Chapter 2

On our way out, we passed a luxury boutique. Ethan's mother stood inside, turning in front of a mirror with a new handbag over her arm.

Ethan had been walking beside me.

The second he saw her, he stepped away and moved next to Lena.

Mrs Cole caught their reflection in the mirror and beamed. "Another date? At this rate, I'll be planning your wedding before long."

Ethan didn't correct her.

Neither did Lena.

I had seen this performance before.

The first time Ethan brought me to his family's house, his mother had taken Lena's hands as if welcoming a long-awaited daughter.

"Of course it's you," she had said. "I was terrified Ethan would bring home some girl from the middle of nowhere. You two grew up together. I'd approve in a heartbeat."

Lena had opened her mouth, but Ethan stopped her with a look.

His father was a prominent businessman. His uncle was the dean of our university. Lena's family moved in the same circles.

My parents ran a small bakery in a town most people at our university had never heard of.

I stood stiffly in their big house that day, listening to them talk about childhood memories I had no part in. I couldn't find a single word to add.

I had spent half a month of my spending money on a box of tea for Mrs Cole. She handed it to the housekeeper without even reading the label.

"Rosa, put this in the back of the pantry. It'll only take up space."

Then she asked Rosa to brew the expensive first-flush tea Lena had brought. After one sip, she smiled. "Lena always knows what to buy."

Ethan introduced me that day as a friend.

Not his girlfriend. Not the woman living with him. Just a friend of his and Lena's.

After we drove Lena home, Ethan wrapped his arms around me in the apartment entryway.

"You've been quiet. Are you mad?"

"How long am I supposed to wait?" I asked. "Until you marry Lena?"

"Don't be ridiculous. You know we only act like that in front of Mom. Otherwise she'll start arranging dates for me again."

He turned my face toward him and wiped away my tears.

"Give me more time. You don't want me forced into some awful blind date, do you?"

Back then, the thought of him being unhappy had been enough to silence me.

So I waited.

And waited.

Yet somehow, I was still the outsider standing behind the two of them.

In the boutique, Mrs Cole asked Lena which color suited her best. Ethan stood close enough to hold Lena's purse while she compared two bags. I remained by the entrance until a sales associate politely asked whether I needed help.

Mrs Cole glanced over. "Oh. You're here too."

The words weren't openly cruel. They were worse. Being cruel would have meant she noticed me first.

Lena hurried to smooth it over. "Flora ate with us tonight."

"How nice." Mrs Cole turned back to the mirror. "Ethan, is this one too young for me?"

He answered immediately. He knew his mother's taste. He knew Lena's favorite restaurants, her allergies, the exact tone that meant she was pretending not to be upset.

With me, he only tried to fix things after I got hurt.

I used to think it was because we were newer. Give it time, I told myself, and I would learn the language he and Lena spoke so easily.

But two years had passed. I was still waiting.