A lot changes in the next week. Janet and Anthony go on dates almost every day and sit together at lunch and break, leaving me to be their third wheel. Well, that is until Ethan decides to save me from my misery and he and David decide to join us. Despite his constant teasing, Ethan's company is sort of nice.

Speaking of lunch tables, Ella's still sitting with Jessica and Josh. Though I can't see why that'd be comfortable for her considering she has to watch the two of them make out constantly. She claims its all part of her master plan but I don't like it. Someone's going to get hurt and I hope it isn't her.

"Hey, Alisa, have you signed up for the winter play?" Anthony asks me, directing his attention from Janet.

I shake my head. "I'll probably do it after school."

"Yo guys." Ethan slides into the seat next to me with a smile. We all say hi to him and he turns his attention to me. "Do you wanna hang out tonight? We can watch some cartoons again."

"Yeah, sure, I hear they're airing a new episode of Adventure Time." I say and take a sip of my chocolate milk.

He nudges me in an attempt to get me to spill it down my shirt but I move just in time and pinch his arm. Janet and Anthony take a seat across from us, looking very much loved up with their matching lunches.

"Hey you two! Fighting already?" Janet says, flipping her black hair over her shoulder and smiling.

"I don't fight, I have very intense discussions and debates." I say passively. Ethan mimics me and then laughs when I glare at him. "You're so annoying."

"Thank you." He mocks taking a bow and then ruffles my hair. I duck out of the way but the damage has been done.

David sits down on the other side of me and suddenly I'm being towered by two broad shoulders. It gets even worse when the two of them start talking to each other over me and Janet gets all loved up. I drink my chocolate milk and pout a little. Even though this new dynamic is fun, I do feel a lot like a fifth wheel.

Ethan notices my pouting and he responds by tugging on my hair. When I look up at him, he simply winks before his face breaks out into a wide smile.

"The Crow?" I read as I stare at the audition sign-up sheets on the doors to the auditorium. Ethan shrugs next to me and sticks a random red lollipop into his mouth. "What happened to Much Ado?"

"That shit's boring." He says passively. I glare at him but I sign my name up right underneath Sarah's. "Wait, you're still gonna audition?"

"Well, yeah, I have to." I say. "There could be some college scouts looking in the audience on opening night and it'll be good theatre experience for the future."

"Where you thinking of going?"

"Julliard, Yale Drama School or So-Cal." I shrug. "The obvious ones I guess."

Ethan rubs his chin and then snatches my pen from me. To my surprise, he scribbles his name underneath mine and puts my pen in his pocket. "Well, I guess we're just gonna have to be in this together."

I stare at him for a little while. I don't know if he's just being foolish or whether he's really going to audition with me but whatever it is, I'm more than a little bit impressed.

"What?" He says, grinning.

"You took my pen." I comment. I'd rather eat a raw potato than tell him that he's impressed me.

His grin doesn't waver. "You're definitely not getting it back. Anyway, we should go find the others, club is cancelled tonight."

I roll my eyes but let him lead me to the parking lot where Janet and Anthony are standing by his car, talking with huge smiles on their faces. It's bad that even though I'm super happy for her, I'm also feeling a little jealous because she won't hang out with me as much anymore. It's selfish but before Ella started dating Josh, the three of us were a heck of a lot closer than we are now and I don't want her to slip away from me.

"They're gross." Ethan says simply.

"They're not." I defend. "They're in love and it's cute."

He gives me a sceptical look. "In love? Let's not go that far sweetie."

I stick my tongue out at him but he just flicks me on the forehead and then runs away when I try to flick him back. After I've given up, I glance at them and see that they're kissing so immediately give them some privacy.

"Ethan! Come on, let's leave them be!"

Even though she might have less time to goof off with me, I do want the best for Janet. So I push Ethan to his car and make him start it up while I text Janet that we'll follow them to the mall. She messages back a kissy face almost immediately.

I sit back and sigh. "Why do you think they're gross?" I ask Ethan after about ten minutes.

He glances at me and stops humming to whatever song is playing on the radio. "What, Janet and Anthony? Because they're so sappy. That phase is probably gonna fade and they're gonna get crabby with each other for a while."

"You're so cynical."

"You're so hopeful. Haven't you ever been a relationship, you must know what I mean."

I sit up a little and fold my arms. My cheeks are heating up but I pretend not to notice. "Actually, I've never been in a relationship."

He does a double take. "You're seventeen."

"And you're almost eighteen."

Ethan shrugs. "Touché." The car goes silent until he clears his throat once again. "Though I thought you of all people would have at least had a boyfriend."

I catch my face in the rear-view mirror and I'm not surprised to see I'm blushing really hard. "Well, I haven't. I've been busy caring about theatre and stuff like that."

He glances at me lazily. "There's no shame in it. It's just surprising."

"Why?"

He doesn't answer me. After a thirty minute drive, we reach the mall and meet up in the parking lot. Janet skips over to me and links arms, pulling me away. When we're a little ahead of the boys, she lets out a quiet squeal. I ask her how things are going and she grins at me.

"Oh my God, he's so perfect, Alisa!"

"Yeah?" I grin at her and she skips a few times. "What's on the agenda for today?"

She rubs her chin. "Well, since we're with you and Ethan, we decided to just get some ice cream from McDonalds or something and call it an evening."

My smile falters a little but I try my best to maintain it. Janet doesn't seem to notice. "Well, what if we all get McFlurries I take Ethan and get outta your hair?"

She gasps. "Could you actually?"

I nod. "Yeah, we were gonna hang out at his house anyway. We didn't know we were third wheeling."

"Oh no, you weren't!" She links arms with me. "It's more like a double date – now if David was here, he would totally be fifth wheeling, am I right?"

I wrinkle my nose. Janet's been making quips on Ethan and I going on a date with her and Anthony since he and his girlfriend broke up. It's more than just a little annoying but I've just been putting it down to her being so happy that she wants to spread the joy. Truthfully, I wish the joy would remain stagnant in her vicinity.

"I'll take him out of your hair anyway. I wanna watch adventure time." I say, ignoring her comment.

She beams. "Okay yay!"

We hang out for another half an hour before I manage to drag Ethan away. He complains quite a bit but is pretty much sedated when I offer to buy us both McFlurries.

"I love ice cream." He declares once we're seated outside. The sun's still up in the sky. "Especially when it's free."

I roll my eyes and think of how broke I'm going to get if I keep offering people ice cream.

"Have you tried the starburst flavour?" I ask Ethan, trying to keep up conversation. He shakes his head and I scoop out a little then hold out my spoon for him to take.

He stares at the spoon, licks his bottom lip and then guides my arm to his mouth. All the while, I'm watching in shock and horror.

"It's good." He comments and then goes back to his ice cream. Then he catches sight of my face. "What?"

"Dude!" I exclaim. "I meant for you to take the spoon!"

He smirks. "Yeah right. You were totally trying to feed me that ice cream."

I gasp. "No I wasn't! If I was trying to feed you, then I would've fed you, I was –"

"Alisa?"

"What?"

"You're talking too much."

Shocked and appalled, I open my mouth wide. He doesn't seem to notice – or if he does then he's not at all fazed by it. At one point, Ethan looks up at me with my mouth still wide open and rolls his eyes. He then decides to deposit his ice cream filled spoon into my mouth and pushes my chin up so my jaw closes.

"You fed me, I fed you. We're even."

I swallow the ice cream a little fast. "We are not even."

"Then... we're odd?"

I groan but he laughs, way too amused for my liking.

Later, Ethan and I get out of his car and head inside his house. His dad is sitting reading a newspaper in the kitchen and I say hi to him while Ethan keeps on walking.

"Hey Alisa! This is the third time I've seen you here this week." He comments nicely. "You and Ethan becoming friends again?"

I shrug and hoist my backpack further up my shoulder. "Yeah, I guess. We're just into the same things."

He nods with a knowing look on his face. I don't like it – he looks like Janet when she makes quips about Ethan and I being a couple. I just brush it off and say a speedy goodbye to him before following after Ethan into the living room.

He's already sat down and flicking through the channels with a bored expression on his face. "Why do you always have a conversation with my dad?" He asks me when I sit on the armchair next to him.

"It's polite." I say and turn my attention to the TV. He settles on the ABC channel and turns to me.

"You're too nice."

"To him?"

Ethan shakes his head. "To everyone."

I squint. "What do you mean?"

He sighs. "I don't think you realise how easily you get pushed around, Alisa. People take advantage of that fact about you; on Friday you gave Ella her homework because she was feeling too sad to do it and you had to re-do it again over lunch while she gossiped with Jessica."

"Oh that's not a big deal. She'd do the same for me." I explain and sit back.

"Would she really?"

"Yeah?"

He scoffs. "I doubt it Alisa. I've known her for like, three weeks and she's pushed you around quite a lot."

"That's because she's going through a rough time – you know, with the breakup and whatever. It's understandable that she'll-"

"I broke up with my girlfriend and I haven't been treating you like shit." He interrupts. "Or any of our friends like shit. But she is."

I don't like where this conversation is going. "You're different people, of course you'll react differently."

Ethan sighs. "Sure. But you still seem to be going the extra mile to be nice."

"No I haven't?"

"Whatever, Alisa."

I don't reply and look at the TV. He keeps staring at me for a few moments before turning his attention away and changing it to Cartoon Network. I think about what he's said about me being nice and a pushover and begin feeling a little weird. Sure, I do nice things for people, but who doesn't? What kind of friend would I be if I didn't sacrifice things here and there for my friends when they were in times of crisis?

Ethan doesn't know what he's talking about.

"I think I might go home." I comment.

He grunts but then realises what I've said. "Wait, you don't have to leave."

"Yeah, I know." I say and yawn. "I'm just feeling tired."

Ethan stares at me and opens his mouth to say something. Luckily, he decides it's not worth it and closes his mouth again. "Okay. I'll walk you out."

"Thanks."

He walks me to the door and I fold my arms. Despite the warm weather outside I'm suddenly feeling a little cold.

"So I'll text you about the episode of Adventure Time?" I tell Ethan once I'm outside. He stares me down and it's starting to make me feel both uncomfortable and guilty but I can't look away from him in case he realises.

"Yeah, okay. Get some rest Wise Girl." He says and looks away. I release some air through my nose and then catch wind of the nickname.

"Wise girl?" I repeat.

Finally Ethan offers me his signature smirk. I'm about to protest vehemently to this new nickname of mine but then he sticks his tongue out at me and shuts the door in my face.

So I'm left standing by his door in shock.

"Did you just –"

"Go home, Alisa." He says through the door.

"You're an asshole." I yell back.

a/n: hey guys! sorry for the month break between updates, ya girl went through a lot this October. I'm trying to get my life back on track so here's to hoping I resume weekly updates! hope you enjoyed this :)