Falling In

Once we were in the car driving to some party, he spoke up. “Sooo…,” he started. I was only giving him half my attention though, I was way too preoccupied thinking about what Hazelyn and I just talked about. He cleared his throat, and continued. “You and Hazelyn seemed to have a good conversation,” he said.

“Yeah…,” I mumbled.

“What did you talk about?”

“She just told me stories. Usual girl stuff,” I shrugged, not telling him the whole story.

“Isn’t it usually that when one girl shares a story, the other does too?” he asked a smile playfully tugging at his lips.

“Where’d you hear that, Ethan Jay?” I asked raising an eyebrow at him.

“Oh you know, around,” he laughed. “So, what did Hazelyn tell you?”

“She told me that pictures show us how the photographer sees things,” I said to him. “How a subject looks in somebody eyes,” I continued.

Ethan was silent for a moment before he answered me. “It’s true. A photograph is like seeing with the photographer’s eyes. Seeing the world in his or her point of view,” he said glancing at me.

“How exactly do you see me, Ethan Jay?” I asked him, truly curious.

He laughed to himself as he took a glance at me. “I can’t answer that Stella Grace,” he grinned at me. I just bit my tongue and was about to lash at him, but I shut my self up and looked out of the window into the snowing outside world. “What else did you talk about?” he asked after a few more minutes.

“Her and Ryan,” I said.

He chuckled softly. “Yeah, I heard about that story,” he told me. “Pretty crazy huh?” he asked.

“Yup,” I said popping the ‘p’ but didn’t look at him, and that was the last of it in that car ride.

“Hey, you okay?” Ethan asked me when we got to the party.

“Yeah, just fine,” I said to him, looking out the window. I’m actually thinking that I might be falling for you, so I’m distancing myself, I thought. I wanted to say it out loud too, but I couldn’t.

“Are you sure?” he pushed.

“Yeah I’m fine,” I said with a soft smile.

“Do you wanna go home?” he asked me.

“No, no. It’s okay. You go have fun,” I said.

“If you wanna go home, just let me know,” he said. I nodded and got out of the car. We walked towards the venue together and once we got in, he turned to me. “What do you wanna do?” he asked.

“You don’t have to stay with me, I’ll be fine. You go,” I said as I lightly nudged his shoulder.

“Stella!” I heard my name being called. I spun around to see my favorite snowboarders.

“Hello there, my most favorite guys in the world!” I grinned.

“Hey!” Ethan argued.

“Don’t argue with me boy,” I smirked as I gave the guys hugs.

“Wasn’t it only a month ago that you were bickering like a married couple?” Luke asked with a smirk.

Mason laughed. “Yeah, and we turn our backs and we hear that they’ve been making out in the middle of the dance floor and we see an article about Stella that Mr. Versace here did the photos for,” he laughed.

We both blushed furiously and looked away. “Can you boys leave me alone before I change my mind about you guys being my favorite snowboarders,” I huffed.

“Well, let’s go party!” Scotty laughed and pulled us deeper into the party. They all started grabbing their beers, and talked among themselves, so I decided to go to the kitchen and grab something not alcoholic. I grabbed a coke from the fridge and sat on the counter, continuing to think.

“Hey pretty lady. What are you doing here alone?” I heard a familiar voice in front of me.

I looked up and was met with familiar blue eyes. “Kyle!” I smiled.

“Hey you,” he grinned as he gave me a hug.

“What are you doing here?!”

“I… live here,” he said cautiously.

“As in, here?”

“Yup,” he shook his head at me while laughing.

“Damn,” I laughed. “Small world, huh?” I smiled.

“Totally. So, what are you doing here?” he asked.

“I’m doing the photography for X-Games,” I smiled.

“OH! I heard about you going pro by the way,” he winked. “Congratulations! I must ride with you and see how mad your skills are,” he smiled.

“It’s pretty mad,” I warned him.

“I’ll have to see,” he grinned, then it was as if a light bulb went off in his head. “Do you have your board?” he asked. I nodded at him. “Your camera?” I nodded again. “Let’s go get it, then I’ll show you something,” he said and pulled me out the door.

I led him through the streets and towards the black truck, and punched in the code to open the doors. Once the doors unlocked, I opened the back doors, grabbing my camera and asked Kyle to grab my board. I locked the car and he led me towards the back of the house where he grabbed his own board and led me for about half a mile into the woods.

I was surprised with what I saw. It was a large clearing in the middle of a thick bundle of trees. There were lights set up around the perimeter and there were boxes and branches and platforms everywhere. It was my type of playground. The giddiness got over me as I smiled from ear to ear.

“Nice, huh?” he asked.

“Chyeaaa,” I laughed.

“Jer!” he called out, and a head snapped towards us as he made his way over to us. “Jeremy, this is Stella. Stella, this is Jeremy. Jeremy Jones,” he introduced.

“Holy fucking shit, you-you’re Jeremy Jones!” I squeaked.

“Nice to meet you too, Stella,” he smiled at me. “Whoa shit! You’re the new recruit by red bull!” his eyes widened. “God, it’s a pleasure to meet you!” he smiled at me. “Are you here to ride, or take some shots?” he asked.

“Most preferably both?” I grinned. “This park looks pretty damn nice,” I said, looking around.

“Thank you, thank you,” he did a small curtsey. “Now, which one would you like to do first?” he asked me.

“Kyle, I officially love you,” I squealed giving him a hug.

“Let’s get riding!” he fist pumped and for a few hours my mind was off of the love topic.

A few hours later, I checked the time seeing that it was already 2 in the morning. My eyes widened, remembering Ethan. “Hey Kyle, I gotta go,” I said. “I’m with somebody and yeah,” I said to him.

“Oh of course, I’ll go back with you,” he said and he told the guy that we were leaving and that e would come back later. He walked back with me to the car to return my board and my camera and walked back with me to the party that was on full blast.

“I’ll see you around Kyle,” I said to him. “I had so much fun, thank you. I needed it,” I smiled at him.

“Of course,” he grinned. “I’ll call you later,” he said and waved at me as he retreated back outside.

“Guys, I think you’ve had enough to drink,” I said approaching the crew.

“Come on Stella, have some fun! I just won Gold!” Scotty slurred.

“Yeah Stells!” everyone chorused.

“Ethan, you’re drunk,” I stated bluntly.

“I’m not drunk babe, I’m just very much intoxicated by you,” he laughed.

I rolled my eyes at the drunk group of guys. “It’s two in the morning. You’ve had enough to drink,” I said snatching the bottle from Scotty and he pouted at me. “Come on E, we have appointments early tomorrow,” I said to him.

“No Stells! I’m gonna have fun tonight. What are we gonna do when we get home?” You’re gonna ignore me again and we’re gonna be quiet. I like this place, it’s loud!” he slurred as he wrapped his arms around me.

“Have you been smoking, Ethan Jay?” I snapped at him.

“It was just one stick baby,” he said to me.

“We’re going home,” I said sternly and pulled him out of the hell hole. He stumbled after me, and I had to take his arm to keep him from toppling over. I shoved him into the passenger’s seat with rage and fished his snowboarding pants for the keys. I found them and quickly jumped over to the other side- to the driver’s seat, slamming the door in the process.

“Are you mad Stelly?” he asked with a sigh.

“Why were you smoking E?” I asked him.

“I’m sorry, it was a one time thing. That was the first time that I smoked, I swear!” he slurred.

“Then Why?!” I shouted.

“I thought it would help me!”

“Help you what?!” I shouted at him. “What would you need help with? The only thing smoking does is give you fucking cancer!” I shouted at him as I jumped out of the truck and walking towards the cabin, but not before grabbing both our cameras. He followed after me, and heard his footsteps come closer and I suddenly felt his hands around my waist as he spun me around and kissed me. I melted for a second before I pushed him away, tasting the smoke in his mouth.

I stormed into the house, throwing the bags on the couch and ran up the stairs to my room and slammed it shut. I grabbed clothes from the closet and took a quick shower and brushed my teeth like crazy. I then walked over to my bed, ready to sleep and the anger was starting to subside.

I stared at the ceiling for about an hour before I decided to go talk to Ethan. I didn’t care that he was asleep. I was gonna go talk to him. I was going to yell at him, and give him a piece of my mind. Anger was boiling inside of me as I barged into his room only to find him not there. I heard a noise in the bathroom, and I rushed towards it.

“Holy shit, are you alright?!” I asked Ethan, seeing him leaning over the toilet throwing up his stomach’s contents.

“Do I look like I’m okay?” he snapped at me.

I gave him a sympathetic look and filled a glass for him to wash him mouth with and handed him some Listerine. I sat on the sink, rubbing his back as he threw up even more.

“E, you know not to drink too much. I know you have high tolerance and I’ve never seen you drunk, but damn how much did you drink?” I asked him as I handed him another cup of Listerine, and he flushed the toilet.

He looked up at me with sorrowful eyes. “I’m drunk,” he said to me.

“I know,” I replied as I gave him a sympathetic smile. “Why’d you drink so much anyways?” I mumbled.

“I didn’t,” he said.

“Uhh.. You’re trashed. You don’t get trashed unless something’s bothering you,” I told him.

“You still know me that well,” he laughed dryly.

“You feel better?”

“Nope, I have no clue what the fuck I’m doing,” he mumbled. “But I do know how I feel,” he said, looking straight at the tub.

“What? Like shit?” I tried to lift up his mood.

“Yup especially seeing you with Kyle Brooks. What did you do, huh? Fuck behind the bushes?” he scoffed.

“Ethan!” I shouted at him.

He smirked at me. “No, not just that,” he said. “Holy-,” he mumbled before leaning over the toilet and throwing up another batch. I shoved him another cup of mouth wash. I was about to yell at him for accusing such thing but he looked let out a painful groan. “God, Stella Grace. Why does it feel like I’m the only one falling in love?!” he shouted out exasperatedly, and walked out of the bathroom leaving me stunned.