when in rome | ethan

eighteen

"a friendsmas doesn't seem too bad?" i question, pulling up to the grocery store parking lot. i find a parking spot, surprisingly close the to entrance of the store considering how packed the lot was at the moment.

mia takes off her seatbelt from the passenger seat beside me preparing to leave the car and enter the store. "yeah! it was graysons idea. he's a really good party planner." she laughs.

we exit the car and walk over to the entrance. i carefully watch my step making sure i don't slip when walking. when we enter, a rush of warm breeze hits me as i rub my boots on the carpet.

i look over at mia seeing snow resting at the top of her head from the show just outside. "actually i came up with the idea before him. so i get credit." i said, grabbing a cart from beside me. as i begin to walk towards the aisles, she walks closely besides me, scanning the area for what she needed.

"mhm. you down?" she asks, grabbing a box of pasta and throwing it into the cart, probably not even listening to me. i leaned against it, slowly pushing as i made sure to dodge people blocking the aisles.

i shrugged, "maybe."

"why maybe?" she asks, taking a jar of pesto basil sauce and setting it down into the cart.

"well, who's all going?" i wondered. if grayson was planning the party, i already knew ethan and their friends would be there.

"oh you know, just the normal crowd. it's not like..." she pauses throwing in some cookies, "a bunch of people. just the people we rolled with in rome." she shrugged her shoulders.

"huh. i thought they'd invite more considering their status." i explained to her.

"cass, it's not about status." she states, "ethan and grayson chose for it to only be us because we're their friends. popularity just isn't a priority anymore."

"i know, i know. but like, i thought they had a lot of friends," i shrugged. "you know from highschool."

"chocolate or vanilla?" mia asks an off topic question, pulling me out of my thinking look. "or strawberry..?"

"mmm.. vanilla. can't go wrong with that." i said. she nodded her head setting it down into the cart beside the boxes of pasta.

"smart choice." she says. "anyways, grayson told me that rolling in a large crowd during high school will definitely result in losing friends once you graduate. you begin to know who your real friends are when they stick with you out of high school."

"yeah. i can see that." i state, "i guess i'll go then."

"i knew you couldn't resist." she laughs. "have you talked to ethan yet?" she asked. "you know... about where you guys stand?"

i sighed, "um. no."

"why not? didn't you two spend christmas day together? he reunited with you family?" she sort of stated that he was top level now and he should definitely be at that stage of boyfriend.

i stayed silent for a while before saying, "i'll talk to him at the friendsmas. i promise."

WHEN IN ROME

"this ones for you." mia whispers to me from beside the couch. she hands me a black cardboard box. it looked fancy.

i kept my eyes on everyone else as we were all sitting in the living room of ethan and graysons living room. their parents gone for the night. the christmas tree stood very tall considering how high their ceiling was.

"what is it?" i asked, examining the box.

"that would defeat the whole purpose of a present, dummy." she quickly tells me before turning her attention towards grayson who was seating next to her. "oh by the way," she looks back to me, "don't open it in front of the boys."