Free You Can't Choose Love by Veronica Cross Page A

guilt. He wanted to reach out to her, to tell
her that he didn’t care about her money or status and he didn’t have a choice.
    “We’re supposed to be studying
Ethan. I don’t want to talk to you.”
    Ethan’s jaw tightened but he
didn’t respond as Janet pulled out her books. She flipped through pages idly.
Professor Papkin was chatting with the librarian. Once he had procured his
book, he waved them goodbye and exited the library.
    “And that’s my cue,” Janet said.
She shut her book, grabbed her bag and exited the library too.
    Ethan sighed.
    That night, Janet had a surprise
visitor. George came into her apartment to invite her to his brothers’
engagement which was to take place the next morning. Janet accepted the
invitation with no intentions of going. She had nothing to wear and there was
no time to buy anything. She could have gone to buy a dress but anything up to
the level of the other attendees would cost her a fortune and she wasn’t
willing to spend that much on a stupid dress.
    As if reading her thoughts, George
asked her if she had anything to wear. When she responded in the negative, he
dragged her to the mall.
    “You don’t have to worry about the
cost,” he told her.
    “I’m not letting you pay for me,
George.”
    “I didn’t say that.”
    “Well, I can’t afford these
dresses.”
    “Relax, babe,” George rolled his
eyes. “This mall is owned by my sister. So it’s free for you.”
    “Your sister owns The Dolphin
Mall?”
    “Yes.”
    Janet wasn’t even surprised. These
rich kids owned everything in this town.
    When they had picked the perfect
dress for her (a maroon poof dress), the sales woman paired it with a beautiful
pair of heels. All the workers at the mall seemed to know George, Janet noted.
    And so, the next day, she donned
the dress reluctantly. Kan had taken her to his house so the Kale’s personal
stylist could help her get dressed. She arrived at the engagement with Kan in
some big car whose name she didn’t know; Janet was never much into cars. She
was forced to meet Ethan since he was standing at the doorstep. Ethan didn’t
fail to notice that she was arm in arm with Kan. He knew it didn’t mean
anything. They were just very good friends. But it reminded him of all the time
she had held him like that. He tried not to watch as she danced and laughed
with Kan and George. They didn’t have to hide their friendship with her because
they weren’t in love with her.
    Ethan stopped his thoughts there
and backtracked. This was the first time he had admitted, even to himself, that
he was, in fact, in love with Janet Price. He didn’t know how or when it had
happened but it did.
    Janet felt hot from all the
dancing; George and Kan were tireless. She stepped outside onto the balcony
which was donned with lights and beautiful decorations. When she stepped
outside, she noticed that she wasn’t alone. A figure (which she recognized as
Ethan from the back) stood at the railing, staring off into the air. He held a
cigarette in his hand and was smoking at distant intervals.
    She didn’t know if he didn’t hear
her come up behind him or if he chose to ignore her, but he didn’t turn around.
Janet stood beside him, staring into the night sky as well. The view was
beautiful.
    Ethan glanced at her in
acknowledgement but didn’t say anything.
    “I didn’t know you smoke,” Janet
commented. It was an important fact that any girlfriend should have known. But
wait, Janet was never his girlfriend.
    Ethan shrugged. “I quit for a
bit.”
    “Why?”
    Ethan turned to look at her.
“Because I wanted to be good enough for you.”
    Janet was taken aback by the
response.
    “You could have been good enough
for me in other ways, Ethan,” she said softly.
    “I know,” Ethan replied.
    They stared ahead for a while
before Ethan spoke up again.
    “I miss you, Janet.”
    Janet didn’t respond.
    “And I’m sorry about all the hurt
I caused you.”
    Janet nodded. They both faced