Page 18 of Always Been You

Her phone buzzed, and she pulled it out expecting to see a message from her dad. She'd planned on calling him on the drive home but wasn't surprised that he'd beat her to the punch. But the text wasn’t from her dad. It was from Ethan. It said that he'd run into her dad and found out she had a doctor's appointment and he was checking in to see if everything was okay.

Irritation flooded her. This was one of the reasons she knew that they wouldn't work out. She didn't want to be "the sick girl." The girl that people had to take care of. That's the only way he'd ever see her.

Perhaps it had something to do with their first interaction. Her being unconscious upon first meeting probably set the tone for their relationship. She'd tried to be a badass and not use her oxygen, but halfway through first period, she'd known she'd made a grave mistake. She'd almost made it to her locker before she'd blacked out.

The next thing she knew, she'd opened her eyes and Ethan was kissing her. At least, that's what her foggy brain had thought when his mouth was on hers. It took her a moment, but then she'd realized that he was trying to resuscitate her. She'd begged, begged, him to let her go back to class and not say anything.

She'd thought she was in the clear but during the next period, a voice came over the intercom and asked her to go to the nurses’ office. The nurse was there, and her mom showed up ten minutes later. The principal said that a student reported that she'd passed out in the hallway. Ethan had never admitted that he'd snitched, but she knew it had to be him.

After that day, everything he'd done had rubbed her the wrong way. Mainly because she'd wanted him to rub her the right way. It wasn't really his fault that he told the nurse. That's just who he was. He was a good guy.

Her friends were right. Ethan was a real-life hero...he just wasn't her hero.

6

Ethan stood at the luggage carousel waiting for his grandma's bright yellow and pink polka dot suitcases to roll by. They wouldn't be hard to spot. Nana loved bold, vibrant prints. Her last set of luggage had been zebra striped. When he didn't see it, he checked his phone. Again.

He'd run into Jess's dad at the Gas 'N Go this morning and John told him that she had a doctor's appointment today. She hadn't mentioned anything about it the night before. Not that she would. She never talked about her health and always seemed irritated when he asked about it.

It was her two-year checkup, and her dad said that everything should be fine, but he'd seen in his eyes that he was worried. And Ethan was right there with him.

As sure as he was that everything was okay, he'd still feel better once he had confirmation. So he'd texted Jess before he'd left for the airport to check in. That was over four hours ago. He'd still had no response.

"What's the score?" his grandma asked.

"Huh?"

"I figured the Sox must be playin' since you've checked that thing about a dozen times in the last ten minutes."

"Oh, no... it's just... ."

He wasn't a great liar, and he especially hated lying to his nana, but he didn't want to tell her he was worried about Jess. That would lead to a conversation he didn't feel like having. Thankfully, her attention was elsewhere.

Using his arm for support, she lifted up on her tiptoes, making her a whopping five feet tall and craned her neck as she searched the crowd. "Do you see her?"

There had been a medical emergency on the flight and Dr. Susie, as his grandma was now referring to her, had stayed on the plane to deal with it while everyone else disembarked.

"I don't know what she looks like," Ethan pointed out.

"I told you, a young Patty Duke."

"That doesn't help."

He didn't see a young Patty Duke, whatever that even looked like, but he did see Nana's luggage. The bright yellow and pink suitcase rolled by and he started to reach for it.

"That's not mine." She swatted his hand away.

He glanced at her, and she gave him "the look." The one that still made him feel about two feet tall and kept him from arguing with her.

"Yes, ma'am." He stepped back, knowing full well that that was her luggage and she was stalling.

He picked up his phone again, still no response from Jess. He checked her Instagram and saw that she'd posted a picture of one of her cats sunbathing with the caption Elvis Pawsley living his purrfect life.

The woman loved puns.

It was posted an hour ago, which meant she was home and that she'd been on her phone.

"Oh, there she is!" Nana started waving her hands up in the air. "Dr. Susie!"

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