What Are You Waiting For?

“Ian, come on, we’re going to be late!” Mom called to me.

“Okay, hold on, almost done!” I said from my room. I looked at myself in the mirror, seeing how I looked in the forth outfit I’ve tried on. I put on my lime green and black checkered belt to complete the look I worked on for almost 45 minutes.

It’s just one of those days where I feel like I need to look good and nothing is working.

“Ian, you’re cutting it close!” Mom yelled again as I slid my foot into my obnoxiously bright DC’s, snatching my backpack and coat off the floor and sprinting down the hall and out to Mom’s car.

“Kay, bye Mom, love you, see you after school!” I yelled in one big sentence, slamming the door and running into school.

I got to my locker, seeing that the hallways were only semi-filled with people. Confused, I looked at the clock and saw that class didn’t start for another twenty minutes. What the heck was my mom rushing for this morning? I didn’t even get to bring anything to eat!

I saw Nick and Riley coming down the hall with the twins. I felt like I haven’t seen them in days rather than it being only one night. I felt like something was missing last night, and it made it a little harder for me to fall asleep. What happened yesterday, the way Nick moved with me, the way he said he loved me, the way he did everything so perfectly made me miss him that much more.

I attached myself to Nick as soon as he got to his locker, planting a kiss on his lips.

“I missed you last night.” I said quietly, hugging him tightly.. “It didn’t feel right without you there.”

Nick didn’t say anything, just buried his face in my shoulder.

We parted so I could hug Riley tightly.

I heard footsteps coming down the hallway and saw it was Ethan. I get go of Riley so he could be free to do what he pleased, whether it be hug Ethan or just give him a simple smile.

Riley opted for the smile, but that resulted in Ethan shoving him into a locker.

My jaw dropped while Nick automatically flung his body around. “What the hell?!” He yelled.

Ethan turned around with his signature “I’m better than you” smirk and came back by us.

Nick stood in front of him, crossing his arms. “Well? What the hell?”

“Did you really think I was serious? You should really know me better than that. It was fun playing you while it lasted.” Ethan said, glancing at Riley, who looked indescribably hurt. Ethan was back to his normal, asshole ways. Maybe he was just doing this in school so people wouldn’t think differently of him? I’m hoping that’s true.

I looked over to Nick, who looked pissed.

“You little fucker. Why would you do that?!” Nick yelled, getting ready to jump Ethan and knock him out cold. I was starting to get scared because Ethan’s bigger than Nick, and I don’t want him getting hurt.

Before any physical contact, I heard Riley speak up in a cold, harsh tone, one I haven’t heard pass his lips.

“Do you really have to ask? He’s just a sick lowlife that has nothing better to do than fuck around with people’s lives and make everyone else miserable.”

I saw something change in Ethan’s eyes as Riley finished. It’s almost as if he was hurt by what Riley said about him.

Before he could say anything, Riley ran off into the bathroom. I could already see tears glinting in his eyes as he turned away. Nick went after him, leaving me and Ethan alone.

Now was my turn to do some talking.

“What the hell were you thinking?! Do you think Riley’s some sort of toy, something that you can just toss around and throw away? Like he has no feeling, no emotion in what you did? He was actually falling for you, and you were acting halfway decent. You guys could’ve had something, but you just had to go an fuck it up for yourself. You just like seeing people cry over you, seeing people with broken hearts-”

Ethan let out a sadistic laugh, though that hurt look was still in his eyes. “He was falling for me? What is he, insane?”

His voice faltered the slightest bit. I caught it, though he probably didn’t want me to. My mouth slowly formed into a little grin as I placed my hands on my hips. “Do you have feelings for Riley? Was all that stuff over winter break real?”

“Fuck no, relationships are a bunch of shit.” Ethan spat, a little too fast for it to be believable.

I just kept staring at him, my smile getting that much bigger.

Ethan looked like he was getting pissed off, until he finally gave in. “Maybe.”

“Ethan, don’t lie to yourself. This isn’t really a question where ‘maybe’ is a good answer.” I said.

“It’s not like he’s gonna-”

Ethan got cut off by the bell, and I swear he sprinted away from me into our class. I sighed and went into class after him at a slower pace, taking my seat and saving two on each side of me.

A couple minutes after class started, Riley and Nick came in. Riley looked awful, to say the least. His eyes were bloodshot and puffy; you could tell he’d been crying.

I snuck a glance at Ethan, and he averted his gaze from Riley as much as possible, the pained expression even more so.

The teacher didn’t ask of their whereabouts, she probably got a good look at Riley, too. She just continued class as soon as they sat down.

I turned to Riley automatically and looked at him with concern. “Are you okay?”

He looked at me and shrugged. “I’m sure I’ll be fine, but I’m not so much at the moment.”

I gave him a small half smile. “Would it make you feel better if I said that Ethan’s feeling bad about it?”

Riley sniffled a little bit. “No, he’s probably just faking it, just like everything else.”

“I’m sorry, sweetie. We should’ve tried and talked to you. Are you sure you’re going to be okay, if not now then in the future?” I asked again.

Riley nodded and I turned around, now facing Nick, who was sneaking glares at Ethan. I want to tell him about our talk, but I decide to keep it to myself. I didn’t want Nick getting any angrier than he already is.

“I really hate him.” Nick said, continuing to stare.

“Yeah no kidding. I’m sorry I didn’t listen to you. None of this would’ve happened if we would’ve talked to Riley.” I said, feeling guilty for falling so easily for Ethan’s trickery.

Nick put his hand on my knee and squeezed it softly, taking away all the anger he was still feeling inside to look at me affectionately. “Well we were both kind of blinded by Ethan’s actions. I wanted to punch him so badly.”

The end of his sentence hinted towards the anger again, and I instantly started worrying again.

“I think what Riley said to him hurt him more than anything physical could.” I said, trying my best to keep the worry out of my voice.

We sighed and turned to the front of the room, but I couldn’t focus on anything the teacher was saying. My mind was too busy racing about Ethan and Nick and Riley.

By lunch I was ready to explode. I needed to talk to Ethan and get his whole story.

“Hey, I have to go find someone real quick, I’ll be back, okay?” I told Nick, giving him a kiss before he sat down at our table.

“Can’t I come with?” Nick asked, confused.

“It’ll only be for a couple minutes, babe. You won’t miss me too much.” I kissed him again before heading off to find Ethan outside, where he usually went to smoke during lunch.

Ethan looked in my direction but instantly looked away, taking a drag off of his cigarette.
I walked to stand a few feet in front of him.

Ethan blew the smoke out of his mouth and nostrils slowly. “What the fuck do you want?”

“Yes or no.” I persisted. I need to get to the bottom of this.

“For what?” He asked, practically glaring at me.

I sighed, rolling my eyes. “Do you like Riley or not?”

“Why is it so important for you to know?” Ethan snapped.

“Riley’s my best friend, he doesn’t deserve to be put through all your shit. Don’t fuck with his emotions.” I said. When Ethan didn’t say anything and pulled out another cigarette, I kept on persisting. “So?”

He looked down, studying his cigarette, looking like he was actually thinking about it.

I was about to ask him again before he spoke up. “What if I said yes? What would you do?” He looked up at me, and I saw sincerity in his eyes.

I was slightly taken aback by his words.

Ethan sighed and looked down again. “It’s not like he’d even consider taking me back, though. I’m such a dick.”

I stepped a little closer to him. “Well, I’m not going to argue with that.”

“Shut the hell up.” He spat. “It’s not like I choose to be. I’m just…I don’t know, scared of commitment. I don’t like the idea of it and I don’t want to be involved in it. But with Riley…”

“You feel like he’s an exception?” I asked, softening my tone.

“Basically.” He said, sounding like he didn’t believe himself.

“Do you want to get together with Riley?” I asked, stepping closer again, placing my hand on his shoulder. He jumped at the touch, but relaxed.

Ethan looked up at me and nodded slightly. “Don’t say anything, not a fucking word. I want to do this on my own. I don’t need your help or the help of your bitch.”

I almost started yelling at him, but decided against it. I just smiled a little and nodded, leaning down to hug Ethan. I leaned up, letting go, but Ethan caught my face in his hand and crashed his lips into mine, getting his tongue in places I didn’t want it to be. I tried pulling away, but I couldn’t. He had me in a tight lip lock.

“What the hell?” I suddenly hear Nicks voice ask.

Oh no.