For days afterward, Amy refused to speak to Ephram. She avoided him when possible, but when she couldn't, she spoke as brief and frostily as she could manage. Her attitude saddened Ephram, but he could not blame her for acting so spurned; he could not be so sure he would not be the same if the situation were reversed.
What made those cold November days go by, strangely enough, was Wendell. Wendell could sense there was a serious breach between Ephram and Amy, more so than usual. He tried to keep Ephram's mind off it as best he could, but even Wendell could tell Ephram's mind was fully elsewhere.
Ephram was sure that in her anger Amy had told Colin what conspired between the two while he was away. Ephram was also sure that Colin was none too pleased, judging by the hateful looks Colin shot him in the hallways. That's why Ephram was so surprised when Colin came over to talk, in the middle of Ephram's interlude with a half cooked cheeseburger with limp fries in the school's cafeteria.
"Brown."
Ephram looked at Wendell meaningfully. Wendell nodded and left the table quickly. Colin watched Wendell scurry off before sitting down opposite Ephram. After adjusting himself in the battered cafeteria chair, Colin looked over to Ephram; a harsh, judging stare that almost unnerved Ephram. Then, all at once, Colin smiled… but it was not a nice smile.
"So I hear you and Amy were getting pretty close while I was out of the picture," Colin said, the unkind smile still dominating his face. Ephram swallowed the facetious comment on the edge of his tongue and smiled slightly.
"Only as close as Amy will let me get."
Colin raised an eyebrow demurely. "And how close was that?"
Ephram rolled his eyes in disgust of the current situation, a quiet action that seemed to aggravate Colin. Colin's jaw tightened and his eyes glittered. "How close did you get to my girlfriend?"
Ephram shot Colin another "look." "Your girlfriend wouldn't leave me alone."
"I heard you didn't exactly pull away yourself there," Colin said pointedly. The corners of his mouth curled upward into a half-smile, half-sneer. "You leave her alone, Ephram. She's all mine."
Ephram stood up, trying not to show how aggravated he was. Not just at Colin's rudeness, but at the situation in general, and how it seemed to twist continually out of his favor. Ephram tried to smile as maliciously as he could, his brain groping for the most hurtful thing he could say.
"She might be all yours now, Hart," Ephram emphasized Colin's last name mockingly. "But there are some things that only come… once, you know?"
Colin's eyes glittered dangerously, and his mouth parted furiously to fire back, but before he got his chance, Amy appeared seemingly out of nowhere.
Amy smiled sweetly, half-nervously as she stepped in between the two young men. The tension in the air was almost tangible, and it only tightened in the girl's presence. Amy stepped close to Colin, keeping her eyes on Ephram. Ephram tried hard not to show how much that simple, obvious action hurt him, but he was unsure of his success.
Colin's eyes never left Ephram's face as he spoke. "Hey, Amy. What's on your mind?"
Amy was not a stupid girl, and she could sense that unfriendly words had been exchanged between the two boys. She could also sense there was a good chance those words had been about her. Taking a deep breath, Amy smiled as sweetly as she could.
"Well, boys, I'm glad to find you two boys… " Amy closed her eyes for a moment and exhaled, trying to clear her mind. "I wanted to talk to you about getting together."
"Getting together?" Ephram repeated blankly. Even Colin looked unsure as they waited for Amy to continue. Blushing slightly, she did.
"I just meant… we need to get past this. All the pointless bickering and snotty remarks," Amy's eyes flickered towards Ephram, who was suddenly aware of all the facetious comments he'd ever made concerning Amy or Colin. "We need to get over it, get together and do something fun. Something to get us all acquainted, to get us past the unresolved feelings between us three."
We need to get over it, Ephram thought bitterly. She might as well rip out my heart and eat it.
"That sounds good to me, Amy," Colin flashed her a friendly, warm smile as he wheeled his arm around her. His hand rested possessively on her shoulder. Colin then grinned at Ephram as if to say, "She's mine."
Ephram felt oppressed by the expectant expression on Amy's face. Suddenly he felt empty and unwanted, much like he usually did around Amy. A few moments of silence ticked slowly by as Amy waited for Ephram's answer. Ephram swallowed the lump in his throat and said, "Sure… what did you have in mind?"
"Oh!" The sound slipped out of Amy's mouth almost before she realized it. She had prepared herself for an argument, at least from Ephram, and was not prepared for instantaneous agreement. Maybe it wasn't such a bad idea after all.
Her surprise at the positive answers had left her speechless momentarily, but her thoughts quickly fell back in line. "I was thinking of something simple… like ice skating or something. The pond's still frozen, you know?"
"Ice skating?" Ephram and Colin spoke simultaneously, each in the same incredulous tone. At the sound of the other's voice, they turned their heads around to face each other, their eyes narrowing suspiciously.
"I think it sounds fine," Ephram said firmly, his eyes boring deeply into Colin's. He smiled tauntingly. "I'm game."
"Me too," Colin said, trying hard not to grind his teeth. He felt very threatened by Ephram's presence in Amy's life. He knew Amy had emotional stock in Ephram and he also knew she chased Ephram when he wasn't around. That disturbed him, but his anger largely was directed at Ephram.
"Good!" Amy sounded relieved. She heard the unspoken tension in their tones, but had decided to ignore it. She looked up at Colin, smiling and opening her mouth to speak. Before the words came out, the bell above their heads began to ring shrilly.
Without a word, Ephram turned on his heels and strode out the door. He did not glance back over his shoulder, because he knew what he would see: Amy and Colin, hand in hand, walking down the hall to their next class, smiling happily at the surrounding people.