The coach finally pulled up to the school parking. I had spent the last three hours sat next to Ethan, and it had surprisingly gone quite quickly.

We spent pretty much the entire time bickering away like idiots, and every five minutes, Ethan, would make some weak attempt to get me to admit he was my boyfriend.

We were both being stubborn. He refused to give in and just ask, and I refused to accept without a proper dating proposal.

Once we had gotten off the coach and I had my suitcase in hand, I blew a goodbye kiss to Ethan and started to make my way towards Chloe's car.

"Oh no, you don't, missy," Ethan said as he grabbed my wrist and hauled me back to him.

"Missy?" I laughed.

"Whatever," he said as he rolled his eyes. "I'm not sure what that flying kiss crap was, but I want a proper goodbye kiss," Ethan snapped stubbornly.

He started to lean in, but I quickly turned my head to the side at the last minute, so his lips landed on my cheek instead.

He groaned in frustration as he pulled away.

"You know the rules, Ethan. I'm not your girlfriend until you ask and no kissing till then," I smirked.

If you couldn't tell already, I was immensely enjoying how badly I was frustrating him.

He threw his arms up in the air. "You already are my girlfriend," he cried in exasperation.

I just let out a heavy sigh. "Goodbye, Ethan," I laughed.

I turned on my heel and headed over to Chloe's car, where the girls were waiting for me. Once I had gained some distance, I looked back over my shoulder at him and laughed, as I took in his vexed expression.

"What was that about?" Chloe said with a smile as I got into the back seat of the car. Stupid May had beaten me to shotgun.

"I'm refusing to kiss him until he asks me to be his girlfriend properly," I snorted as Chloe started the car.

May started cackling with laughter. "That's so mean, I love it," she said as she turned around in her seat and held out her hand for a high-five. I slapped her hand with a chuckle.

As we drove out of the parking lot, we passed Ethan, who was leaned up against his car. He gave me a forced smile before pulling his hand out his pocket to give me the middle finger. My mouth parted open in shock, and I shook my head at him.

Someone was clearly a little bitter...

Catching a final glance at him from the back window, I stiffened slightly as I saw April approach him. Upon reaching him, she placed one of her perfectly manicured hands on his chest and threw her head back and laughed.

He hadn't even said anything, why the fuck was she laughing?

I felt my blood boil with jealousy. It was as clear as day that she was actively trying to pursue Ethan. I knew I didn't have any reason to be jealous since Ethan loved me and not her.

But still, the sight of them together unnerved me...

"Hey, are you okay Mia, you look a little ill?" Chloe said as she sent me a worried look through the rear-view mirror.

"Yeah, I'm fine," I snapped sharply.

"I saw you looking at April and Ethan," May said bluntly, seeing straight through me.

I felt a wave of nausea shoot through me at merely just hearing their names in the same sentence.

"I'm just being stupid, it's nothing," I said dismissively, desperate to change the subject.

Chloe furrowed her brows. "Actually, I don't think you're being stupid. I never really realized until this trip, but she's obsessed with Ethan; it's super creepy. She just kept going on and on and on about him. I think she just wanted to share a room with me so she could be closer to him," Chloe scoffed.

"Thanks, Chloe, that makes me feel tons better," I drily retorted.

"I just think you should keep an eye on her, I don't trust her at all. She kept asking me a million questions about you. She wanted to know how you flirt, where you shop, what fucking shampoo you use. It was bizarre!" She exclaimed.

"Also, what did she even want to talk to you about yesterday?" Chloe asked curiously.

"Erm..." I said nervously as I sunk slightly lower in my seat. "She may have maybe....er..... slapped me and yelled at me for stealing Ethan," I mumbled super quickly underneath my breath.

"SHE WHAT!" they both yelled as they swerved around to face me at a lightning sharp speed.

"Focus on the road Chloe," I yelled back, not wanting to die just because she was overdramatic.

Chloe rolled her eyes and slowly turned back around to look at the road. "That bitch fucking slapped you, and you're only telling us this now!" May said as she clenched her fists with anger.

"Well, I didn't want any drama, and I kinda feel bad for her," I shrugged.

"Are you for real? Why the fuck do you feel bad for her? She's clearly a lunatic," May yelled out in exasperation

"Well, she's liked him for forever, and I guess its got to kind of hurt to see him with me. She'll get over it eventually, and me being horrible to her will only delay that process," I explained softly, trying to get them to see my reasoning.

From May's facial expression, she didn't seem at all convinced by my argument.

"Have you at least told, Ethan?" Chloe asked curiously.

"Fuck no, and you guys are not going to tell him," I snapped sternly. I gave May a long look, in particular, knowing how much of a blabbermouth she was.

"And why the hell not? I'd love to see Ethan reject her sorry ass. It would be fucking hilarious," May whined like a 3-year old.

I let out a heavy sigh, "Because Ethan is even more crazily protective than you, and he'll humiliate her. She doesn't need that," I said as I gave them a pleading look.

"Please?" I begged when I saw the hesitant looks on their faces.

"Okay fine," Chloe said with a sigh as her face softening slightly. I looked over at May expectantly, who still looked like she wanted to kill someone.

"Only for now," she finally spat out bitterly.

Finally, at the door of my house, I rummaged around in my pockets to try and find my house keys. Once I had the door open, I dragged my suitcase in behind me and dumped it lazily by the door, deciding to just deal with it later.

So, in other words, it was going to stay down here for the next two weeks.

"Hey, I'm home, did anyone miss me?" I called out loudly to no one in particular. I knew my parents were home because their cars were in the driveway.

I entered the kitchen and saw my mum standing at the counter. "Oh, hey, Mia. How was camping?" my mum asked. She was midway through marinating the chicken for our dinner.

I flopped down on to the island chair with a sigh. "The outdoorsy part of it sucked, and all we did was go on a hike and play weird crappy teamwork games," I explained.

"Oh, and kinda might have almost drowned, that was fun," I laughed nervously.

"Wait, what!" she yelled, looking up at me in alarm.

"I know it was a bit of a downer, but it's fine, I survived," I said as I waved my hand around dismissively.

"But on the flip side, something incredibly amazing happened!" I squealed as I stretched my mouth into an enormous grin.

My mum quirked an eyebrow. "Erm...better than you not dying?" she laughed as she looked at me in disbelief.

"Shh, Mum, just listen," I silenced her. "Well, you know, Ethan?" I sang slowly, trying to build up the suspense.

"Of course, your former enemy and now your secret crush," she sang back, imitating me.

"Well..." I drawled. "He might have maybe told me he loved me," I squealed happily.

My mum laughed, and her eyes crinkled at the corners. "Well, I'm very happy for you, Mia, but I always knew he liked you," she said with a knowing smile.

"Wait, how?" I asked curiously.

"No boy would tease you that persistently and show you as much attention as he has unless they had a crush on you," she stated matter-of-factly.

"Well, thanks for keeping that fucking quiet. I could have used that information six bloody years ago!" I yelled accusingly.

"Well first up two dollars in the swear jar," she said as she nodded her head over to a jar on the far side of the counter.

"Oh, for fuck's sake," I snapped as I ripped my purse from my back pocket.

"Three dollars now, Mia," she chuckled.

"Keep it up, I'm getting richer by the second," she said with an evil glint in her eyes. I glared at her and fished the money out of my purse and dumping it in the jar.

She had started the swear jar a week ago because she claimed, Dad and I had a 'swearing problem.' I had no idea what she was on about, we didn't have a fucking swearing problem.

My mum sighed. "And anyway, back to the point. Whenever I suggested to you that he may like you, you would immediately get up and pretend to dry heave in the bin for a solid ten minutes."

I paused. "Oh yeah....," I winced.

I forgot how much I hated Ethan back in middle school. I literally created a diary that was titled 'Ways to get away with murdering Ethan Blythe'.

I had gotten creepily creative with it and cut out magazines and newspaper clippings on where I wanted to dump the body and where I would kill him. There was enough evidence in that book, to enroll me into a mental institute.

"Yeah, don't mention any of the things I used to do to Ethan...," I said with a nervous laugh.

"Of course, I won't. I'm sure your boyfriend already knows how crazy you are anyway," she laughed.

"Boyfriend? Mia had a fucking boyfriend," my dad spat angrily," as he barged his way into the kitchen. He glared furiously at the two of us, and my mum and I both froze in shock.

Shit was about to go down!

I groaned and buried my face in my hands, hoping by some miracle he would just disappear.

"Please don't be dramatic, Dad," I mumbled into my hands.

"I'll be as dramatic as I fucking want," he snapped as he started to pace around like a mad man.

"Swear jar," my mum called. My dad ripped out his wallet angrily.

"You know what I'll put a 20 in here, I've got a fucking lot to get off my chest," he laughed bitterly as he shoved the notes in aggressively.

"So, you have a fucking boyfriend now, Mia? Are you shitting me?" he yelled as he stalked his way over to me.

I looked up at him with a sigh, deciding to just get this over and done with. "Yes, I do, and it's Ethan. You've met him a few times before," I mumbled.

He narrowed his eyes at me. "You mean the guy whom on numerous occasions you've called your 'friend'? He scoffed. "Oh and let's not forget, he's also the same guy I've had to listen to you complain about being a dick for the past six years," he shouted, his entire face turning red.

"Well yes...," I said looking away awkwardly.

"That little punk, I knew he was up to something. The last time he came around, he had a suspicious look in his eyes," he muttered in irritation.

I rolled my eyes. "You think everyone is suspicious!" I cried.

"That's because they are," he yelled angrily.

He took a deep breath in and out to calm himself. "Bring him over for dinner. I want to have another chat with him," my dad snapped bluntly in a tone that left no room for argument. I gulped.

Ethan was officially a dead man walking.

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