Ethan Adams

Chapter 2

"Alisa? Is that you?" He says, looking overjoyed. "It's me, Ethan?"

I, on the other hand, am full of dread. It's him alright. His hair's a lot shorter and a little darker and he's a lot taller, muscular and better looking in general but he still has that mischievous look in his eyes. I stare at him, dumbfounded until his smile falls and he starts looking worried.

"You are Alisa, right?" He asks.

"What?" I manage to mumble out. He chuckles nervously and then puts his hand behind his head, looking a little embarrassed. I figure I must've confused him.

"Oh, sorry, you just look like a girl I used to know," Ethan says and hands me my book. I take it from him, feeling sick. "I'm Ethan Adams,"

"You said that," I find my voice and look down at the cover of my book, wondering if this is karma for the time I cut up my brother's Pokémon cards. He eventually got over it, why didn't the order of the universe? "Well, I'm gonna... bye,"

I slip past him without another word and speed walk to the closest bathroom. Once inside I almost screamed out loud but figured that I'd cause a scene so I settled for slapping my forehead instead. When I catch my reflection in the mirror I wince. My blonde hair is all over the place and my cheeks are a little pink. I attempt to redo my hair, changing it from a ponytail to a braid and give myself a mental pep talk.

Just as I've managed to calm down, the bathroom door opens and in walks Jessica Dewitt, flanked by three of her friends, one of them holding her purse. I hold back a sigh and pick up my stuff, ready to leave before she notices me.

Jessica and I used to be really good friends throughout elementary and middle school. She was friends with everybody and Ethan didn't tease me that much when I was with her. She ended up ditching me in eighth grade because I wasn't popular enough to be her friend or something. We haven't really spoken since then but she and Ella hate each other with a passion and I don't really know why.

"Oh, Alisa, just the person I was looking for." Jessica says. She gives me a brief smile before snapping her fingers. One of her friends hands her a lipstick.

"You were looking for me?"

She applies her lipstick and then blows a kiss at her reflection in the mirror. "Yep, Ethan's back, and he looks really good."

"I know," I grumble. Surely she remembers that Ethan and I weren't exactly friends?

Jessica makes eye contact with me for almost half a second. "You don't sound that happy about it, weren't the two of you like, totally besties?" Before I can correct her, she flips her hair over her shoulder and continues talking. "Anyway, tell your friend Ella that she should keep a tighter leash on Josh. His eyes might wander considering he's had a taste of a... sweeter treat."

She winks at me as her friends giggle and they leave the bathroom. I roll my eyes and walk out after them, just as the school bell rings. I head on over to registration with my current statistics teacher, Mr Winter. He's only in his mid-twenties and tries too hard to be our friend. At the beginning of our junior year he tried to get us to call him Brad.

Only a few people are in the classroom so I go to the back and take a seat, looking out of the window. Ella's no longer in the courtyard which means she's on the way here. I slump back in my chair, feeling a little drained and close my eyes. When I open them again, I see small brown ones staring back at me.

I let out a yelp and almost fall out of my seat before I realise it's just my friend Janet. She giggles and then attacks me with a tight hug.

"Alisa!" She says and then sits in the seat in front of me. "Well, the year's off to a great start, huh? I'm not late today!"