Ethan
It's been about three months since the first date.
We were starting to make time for each date but after the last date, we were starting to get distant一she was starting to get distant and I just couldn't point out why.
I dial her number and she answers on the sixth ring. "Hey!" Her voice is high, and extremely preppy. That's not how she usually is. "Hey, Ethan."
"Hi," I can't help but furrow my brows at her voice. "Are you free later... maybe 8? I was wondering that if一"
"Actually, Ethan," she chuckles, it sounds so nervous. "I, uh..."
"What? You can't go again?" I scoff. "Reese, this is sixth time you rejected a date. Look, if you're seeing someone else, just outright tell me, Reese. This is getting ridiculous一"
"一Ethan一"
"一and honestly, I'm looking like a clown here. Waiting for you to just say yes and so一"
"一Goddamnit, Ethan!" She yells, making me stop. What? Another excuse? I wanted to say but I could also tell the frustration on her tone and I know that if I add to that, I'm not going to talk to her in a week. I couldn't handle that. "I'm not telling you no. I'm sorry I have been saying that for a while but I was about to call you and I was about to ask you on a date."
Wait.
"What?"
I can almost see her nodding at me and giving me a glare for making her repeat what she said again. "I said, I was about to ask you on a date. I was going to call later because I'm making a deal with people right now but you managed to beat me to it."
"Oh," I say, speechless.
She releases that same old beautiful laugh again. "I'll pick you up. You better be ready by seven and bring, like, clothes for three days with you."
"Are we going on a trip?"
"Yup," I hear someone call her name. It sounds like Kasey is calling her. There's muffled voices on the other line again and then it's Kasey on the other line now. "Hey, Ethan! Reese had to go to deal with some buyers. She told me to tell you to not to be late, said that you were on a tight schedule."
"Okay, sure," I can't help but smile. Is this why she has been distant? She's been planning all these things? "Thanks, Kasey."
"No problem."
"Come on! Come on! Come on!"
I run to Reese, giving her a peck on the forehead before placing my bag on the back of her pickup truck.
Wait, a pickup truck?!
I point to it, my brows furrowed at her. She grins at me. "I rented a pickup truck. You never bring a 1999 Chevrolet to a trip. You always bring a pickup truck! Now, come on! We have to get there in dawn or else we'll be missing the sight."
"The sight? What sight?"
She shakes her head and goes to the driver seat, I open the door and go inside, slamming the door shut. She starts the engine and it almost feel like when she just did that, the pickup truck was going to fall apart.
I stare at her worriedly and she shrugs. "It's fine. I paid a whole lot of dollars just to rent this so they better have given us a good pickup truck."
When she starts driving, we start talking about everything. It seems like she's even doing it just so I couldn't as questions and I didn't really. I had no problem with what was coming because if I kept asking, Reese would get irritated or annoyed.
"We were having financial problems one time," she smiles tightly. "Chase and I made sure that the living room lights, television, and bedroom lights were off. The only places we could use the lights were the bathroom and the kitchen. It was hard pushing through that."
"Did you two一"
She shakes her head furiously, her nose crinkles in disgust. "God, no. We slept in the same bed, sure, but it was never like that. We stayed that way for five and a half months before we managed to rise from that."
Wow. "What happened then?" I question, taking her hand on the other wheel to lock my fingers with hers.
It feels so good being relaxed with her in this car and just telling stories about what happened to the both of us.
"Chase and I were working four jobs in a week. The resources we had were very limited. There were moments that he and I would just take turns on eating. He would eat this day, and then I would the next, and it went like that. We managed to save up a whole lot of money to pay for everything." She smiles at the memory. "We were finally away from being pressured into having all the money before the deadline. But we were still doing the same routine, making sure to save up a whole lot of money for the future.
"There were these moments that I thought of calling mom and dad or even calling my real mother and asking for money but I didn't want to do that. It wasn't because of pride but it was because I needed to be solving my own problems on my own. Chase and I helped out each other and I'm kind of glad that he was the one I got to do those things with. I wouldn't have any other person be a sibling like that to me. Other than Scott, Trent, Barry, and Tracie, of course. They were already my siblings from the very start一that was given."
Then she takes a long glance at me before going back to the road. "Enough about me, tell me something now."
"Like what?" I squeeze her hand. She squeezes back.
She squeezes twice. "I have no idea. Maybe how your mother thinks about us being together again?"
I chuckle, shaking my head at her. "She was mad when I told her I was seeing you. Again. Then Loren mentioned how you're a well known person in the photography arts and I swear to you, her eyes turned into dollar signs. She wants to meet you as soon as possible but I don't want you to meet her."
She releases her hold of my hand to slap me on the shoulder before holding my hand again. "Don't do that. As soon as we get back, I'll have dinner with her. We'll go to her house." I give her a blank look. "Don't give me that look, Ethan Mitchell. I want your mother to see me not the money. So I will be joining her for dinner."
"I'm beginning to think you want to fight with my mom." I grin at her.
She scoffs. "Shut up. We still have about five hours before we arrived there and about nine before dawn."
* * * * *
"Ethan," someone was whispering to me, I could feel her holding my arm, caressing it. "Ethan, wake up."
I move my face to where the sound was coming from, opening my eyes slowly, meeting with the most beautiful chocolate brown eyes.
"Hi," she grins at me.
"Hi," I can't help but raise my hand and place it on the side of her face. She tilts her head while just giving me that beautiful pearly whites, leaning on my touch. "Are we there yet?"
She shakes her head. "We still have four hours to go. Figured you'd want some breakfast so I brought us some snacks."
She pulls out some snickers bar and water bottle, tossing it at me.
"Ah, I love you," I blurt out, my eyes widening. She stops going through the plastic full of snacks, staring right at me, cocking her brow. "I mean, I love you for doing this! Thanks a lot!"
Shit, I'm in way too deep.

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RomanceReese Cassidy struggles in her school like everybody else, but is doing her best. She has best friends that she can always count on, bullies that make school life hell, a part-time job as a waitress to pay half of her tuition, and a family that's to...