Chapter 27: The date

The drive started in complete silence.

Not the normal kind of silence– the awkward one. I began to take interest in literally anything to avoid starting a conversation that would increase the intensity of the silence.

Ethan’s hands rested on the steering wheel, his fingers tapping one side continuously– the way it always did when he was nervous.

“Music?” He finally broke the silence.

“Sure” I replied and he turned on the radio.

It felt like the universe was playing games with us because why was every single station determined to play all the painfully romantic love songs ever known to man.

He switched and switched the channels till I reached forward and completely turned it off.

“On second thought, the silence is okay” I said quickly and he nodded in agreement.

“So..” I cleared my throat, my turn to break the silence “where are we going ?”

“The movies” he replied

“Oh cool” I nodded “what are we watching?”

He froze and his eyes flickered to me for a second. I raised a brow.

“Well… whatever you want to watch”

I blinked."You didn't pick a movie. Did you?”

“I don't know your taste” he defended.

A little silence followed by a burst of laughter.

The movie theatre was way more crowded than I expected. Well it was a friday.people were everywhere.

“Next” the girl at the counter called. She was chewing a piece of gum violently and didn't even look up from her phone. I was slightly irritated.

“Two tickets please,” Ethan said.

“Movie?” She sounded like Regina George from Mean Girls and honestly, I was irritated.

“Umm..” Ethan froze, turning to me with a nervous smile.

The girl finally looked up with an annoyed look. “Well?”

“Well you can speak to us with a better attitude” I blurted out unapologetically. Ethan gave me a pleading look “tow tickets for crimson hearts”

She made a bubble with her gum and it dramatically popped before she spoke.

“crimson heart tickets for two teenagers in a clearly unstable infatuation of a relationship coming right up” she smiled smugly.

“Excuse me?”

“Sorry can't hear you over of the sound of static noises erupting from the air around you”

“you must really hate your life”

She paused and opened her mouth to speak.

“Alright can we have our tickets now” ethan cut in

She printed it out and shoved them on the counter “Don’t get too attached to the blonde guy. He gets hit by a car in the last scene.”

I was on the verge of pulling out her hair till she bled when Ethan pulled me back.

He made sure we were at a safe distance from that Bitch before letting me go.

“I would've knocked some politeness into her” I said folding my arms “she's so rude”

“I know and she's also not worth getting kicked out for” he replied and I finally cooled down.

We bought some drinks and popcorn then headed into the theatre.

We quietly walked into the theatre and found our seats somewhere along the middle row.

When the lights dimmed, a certain unease settled within me.

The plot of the movie didn't help at all. The love triangle was slightly similar to what I had going on and I was not comfortable.

I only picked the movie because maya loved it so much and I promised I'd watch it the chance I got.

Bad decision Tessa.

About 20 minutes into the movie, I felt Ethan's hand slightly shifted and slowly started moving towards mine.

I panicked.

Oh no.

His hands slightly brushed against mine and I moved my hands away quickly.

He offered popcorn immediately after to ease the awkwardness but I could see the hurt in his eyes.

Why the fuck did you do that tessa.

I stared at the movie screen intensively like my admission to MSA depended on it.

I felt like a terrible person and it only got way worse.

At one point Ethan laughed at a joke in the movie and I laughed three seconds too late.

At another point we both tried to grab our drinks at the same time and our hands touched. I panicked and accidently spilled my drink on his pants.

“I'm so sorry” I said trying to rub it off but he just stood up and walked out.

I rushed after him,my heart dropping into my stomach.

He was already halfway down the hallway before I caught up.

“Ethan, wait” I said, panting heavily.

He stopped but didn't turn around.

“The movie isn't over and I'm sorry about the drink situation ”

“I'm got tired of the movie, let's just go”

“What's wrong”

He finally turned “all of this is wrong, tessa” frustration was written all over his face.

My chest Tightened.

“If you didn’t want to come,” he continued, “you should’ve just said so. I feel like a complete fool right now.”

I folded my arms defensively.

“Excuse me,” my tone shifted. “You asked for a fair chance and I gave it” I said, “What else did you expect? That I’d fully trust you and fall right into your arms like last time? Sorry, that ship has sailed.”

He rubbed the back of his head and sighed.

“Youre right” he finally admitted “You’re just acting… a little weird. And I know that’s my fault.”

Silence.

Then he stepped forward and pulled me into a hug.

“I’m sorry,” he said.

“Me too,” I muttered

He pulled back slightly and smiled.“Ice cream?”

I grinned.

“Hell yeah.”

The chime of the bell door when we came inside the ice cream place satisfied my inner childhood.

The tension between Ethan and I had eased and we could finally have a normal conversation.

I had chocolate and he had vanilla.

We sat in the booth at the window seat. Our ice creams were already melting as we spoke about the most random things.

I was finally enjoying the date. The way it should be.

I was halfway through my ice cream when the door of the shop opened and the bell chimed once again.

I didn’t bother looking up—until a familiar hand suddenly grabbed mine and pulled me up from the booth.

I turned and my heart nearly stopped.

“Klaus—?”

Before I could react, another hand grabbed my other arm.

Ethan.

Oh shit.