The Distance between us
260 Words
The following week, something changed.
Ethan stopped waiting for her after class.
Stopped teasing her during group work.
Stopped texting at night.
At first, Ava thought he was just busy. But when she saw him in the hallway, joking with Clara again, her stomach twisted into a knot she didn’t understand.
She told herself she didn’t care. She told Lila the same thing.
But the truth slipped out anyway.
“He’s ignoring me,” Ava admitted quietly as they sat under a tree near the field.
Lila shrugged. “Boys get weird when they actually start liking someone.”
Ava threw her a look. “He doesn’t like me.”
“Right. And I’m the queen of England.”
Ava groaned, burying her face in her notebook. “Why am I like this?”
Because she missed him — the way he smiled, the way he listened when she talked about her dreams. The way his jokes always made her laugh even when she didn’t want to.
That afternoon, they finally crossed paths again in the lab.
Ethan looked up but didn’t meet her eyes. “Hey.”
“Hey,” she replied, keeping her voice calm. “You’ve been… busy?”
“Yeah. Just stuff,” he said quickly.
“Right. Stuff.”
They stood there, both pretending to be fine.
The silence between them felt heavier than all their past arguments combined.
When Ava finally left the lab, she felt something sharp twist inside her.
Maybe whatever they’d almost had was already over — before it even began.
- Writer
