Chapter 22

“Thanks for coming!”

Stella grinned at me and gave me a hug. I returned her gesture and watched as Ben looked at me with a scowl. I rose my eyebrows in question. He shook his head. I scowled back at him and pushed him further to answer me. He gave in and gestured with his hand that he’ll call me later. I nodded and let go of Stella.

“All of you guys are going to make it to the premiere on the 12th.” I said, looking at all of my friends, “You know I won't accept any excuses.”

“We’re excited to see you on the screen again,” Lucy said, giving me a smile. “I’ll be there.”

“Get a date along with you.” I winked at her and she just gave a frown.

“Do I need a date to get in?” She asked.

“Yes,” I said. “All my friends do.”

“You mean, us too?” Drake asked, pointing at himself and Zac.

“Yes, but you can’t get to be gays for one night if that’s what you were planning.”

Drake’s face fell. “You take the fun out of everything.”

I shook my head and crouched down to face little Mila and Evie, “The invitation extends to you too.”

“But.” Mila’s face saddened, “We have a field trip that day.”

“Aw,” I said, making a sad face. “How about this- I’ll take you out to watch the movie with me on Monday, we can have fun.”

“Isn’t our movie a PG13?” Zac asked. “I don’t think the kids are old enough for that.”

“No, we’re big, Zac,” Evie spoke. “We watched The Conjuring with daddy last night.”

Lana gave Ben a glare. “How could you let your kids watch a horror film this soon? You know that horror movies don’t have a great impact on kids.”

“What, don’t think they watched it themselves.” Stella gave him a glare too. “He literally begged the girls to accompany him.”

“What?” Kyle gave him an incredulous look. “You’re crazy, man.”

“Hey, shut up all of you and get out now. I’m exhausted.” He said.

“Fine, fine, we’re leaving, you don’t have to kick us out,” Jordan said, waving a goodbye.

We bid our goodbyes and went to our cars. The drive back home was quiet. Ethan was quiet the entire evening. He didn’t even try to speak to me after he heard Kyle and I speak. Why was he so mad? I thought that’s what he wanted to hear from me. If he has an issue, he should be talking to me about it personally. He can’t just ignore me like this.

I waited until we went home. Once I was sure that the door to our house was locked and both of us were inside the bedroom, I broke the ice.

“What’s the matter with you, Ethan? Why are you acting like this?”

“Like what?” He asked, ignoring my comment and unbuttoning his shirt to change.

“You... I don’t know. You seemed distant.” I said, clutching my hair in frustration.

“We were never close in the first place.” He said and threw his shirt away. He went into his closet and came back with just one towel around his waist.

“Ethan, you’re ignoring me.” I accused him.

He gave me a tired look. “I’m exhausted, Skylar. I just want to shower and go to bed. Please let me take some rest. I have a long day tomorrow.”

I stared at him for a few seconds before giving up. He sighed and walked into the washroom, closing the door with his feet. I shook my head and changed out of my clothes. My eyes lingered on that tattoo of his name on my back which I had when I was in high school. Although I had every reason to remove it, I couldn’t get myself to do it in these years.

My make-up artist did a great job at concealing them all these years when I wore backless gowns to award parties or two pieces to beaches. I sighed and headed back to the bed. Pulling the cover over my body, I thought of waiting until Ethan comes out. But exhaustion consumed me, and I fell asleep before I could stop.

***

Sun rays streamed into the room, filling the quietness with their light. I twisted around in the bed until I almost reached the other end of the bed and clung onto the headboard to prevent myself from falling. I split my eyelids open and blinked away the drowsiness that was pulling them back together.

A frown settled on my head when I felt the bed empty. I got up and looked around, only to find the room empty. I walked inside the bathroom, but it greeted me with quietness too. I was confused. Ethan couldn’t have left to work this early.

Or maybe he could. His sleepy patterns are always strange. He actually doesn’t have one, since he can survive on the littlest sleep. I washed up and headed downstairs to fix something for breakfast. I was going to meet my designer to check on the outfit I’ll be wearing to the premiere.

On my way down, I stopped on the last time as a frozen icicle. I found Ethan comfortably wrapped in a blanket, with his head resting on the side of the couch. A frown settled on my forehead. Why was he sleeping here?

I shook my head when I realized what he was up to. He was ignoring me last night. That’s why he didn’t finish the conversation before heading to shower. I sighed and walked to the breakfast table and pulled out some fruits for myself. Why was he doing this all of a sudden?

Things would be so much easier if he just talked to me about what is bothering him. That way, both of us can avoid hurting each other. We do not necessarily have to take the tough path always.

After several hours, I returned back home after completing my work for the day and bumped into Ethan on the way. I apologized for stepping on his foot accidentally and began to move away from him.

“I wanted to talk to you about something.” He mumbled.

Finally. I sighed.

“Yes?” I turned around to face him.

He walked over and settled down on the edge of the bed. “Do you. still have that tattoo of my name on your back?”

I rolled my eyes. “What do you think?”

He shrugged. “I wouldn’t be surprised if you got it removed.”

I turned around and pulled my shirt a little down to expose my bare shoulder and point him the ink. “It’s still there.”

He nodded when I turned around and straightened my shirt and fixed my hair.

“I want everyone to know about it.”

I held his eyes for a long time after he said that. His words didn’t make sense right away, but slowly I absorbed the meaning.

“Why would you want that? That would just lead to speculations.”

“That’s exactly what I want.” He said. “Let’s face it, Skylar. We already tried everything to convince the people about our relationship. This is one of the very few options we have left.”

“And what good would that do? What am I going to say when they ask me how long I’ve been having it for?” I questioned him, reluctant to move my eyes off his.

“Let’s not lie this time. We’ll tell them the truth.”

“That I’ve got this done in high school when we both were in love?” I asked in a mocking yet annoyed tone.

But his reply surprised me. “Yes.”

“What?”

He sighed. “Let’s tell them that we’ve been in love since high school. And that we’ve been together for a really long time-”

“And you think the world is stupid enough to believe that shit?”

“That’s why I’m asking you to reveal that tattoo.” He said, his own facial features showing signs of frustration.

I clutched my hair in annoyance. “Is this all our relationship gets? I thought what we had in high school deserved a better treatment.”

“Don’t be illogical, Skylar. We both know why I’m suggesting this. I wouldn’t have suggested it if it wasn’t the only choice left for us.”

“But how about the speculations that raise about how I covered my tattoo all these years and that we’ve never been clicked together before.”

“We can say we wanted our relationship to be private and that we were constantly having the on and off thing.”

I gave him a disappointed look. “You’ve been thinking about it for a while now. You’re here with some preparation.”

“I need to be prepared if I’m going to convince you. You aren’t easy on me.” He mumbled.

I shook my head. “You’ve made your decision so I don’t see how I can stop you. I could never stop you from forcing me to do things.”

He sighed and got up from his place. “I don’t have the time to console you or explain it to you in a better way.”

I nodded. “Let’s put the picture on your social media right away.”

He looked up at me in surprise. “You sure?”

“Yes,” I said and started walking to the balcony. “Come on here, we have a good view.”

Ethan obeyed and followed me. I pulled my shirt in such a way that my tattoo was on full view and my hair was aside, just a few strands falling over the ink. He took the pictures with my face looking onto the city lights. He made it look like a candid.

“Post it.” I said, as soon as he showed me the picture.

“You don’t want to ask Jess-”

“Just do it.” I snapped at him impatiently.

I didn’t feel guilty doing this to him. I was irked by how he wanted things to be. Maybe it didn’t mean anything to him, but I kept the tattoo even after we broke up because it meant something to me. He should have realized that.

He posted it on his Instagram and tagged me. I looked at the picture as the likes and comments pooled up. He turned it off and slid it into his pocket. “Let’s wait until tomorrow to know what happens.”

I nodded. He was probably the only one out of the two of us who cared about that right now. My mind no longer bothered about what that picture would do to us. I didn’t care about anything else at that moment. I felt deeply upset and I couldn’t pick just one thing. I was mad and I couldn’t blame one thing.

Everything in my life seemed messy. I have m movie premiere tomorrow and I’m not even excited about it. It’s funny how one thing can have so much influence in life. I can’t wait to see where this was going to head.

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