Ella's Twisted Senior Year(29)
He rolls down his window and my eyes narrow. “What are you doing? There’s no fries outside.”
In a flash, he grabs the carton from me and holds it out of the window. “Now there is,” he says with a smile that makes a shiver run up my spine.
I grab for his right arm, which is on the steering wheel while the other arm taunts me with the last fry out of the window.
“You are pure evil, Ethan Poe.”
He throws his head back and laughs maniacally.
“Look what you did,” I say, folding my arms across my chest. “We’re at your house now. That fry is officially contraband. Your mom likes me more,” I say, reaching over his lap and grabbing for his arm. He’s strong enough that I’m not getting anywhere, despite my efforts. “You should let me take it because she won’t get as mad at me.”
He shakes his head and leans to the right to let the fry slip further from my grasp. I’m practically crawling into his lap now, one hand on his knee and the other one grabbing for the container. “Why-are-your-arms-so-long?” I grunt out as I struggle to overpower him.
“Looks like I’m the winner,” he says. No, whispers. His lips are just inches from my ear and I pull back slightly, still hovering all over his side of the truck.
Butterflies freak out in my stomach and now there’s no way I could eat that fry even if I wanted to. I watch his eyes trail down to my lips and back up. We have to be thinking the same thing. Dangerous thoughts will only get me hurt again, so I sigh and lean back into the middle of the bench seat.
“I have an idea,” I say, taking a deep breath to calm my raging desire to kiss him. “Let’s split it.”
His head tilts to the side. “Diplomatic. I like it.”
He gives me the fry and I break it in half. Now it’s all cold and covered in too much salt from the bottom of the container but I give him his half and he eats it, so I eat mine too.
“Truce,” he says.
“Truce.”
We watch each other for a long moment—or maybe it’s just a few seconds. I can’t tell because my head is spinning. Finally, alarms go off in my head telling me to snap out of it and go inside. I turn and slide back to my side of the truck, my hand reaching for the door handle.
And then I yelp in surprise. Kennedy stands right on the other side of the door, her eyes blazing with a fury only she could manifest.
“What the—” Ethan says just before his door pops open. I watch him walk around the front of his truck. “What the hell are you doing here?” he asks her.
She shoves him in the chest with the palms of her hands. It’s not playful, either. He steps back a little and she comes at him again, arms swinging.
“You’re a liar! You said you weren’t going to hook up with her, you freaking liar!”
Ethan grabs Kennedy’s wrists to stop her from attacking him. “You need to calm down. You can’t come to my own house at yell at me.”
“I’ll do whatever I want!” she shrieks. Then she whirls around and invisible daggers pelt into me. I shrivel against the back of my seat.
Kennedy walks over and slams her hand against the window. “Get out here and face me,” she hisses. “You want to ruin my relationship? Get out here and tell me why.”
“Ella, stay inside,” Ethan says, holding up a hand to me. “Kennedy, get back in your car and leave. You’re being completely ridiculous.”
“You’re the one who lied to me,” she says, daring to cover her snarl with a sad little pout. I almost feel sorry for her, that’s how good she is. Then she tries to punch him again but he blocks it with his palm. “I can’t believe you left me for her.”
Ethan shakes his head. “I broke up with you because we’re not compatible. It has nothing to do with Ella. And you should listen to me this time because I’m sick of explaining it to you.”
Kennedy puts a hand on her hip. The stale taste of fries in my mouth makes me nauseous. Part of me thinks I might never get out of this truck, that Kennedy will keep circling around me like a shark waiting to devour its prey.
She puts her hands on her hips. “Promise me you won’t start dating her.”
Ethan laughs. Like, actually laughs, not just that smirky thing he always does. “I’m not promising you anything. Seriously, I meant it when I said we could stay friends but this is just insane.”
“Something is seriously wrong with you,” Kennedy says, straightening her shoulders. “Her over me? Really, Ethan? I made you prom king. You’d still be just a dumb jock if it wasn’t for me. How can you just throw that away for some loser?”
Ethan draws in a breath, looking up to the sky for a second. Behind us, dump trucks park on what used to be my house, the cleanup crew done for the day. He glances to me, who is still sitting in the truck like the loser that I am and then he points to the road. “You need to leave. The fact that you thought we were dating to elevate my social status says we’ll never be on the same page. Life isn’t some kind of popularity game to me, Kennedy. That’s why we broke up. You need to leave. And find a new date for prom.”
Kennedy’s fists shake at her sides. She turns toward me. “I hope you’re happy.”
I step out of the truck with fear nipping at my ankles. I know what the after school TV movies would say: Kennedy is a bully and bullies don’t get far in life. Shrug them off and go on with your life.