Friendly Dating 2 - Ethan

Chapter 40 - Shades of Amber

"I'm all for the wet t-shirt look," Amber grins, jumping off the low wall and crossing the lawn on suntanned legs, stretching all the way from her ankles to her bum. She plays her fingers through her long golden-blond hair and sways her hips in the way I used to find mesmerizing. Now, I only find it mildly annoying.

"Hi, how are you?" I smile, moving to another flowerbed further away from that wall. I've watered the flowerbeds in the backyard and the huge area between our house and the Dysons' wall and am progressing towards the front garden.

No, I'm not running away; I'm gardening... like a gardener. A good one... with a hosepipe and everything! Besides, it's not working; she's following me.

"Much better now that I'm here," she says, shoving her hands into the back pockets of her seriously short pink denim shorts and thrusting her chest out. I have to step into a bed, crowding myself with plants and holding the hose up like a shield to keep her at a distance. "What have you been up to?"

I don't think she notices because I'm being very suave about it, not squealing like a frightened puppy even once. Impressive!

"Dating Kira," I state firmly.

"Dating Kira?"

"Yes, all over the place."

She's laughing now, which just makes me mad, so I step out of the soggy mud I'm creating to wipe my bare feet on the lawn and drag the hose to a new section.

"You actually did it!" she scoffs, folding her arms, propping up her boobs that already seemed propped up enough; anymore propping and they'll pop right out of the white t-shirt she's wearing over a pink bikini top. "Come on, Ethan, you and I both know it's not real. It can't be. You're just used to her, and finishing school is scary, and-"

"Your grandmother is calling," I tell her, turning my back and heading to the flower beds further to the front of the garden. She's not calling, but we've had this stupid conversation before, and the only thing that became very clear from it was that Amber doesn't get me at all. Not even slightly.

The irrigation system kicks in twice a week, and the lawn is flourishing, but the flowers and other more sensitive plants need a little help in between. I'm glad I remembered today, or my dad would be out here after working all day to save them from dying.

I wish I watered them yesterday.

"Come on, Ethe," Amber says, not taking the hint that I'm done talking to her despite the fact that I'm watering the flowers with the kind of concentration doctors use when they're operating on people.

It's a very good hint!

I cringe when she runs her fingertips over my back. "You can't still be mad at me for what happened. We were friends long before we had fun in the lighthouse. We can be friends again."

"Fun," I mutter. She's right, though; we were friends, and up until we became something other than friends, we got along pretty well. For five minutes, I even thought I was falling in love with her, which was great since Kicks wasn't looking at me as if I might be the love of her life too. I thought she never would. Then Amber went after Jet.

I no longer think I was ever in love with her; I think I was just freaking out and catching a cold.

"Come on!" Amber complains, grabbing my arm, and I have to turn and face her, or she'll trample the flowers. "So, we had a misunderstanding about Leopold, and we had some really awkward moments at the lighthouse. We did some things you weren't ready for. It was nothing; get over it already. Stop beating yourself up about it and being mad at me. You didn't violate me. It's not like it was my first time... or my last-"