I put my phone away without answering. People
at the campsite noticed us and started walking
over.
<
42
“Where did you two go?” Mark asked. “Ethan was looking all over for you, Amy.”
Sarah’s eyes darted between me and Riley, then
landed on Ethan’s unamused face. “Wow, Amy,” she said, her voice dripping with sarcasm. “You really know how to seize an opportunity.”
Ethan’s tone turned sharp. He reached for my wrist. “Where do you think you’re going without telling anyone? Not answering your phone? Just leaving with someone-”
“I took her down the mountain,” Riley
interrupted, stepping in front of me, blocking
Ethan’s hand. “My phone was off, I didn’t get the messages. My bad.”
This was the second time Riley had shielded me
from Ethan. Ethan’s hand hung in the air.
“You let her ride in your car?” Sarah asked.
“What were you two doing?”
<
“We went…” Riley started, looking confident,
but then he hesitated, probably thinking I
wouldn’t want everyone knowing about my
period. “She was cold, so we sat in the car for
a bit.”
“Cold?” Ethan retracted his hand and crossed
his arms, his expression mocking. “With a giant
bonfire right there, you had to warm up in his
car?”
Riley started to say, “I offered-“, but Ethan cut
him off.
“Was I talking to you?” he said, his voice icy.
“I’m talking to Amy. What’s it to you?”
“Ethan,” Riley said calmly, raising an eyebrow.
“Are you mad that she didn’t answer her phone,
or are you mad about something else?”
Silence fell over the group. Ethan seemed to
rogistor what Diloy wer implying Ho comnonad
<
register what Riley was implying. He composed
himself and forced a smile. “Why would I be
mad?” he said, patting Riley’s shoulder. “If your
want to chase her, just be upfront about it. No
need for sneaky tactics. It’s not like I’d stop
you.”
“But I think you’ll be disappointed,” Ethan
continued, his voice full of false sympathy. “I
know Amy pretty well. She doesn’t go for your
type.”
He was back to his usual confident self, as if
his outburst had been a joke.
Mark quickly changed the subject. “You really
didn’t check your phone, huh?” he said to Riley.
“The professor needs you to resend the revised
version of your presentation. He called me
about it.”
Riley nodded, turning his phone back on. He
unlocked the screen. 0722. It was quick, but
<
Ethan caught it – my birthday. His eyes locked
on Riley’s lit–up phone, as if he’d just seen
undeniable proof of something he didn’t want
to believe.
“Something else?” Riley asked him.
Ethan, his face expressionless, looked past Riley at me. Now Riley understood too. The subtle shift in the atmosphere was only
noticeable to those involved.
“Nothing,” Ethan muttered, his jaw tight.
The next morning, we packed up to leave. Sarah tried to get into Ethan’s passenger seat again, but he stopped her. “Amy, sit here,” he said, pushing me towards the seat. “Help me with the navigation. Sarah can’t do it.”
“Then where do I sit?” Sarah asked, annoyed.
Ethan leaned against the car door and looked
at the other SUV, raising his voice. “You can
ride with Riley.”
“Doesn’t he have a ‘no strangers‘ policy in his car?” Sarah asked, clinging to the door.
Riley, who was loading up the back of his SUV,
looked over at us, his eyes meeting mine.
Ethan shifted slightly, blocking Riley’s view. “If
he can give Amy a ride, he can give you one. You’re both ‘strangers‘.”
Sarah reluctantly looked at Riley.
“Not happening,” Riley said firmly, his tone
leaving no room for argument.
Ethan scoffed. “So Amy’s an exception?”
“Yes.”
As soon as he said it, Ethan slammed the
<
passenger door shut, locking me inside his car.
“Ethan, what are you doing?” I banged on the
window.
“Can you guys just chill?” Mark said,
exasperated. “All of you, get in Riley’s car.
Ethan, give me your keys.”
Ethan didn’t budge.
“You’re being weird. You were up all night,
weren’t you?” Mark lowered his voice. “Driving on the highway while sleep–deprived and
emotional? Are you trying to kill yourself?”
In the end, we all piled into Riley’s SUV. I sat in
the front, with Ethan and Sarah in the back.
Once we were on the highway, Riley asked me,
“Still hurting?” He pointed to the glove
compartment. “There’s medicine in there.”
26.9
<
“I’m okay, I took some last night,” I said.
Ethan’s hand, which had been propping up his
chin, tightened. He turned and reached for the
window, as if he needed some air. Riley had
locked the windows. “Don’t open the windows
on the highway,” he said, effectively shutting
Ethan down.
I ignored them both, put on my headphones,
and started studying my vocabulary list. My
period pains had kept me up late last night, and
I needed to catch up on my daily word quota
and earn my coins.
“Amy, studying again?” Sarah asked, glancing
at my phone. “Are you really going to enter the
English speech contest?”
I clutched my phone and glanced at Ethan in
the rearview mirror. He was resting with his
eyes closed. English had always been Ethan’s
forte. He’d travelled abroad since he was a kid,
and his natural fluency made it easy for him. In
college, he’d won the English speech contest
every year. The video of his winning speech was
his most popular post on social media.
He used to make fun of my accented English.
So I doubled down on studying, determined to
improve. I wanted to prove that I could reach
his level, to make him see me.
“No, I’m not entering,” I said.
“Why not?” Riley’s unexpected question made
Ethan open his eyes.
“Why do you think?” Ethan said, his tone
possessive. “I tried teaching her for six years,
all through middle and high school, and I
couldn’t even get rid of her accent.”
My expression changed. He’d just publicly aired
out an old insecurity, a painful truth I couldn’t
deny.
<
“If you couldn’t teach her in six years, maybe
that’s the teacher’s problem,” Riley said,
tapping his fingers on the steering wheel.
“Maybe she just needs a different teacher.”
Ethan scoffed. “Who knows her better, you or
me?”
“I believe in her,” Riley said.
I looked at him. He was focused on driving, his
expression calm, but his ears were bright red. It
was always so obvious when someone with fair
skin blushed.
We arrived at Ethan’s apartment first.
“Ooh, can I get a tour?” Sarah asked, getting
out of the car with Ethan.
He didn’t answer. Sarah leaned in through the
window and asked me, “Amy, have you been
here before? Come on up with us!”
10
