Chapter 4 #2
Though Shakespeare has tons of plays, we decided to stick to the classics with Romeo and Juliet .
Ironically, but thankfully, we both hate the ending.
We know why it happened, but we both agreed it could be done differently.
So we decide to tweak it a bit and loosely base our play on an English couple that are from different social classes, forbidden from being together.
Instead of killing themselves, they’ll run away together after making their families believe they’d perished in an accident.
A bit dark, but so was Romeo and Juliet .
When the bell rings and we walk out of the library, I make a right to get to my next class. I notice that Ethan is keeping in step with me.
Puzzled, I ask, “What are you doing?”
He shrugs his backpack higher on his shoulder. “Walking you to class.”
I stop in the middle of the hallway, making a few people bump into me and give me dirty looks. Ethan stops and faces me. “Why are you walking me to class?” I ask. “You’ve never walked me to class before.”
Ethan looks off to the side for a second, then back at me. “Just wanted to walk you. So we can talk. Friends talk.”
Not in the mood to argue with him about it, I let it be and start walking again.
“I need your number,” he comments casually, like he’s asking if he can borrow a pencil or something. Maybe it’s no big deal to him, but it makes my heart hammer behind my ribcage.
“Okay,” I murmur, not really knowing what else to say. He pulls his phone out, and I rattle my number off to him. My phone vibrates in my pocket and I pull it out. I read his message and snort.
Unknown: Does this text make me the creep?
I shake my head and walk into my class, waving at him before he goes. He waves back with a smile and turns back in the direction we came from. He’ll probably be late because he walked me to class. Even though I feel bad that he may get in trouble, the thought of him walking with me makes me smile.
At the end of the day, I walk out of school to find Crystal so we can go home. Since she has a car, we don’t ride the bus.
Saying she has a car is being kind. She has a rust bucket that her father gave her when he got a newer used car.
Her car has well over three hundred thousand miles on it.
We’re both surprised every day when it starts.
Since her father is a mechanic, he keeps it up as much as he can, but it’s definitely on its last leg, or wheel, as the case may be.
She’s parked in her usual spot, talking to her friend, Jenna, who’s parked beside her. I like Jenna. We don’t speak often, but she’s a nice girl. We don’t have much in common, but that’s okay. She’s always been nice to me.
Before I make my way over to her car, I feel an arm snake around my shoulder.
Ethan.
I can't figure out what he's doing. It’s like now that we’ve spoken, I can’t shake him. Not like I really want to. Surprisingly, I like being around him.
Ethan lets me go and stands in front of me. “I was thinking you can come over sometime this week. So we can get started on the play.”
At some point, I think my voice will go back to normal when I speak to him. Not today, obviously, because it comes out quiet and shaky. “Yeah. Okay. Text me?”
He hums. “I will. I have practice, but I’ll text you after that.”
I didn’t mean today, but I won’t turn it down. “Okay. Have fun at practice.”
“Are you coming to the Homecoming game?”
Homecoming. I completely forgot about the game and the dance.
The games are usually packed, the entire student body in attendance.
I’ve only been to one Homecoming game and that was freshman year, and only because Crystal got me a ticket.
I didn’t want her to feel like she wasted her money, so I went. I hated every minute of it.
Shaking my head, I look at the ground, toeing at a crack in the sidewalk, “Probably not. I don’t go to games.”
“Let me try again.” I look up at him and he has his lip poked out, giving me puppy dog eyes. “Creep, would you please come to the Homecoming game? It would be nice to have a friend there.”
What does he mean? He has plenty of friends, most of them play on the team with him.
Even without an explanation, I can’t say no to him. Not when he’s looking at me like this. “Yeah. Okay. I’ll be there.”
He smiles and puts his arm back around my shoulder. “Great. You can stay at my place after.” I nod, not really knowing what else to say. “Good. I’ll text you later, creep.”
Ethan jogs off and I’m left standing there, feeling stunned.
What just happened? Crystal has been trying to get me to go to a football game for years, and I say yes because of puppy dog eyes?
Ugh. This friend thing is not going to be a good idea.
If Ethan keeps looking at me like that, I’ll give him anything he asks for.
I can feel Crystal’s eyes on me before I get to her car. I know she’ll have tons of questions and I’m trying to prepare myself for them. Jenna is gone, so there’s no buffer time for me to think.
Sliding into the passenger seat, I close my eyes for a brief moment, then look over at her. “Uh, what was that?” Her voice is high and excited, like she can’t wait for the tea.
I just shrug. I have no idea what that was. The friendship between me and Ethan is still a mystery. I don’t want to hope that he’s really serious about it. “We’re working on a project in English. He asked me to come to his house so we can start working on it.”
“And you’re going?” Her voice gets higher with her disbelief.
“Yeah. He’s not coming to my house. My mom would probably say some shit about me sucking his dick to make him be my partner for this assignment.”
Crystal cringes, knowing the kind of fucked up shit my mom says to me. She’s heard more than her fair share of my mother calling me a whore. I’m sure she doesn’t want to hear more.
She nudges me and says, “Well, have fun. It’s good to see you’re making other friends."
Deciding to voice my concerns, I turn to her and ask, “Why me, though? He can hang with anybody. Everyone loves him. I’m just…me. There’s nothing interesting about me that would make him want to be my friend.”
I’m not trying to put myself down, I'm just being honest. There is nothing interesting about me. I’m quiet. I keep to myself and I haven’t opened up to anyone besides Crystal in years. I’m not the walking advertisement for friendship. I don't even like people like that.
She lets out an exasperated breath. “Koby, you’re amazing. I’ve been telling you for years. You’re a lot of fun. I love hanging out with you. Maybe somebody else sees what I see. Or maybe he thought you needed someone else besides me. Either way, you’re a good friend. Let someone else see that.”
Can I allow him to be my friend, with no questions? Does he have ulterior motives? Is he using me as a joke or a bet? God, I hope not. I don’t think I’d recover from that. Not from him.
Sighing, I lean back against the passenger seat. “Thanks, Crys. I’ll try, okay? I don’t think I can do more than that.”
She nods and puts her car in gear, a loud screeching noise coming from under the hood.
We both cringe as she pulls out, the rumble of the car filling the interior with more noise than the radio.
“I think it’ll be okay. Ethan’s not like the rest of them,” she practically shouts.
She lets out a frustrated breath and adds, “Remind me to tell my dad to fix this piece of shit again before we end up on the side of the road.”
I laugh and relax into the seat. The rest of the ride is spent in silence, with me thinking about what I’m going to do about Ethan.
We have the English project to do together, so we’ll at least speak for the remainder of the semester.
Will we still be friends, though? Maybe in the time we’re doing the project, he’ll see that I’m not that great a person to be around.
He’ll realize he made a mistake and I’m a waste of time.
That will make the project awkward, but I think I could handle it.
When we pull up to Crystal's house, her father is in the driveway, looking under the hood of his own car. She pulls up along the street and puts on her pouting face so she can try to convince him to fix her car. I laugh at her and get out to walk home. I wave at her father, who shouts ‘hi’ over the noise of Crystal’s car while walking down the driveway to have her open the hood.
I wonder what I’m going to find when I get inside my house.
Hopefully, my mother isn’t drunk on the floor.
Maybe she’ll be locked in her room or—something I shouldn’t hope for, something I told myself to stop hoping for—she’ll be my loving mother, the one that would have lunch ready for me and ask how my day was.
I haven’t seen that mother in years. She’s too far gone to come back and be that mother, and I don’t think I’d trust her if she did.
Opening the door, I hold my breath, hoping she’s not around. The living room and kitchen are quiet, so I walk on light feet to my room, shutting the door as quietly as I can. If I don’t make any noise, she won’t bother me.
Tossing my backpack on my bed, I plop down beside it, pulling out my books to get started on my homework.
I tug my phone from my pocket, surprised to see a text from Ethan.
I check the time and see that he’s probably still at practice.
I briefly wonder why my phone didn’t vibrate, but it probably did and I didn’t notice with the shaking of Crystal’s car.
A smile stretches across my face as I open the text.
Ethan: You really wanna come to the game, creep?
Okay, fine. At this point, ‘creep’ is a thing. I won’t ask him to stop again. Surprisingly, I really do like it. I’ve never had a pet name before, even if it is weird as hell.
My fingers moving across the keyboard, I quickly send him a message back.
Me: Yes, I’ll be there. I haven’t been to a game in a while, though. What side is the fifty-yard line on again? I want to make sure I’m following.
I know where the fifty-yard line is. I’m trying for a joke, even though I’m not really good at them. Hopefully, he takes it for what it is.
Since he’s probably still at practice, I don’t expect him to text me back immediately. I pull my books closer and get started on my homework. We’re not too deep into the school year, but my AP classes don’t care about that. Calc and Bio have me swamped.
By the time Ethan texts me back, I’m knee-deep in equations and I’m glad for the break.
A laugh burst from my lips when I read his message.
Ethan: Everyone knows the fifty-yard line is on our side. Damn. I’ll have to teach you everything, huh?
I grin, glad that he knows I was joking. I’m also glad he texted me back.
Shoving my books away, I lie back on the bed, holding my phone above me. I can’t go for a witty response, because I am not witty. So I just try for normal.
Me: Not everything. I know what a football is. And that you guys wear black and red uniforms. What else is there to know?
Ethan: You’re killing me. There’s a lot to know. When you come over for the project, I’ll tell you all about it.
Me: Deal. And maybe I can teach you some things too.
I sit up, staring at what I just sent. Did that come out wrong? Did it sound forward, like an innuendo? I didn’t mean it like that.
The bubbles appear at the bottom of the screen, so it’s too late to clarify or try to take it back. Fuck.
Ethan: Teach away, O wise one. Lol.
The breath I’m holding flows out of me slowly. That was close. I’m glad he didn’t think I meant anything…sexual with my text.
He sends another text before I can type one out.
Ethan: Can you come over on Wednesday? We have a short practice. I can pick you up on my way home.
Me: Sounds perfect.
Ethan: Only creeps say perfect, creep.
I smile as I toss my phone on my pillow. What am I going to do with Ethan King?