Movie || Noah Centineo

Prologue

[UNEDITED]

"Are you fucking kidding me, Ethan?" Luna Epperson berates, her words harsh and sharp as daggers from the blinding rage bubbling inside her chest.

Her whole body was clenching, tightening to an almost choking degree - her hands, her jaw, her stomach, but her heart most especially. She couldn't believe it, she felt nauseous just trying to absorb all that she heard. The air felt too hot, too heavy for her. It was hard to breathe.

"Luna, just let me talk! Let me explain!" Ethan practically begs. His voice hikes in sheer panic, not knowing what else to do or say to get her to slow down. He follows her out of the back gate, trying to catch up. With almost desperate intent, he grabs her arm and she whips around; although she shook slightly in his grip, the look in her eyes made him feel like his skin was burning. He lets go.

"Don't you dare go near me, not with what you did," She growls, words laced with venom, no longer caring that the tears she was trying to suppress were finally making an appearance. The boy that she loved for 2 and a half years was dying right in front of her - but she didn't want to save him.

Ethan's dark brown eyes - eyes that used to make her feel all sorts of love - were pregnant with sorrow. He destroyed the home he built inside of her and he knew it.

"I'm so sorry," He whispers, barely getting his words out without faltering.

As if his barely audible apology was a trigger, she finally breaks apart- hot tears relentlessly stream down her flushed cheeks and she feels like she could almost lose her mind. "You're fucking sorry?" She laughs without humor, a very bitter taste filling her mouth. "What the fuck is your sorry supposed to do, Ethan? Is it going to erase the fact that you slept with Pia? That you went behind my back and broke everything we worked for for 2 years?" She raises her voice, any sense of civility leaving her now.

She didn't care if passers-by would see all this - all she cared about was the boy standing in front of her, his hands clutched at his side and unable to do anything else but bow his head in shame - blank and stunned with her words left hanging in the air.

What could he possibly say to make anything better? She was speaking the truth anyway. But he was selfish, he was prideful - he didn't want to lose her.

"Is your sorry supposed to just heal the trust you broke?" She continues, her hand hovering over her chest, softer now but holding all the pain in the world. "Of the heart you broke?" She whimpers, covering her mouth as she sobs again.

She felt stripped of everything, like the universe stole all that belonged to her. Luna gives Ethan Montgomery one last glance before turning to leave.

But, as she does, he speaks up.

"You know what - this all wouldn't have happened if you weren't so damn suggestive towards Alex!"

A pin drops; Luna pauses before turning around, beyond appalled and maybe even questioning if she really heard him say what he just said. Her heart begins to hammer. "What?"

Ethan, who just a second ago looked repentant and lowly, stood up straighter, finding himself searching for reasons to retaliate. "If you weren't being so seductive towards him, this whole shit-" he hastily gestures in the air, "-wouldn't have happened. You don't think I see the way you both act towards each other?"

She laughs in disgusted disbelief, her body burning. Was he really trying to turn this on her? "You're pathetic, Ethan. You know Alex is my best friend," She shakes her head, drilling holes into him.

He stares her down, taking a few steps forward. She stands firmly. "I don't think it's normal that he waits for you after school to bring you home everyday, even if he lives almost an hour away from where you do. I don't think it's normal that you stay over his place more than you do mine either. I've told you how uncomfortable I was with how you guys act - especially him. Yet you don't seem to mind, you actually let it happen."

"Don't bring him into this, Ethan-" she warns, her jaws clenching. He scoffs, trying to provoke her further. "I bet you both did shit behind my back too, but you're not brave enough to own up."

With that, as if her body had a mind of its own, she brings her hand up and slaps him hard across the face. She gasps in surprise but she nor her stinging palm felt no remorse.

Ethan hisses at the contact, staggers, and cradles his cheek. When he looks up at her, it's as if they didn't share two years of their lives together.

"Have fun with him, Luna. You both don't have to hide anymore." He spits, shooting her one last look before walking past, purposely brushing against her arm.

With her body beginning to quake again, she waits a few seconds to calm down before checking if Ethan was still in sight; she didn't notice she'd been holding her breath until she turns and sees that he was gone. The relief didn't last long, though, because Luna hears leaves crunching to her far right; in panic, she quickly looks to where the sound was coming from only to catch a glimpse of a tall boy, with his back facing her, disappear into a house.