POV: Ethan
Ethan's patience with Madison had been thinning for weeks, and today it finally snapped.
It started small, the way it always did. Her complaining that he wasn't at her cheer practice, that he'd skipped lunch with her again. Normally, he'd grit his teeth and let her vent, appease her with promises he didn't really mean. But the edge in her voice when she brought up Alex pushed him over.
"You're imagining things," he muttered, shoving books into his locker harder than necessary.
"Imagining?" Her laugh was sharp enough to cut. "Ethan, you're with him more than me. Don't act like I'm making it up."
The words scraped at something inside him he couldn't explain. Because she wasn't wrong. He did watch Alex more than he should. He did want to be around him, even when it didn't make sense. The pull was there, constant and confusing, and hearing it out loud made his chest tighten.
"Alex is my teammate. That's it."
