Chapter Eight (Rough Draft)

“You look like death warmed over” The empty chair next to me in the lunch room swirled around and Ethan settled into it.

“Glad to see you could join us today Ethan. What illness were you dying of this time?”

“I have no idea what you’re talking about!” he said using a mock cough “I Never fake being sick. I’m always 100% honest.”

Liar.

The rest of the table started to file in around us. To my left was Myke. He was along the shorter side with a varying array of hair colors. He was a cool kid, quiet, reserved, winner of student of month for the art department for the last two years now. It’s not that Myke was gay, he just to spend his company surrounded by men. We didn’t put that past him. He came out of his tightly locked closet last year and nearly lost every one of his friends. He came to join Ethan and I when we stopped a couple of guys who thought it would be the appropriate thing to beat up on Myke for fun. We left with a few black and blue marks of our own, but Myke stuck around. Next to Myke was Shannon. She was a quiet kind of girl that you couldn’t help but find adorable. Her features were quaint. Her hair a natural golden blond was dyed a deep forest brown that made her blue eyes shine out more on her face. She never put much interest into what she threw on that day or how perfect her hair and make-up was before heading outside. We’re not really sure when she showed up or even when she really became part of our little gaggle of friends. She was just there one day and refused to leave. She settled in nicely.

Next to her was Jessica. I’m just going to state this bluntly. No one likes Jessica. She is a self-centered, vindictive, back-stabbing, gossip starting s**t who relies simply on her leggy body, manicured fingers, and bottle bleached bob to get forward in life. What was she doing with us? Last year her and Ethan had hooked up at a party and when he didn’t call her the next day or the day after that she decided that the only logical way to get him back was to suffocate everyone around him. It worked only to aggravate us and a year three months and six days later, it still hadn’t gotten her Ethan. Not that I was…counting or anything. Next to Ethan, separating him from his shadow was Jordan. Jordan was the kind of guy you couldn’t help but be friends with. There was always a smile plastered to his face and he did his best to find something funny in any situation. He came in through Jessica. Since freshman year he’s had some sort of weird love infatuation with her. His “Aphrodite” he would tell us. We tried to not get ill at the notion.

And there we were, oddly formed, yet strangely functional. We bonded together because we knew no one else could stand us. Today that group extended to fit one more as I saw Alec walk towards us.

“Evening friends!” Alec said

Everyone eyed him nervously, except for Jessica. She stared intently on the leanness to his body and the attractiveness in his features that were highlighted by the top of the line clothes that donned his body. Materialistic b***h.

Grabbing a chair from the empty table next to us, he shoved himself in between Ethan and me. I saw Ethan’s eyes narrow and the skeptical looks from everyone else at the table.

“And who might you be…friend.” Ethan said. Ethan was pissed, he was curious about the boy who seemed to have the notion that he was more important and deserved the seat that Ethan had filled for the last 10 years.

Alec smiled a wicked grin at Ethan before introducing himself.

“The name is Alec, you must be Ethan.”

“Yeah that’s me.” Ethan said. “We’ll friend…I hate to be rude. But I don’t remember anyone inviting you to this table.”

There was a small murmur of laughter that caused a grin to pass along Alec’s face as he turned towards me.   

“Well I thought since Colin and I here became friends yesterday I do think it’s up to him if I sit here or not…pal”

While Ethan fumed Alec kept that penciled smile strong. I felt like I was on the bad side of some weird love triangle without the love and where I wasn’t the real prize. Ethan wanted to prove his dominance. Someone had brushed along with the idea that he was grander than thou and it bristled along Ethan’s pride. Alec wanted to prove that he could knock any man down that level. He wanted to pick a fight, one I’m pretty confident he knew he would be the victorious in.

“I think he should stay.” Everyone turned to look at Jessica. “What?”  The flirtatious smile that Alec sent her was sickening. She blushed before finding something interesting about her fingernails.

Ethan hadn’t stopped his stare down with Alec till he turned his grey eyes towards me. They were a foggy grey that made you think twice about picking a fight. His back hunched and I knew he was going to be the one that pounced first. His body recoiled with feline reflexes and I saw his hands flex tighter.

BZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZ

“Oh thank god” I whispered as everyone began to filter out. I grabbed my books and started heading for the exit. Alec made me antsy. Ethan stayed stuck at the table I’m sure washing away his temper as I headed off towards my next class. Alec’s next class sent him strolling in the other direction which thankfully meant I didn’t have to deal with him till the end of the day. I had another 3 classes in between being stranded alone with the horror story from my dreams. I headed to the gym locker room hoping that some well deserved physical exertion would clear my head. I had Jordan in gym with me who gave me the courtesy of not mentioning the little predicament in the lunch room while we got changed. They lined us in military fashion, setting us up in random rank like lines while teachers prattled off the attendance. The guys buzzed hoping we were still in the football section; even the volleyball section was an equal second if necessary. The jock boys sat back and chilled poised and ready for whatever sport thrown at them. Our gym teacher Ms. Judge, her legitimate name of course, was a cross bread of a Scandinavian woman and a South Western Ox. Her build envied that of a heavy weight boar and her voice raked more than the screeching cry of a drowning Pomeranian. There was nothing gentle about Francesca Lynn Judge.

“Alright class” she demanded “today we start a new section”

The boys snickered and some gave high fives while some of the more bothersome girls sulked farther and chatted more to their friends. Lieutenant Judge went off to grab some equipment from the well stocked storage room. That’s the one thing schools understood well, their teachers when underpaid and their students learned from history books that still claimed we had 48 states, but there was always enough footballs and brand new fields and sports centers to go around.

“Today class, we are going to learn….” She paused as she drew out from behind her what looked like a stepping board. The girls raised their heads in excitement and murmured amongst themselves as the dread started to fill the gentlemen. “Step Aerobics”

Damn my life……

All the boys walked out of gym with their heads held low as the girls twirled their way down the hall towards their respective classrooms. There was 2 hours 23 minutes and 49, 48, 47 seconds till I had to face him again. You know how they say that if you sit there and count the minutes it goes by slower? That’s a load of stupid bull. I counted every minute of those two hours and even most of the seconds and it didn’t squander nearly enough of the time. My final class of the day approached just as rapidly as I had dreaded it would. Alec sat tall and proper fixated in his seat. His eyes caught mine and signaled to the empty seat next to him. I scanned the room for a suitable alternative empty seat…and found that he had choreographed the remaining seats to be in a circle around himself. I was just left to choose which seat would be less painful. I chose the seat behind him hoping that Mr. Bayne would put a stop to any kind of talking that he wanted to do. Forty-five minutes…that’s it….just forty-five minutes…..

Mr. Bayne walked in like clockwork.

“Form groups of two everyone.” He slammed his brief case on the table “Study your vocab for a test tomorrow.”  

Damn my life today!

Alec already had his book on his desk and was flipping to the appropriate chapters by the time Mr. Bayne was done speaking.

“Sorry about lunch” Alec began “Your friend Ethan seems like he’s got some anger issues.” He said it so nonchalantly that it sent a cool blast of anger through me. I don’t know who this guy fricken kept on thinking he was.

“You should come over today.” Alec blurted.

What?

“What?” I mimicked.

His dirty orbs turned up towards me as he gave a questioning look as if what he was asking was as normal an activity as any.

“My sister and I are throwing a sort of party to thank everyone for welcoming us. It will be small you know, I would be glad if you would come.” His smile was crooked. “Bring your friends….and Ethan if you so wish.” No wouldn’t be an answer.

“Sure…I guess I can go…” his grin spread till he was almost brimming from ear to ear.

“Good! I’m glad.” He scribbled his address down on a small piece of paper he ripped from his notebook. The script was elegant as he wrote down the address for the rich section of town. Most at Saint Jude’s were set in families that were well off, but even among us there were the flashily well-to-do homes. From the looks of it Alec had landed a spot right in the smack center of the trust fund babies’ candy store.

We studied in a hush wind tunnel for the rest of class. He would read off words and I would answer them to the best of my abilities. When all the words were rattled off we would switch and I would read off words and Alec would spout better definitions that the dictionary could visualize. I expected him to follow along my heels as I headed towards my car but was relieved to find he left me to my peace. Ethan was sitting on the hood lounged out with one ankle curled under his leg. His hat draped over his eyes shielding him from the sun. His chest rose in a shallow up and down motion. A soft snore drifted from his mouth. The b*****d was asleep. On my fricken car!

I slapped my hand against his stomach in a quick fashion causing him to jump.

“Huh…what….school’s over already?” his words came out choppy as the sleep finally drained out of his consciousness.

“How long have you been out here?” Ethan stretched out before slipping off my hood and rounding around to the passenger seat.

“How long ago was lunch?” he scratched his head as he fished around for his phone to check the time.

“Dude…that was like 3 hours ago...Were you out here this whole time?” I questioned.

Ethan scratched his head trying to find something wrong with what he did.

“Yeah.” He said while shrugging his shoulders “Wanted a nap, and some fresh air.”

His eyes scanned the parking lot.

“Where’s your new bestest buddy pal.” The eyes that were scanning the lot squinted as some of the anger settled back into his bones.

“I have no idea. And he isn’t my new….”

“Hey Colin” Alec shouted as his car rolled past ours on the way out. His sister was perched daintily in her passenger seat. “Don’t forget about the party! I’m expecting you to show!” His sister’s head snapped towards him so fast I expected a snapping sound to follow. He waved bye and drove off before I could even think to respond again.

“What—Party?’ Ethan pushed out.

“He is having a party and invited us along.” Opening the doors I slid into my own car and waited for Ethan’s three breath cool down before he joined me. His demeanor was chilled as he closed the door behind him.

“But I have nothing to wear. My hair is a mess. And there is no way I have enough time to fix my make-up!” He said imitating the closest to a feminine voice his deep tenor would allow. I spurted out a quick laugh.

“Can’t help you out there pal. I can give you my mom’s number she’s always wanted girl. You’ll be the daughter she always wanted.”

He snickered “I’ll be something she always wanted alright.”

I punched his shoulder, playfully of course. He rubbed his arm as we sped off to his house. He promised we could take my car this time so if something happened I wouldn’t be left stranded for the second time. I pulled into my driveway and relished the fact that it was empty and no one was in the house but me, myself, and I.

The fan lulled softly when I walked into the room. Stripping off the tailored uniform I walked into my closet and tugged on the first pair of jeans I could find. I hunted through the shelves trying to find a shirt that didn’t contain a rip, stain, or remotely clean and came up empty handed.

My fingers snagged a plain black tee the only sort of writing design on it was the designers distinct brand signature along the back covering the width of my shoulders. It was stain and rip free, and smelt of detergent instead of any other repellent. It would work for me. I hauled it over my head and sprayed myself with some Old spice and I was set…Now to wait the seven hours till the festivity actually began.

 

Author's Note

This is still in VERY early stages. This is just the basic shell down before i go back and fine tune everything. Reviews and comments are SUPER appriciated at this point. Please try and over look grammer and spelling errors since this is just a very early Rough Draft. =D Thank you!