get far".

"Please tell me that the i***t had put on a condom," Sky says anxiously.

"Yes Skyward, he had," Abbi says.

”I should kill him”, I say

Abbi takes my hand. ”But it doesn't matter Ethan," she says. "But anyhow, after that my self-esteem was really blown away and I thought everything was hopeless. Until one day, a certain boy with blond hair and blue eyes staring into my soul became my chemistry partner, then I started to have hope again, but I still felt bad until one day in the kitchen of the bakery happened".

I sigh and smile at her. Suddenly I completely forget that the others are sitting in the back seat.

"Abbi don't keep secrets from me like that again," I say. "If I'm able to help you I need to know, you're the most important person to me, never forget it."

"Neither should you," Abbi whispers and leans forward towards me.

I kiss her softly.

Someone clears his throat. Sky.

"You can drive Ethan," Sky says.

I start the engine again.

"You two are the cutest thing I have ever seen in my whole life," Wendt says and sighs.

While I drive, I feel how much I really love Abigail Thompson.