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But we’ve been dating for two months now, and I can’t believe how hard and fast I’ve fallen for him. And with every loaded look, every sweet kiss, every tender inside joke, I know he’s fallen just as hard for me. We’re going into our senior year, and I can already see our lives together—walking to class hand in hand, dancing at our senior prom... Ethan will go to culinary school in Denver, and I’ll study either tourism or veterinary medicine, hopefully close by. Regardless of where we go to school though, it won’t keep us apart.
Ethan is like an arm to me. A sweet, handsome, totally loveable arm.
Now he shifts, still facing the wall. “I don’t hear anything. You getting changed?”
My throat is a little thick and I clear it before I answer, hoping I sound normal. “Almost ready.”
Ugh. So much for normal. My voice sounded like when I watched The Notebook (AKA when the deluge lasted for hours).
As expected, Ethan turns to face me, concern etched across his features. He strides towards me. “Teeny, you okay?”
I shake my head. “I’m fine, I’m fine. Sorry. I’m just… happy.”
Ethan’s brow unfurrows and his eyes search mine. Deep brown eyes with speckles of silver that I could never, ever get tired of looking at. His lips tip up into a lopsided smile. “Happily… staring at my butt?”
My mouth drops open. “Was not!”
“Was too!” He chuckles, then hugs me tighter. “But it’s okay. I like when you spy on me.”
I purse my lips, then step back and signal for him to turn around. “Go on, I have to get changed. All your dilly-dallying is making me late.”
3
Ethan
My grandma used to say that it was a sign of luck if things fell into your lap.
I don’t think having your ex-girlfriend literally fall on top of you was quite what she had in mind.
“Long time, no see,” I say as Val continues to stare at me. Her mouth is a perfect oval, her amber eyes glittering pools of shock. I start to wonder if I’ve missed something—maybe I have something on my face. A spider?
I can’t check given that my arms are otherwise occupied. But knowing Val—well, how she used to be—she’d be screaming and whacking me in the face if that was the case.
So, I think I’m safe.
Finally, she blinks, seems to come to her senses.
“Ethan!” she shouts. “You look well!”
“That was a close one. You okay?”
“Of course! I’m fine!”
She starts wriggling around and it occurs to me that I probably should’ve set her down ages ago. I place her on the ground and she stands stiffly, careful not to turn her back on me. I run my fingers across my jaw, feeling a little awkward.
And this is awkward.
Val and I haven’t been alone together for almost exactly four years. You’d remember the day you made a decision that permanently altered your life path, too. A decision that you’ve thought about so often, it’s started to feel like one of those fever dreams where bears or giant popsicles are chasing you…
I’m getting off track. I’ve seen Val from a distance when I visited Mirror Valley, caught her skulking behind trees and bushes and even a stroller once. I reached out to her multiple times, tried to bridge the gap, but she never responded. So I did my part to steer clear of her, too. We might’ve been close in the past, but things are different now.
Val and I are basically a walking, talking billboard example of the ways dating a childhood friend could go horribly wrong.
I never, ever thought that I’d regret dating Val, but I do.
If we hadn’t dated, I might not have lost her.
I glance down her body and register her gray dress pants, the white shirt beneath a nice blazer. “You’re dressed awfully nice for a visit to the treehouse.”
