Do You Really Love Me?
The sun was shining and it was 7 A.M. in the morning. Today was the day Ethan would ask Sarah out on a date.
"Ethan, it's the last week of school. You don't want to be late, do you!" Ethan's mom, Samantha called.
" I'm almost done, mom!" Ethan called back from his room. Ethan went into his closet and took out his leather jacket and a pair of black jeans. He looked in the mirror and smiled. Ethan walked out of his room carrying his backpack.
"Ethan, sweetheart, aren't you going to eat breakfast before you go?" Samantha asked as Ethan walked through the front door.
"No, it's ok. I'm not that hungry." Ethan replied as he ran to school.
At Whitechapel High, Ethan saw his best friend, Benny waiting for him at his locker.
"Hey E, so what do you want to do after school?" Benny asked as Ethan walked up to his locker.
"I was actually going to ask Sarah if she wanted to have dinner with me tonight." Ethan said as he took out his calculus book.
"I thought we were going to do something together. I just bought that new Siren Song game. I thought that we could play it together tonight." Benny explained with a sad look on his face.
"Maybe tomorrow. Now I got to go ask Sarah." Ethan said as he walked to Sarah's locker. Benny walked to his first class to look for Rory since Ethan didn't accompany him.
Ethan walked up to Sarah and said, "Hey Sarah!"
"Hey Ethan, what's up?" Sarah asked.
" Uh Sarah, w-would y-you l-like to g-go to d-dinner with m-me t-tonight?" Ethan stuttered.
"Sure." Sarah said as she took out her history book from her locker and closed it. "Could be fun." Then Sarah walked up to meet Erica, her best friend before she went to class.
"She said yes! She said yes!" Ethan repeated after he fainted onto the floor. After hearing a thud, Benny turned around and saw Ethan on the floor.
"Ethan! Ethan! Get up!" Benny yelled as he shook Ethan awake. "What happened?" Benny asked as Ethan woke up.
Benny helped Ethan stand up and Ethan said, "Sarah said yes!"
"Oh, she said she would go on a date with you." Benny said, sadly. Ethan went to his class, leaving Benny to find Rory again.
Throughout class, Ethan smiled. All Benny did was frown because Ethan didn't want to play that new game with him. After an hour of calculus and an hour of geography, the bell rang and Ethan and Benny met at their lockers as usual but this time, they didn't say anything.
"You know, Ethan. Why would Sarah agree to go on a date with you when she doesn't even like you?" Benny asked, breaking the silence between the two boys.
Ethan rolled his eyes then looked at Benny with a fierce face. "She does like me! That is the only reason she would go out with me!" Ethan exclaimed then slammed his locker.
"You're probably just jealous that I got a girlfriend before you did!" Ethan screamed then walked away.
After school, Ethan walked home alone, unlike any other day because he usually walked with Benny. When he got home, he took a shower and picked out his favorite clothes. While he was preparing, he kept wondering to himself, "Does Sarah actually like me? Or was she just not trying to hurt my feelings?"
After about 2 hours of preparing, Ethan gathered his things for his date. He walked out of his house to pick up Sarah. When he got to Sarah's house, Ethan knocked on the door. Sarah opened the door and Ethan said, "Wow! You look amazing."
"Thanks." Sarah replied. "Shall we go?"
Ethan nodded and started to take her to the restaurant behind the park. It was 7 P.M. and was the sky was still bright. As they walked, they talked about random things such as how their friends get along but all Ethan could think about is what Benny said. When they got to the restaurant, they found their reserved seats and sat down.
"Wow, this is a pretty nice restaurant. You know, I have always heard people talking about this place but never came." Sarah said.
"Well, now you came. So, what would you like to eat?" Ethan asked, while trying to sound as normal and into their date as possible.
Sarah looked at the menu then back at Ethan. She saw a look on Ethan's face and knew that he was thinking about something. She asked, "Ethan, what's wrong?"
"Nothing's wrong. Why would you say that?" Ethan said as sweat started to appear on his face.
"Come on, Ethan. I know when you're thinking about something. We have been friends for about a year ever since your mom asked me to babysit Jane. I know you have something in your mind." Sarah encouraged.
Ethan was silent for a minute then looked up from the menu and asked, "Do you like me?"
"Of course I do. You're one of my best friends." Sarah responded.
Ethan knew that it meant she didn't like him the way he liked her but just to make sure, he asked, "No, I mean so you love me?"
She looked at Ethan and had a sad look on her face and said to Ethan, "I'm sorry Ethan but I don't love you. I only agreed to go on this date with you is because I didn't want to hurt your feelings."
Ethan just felt his heart break and said, "I'm sorry, I have to go." Ethan got up and ran out of the restaurant in tears, leaving Sarah behind. He tried to run straight back to his house but was stopped by Benny. Benny was at his front porch when he saw Ethan run.
"Hey Ethan, what's wrong?" Benny asked as he ran up to Ethan and pulled him into his house. As Benny saw tears fall of off Ethan's eyes, he went and grabbed a box of tissues.
Ethan took a piece of tissue to wipe his face then said, "You were right. Sarah doesn't love me. She just agreed to go on a date with me so that she doesn't hurt my feelings."
Benny took another piece of tissue for Ethan and tried to comfort him. "It's ok. Any girl who doesn't think that you're good enough to be their boyfriend, it's their loss." Benny said.
"Thanks Benny. I think that having you as a best friend is way better than having any girlfriend." Ethan said with a smile. Then Benny smiled back and hugged him.