WINDOWS ⋮ TATBILB

EIGHT

𝟢𝟪 · 𝘮𝘰𝘳𝘦 𝘵𝘩𝘢𝘯 𝘴𝘭𝘶𝘳𝘳𝘦𝘥 𝘸𝘰𝘳𝘥𝘴 𝘤𝘰𝘶𝘭𝘥 𝘴𝘢𝘺

;)

『

· · ·

AS THEA ASSURED, SHE ATTENDED NO PARTIES UNTIL THANKSGIVING.

Black Friday was wild, and she insisted to her parents that she go Black Friday shopping with Ethan, who was still in a sad mood after what happened on Halloween.

"I was a big fat wimp," Ethan said, his lower lip trembling as if he were about to cry. "I had everything ready to go up on stage, and then... I panicked."

She and Ethan were outside her house sitting on the curb while Cher explored on her own. After Cher was done, she would find her way back to Thea and they'd go inside. It was a cool afternoon the day before Friday when he decided to hang out with her.

"You know, you're the bravest person I know. If you weren't able to do it, no one could," Thea tried to calm him down. "I promise your time will come again, and he'll be over the moon once you confess to him how you feel." She quickly took out her phone and began searching throughout her contacts for a special name.

"Maybe the universe says I'm not ready," Ethan sighed. "After Shelby, I closed myself off. Now maybe the universe says I just gotta take a step back and re-evaluate my feelings before jumping into another possible relationship with someone."

"Maybe." She shrugged. "He's going to the Black Friday thing. I can meet you there after I go shopping with J-"

"'Juh?' Who's 'Juh?'" he raised an eyebrow.

"Just my girls," she said quickly. "And anyway, run it by me one more time what you would've done if you went through with the Halloween plan." She pressed dial and set her phone on the sidewalk right between the two of them-it began to ring, and she smirked when she saw the numbers start counting.

"Fine, fine," he frowned. "First, they'd announce couples to come up and I'd go up to the stage for the award. When the principal goes over to me and asks, 'Where's your other half?' I would grab that mic and say, 'Hopefully the lightning boy right there.' And then I'd point like that. And I'd add, 'If he decides we'd make a good couple, anyway, because I think I've just been struck by lightning.' And if he's down, he would've walked down and I'd ask him out and then we'd have that couples costume award in the mother-effing bag."

"Interesting..." she said slyly.

"You helped me make this plan. What are-" he looked down and gasped. "Don't tell me that's-no. Thea!"

She shoved her phone against his ear and stood upright, grinning while he glared at her. Still, a few seconds later his expression quickly changed to one of a boy in love.