Rough Heart | ethan dolan

[forty seven - we can never go back]

"Jess?" I hear from behind me as I go to climb into my car.

Charlie.

"What're you doing here?" He asks, seeming amused.

He has a large grin on his face, and I instantly know that he's oblivious to the fact that I know he lied about what I said. It causes some sort of eerie feeling to erupt from within the pits of my stomach. I don't know how I feel about him.

"I came to talk to you." I lie.

He nods, his smile growing wider.

"What's up?"

I cross my arms over my chest and lean against my car as he stands in front of me, drifting back and forth in his heels.

He has to know what I'm about to say, right?

"Charlie, why did you lie to Sarah about what I said?" I bluntly ask.

His smile remains, and he acts as if the question had no effect on him whatsoever. He seems a bit confused, even.

"Um... what're you talking about?"

I roll my eyes, suddenly becoming angry.

"Don't play dumb."

"What did Sarah tell you?"

I sigh dramatically, trying not to laugh at the pathetic scene in front of me. Why is he doing this? Hasn't he already done enough?

"Charlie, stop. You know exactly what she told me. You're only making it worse by pretending not to know."

He shrugs, dumbfounded.

"Pretending not to know what?"

I shake my head, pushing myself off the car in order to stand up straight. I take a step closer to him in an attempt to seem somewhat intimidating.

"One of you is lying. Either you, or Sarah. And who do you think I'm going to believe, huh? One of my close friends, or the guy everyone at school calls a 'psycho,' and who just got out of rehab for his drug addiction?" I snap, shocking myself with my sudden outburst.

"That was a low blow, Jess."

I immediately feel terrible inside, and can't really decide if he deserved that or not.

"You just had to say that, didn't you?" He takes a step towards me, now.

The fear is obvious in my face as I stumble backwards, clumsily falling onto my car. When he notices that he has scared me somewhat, he backs away. I am able to regain my balance before Charlie continues.

"I didn't lie, Jess."

"How about this: you just tell Sarah you lied, and we can forget about all of this." I bravely suggest, surprising myself when I am able to talk.

He smirks.

"Or, how about this: nobody tells Sarah I lied, and I'll pretend I didn't see your precious little boyfriend about to come try and kill me, or so it looked like."

My heart stops. He saw Ethan.

I knew I was right. I knew he lied.

"You can't be serious." I say.

His smirk grows.