chapter ten | hey, hey, it's friday

Levana couldn't help but laugh at Natalie's facial expression when she'd returned to the dorm room the night before, the air knocked out of her lungs from the shock of seeing Ethan and Vana cuddled on her bed.

The sun had begun to set, illuminating the room in a golden orange light that illuminated Levana's features beautifully; Ethan wanted to mention how ethereal she looked, but he didn't want to push his luck.

The amber eyed girl on the other hand, still had yet to gain a filter.

"I really like your new hair," she smiled, fluffing her hand through the dark strands that resided on her friend's head. "It's sexy."

"What? The blond wasn't?"

"That's so not what I meant! It just.. made you look like an innocent little school boy."

"Hey!" He laughed, playfully swatting her hand, "I was an innocent little school boy!"

"Bullshit!" She retorted, laughing alongside him. "Do you not remember when we dumped a can of blue paint on my mom?"

Ethan threw his head back, his skull landing on his friend's pillow as he continued to laugh until his sides began to hurt. Levana smiled, staring lovingly at the boy as the setting sun showed just how much he'd changed; this new Ethan was one that lured her in, as if she were a sailor getting lured by a siren. He still had most of his lifelong personality traits, but the maturity level that he'd reached in the past year and a half was mesmerizing.

"You're staring, Lev."

She rolled her eyes, releasing a yawn and laying her head on his chest as they stared out the window. "It's not staring, it's admiring fine artwork."

He snorted, causing her to furrow her brows and look up at him, "What?"

"That was so cheesy." He chuckled, wrapping his arm around her waist and resting his chin on top of her head as his oceanic eyes drifted back toward the sunset. "It was cute, though."

The door swung open and a furious Natalie rushed inside, "Levana! Where the hell-"

The troll stopped dead in her tracks, staring at the duo with wide eyes. She was going to question where her friend had been all day, but seeing the blue eyed boy cuddled up to Vana for the first time in years had answered the question she hadn't even asked yet.

"Hi, Nat." Ethan greeted, sending her an awkward wave as Vana sheepishly smiled from his side.

"Hiiii, Natalie." The ravenette laughed.

"Okay, when the- how the- WHAT?!"

...

Night had peacefully taken over the sky, stars twinkling through her window as she waited for Natalie to finish in the shower; she smiled to herself, her mind flashing nothing but good memories of she and Ethan now. She was glad that she'd allowed herself to finally talk to him, despite the fact that they would eventually have to talk about what happened, but until then she wanted to enjoy the serotonin.

Her witches glass began to ring, and she smiled as she answered, revealing the dark haired warlock on her screen. "Hey, what's up?"

"Nothing much, I'm just bored and wanted to talk to you."

"We only have a few minutes to talk, but sure."

"Why only a few minutes?"

"Nat's in the shower and I'm gonna hop in after she gets out," she shrugged, glancing toward the bathroom door. "I have a date."

"A date?" Ethan echoed, wide eyed and slight jealous coursing through his veins; despite the fact that his confidence had, indeed, grown in their time apart, Levana couldn't help but smile at how awful he'd remained at hiding his emotions. "With who?"

"Oh, just this guy.. his name's pillow, and we're gonna sleep with this other dude named blanket."

"Oh, ha-ha." The dark haired warlock sarcastically laughed; watching as his friend smiled through the glass. "So, how was your day?"

Levana shrugged, "Kinda lame. I hung out with this weird guy all day, he was staring at me but I didn't call him out on it. Then, when I stared back at him, he made fun of me for being cheesy."

"Sounds like a cool guy."

"Eh, he's pretty boring, if you ask me. He took me out for coffee and then wouldn't leave me alone all day."

"It sounds like you wouldn't leave him alone, either," Ethan smiled, pointing a finger at her with a smile on his lips. "I think you like him."

The ravenette rolled her eyes, "We only just started talking, I wouldn't jump that far ahead."

"Uh-huh," the boy chuckled, when the sound of the shower turning off reached their ears, "I'll see you tomorrow?"

"Yeah, of course. Night lame-o."

"Sleep well, Cheeseball."

They ended the call, both laying back on their beds and smiling at the ceiling. Ethan couldn't believe this was happening, he was finally winning her back after all this time; most people would say that a year wasn't that long, but those people clearly weren't inseparable from someone for sixteen years.

...

"Hey, hey, it's Friday." Ethan greeted with a warm smile, leaning against the wall next to the doorway of Levana's final class for the day.

She turned to him with a wide-eyed look, releasing a laugh as his dark hair came into view. "Ethan Dalloway, are you stalking me?"

"I wouldn't call it stalking."

"Then what would you call it?"

"Waiting for you to finish your classes so I can talk to you." He nodded as they began to walk to the courtyard, "Do you have any plans tonight?"

"Not that I know of, why?"

"Would you wanna, maybe, go to dinner with me tonight?" He asked, awkwardly rubbing the back of his neck as the 4'11" witch looked at him with a surprised smile.

It'd been a week since they officially reunited, and it honestly felt as if they had never left each other's side; the red rose on her dresser had yet to wither, and it was constant reassurance that his feelings had never changed.

"Yeah, I'd love to." She smiled up at him, watching humorously as he released a breath of relief.

"Pick you up tonight at seven?"

"Sure - don't be late." She jokingly scolded, pointing a finger at the boy before they parted ways. She practically broke the door off its hinges as she entered her dorm, scaring Natalie nearly to death.

"Jeez! What's up with you?' The troll questioned, before noticing the wide smile on her friend's lips. "Oh, god. I know that look.. do you have a date?"

"Uh huh! And I have precisely three hours to get ready." Levana nodded spastically, throwing her bag onto her bed and beginning to pillage her closet. "His favorite color is orange - do I even own anything orange? Shit, he didn't tell me where we're going, either-"

"Calm down!" Natalie laughed, placing her hands on her friend's shoulders, "It's Ethan, isn't it?"

She nodded, looking up at the troll; Natalie was smiling, humored by her friend's nervousness. Levana's hair was thrown into a sloppy side braid, frizzing out the more she rushed around; she knew that her friend was capable of dolling herself up with ease, but she'd never seen her this anxious.

"Vana, it's Ethan.. You know he's not gonna care what you wear."

"But I care what I wear," the ravenette protested. "The only date I've ever been on was in the human world with Holden!"

"Oh, jeez."

The memory of the horrible date flashed through their minds, causing them both to externally cringe.

He'd taken her to a pizza parlor, talked about himself and his ex girlfriend the entire time, forced Levana to pay for the food, and then ended the night by making her walk home, alone, in the rain.

"He was such a dick."

"Don't remind me," Vana sighed, turning back toward her closet and ripping out all of the orange selections she owned. "Which one?"

Natalie's attention immediately moved to a ruffled pale orange dress; it was strapless, and had a black belt sewn into the waist; Levana had only wore it once before, at her high school graduation that all of her friends watched through Gwen's witches glass. It ended at her mid-thigh, and the pink haired girl knew that Ethan would love that more than the other options.

"This one, with those strappy black heels that you haven't given back to Cassie yet, and the necklace that Ethan gave you when we were fourteen." She smiled, grabbing the dress by the hanger and tossing it at her friend. "Go get dressed, I'll put the rest of these back."