Pressing my lips together in irritation, I glared in Mia's direction, more than annoyed that she'd just implied I was a mosquito. Could she not see I put that stupid hickey on her neck for a reason. I needed Henry to feel threatened by me and calling me a mosquito certainly wasn't helping. The fucker's self-confidence to go after her was probably inflating by the second.
My lips slid further downward as I saw Henry's face soften in relief upon hearing Mia proudly declare that nothing was going on between us.
"That's a relief, I didn't want any competition," Henry added with a smile, his eyes spinning up and down Mia's body.
My head snapped towards him fast. "Competition for fucking what?" I snapped.
Henry's eyes darted around rapidly, then he awkwardly started scratching the back of his neck. "Well, I kinda have a thing for Mia," he muttered softly then turning to Mia, he gave her a soft smile.
A dangerous smile. The kind of smile that the guy does in the movies, right before he tries to win over the girl. Something in me snapped, animalistic jealousy overtaking me.
Mia's eyes widened in slight alarm, and her eyes moved quickly away from Henry's in surprise. There was a panic, darting between her eyes, that was unmistakable. I studied her carefully, my eyes moving frantically as I tried to figure out if she was nervous because she didn't or did feel the same way as him.
Mia shifted uncomfortably in place. "Look, Henry....."
Scared of what she was going to say, I interrupted. "How can you claim to like her when you've
never even spoken to her before today, huh?" I scoffed. "Do you have a thing for her or a thing for her body?" I snapped as I rose to my feet.
Through my anger, I knew deep down I was being irrational, and Henry hadn't truly done anything wrong yet but that seemed to do nothing to settle my rage.
As frustrating as it was, and no matter how hard I tried to convince myself otherwise, I was still undeniably programmed to love her and want her for myself.
Henry's brow rose in shock at my outburst. His mouth opened slightly as though he was about to say something, then shut abruptly again. A second later, his face seemed to harden, and his eyes rolled in annoyance.
"No, offense man, but why the fuck are you even here?" Henry spat out. "She doesn't even like you."
I flinched back at the comment, the words hurting me more than I wanted them to. I let out a harsh chuckle, officially fed up with him, and stepped closer to him in two long strides. Grabbing him by the collar of his shirt, I roughly ripped him off the sofa and onto his feet.
Henry blinked rapidly, his eyes darting between mine, with clear shock. With a normal head, I would have felt bad, embarrassed even but all I could focus on was my annoyance and anger at what he was trying to take away from me.
"Look dickhead, I'm going to say this nice and slow, so that you can understand," I hissed in between gritted teeth. "Leave, Mia, the fuck alone."
Henry swallowed harshly before his eyes narrowed. "What's your problem, you're not even together," he asked, his voice shaking slightly.
I let out a scoff, a harsh one, officially fed up that he was refusing to take any hints. "Are you actually that thick? She went to the kitchen with a bare neck and came back with a hickey, you do the math?" I spat rudely.
From the corner of my eye, I saw Mia sink a little lower on her place on the sofa, a redness creeping up her cheeks.
Henry's eyes widened, a frightened look overtaking his expression as reality hit him. "L-look Ethan, I had no idea. I would never intentionally go after your girl," he stuttered nervously.
I stared at him with a stone-cold expression. I should have felt guilt for the way I was acting, but I was too angry to act civil. He'd ruined any chance of being civil the second he'd flirted with Mia.
"Just get the fuck out," I snapped bluntly.
Mia climbed to her feet. "Ethan, there's no need to be nasty," she scolded warningly, clearly feeling she needed to de-escalate things.
"N-no, it's fine, it's fine, I get it," Henry rushed out quickly before turning around and making quick steps towards the door.
The two of us turned in silence and watched him hastily rip the door open and part quickly through the door.
Good fucking riddance.
Once the door had closed softly behind him, Mia swerved around to face me. "What on earth was that? If you're mad at me, then get mad at me. Don't take it out on random people."
I shook my head, letting out a bitter laugh. "Yeah, typical, Ethan, taking out his anger on random people just like his father," I spat, my eyes slicing through her icily as I spoke.
As expected, a broken look crossed behind Mia's eyes, and she let her gaze fall to the floor, guilt crossing her features. I hated how much the look hurt me, and how badly I wanted to comfort her.
I was weak. Always was, and probably always would be when it came to her. For fucks sake, I wasn't even capable of letting her go on a date alone. I was a joke.
I watched Mia's throat work furiously before she slowly lifted her chin to look at me. Her eyes were soft, and she blinked rapidly before speaking. "Ethan, I..."
"What else was it you said to me?" I laughed, cutting her off, knowing I wasn't strong enough to hear her apologize. "Oh yeah, I remember now, you told me I was a broken, violent, nasty piece of shit."
My eyes burned as the last of the words escaped my lips. The words provided a far too bitter memory of how I'd felt that morning when she'd said them.
Mia's eyes widened, her eyes starting to burn red. Strong, Ethan, stay strong.
"And I swear, I didn't mean any of it! None of that is true, you've got to believe me," she begged, her eye searching over mine desperately.
The shaky panic in her voice, tugged at my chest in a way I hated, making me soft in a way only she could. Pushing away the feeling, I swallowed back against my dry throat. "Yet you still said it," I snapped.
Turning around, I forced myself to storm out of the room and despite how much I wanted to, how much I begged myself to, I didn't look back.
Shoving my hand deep into my pockets, I walked alongside Lucas as they walked our way over to the buses that we were waiting in the parking lot for us to board. We were supposed to be going on our school camping trip today.
It was an annual trip taken by seniors, to help 'build up resilience for college.' Well, that was the weird excuse they had come up with to randomly take us to the forest anyway. I had been dreading the trip for days.
Why? Because Mia would be there.
It had been two whole weeks since I'd spoken to her. Since embarrassing myself by storming in on her and Henry's 'study session', I'd decided the only way I could handle myself around her, was by avoiding her completely.
If I saw her walking towards me in the corridor, I'd turn around. If we shared a class together, I'd purposefully sit next to another student so she couldn't sit next to me. If Lucas was sitting at their table for lunch and was calling me over, I walked right on by.
The great thing was, the plan had worked, I had successfully avoided all contact with her. I'd obviously stared at her a fair few times across the room, but apart from that I'd made myself a completely Mia-free life.
The only problem was I absolutely hated it - despised it even. With every day, I continued to avoid her, I grew a greater itch to want to talk to her, to bump into her, to do something.
Now with this school trip happening today, I was undeniably screwed. A school trip meant socializing, and seeing as Lucas was now dating May, it wasn't all too hard of a mystery who I'd forced to socialize with.
So absorbed in my thoughts, I didn't notice we were at the bus until I took sight of Lucas skipping up the stairs to the bus with a little too much enthusiasm.
I could tell why he was enthusiastic. Three days on an overnight trip with your girlfriend was any guy's dream.
Unhelpfully at that moment, my brain naturally filled itself of an all too vibrant memory of the morning when I had awoken to find myself spooning Mia. I swallowed a little hard at the thought, especially as I remembered my hand position. I was all too aware of how tightly my hand had been wrapped around her â
No, Ethan, no we hate her.
I followed Lucas down the aisle of the bus and watched him chuck himself down on the first available double seat.
I swung my bag off my shoulder, and was about to take a seat beside him when I noticed Lucas', bag was placed rather strategically on what was supposed to be my seat beside him.
As we locked eyes, Lucas laughed nervously and awkwardly rubbed the back of his neck as he looked up at me. "Erm...yeah about that...you see the thing is Ethan, you know I really care about you, right?"
My eyes slowly narrowed, not liking where this was going.
"Well, I was just thinking May could sit with me on the way here, and then you could sit with-"
"No," I snapped abruptly, knowing instantly he was talking about Mia.
Lucas rolled his eyes and released a heavy breath. "You know you can't ignore her forever, and you guys need to talk anyway. Ethan, be serious, you know full well that after the Henry situation, you're not over her."
"That was two weeks ago," I snapped defensively.
Looking to my left, I noticed a slight queue of students building up behind me from where I was blocking up the aisle.
I let out a frustrated sigh before turning back to Lucas. "Fine, whatever, you can sit with May, I'll see you later."
"Cheers, thank you, babe," Lucas called out with a smile.
Shaking my head, I turned away and continued walking till I located two free seats near the back of the bus.
Throwing my bag down on the floor, I flopped heavily down onto the seat. Tired, I briefly leaned my head back against the headrest before I was interrupted by the clear of a throat.
My heart jumped. Quickly opening my eyes, I saw to my disappointment that it wasn't who I was expecting it to be at all. Instead, a short brown-haired girl stood before me. I did a quick survey of her face, recognizing her vaguely from one of my classes.
She blinked rapidly at me, her eyes darting up and down my body with a soft smile. "Erm, hi, Ethan, are you saving this seat from anyone? Could I sit here?"
My mouth opened, then closed again, unsure what to say. It should have been a simple answer â yes. For one it was the polite thing to say when someone wanted to sit next to you, and as a second, from the way this girl was looking at me, she seemed pretty interested in me. And if I was over Mia, in the way I claimed to be, I should be leaping at the opportunity to start something new.
"Erm...," I started, my eyes darting around indecisively." I....I'm actually saving the seat for somebody," I stupidly rushed out.
No, you are not saving the seat, you idiot. What are you doing?
Her smile slipped slightly. "Who?" she asked, her tone stiffer.
Mia.
My mouth opened then closed again foolishly as I tried to think of a sensible answer, an answer that didn't involve me naming a girl I should be very much over.
After an embarrassingly long time, the girl rolled her eyes. "You could have just said no," she said quickly.
Then turning sharply away, she moved to take a seat across the aisle next to a girl I assumed to be her friend.
I turned awkwardly away, humiliated at myself for not just saying yes.
In the next five minutes, the bus grew to be progressively a little more filled. I tapped my foot anxiously against the floor, knowing all too well who hadn't arrived yet to claim their seat.
It was in that second, I caught sight of Mia and her friends stepping up onto the bus from out the window. My heart skyrocketed up in rhythm.
May and Chloe naturally took up some seats near Lucas at the front, but due to the lack of availability, Mia was forced to move down the bus.
Shit, shit, shit.
I quickly looked away, wanting to pretend I hadn't noticed her. I obviously had; it was near impossible for me not to notice her. It was annoying.
Soon enough my thoughts were interrupted by another clear of a throat. This time as I looked up, I locked eyes with sharp brown eyes â Mia's eyes. My heart squeezed painfully as I looked at her, not fully realizing how much I'd missed her till now. Her eyes flickered nervously back and forth between mine before she spoke, and I tried to keep my face neutral.
"Can I sit here?" she asked quietly.
As soon as she spoke, the girls from across the aisle started to snicker as they unsubtly looked our way. One of them was the brown-haired girl from before and there was no doubt she was probably laughing because she thought I was about to go reject her.
A weird rush of defensiveness ran through my stomach. As I latched my eyes back on Mia, I found myself hesitating on my answer. Say no, Ethan.
I swallowed nervously, my eyes dancing nervously up and down her body, as I assessed how bad of an idea this was. If I said, yes, we would be stuck sitting beside each other for the next two and a half hours which would obviously be a terrible and dangerous idea. God, knows what stupidness I'd say, or do, or imply and what happens if I-
At once my body betrayed me, and I slowly started to nod my head before I had a chance to finish debating my options in my mind.
Mia's brows lifted in surprise, and soon a soft smile crept to her lips. I stared at them for a second, briefly distracted by the sight of a smile I'd been robbed of for so long.
No, Ethan focus. I ripped my eyes away from her and tried my best to ignore her as she settled herself into the seat beside me.
As she did, I caught the sound of some whispers from across the aisle. I managed to latch onto the last words, 'he wouldn't let me sit there, why her?"
I sunk slightly lower in my chair in embarrassment, humiliated that the girl had whispered that loud enough for Mia to have heard. Great, now I looked just as obsessed with her as ever.
I didn't dare look towards Mia, scared she would comment on it, and I'd be forced to come up with some kind of bull-shit excuse on why I only seemed to be programmed to say yes to her.
Confirming my fears, Mia turned to me with a slightly lifted brow. "Aww, Ethan, were you saving this seat for me?" she teased with laughter before playfully poking my shoulder.
Zaps of electricity shot up my arm from her touch, and I felt a redness threatening to burn up my cheeks at her words.
Was I subconsciously saving this seat for her? Perhaps. Did she need to have knowledge of that? Absolutely not.
Pressing my lips together tightly, I threw her a dirty look before fishing my earphones out of my pocket and making a point of aggressively shoving them into my ear.
Her smile instantly fell, making a part of me regret my actions. No, Ethan, you're doing the right thing â the smart thing.
About an hour or so went by with the two of us sitting beside each other without any words. It felt uncomfortable despite the music playing out in my ears. The urge I felt to talk to her, was something hard to push away.
For a third of my life, I'd spent countless hours trying to find the stupidest of excuses to get her to talk to me. I wanted to ask her, how she was doing? What'd she done this weekend? I desperately wanted to crack a joke or two and tease her a little. But I didn't.
I was trying my best to ignore her, I really was but every few seconds, I felt the weight of her gaze on the side of my face. It was torturously distracting, and far from helping the situation.
Finally having enough, I ripped my earphones in annoyance out of my ear and turned to face her. "Would you stop staring at me?" I snapped.
Mia looked me up and down in mild surprise before the corner of her lips edged up slightly. "Why?" she answered.
Because by staring at me, you make it harder for me not to talk to you â was my true, undeniable answer. Of course, I couldn't say that.
I let out a heavy sigh. "Because you're making me uncomfortable," I argued.
Mia shrugged, still looking at me with a defiant look in her eyes. "I'll stop staring at you if you engage in a civil conversation with me," she bargained.
I let out a scoff. "I regret letting you sit here," I snapped before I put my earbuds back in my ear and turned away.
After an incredibly long and awkward journey, the bus soon pulled into the campsite. The second the bus had come to a stop, Mia leaped off her chair and hastily made a move to exit the bus no doubt eager to get away from my grouchy self.
Letting out a heavy sigh, I climbed to my feet and filed out of the coach like the rest of the students.
Catching sight of Mia, I noticed her trailing quickly over to May and Chloe who stood in the distance in the parking lot. To my lack of surprise, I also noticed Lucas amongst them, chatting and laughing as he discussed something with the two girls.
Rolling my eyes, I was forced to follow Mia and head in that direction.
Chloe looked up, seeming to sense us approaching. "There you guys are," she said with a smile.
Mia who had probably not noticed I was here, looked behind her in surprise, and her brows lifted in mild shock as she saw me. I quickly looked away, scared I'd say or do something stupid if I looked at her for too long.
"Have you guys resolved your lover's spat?" Lucas called out incredibly unhelpfully while wiggling his eyebrows.
Have I ever mentioned I sometimes hate Lucas? Like a lot.
I glared at him, then lifted my middle finger at him.
Lucas just laughed. "Meow. Someone is catty today," he commented sassily.
Mia let out a soft snort of laughter at his comment, only humiliating me further.
Before anyone could say anything else, one of our female teachers that was in charge of the trip cleared her throat.
"Attention student, we're going to be sorting out cabins, so I would like everyone to find a partner of the same gender," she emphasized firmly, her eyes narrowing in on us as she spoke. I couldn't exactly blame her for being suspicious, it was super common for students to hook up on school trips.
"Well, there goes that dream," Lucas mumbled jokingly.
With a sigh, he turned to me, his smile returning slightly. "I guess, that means you and me little E," Lucas said with a laugh as he slung his arms enthusiastically around the tops of my shoulders. I rolled my eyes at him and cracked a small smile.
After a few awkward looks, Mia and May had decided to partner up while April had appeared out of nowhere and had seemed to ask Chloe to partner up with her.
The teacher cleared her throat once more when everyone seemed to be divided up. "Now everyone disperse and make your way to the cabins. There are three double rooms in each cabin," she said as she gestured for everyone to leave.
We all grabbed our luggage and headed towards the dusty-looking cabins up ahead. Naturally, since Lucas was dating May, Lucas basically forced us into sharing a cabin with Mia, Chloe, May, and April.
My heart thumped foolishly in a way I didn't like as I thought about sharing a cabin with Mia. We wouldn't be sharing a room, but it still excited me in a way I didn't like. I shouldn't be getting excited about her â not at all.
Once we had all filled into the cabin, I inspected the large open space living room we were supposed to share. It looked fairly nice for a school trip accommodation and there was a handful of bright-colored beanbag chairs and sofas chucked around the room.
I notice Mia quickly head into an available room and chuck her bag on the bed before making her way into the bathroom.
I stared at the room for quite some time, my eyes zeroing in on the bed beside Mia's bag for far too long. My brain was wishing for stupid things at that moment.
No, Ethan, you are not sharing with her. You are not trusted alone with her.
Looking back around the room, I noticed Lucas and May standing laughing on the threshold of a bedroom door.
I cleared my throat and walked closer. "So, is this one ours?" I asked Lucas.
Lucas and May both stiffened uncomfortably and exchanged awkward smiles before turning to me.
My heart raced faster.
"So, we were kind of thinking that since none of the teachers are allowed to come in without knocking that maybe, May and I could share instead?" Lucas mumbled with a guilty smile.
Now, my heart was leaping. Stupidly, might I add.
Lucas cleared his throat once more, a clearly nervous gesture. "This is an extremely awkward thing to ask, but could you tolerate sharing with Mia for at least one night. I know you're still mad at her, and you're trying to get some space, but I was just thinking since you-"
"I'll do it," I said before I had time to think. At this point, my heart rate was racing, embarrassingly so.
"You will?" Lucas asked, his brow lifting in surprise.
Say, no, Ethan, this is not how you get over her.
"Yeah, it's fine, I'll share with Mia," I shrugged.
"Well, that was much easier than I thought....," May mumbled slowly, her lips twitching up slightly.
Knowing what she was thinking, I let out a sigh. "Well I'll guess I'll head to my room then," I mumbled. Then turning around before they could start any teasing, I made my way to the room Mia had been in.
She was still in the bathroom, so in her absence, I quickly chucked my bag on the floor and sat down on the other available bed. I had no real reason to be here, I could have just dumped my stuff, and hung out in the living room for a while before dinner, but I didn't. Instead, I found myself fixed in place.
I let some music play out from my phone, hoping it would drown out the rising tension I was feeling. It was only just hitting me how terrible of an idea it was to agree to sleep in the same room as her.
Suddenly, the lock to the bathroom door clicked open, and in the next second, Mia entered the room. She stopped abruptly in her tracks as she saw me, her eyes widening in surprise.
"Erm...what are you doing? This is my room...," she drawled in confusion.
I let out a heavy sigh and rocked my eyes between hers, hating once more how my stupid traitorous heart wouldn't stop jumping.
"Not anymore, it's our room now," I stated bluntly.
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Hope you enjoyed xx