Your's, eventually

choices

I woke up with one aim, forget everything, easy but impossible, let it slide those words rang in my ear as I remembered them, I buried my face in the pillow forget Ethan's kiss your focus is Xander, I got up pretty quickly got dressed and headed downstairs,i stopped abruptly, Xander was holding the door open for Marielle,I wish was In her shoes,i had watched them for a moment , she didn't know the princess treatment she's getting but I wasnt going to be present while they had their little chitchat I'd rather walk to school even if my legs throbbed afterwards,besides I had to be careful as I didn't want to meet Ethan this early surprisingly ,the walk didn't take as long as I thought it would , the moment I entered school the first recreation break had begun and I looked around the hallways casually just to see Ethan heading straight towards me ,my heart sank ,as if sensing me, he looked up and our eyes met, then from across the hallways _gabby! Ethan echoed , I froze, he was already walking faster ,”gabby ! Wait “,I turned around immediately, nope not today I wasn't gonna start the day with Ethan, but there was always something to ruin every get away your short legs compared to Ethan's long ones ,even if I had a thirty minutes head start he'd still catch up to me, “gabby “ he said between breaths , “what? “, he panted even faster “I just want to talk “, “about what? “, I didn't give a damn on what he wanted to say and thankfully he respected my mood , Thankfully ,he handed me a card “library next recreation period, I squeezed it into the locker and slamed it shut ,there, problem solved! , I headed for class ,I couldn't think properly, Xander occupied almost every corner of my mind, who knew having a crush could be this frustrating, everything seemed fine so far ,i decided to enjoy the little peace I had.the next thirty minutes of lecture passed surprisingly quickly ,the lesson had been a really captivating moment of peace too bad all good things must come to an end, the bell chimed Almost immediately laughing and chattering filled the halls once again as a familiar voice made his way through the crowd “Ella “ he said out loud enough for three people standing behind to hear, “look what I've got “ he said waving two ticket of In front of me, wait!, the ruckus show, last episode did Xander really get these for her, I looked at them again, but I remembered something. Marielle, I had to be sure there was no Marielle, “you should have bought three, so Marielle could join in “,Xander frowned then changed his expression he burst out laughing but Gabriella face was dead serious, “this is a Xander_ Ella Thing “he said smiling “i don't wanna involve Marielle” I blinked shocked by what he said , he continued “and I haven't been to make up for weeks of leaving behind friendship time,and settling for my relationship “ my heart skipped” you matter to me Ella “ he smiled “and I'm grateful I met you “,pinch me !, for a second i felt like hugging him and confessing my feelings ,right there, in the middle of the hallway ,but I wasn't gonna now, I'll do it after the show, maybe then everything would finally make sense, maybe then Xander would finally understand how I felt, finally the days of Xander and Gabriella were getting closer, I smiled to my self, everything was finally falling in to place , or atleast, thats what I thought ,Because I had spoken far too soon , Marielle waved her hand at Xander from across the hallways , she was heading towards us, she finally reached us ,without hesitation, kissed Xander on the lips right there infront of me, my heart broke into a million pieces, although this wasn't the first time she'd kiss Xander, I couldn't take more Demonstration of Mr Xander showing off his kissing skills, I cleared my throat, and they broke apart both blushing lightly, Marielle tucked a strand of hair behind her ear, what a showoff,before i could look away Xander placed his hand around her waist ,then I looked down at the tickets in my hands, suddenly they didn't seem nearly exciting as they did a few seconds ago. Xander noticed but Marielle kept distracting him with other matters about her cheer leaders team ,” Ella...“, but before he could complete it I interrupted “Ive got to go “ i didn't wait for an answer and made my way into the crowd as xander and Marielle mumbled something behind me , it had been better I left before they could see how much that little scene hurt , so much for Xander_ella time, but I still wasn't gonna miss this movie, and after the confession he'll see I love him more than he could ever think, as I thought evaded in a world of fantasies, I made my way to the cafeteria and straight to the library, I spent the whole time of recreation there , it was quiet no Marielle no Ethan and definitely no Xander, Exactly what I needed , I pulled out a book pretending to read but I couldn't concentrate , who was I kidding, I had been staring at the same paragraph for almost ten minutes , then I remembered something , the card , thost words 'Library Next Recreation period ' Ethan, of course I had forgotten we were supposed to meet here ,I looked around the empty section of the library, and back at a student seating just about a seat away from me, “great “ I muttered “talking to your self now “ i nearly jumped out of my chair , Ethan stood behind me, I held my chest, “you scared me “, he burst out laughing ,oh no he didn't ,”you came “he finally said ,I rolled eyes “I didn't come for you “, “but you're here so I'm happy “, he smiled at me looking way to pleased “you wanted to talk “ , “yeah about that” he swung his backpack off his shoulder , I was thinking we could start our lesson, I really need to make it through this final exams “ he said bringing out textbooks from his bagpack and placing it on the table ,”it's here somewhere “ he rummaged through his bag once more before finally pulling out a black sleek book , the exterior was a understatement of complete art,it looked like something far too sophisticated to be associated with academic suffering Ethan was about to endure , it looked like….. “maths? “,”unfortunately “ he added ,”it's no biggie, you're the one who needs help after all “,he sighed “I know. that's why I'm suffering voluntary “ . I wasn't gonna waste my time today, it was going to be simple and short ,I didn't want to let it turn into a three hour t*****e session , I opened my notebook and Ethan did the same ,”okay let's start with something simple “ he nodded confidently, seeing his confidence, I knew was wasn't gonna be easy ,pride always came before a fall ,I scanned through the textbook trying to find the most easiet question that even a fifth grader wouldn't struggle with,i turned the book towards him, “okay solve this 3b=27, this looks easy enough , he looked at me and then at the question, his brain Seemed to perform some sort of mental background check , “that's it “ ,”yes “ His eyebrows slowly knitted together , “are you sure this is math? “ I haven't started Teaching him yet and it was getting frustrating, “yes now solve it “ he bit the end of his pen and looked at the equation and few more times ,it went on again and again ,at this point ,I couldn't tell whether he was trying to solve it or wait for a miracle to descend from above the ceiling “you know the equation isn't gonna solve it self if you're confused just inform me and I'll be happy to lend a hand “, “Ive got a question “ I raised my brows, Ethan actually had a question, things could only go up hills “who's b? “ I blinked “think of b as a variable “ he thought thoroughly , “so we're looking for a missing person “, “no” I said bluntly, “because if b's missing , shouldn't we inform somebody “, I bit the inside of my cheek, you gotta be kidding me , I immediately took back every positive thought I'd had about this lesson ,”Ethan just answer the question “, he finally picked up his pencil ,and scribbled on the paper , a few seconds later, he looked at me ,“nine ?“ , I was suprised, I looked at his answer, then at him and back at his answer I didn't even realized I had been holding my breath “correct “ he dropped his pencil back onto the table amd leaned back on his chair , that's was as suspiciously easy “ , I shook my head somewhat in a playful kind of way,trying my best not to laugh ,”that's because It was easy I said without looking at him , “I mean too easy, what's the catch? “ “there is no catch “ ,” so I Found b?“ , i slammed my palm against the table “yes you found b“ there was nothing I could say , he nodded thoughtfully “dead or alive? “ ,”we can't know “,“Fair enough “ , “ could we move on to the next question “ he seemed completely uninterested but I Continued anyway , “okay... Here's an interesting one 3x-20=11 what's the answer to this equation “, I said pointing out the equation , he immediately leaned back, his expression changed , “i'm getting tired “, I almost laughed ,”but we just started “,”I can handle one x but three is a no “, he said wigh a hint of disinterest , “this is technically the easiet “.“oh Come on... “,this was getting impossible but Ethan still didn't oblige He looked like he was taking a retirement from mathematics altogether ,”why is it always x” I stared at him “we're always looking for x, x should go get a map, I'm done with x” I pressed my lips together trying to suppress the incoming laughter “the only x I want is xtra money “,I lost it I burst of laughter enveloped me before I could stop it ,it was already too late , he had done it, he finally succeeded in making me laugh,he could as well take a trophy home, he looked at me with the most satisfied expression I'd seen all day ,and judging by the smug look on his face he knew it ,”you think that funny? “,I quickly composed myself “no”.“you're literally laughing “he said ,and it didn't seemed like it was going to end soon,”it's not that funny “ ,he smirked “then why are you laughing “ .i tried my best to keep a straight face ,”I don't know “ good job Gabriella, that's the best you could come up with , and Ethan didn't look convinced ,he leaned over “I'll take my trophy now “, “what trophy? “I looked puzzled “the one for making gabby laugh “he added, I always hated that name gab that Ethan had given to me,but today I didn't mind ,”don't push you luck” ,”already did“ the bell chimed , echoing through the hallways and around the walls of the library ,followed almost immediately by the sound of distant noise of students flooding back into the hallways once again,i looked at the clock hanging on the wall right above my head , already?, i didn't even realize , how quickly the time had passed , I closed my notebooks and Started gathering the textbooks I looked at Ethan “comon “ he remained on his chair “aren't you coming “ .“give me a minute” i I gave him a suspicious look instead “don't tell me you're suddenly too tired to walk “ .“I'm still recovering from the mental damage math had caused me, I rolled my etes, as the memories of what he said flooded my head, leaving me trying to muffle my laugh, “well good luck with your recovery and don't forget to study harder” “sure miss gabby and don't forget to meet me tonight for the dating ethics “, I froze, my hand remained on the strap of my bag ,i slowly turned around, for a second I wasnt sure I heard him correctly totally ,“dating ethics “ ,”yeah “ he said it so casually, I had movie night planned with Xander “meet me tonight “ I stared at him, of course! ,i totally forgot about that, I nodded slowly ,”okay “ a smile still tugged at my lips despite my self “tonight “ ,”tonight” I repeated, i he finally stood and slung his backpack over his shoulder, I headed towards the exit , I couldn't think straight ,My mind was already running through every possible solution, and somehow every single one ended with me losing something.

I had a movie date with Xander.

And a dating-ethics class with Ethan.

Perfect.

Just absolutely perfect.

I stopped in the middle of the hallway, staring blankly at the crowd moving around me.

How was I supposed to choose?

If I went with Xander, I'd get to spend the evening with him. Just the two of us, watching the movie we'd been planning for what felt like forever.

Quality time.

Actual quality time.

The kind I'd been secretly hoping for.

And maybe—just maybe—I'd finally get the courage to tell him how I felt.

But then there was Ethan.

Our deal wasn't something I could simply abandon whenever it became inconvenient.

He needed my help.

I had promised I'd help him with his studies, and apparently our ridiculous arrangement came with a whole collection of rules that I was supposed to follow.

If I didn't show up, I'd be breaking my side of the deal.

And the entire reason I'd agreed to the deal in the first place was Xander.

Everything was supposed to lead back to him.

So why did choosing him suddenly feel so complicated?

I groaned quietly.

“This is impossible.”

A student passing by glanced at me.

I immediately straightened.

“Nothing.”

They continued walking.

I exhaled.

Okay. Think, Gabriella.

There had to be a solution.I could go to the movie with Xander and meet Ethan afterward. No.

The movie would probably finish late.

I could tell Ethan I had something important to do.But what if he needed my help?

I could ask Xander to move the movie. Absolutely not.

I'd been waiting for this.

I wasn't giving it up that easily.I rubbed my forehead.

Why did my life suddenly feel like one giant timetable designed specifically to ruin my plans? And then another thought crossed my mind.Maybe I was making this more complicated than it needed to be.Maybe I didn't have to choose between them.Maybe I could somehow make both work.I smiled faintly.There.

Problem solved.Probably.Then I remembered who I was dealing with.Xander.Ethan.Two boys.Two completely different plans.And one extremely confused Gabriella.

My smile disappeared.“Yeah,” I muttered to myself.“I'm definitely doomed.”