It was lunchtime of the following day. Ben was sat at our table, ready to bring our plan into action. We had purposely selected a table close to where Ethan's soccer friends were sitting, knowing that's where he'd head for. 

Now, we were patiently waiting for him to come into the cafeteria so we could start our performance. I know what I was doing was incredibly wrong, but I just couldn't take it anymore. I needed him to talk to me again even if it was just to yell at me. 

"This is going to be hilarious," May snorted from across the table. She rubbed her hands together in excitement and popped open her crisps as though she was about to watch a movie. 

When I had told May about my plan after class, she had all but ran to the table, saying something about how she wanted to get a 'front-row seat to the drama'. There was a good chance Ethan would walk past, see us, and not give a shit. May, was probably getting herself all worked up for nothing.

 "Ben, honey, you do realize Ethan's going to kill you, right?" Chloe remarked bluntly. 

"Yeah, yeah, I know. I'm aware of what I'm getting myself into.." Ben sighed.

 I looked down at my watch impatiently. "Ugh, where the hell is-"

The words stuck to my throat, as I saw Ethan burst through the cafeteria doors, "Oh, shit, he's coming," I hissed in a panic.

Quickly, I leaped off my chair, threw myself into Ben's lap, and wrapped my arms around his neck. Nervous, I tapped my finger against my wrist as I waited for Ethan to buy his lunch from the line. This whole thing was never-wracking. What if he saw through the act?

 When he was finally done, he started to head our way with his lunch tray in hand. Once he was close enough, I started. 

I put a hand over my mouth and started to hysterically giggle, making it seem as though Ben had just said something funny. I playfully hit his chest. 

"You're so naughty Ben, you can't say that," I cried. 

From the corner of my eyes, I saw Ethan glance our way and then stop. His tray slipped from his grasp and hit the floor with a loud clatter. 

"What the fuck!" Ethan yelled. His voice reverberated around the entire cafeteria, causing everyone's chatter to diminish to a deafening silence. I could feel many of eyes burning into my back, whispering things that I couldn't make out. 

"Time for the big finale," Ben whispered. 

Then with that final word, Ben sunk his head into my neck and moved his head in such a way that it looked like he was kissing me. His lips weren't even touching me, but I'm pretty sure it didn't look like that from where Ethan was standing.

Suddenly, a hand snatched at my wrist and hurled me to my feet. The moment, I was off his lap, Ethan grabbed a fist-full of Ben's shirt, swung his fist back, and punched him square in the face. The sound made a repulsive crunch which made my stomach turn. 

I watched in horror, as Ben's head threw back from the impact. He groaned and clutched his nose as blood poured out.

 "Ethan, stop!" I yelled. He was supposed to be getting mad at me, not Ben. 

Ethan's jaw ticked in annoyance, and he didn't even spare me a glance like he couldn't even bear to look at me. 

He eyed Ben up and down in disgust. "Sorry, are you just stupid or something, or was I just not clear? Ethan laughed "Because if I wasn't, let me make it clear," he said as he leaned in closer, to Ben's bleeding face. "Keep your hands to your fucking self," Ethan hissed in between gritted teeth.

Gently, I put a hand on Ethan's shoulder, in an attempt to calm him down. "Look, Ethan, you need to...."

I screamed in surprise as the cafeteria walls span around me, and before I knew it, I was upside down, staring at the back of someone's shirt. Or more especially staring at the back of Ethan's shirt. 

Had this dickhead seriously just thrown me over his shoulder? I gasped, as he started to march his way forward towards the cafeteria doors.

 "Stop, Ethan, put me down," I huffed in frustration, as I kicked and writhed in his grasp to try and get free. 

For every effort, he just tightened his grip around my legs even more. I felt my face heat up in embarrassment, at the thought of everyone in the cafeteria watching. Ethan just kept walking in complete silence, and eventually, I stopped struggling and let him carry me. Still mumbling the occasional curse word under my breath, he took us through the corridor and into some random classroom.

 As soon as we were in, he lowered me gently to the ground, then slammed the door loudly behind him. He turned back to face me, and I gulped as I took in his angry expression. His eyes bored into me, and his mouth was set into a firm line.

"Would you like to explain to me, what the fuck you were doing?" he hissed. 

I tried to maintain my façade of confidence and kept my gaze unwaveringly on his. 

"So, that's why you threw me over your shoulder, to ask me that? Are you fucking serious?" I snapped. "I can walk, you know!"

 "Oh my bad, how rude of me," he laughed. "Tell me, Mia. How exactly am I supposed to react when I find you hooking up with a guy you've repeatedly told me that you didn't like. It sucks to find out someone you trust is a liar," he yelled. 

That would have probably been a good time, to tell the truth, but I didn't. He deserved to feel as hurt as I did.

 I crossed my arms. "And people can't change their minds? So, what if I like him?" I scoffed. "You have given me no good reason why I should hate Ben. He's a nice guy, Ethan. A guy that doesn't ignore me all week for no good-fucking reason."

 Guilt glowed in his eye, and his face softened. "Look Mia I.."

"I've tried everything, Ethan. Texting you, calling you, waiting by your locker. I even showed up at your fucking house. And I always got the same response – nothing. You made me feel pathetic," I spat as I bit back the tears. 

His eyes flashed with pain, and a look of sadness washed over him. He looked like he was about to reach out and touch me, but he stopped himself and put his hands in his pockets. 

"God, Mia, I'm so sorry I made you feel that way," he swallowed. "I'm just...I'm just trying to do the right thing." 

 "The right thing?" I scoffed.

"Yes, by leaving you the fuck alone. I'm not a good person, Mia, and I don't want you near me. For fucks sake, I just punched the guy you like in the face. Do you seriously want to hang out with someone like that?" He yelled.

The look of self-loathing that shined through his eyes broke my heart, and I reached out and took my hand in his. "If that person is you then, yes, Ethan. Yes, I do want to hang out with a person like that. Despite what you may think of yourself, I really like you. Like I like you so much, that it physically pains me when you don't talk to me. You're one of my best friends," I said honestly, as I gently squeezed his hand. 

Ethan's eyes flashed with pain, and he tore his hand from mine as though I was made of fire.

"That's the problem, Mia, I can't be you friend. I suck at it. For some reason, I was stupid enough to think that I'd be able to handle being your friend, but I can't. It's too hard," he snapped.

 I recoiled from the harshness of his words. "Am I really that horrible to be around?"

He shook his head vigorously "No, Mia, that's not what I meant. It's all to do with me, there's nothing wrong with you," he explained. 

"Wow Ethan, was that seriously it's not you, it's me break up speech? Way to keep it classy," I scoffed. "Look, are you going to stop ignoring me or what? I snapped. 

Ethan opened his mouth to say something, but then he seemed to change his mind as some sort of recollection crossed through his mind. The sadness in his eyes faded away, and his jaw clenched. 

"Just go make out with your new boyfriend, Mia. Since he's so nice, I'm sure he won't ignore you," Ethan spat. With that final word, he stormed out the classroom and swung the door loudly behind him. 

And as he did, only one thought came to mind – That plan was a fucking mistake.

After taking a few minutes to compose myself, I reluctantly started to make my way back to the cafeteria. I tried my best to ignore the judgmental stares and snickers from other students. I could faintly make out their whispers about me being 'a cheater' or 'a stirrer of trouble'. 

Okay, the last one did have some truth to it, I did purposely try to get a reaction out of Ethan. And a reaction is exactly what I got.

 I glanced over at Ethan's table and frowned as I saw he was nowhere in sight. Fan-fucking-tastic, I had pissed him off so badly that he'd rather starve himself than look at me.

 When I finally approached our table, I winced as I saw Chloe was busily tending to Ben to help clean the blood from his face and clothes. I instantly felt another wave of guilt, remembering that Ben had suffered the brunt of Ethan's rage. Letting out a heavy sigh, I flopped down on to the chair beside Ben. 

"Oh my god, Ben. I'm so, so sorry. I never should have let you go through with that. Are you okay?" I asked as I eyed his puffy red nose in concern. 

It still looked straight, so I guess it wasn't broken... 

He turned to face me and managed a weak smile. "Don't worry about it at all, it was my dumb idea in the first place," he chuckled. 

"Anyway, at least we got a good reaction out of him. He definitely looked like he wanted to talk to you," he joked as his eyes crinkled with amusement. 

"It got him to talk to me for a while, yes, but it didn't resolve anything. He's still going to ignore me, but now there's a bonus of him hating my guts too," I laughed bitterly. 

Ben's face fell. "Oh, I'm sorry, Mia," he mumbled.

"Hey, at least it proved, he definitely has feelings for you," May piped in optimistically. 

"No, it doesn't. He was only upset because he thinks I lied and betrayed him. You're not supposed to date your friend's enemies, and that's what it looks like I did," I explained miserably.

 "Ouch," Ben joked, as he held a hand to his chest. 

"Whoops, sorry Ben," I said, cracking a guilty smile. 

 May laughed. "Yeah, well, I'm still not convinced. If he truly just wants to be friends, he wouldn't have rammed his tongue down your throat. I've been your friends for years, and I've never once done that."

 "Shut up, May! I snapped. "And besides there was no tongue," I added as an afterthought. 

"Wow, someone's remembering every, last detail of the kiss," Chloe sang teasingly. 

"Ugh, I hate you guys," I grumbled. 

"And besides, that's just because you're a heterosexual girl, May. Who's to say, we wouldn't have kissed at some point if you were a guy"? I teasingly winked.

 Ben shot me a funny look. "Well, I'm both a heterosexual guy and your friend. Yet the thought of kissing you makes me want to be violently sick," Ben rudely retorted. 

"You rude little dick," I spat. I sacrificed one of Chloe's fries so I could throw it at his face. 

Ben just caught the chip with a laugh and ate it. 

"Well, that's your loss because I'm an amazing kisser. Thank you very much," I huffed. I wasn't that bothered that he wasn't attracted to me, but I still felt the need to stand up for myself. 

"This is exactly my point; you and Ben are friends yet don't want to kiss each other. So why do you and Ethan?" May said, giving me a pointed look. 

I opened my mouth to say something but then closed it again, struggling to come up with a good argument.

 "We're just friends, okay," I snapped.

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