~The next morning~
He was already there.
Of course he was
"Hey."
I paused.
That was it?
No pretty.
No smile.
"Hi," I said slowly.
I sat down beside him.
Not too close.
Not too far.
He was already on his phone.
Scrolling.
Like nothing had changed.
Like nothing happened.
I waited.
For him to say something.
Anything.
He didn't.
"You didn't text," I said quietly.
He glanced at me.
"I was busy."
That felt... distant.
"Oh."
Silence.
That uncomfortable kind.
The kind that wasn't there before.
I opened my notebook.
Tried to focus.
"Ethan"
We turned around at the same time.
"Hey," He SMILED at her. What? Why was he smiling at her?
"Can I sit here?" she asked, pointing at the chair next to him.
Ethan didn't stop her.
"Yeah."
My chest tightened slightly.
She sat on his other side.
Close.
Too close.
"You disappeared yesterday," she said casually.
"I had things to do."
"With her?" she asked, glancing at me for a second.
I looked down immediately.
"Something like that," he replied.
She smiled.
"That's new."
I felt that.
Every word.
"You weren't like this before," she added.
Before.
Again.
Ethan didn't respond this time.
He just smirked slightly.
Like it didn't matter.
Like, I didn't matter.
"Anyway," she continued, "are you coming to Brandon's Party later?"
"Maybe," He playfully told her.
"Please come, don't ditch me this time, I get bored without you," she pouted at him.
lightly nudging his arm.
He didn't move away.
Didn't stop her.
Didn't even react.
Like it was normal.
Like this was normal.
I gripped my pen tighter.
"You coming?" she repeated.
He glanced at me.
Just for a second.
Then—
"Yeah."
That was it.
That one word.
And something inside me dropped.
He told me she's a nobody.
He told me not to talk to her.
Is there a reason why I shouldn't talk to her?
He ignored me the whole class and was just talking to her.
I did not talk to him after that.
I just wanted to go home.
~later~
I didn't wait for him.
I walked to the bus stop alone.
Faster than usual.
I just wanted to leave.
My phone buzzed.
I didn't check it.
Not immediately.
But I knew.
It was him.
It's always him.
After a few seconds—
I looked.
Ethan:
You left early.
I stared at the message.
And then I switched it off.
~At night~
Should I text him back?
No
I should know better. He ignored me i will ignore him.
And with that, I went to sleep.
~In the morning~
I had made up my mind.
I wasn't going to sit next to him anymore.
I can give my seat up... right?
Then-
I saw him
Of course I did.
Same seat.
Same place.
Like nothing had changed.
Like yesterday didn't happen.
Like, I didn't matter.
I paused at the door.
My fingers tightened around my bag.
That seat.
The one he "saved" for me.
The one I started going to—
without thinking.
I looked at it for a second.
Then—
I walked past it.
And sat somewhere else.
He can let her sit there. I'm not going to play this game with him.
I didn't look at him.
I didn't want to see his reaction.
Didn't want to know if he even had one.
"Good morning, students."
I opened my notebook.
Focused.
Or at least—
tried to.
But I could feel it.
That feeling.
Like someone was watching me.
I didn't look.
Then—
"Ivy."
My name.
I froze.
Slowly—
I looked up.
He was standing there.
Right next to my desk.
"What?" I asked.
"You're sitting here?"
I nodded.
"Yeah."
"That's not your seat."
I blinked.
"It's a seat."
He stared at me for a second.
"Come back."
My chest tightened.
"No."
Silence.
Just for a second.
"Why?" he asked.
"I just want to sit here today."
"That doesn't make sense."
I looked at him.
"It doesn't have to."
His jaw tightened slightly.
"Ivy."
"What?"
"You're doing this because of yesterday."
I didn't respond.
Because he wasn't wrong.
But I wasn't going to say it.
"Come sit there," he said again.
"I said no." I said sternly.
That did it.
Something in his expression shifted.
Not soft anymore.
Not calm.
Something sharper.
"Fine," he said.
And walked away.
Back to his seat.
Without looking at me again.
I didn't focus.
Not really.
Because now—
I could feel it.
The distance.
Not just physically.
Something else.
He didn't look at me.
Didn't talk.
Didn't even try.
Like I didn't exist.
And somehow—
that hurt more than anything he'd done before.
~After Class~
I packed my bag quickly.
"Ivy"
I froze
I turned around slowly.
He was already walking toward me.
"Now you're ignoring me?" he asked.
"What do you want?" I asked hurriedly.
"You didn't sit with me."
"I didn't want to."
Silence.
That hit him.
I could see it.
"You always sit with me," he said.
"Not today."
"Why?"
I exhaled.
"Because that kiss meant something to me, and you pretending that it did not happen ,hurt me."
"I can tell it didn't mean anything to you, so please just let me be and leave me alone," I added, angry now.
His expression didn't change much.
"You're overthinking," he said.
Of course.
That again.
I let out a small laugh.
"I knew you'd say that."
"Ivy—"
"No," I shook my head slightly.
"For once, I'm not."
Silence.
"I just... didn't want to sit there," I said quietly.
Because sitting next to him—
like nothing happened—
felt worse than sitting alone.
He stepped closer.
"You're making this a bigger deal than it is."
That hurt.
More than anything else.
"Maybe," I said softly.
"But at least I'm not pretending it didn't happen."
He didn't reply.
Not immediately.
And for the first time—
It felt like he didn't have the right words.
~at night~
I was done with him.
I picked up my unfinished sweater and started adding rows to it.
I started crocheting since it brought me peace and calm, but now I couldn't even focus on that.
I felt disappointed.
His dry replies.
Him not caring enough to solve things.
Him manipulating me.
Everything made my head hurt.
I put my sweater aside and went to sleep.