Ethan was in detention, again.
The fluorescent lights hummed, casting a dull glow on the familiar, scarred tabletops.
This time, his infraction was playing his music too loud during lunch, disturbing the peace of the cafeteria.
He was leaning back in his chair, tapping a restless rhythm on the table with his fingers, when the door creaked open and Regina walked in, her platinum hair shimmering even under the oppressive lighting.
“Oh come on,” Ethan groaned, not bothering to hide his disappointment.
Regina’s blue eyes narrowed, and her perfect lips curled into a disdainful pout.
“Why are you always here when I’m here?” She walked to her usual table, pulling out her chair with a deliberate scrape.
“Are you obsessed with me or something?”
Ethan, back on the couch, fidgeted with a drumstick.
“I heard she got detention.” He smirked.
“And it just gives me an excuse to talk to her.” He paused, a mischievous glint in his eye.
“So yeah, but I’m not going to admit that.”
Ethan leaned forward, a challenging glint in his eye.
“I could ask you the same thing.
If you needed an excuse to see me again, you could have just asked.”
Regina scoffed, rolling her eyes.
“Uhhh, I hate you, and quite frankly, I spend too much time around you as it is.” She then looked at his arm, noticing the cast for the first time.
“What happened to your arm?”
“What does it look like?” Ethan retorted, his voice laced with sarcasm.
“I was asking how, idiot,” Regina snapped, her perfect brow furrowed.
“I broke it saving my brother’s life,” Ethan declared, twisting a few details for dramatic effect, but it was, essentially, a half-truth.
Regina stared at him, a flicker of surprise in her eyes.
“Seriously?”
“Yeah,” Ethan confirmed, nodding solemnly.
“Well, I’m glad,” Regina said, a triumphant smirk on her face.
“I don’t have to hear you drumming again.”
Ethan chuckled, shaking his head.
“Your hatred for me is almost as intense as your need to be around me.
Did you miss me after our memorable night or something?” He emphasized “memorable night” with a wink.
Regina’s eyes flashed.
“No, I didn’t, and quite frankly, it wasn’t a night together, and it wasn’t all that memorable either, because I’ve already forgotten that night.” Her voice was sharp, dismissive.
“Unfortunately, my van smelled sickeningly sweet for the past few days,” Ethan mused, pretending to sniff the air around him.
Regina’s nose wrinkled in disgust.
“Then it must have smelt better than it usually does because when I was in it, it smelt disgusting.
Do you not have car freshner or something?” She shuddered.
“And you better not have told anyone about that night.
You and that girlfriend of yours.”
Ethan, despite himself, felt a pang of something akin to hurt at her callous dismissal of his van’s usual scent.
Also, he didn’t think she looked ugly that night, if anything he found her more hot than ever, in some weird domestic way, vulnerable and real, but he wasn’t going to admit that.
Instead, he simply shrugged before lying “Believe it or not, you don’t come up in my conversations at all.”
Regina’s eyes narrowed.
“I’m being serious, if I see one thing about me eating those stupid bars, or how ugly I looked, I’m going to ruin your life.”
Ethan, unable to resist, poked back.
“You did look ugly that night, and I kind of want to see how you would ruin my life.”
“Through gossip and slander,” Regina declared, her voice cold and precise.
“Oh no, how would my life ever recover from gossip?” Ethan said sarcastically, rolling his eyes.
Regina’s face tightened in thought.
“I will tell everyone you’re secretly gay.”
“I wear eyeliner,” Ethan retorted, gesturing to his eyes.
“People already think that.
You’re going to have to think harder than that.”
Regina looked like she was genuinely thinking about it, her brow furrowed in concentration.
“Does it hurt your brain when you think hard?” Ethan asked, unable to resist.
Regina ignored him, her eyes still narrowed in contemplation.
“I will find a way to ruin your social life.”
“I have no social life,” Ethan shrugged.
“All I have is Cassie.”
Regina’s eyes gleamed with a new, dark idea.
“I will leave bad reviews on your website.”
Ethan’s eyes widened slightly.
That was bad.
That would affect the band.
“Okay, that’s kind of bad.
Truce?”
Regina considered him, her perfect lips pursed.
“As long as you don’t ruin my life, I won’t ruin yours.
So yeah, truce.”
“Truce,” Ethan confirmed, a reluctant peace settling between them.
“I can’t believe I can’t try ruin your life for everything you’ve done,” Regina grumbled, a hint of genuine frustration in her voice.
Ethan just shrugged, a small, triumphant smile playing on his lips.
Regina continued, her voice filled with a dramatic sigh.
“I so regret getting in that ugly thing you call a beaut.”
“Well, I was the only option you had,” Ethan reminded her, “since your boyfriend didn’t drive you home that night” his voice practically spitting out the word “boyfriend.”
Regina’s eyes narrowed dangerously.
“What is that supposed to mean?”
“I’m just saying he might not be a good fit,” Ethan said, a nonchalant shrug accompanying his words.
“Hell, I probably would be a better fit.”
“I’d rather jump off a cliff than date you,” Regina retorted, her voice dripping with venom.
“If I had to date you, I would run away to Indiana like your last boyfriend,” Ethan countered, matching her intensity.
Regina’s eyes widened, a flicker of genuine surprise and suspicion in them.
“Hang on, how did you know about that?
Are you stalking me?”
“I have better things to do with my life than stalk you,” Ethan said, rolling his eyes.
“Then how do you know?” Regina demanded, her voice rising.
“I like tea,” Ethan replied cryptically, a smirk on his face.
“My love life isn’t tea,” Regina snapped.
Ethan merely shrugged.
“Well, it is now.”
“Tell me now,” Regina insisted, leaning forward.
“Fine,” Ethan conceded, enjoying her eagerness.
“I heard it from Haley, who heard from her friend, who heard it from her friend, who heard it from her boyfriend’s cousin, who heard it from her friend.” He finished with a flourish.
Regina stared at him, her face a mask of frustration.
“That doesn’t tell me who it is.”
Ethan shrugged, a triumphant smirk on his face.
“All that fuss for nothing.
You really have to take a chill pill once in a while.”
She got into his face, her blue eyes blazing, looking ready to murder him.
Ethan, despite the genuine threat, felt a thrill.
“That cute little face you’re pulling didn’t scare me before, and it definitely won’t now.”
Just then, the teacher, Mr.
Harrison, walked back in, looking utterly exhausted.
He took one look at their tense faces, sighed, and muttered, “It’s the last day of school, you two need to chill out.
Just go home.”
Ethan grabbed his backpack, a triumphant grin on his face.
“See you in detention, again, stalker.” He then bolted for the door, exhilarated.
Regina, with a furious shriek, gathered her things and chased after him in her heels, her perfect composure completely shattered.
“No running in the halls!” Mr.
Harrison yelled, his voice barely audible over the clatter of Regina’s heels and Ethan’s laughter.
Ethan, back on the couch, looked at the camera, a wide, almost manic grin on his face.
“You ever hear about poking the bear?” He chuckled satisfied with himself.
“I didn’t just poke the bear; I went up to the bear, slapped it awake a couple times, and now the bear wants to kill me.”
He paused, a dreamy look in his eyes.
“So, all in all, she wants me.” He adjusted his cast.
“Did you see her ask what happened to my arm?
She cares about me.” He nodded sagely.