Chapter 9
I was right. The rumor mill is fast as fuck. By the beginning of the next day, it’s gotten around that Ethan and I are a couple. Crystal is back and I told her what to expect when we got to school, so she knows it’s fake to help me not to get picked on.
As soon as I walk into the building, I get stares. My face is on fire. I duck my head so I can’t see the people gawking at me or the fucking pointing.
Smiling like a loon, Crystal leans over to me and says, “Guess it’s not a bad thing to be dating the most popular guy at school.” I give her a small smile and head to homeroom.
After homeroom, I walk to my locker, wanting to grab my books for my next two classes. It’ll be easier for Ethan to walk me to class, and not be late for his, if I already have them.
Before I can get there, though, Elle catches up with me, sliding her arm through mine and leaning her head on my shoulder. If I hadn’t seen how touchy she is with everyone, I would feel weird about it. But she really is this friendly, so I let her be.
“You could have told me you and Ethan were dating yesterday,” she says. “I should have known though. He’s all different now. You two make a cute couple. He’s all tall and smiley, and you’re all small and quiet. Like…a contrast or something.”
I want to mention that that’s how she is to Mitch, but I don’t want to make her uncomfortable. It seems like it took a lot for her to mention Mitch possibly being the male lead for our play. Anything else about him might make her clam up.
“Yeah,” is all I say.
“So?” she asks leadingly, standing beside my locker while I grab my books.
“So what?” I try to hide my head in my locker so she doesn’t see how red my face is.
“Is he? Neither of you confirmed. It’s just a rumor. I want to hear it from you.”
Elle isn’t my friend, but I’d like her to be. I’d like to have other friends, even if only for senior year. It would be nice to look back on my last year of high school and think about how I put myself out there and talked to more people.
Nodding, I put the books I need in my bag and zip it up, sliding it on my shoulder. “Yeah. He’s my boyfriend.” My cheeks flame, but I hope she thinks it’s because I’m divulging information, not the lie.
She squeals and gives me a hug, almost knocking me over. “That’s so sweet. Ugh. I can’t. I just can’t.” She pulls back from me and asks, “So you’re going to be at the game tomorrow? And, oh, are you two going to Homecoming together? I think he might be crowned King.”
Are we going together? Shit, we didn’t even talk about that. I guess I’ll answer for him and tell him about it later. “We’re going together. We have matching suits.” That part just kinda slipped out.
Elle practically swoons. “That’s so cute. I’m going alone this year. Want to keep my options open, ya know?” I nod and we walk towards my class. I’m not sure where hers is.
She’s still talking when I see Ethan, a big smile on his face. I smile back and he opens his arms to me. I walk into them and he kisses my forehead. When I look at Elle, she looks like she’s not breathing.
She puts her hand over her chest and says, “You two are freaking adorable together. I can’t wait to see you at Homecoming.” She walks off, a bounce in her step, like our relationship made her day.
My forehead is tingling from where he kissed me, and to my surprise and my heart's excitement, he does it again. “Come on, the bell’s gonna ring soon.”
When we walk into English class, it’s like someone pressed the mute button.
Everyone stops talking and looks at us. I duck my head and try to hustle to my desk.
I sit in the front and no one sits beside me.
Well, no one used to sit beside me. Now Ethan slides into the empty seat, stretching his long legs over to my side of the table.
I glance to the back of the room and see his teammates staring at him. Some with their mouths open.
“Go sit with your friends,” I tell him, dropping my head as I feel those eyes on my face now.
“Nah. We’re partners. We have to sit together to work on our project.
Besides,” he says, pulling my chair closer to him and wrapping his arms around me.
I don’t squeal, I swear. “My boyfriend is sitting up here.” He kisses my cheek and I laugh at him, not intentionally, but a light laugh does escape.
Then I get self-conscious and my face gets warm when I realize people are staring.
“Fine, weirdo,” I murmur, taking out our rough draft and putting it between us.
Ethan laughs at me. “The creep and the weirdo. A match made in heaven.” I chuckle and we get to work when the bell rings.
With us working, it’s easy to ignore that some of the whispers cropping up around the room are about us.
I guess it’s having the desired effect of people knowing we’re together, but it’s weird to hear my name whispered in association with Ethan.
He’s, like, the most popular kid in school, certainly the best-looking.
A football player. An amazing sprinter. And I’m…
me. The geek. The quiet kid. The invisible boy.
He likes me, though. Even though I don’t think I’m that interesting, Ethan seems to disagree. I know he doesn't like me the way I like him, but that’s okay. This is enough.
It makes me wonder, though. When we were dancing, I thought for sure I felt his hardness on my belly. I thought he felt what I was feeling in the moment. Maybe not. I’m probably just hoping that’s what it was.
The bell rings and I look up, startled that I didn’t notice the time passing so quickly. I hurry to gather my things so Ethan will be on time for his own class. I’m not even sure where his next class is.
As usual, he slings his arm around my shoulders, pulling me down the hallway.
“Where is your class?” I ask. “You don’t have to walk me every day, you know.”
“Sure I do, creep. I like walking you to class. And I was only late the day you were late. My class is at the end of the hall. Chemistry.” I nod, feeling better that I’m not making him late just so he can keep up appearances to help me.
Close to my class, I see Dawn walking in the opposite direction and her eyes nearly bug out of her head. “Is this a joke?” she asks one of her friends loudly, probably hoping Ethan acknowledges her. He doesn’t. He just kisses my forehead and drags me to my class.
I look up at him and say, “She’s mad. Maybe we shouldn’t?—”
“Fuck her. I’m not worried about her feelings.”
When he deposits me at the door to my class, he kisses my cheek and tells me, “I’ll be here after class, creep.”
Nodding, I turn to walk into class, and again, it’s like someone pressed a mute button. No one, not even the teacher, is saying anything. Just staring at me. It’s really fucking weird, but I just sit in my seat and take my books out, hoping people don’t ask me questions.
Thankfully, no one does, and class is as boring and uneventful as it is any other day.
After the bell rings, I take my time getting my supplies together, not wanting anyone to accost me to ask questions.
When I exit the room, Ethan is leaning against the wall, waiting for me.
He doesn’t sling his arm around my shoulder like he has before.
He grabs my hand and laces our fingers together.
His hand is strong and warm, his fingers long and grounding. “Todd left a voicemail while I was in class.” I look at him quizzically, not quite keeping up with what he’s saying while he’s holding my hand like this in front of all these people.
Rolling his eyes, he says, “Todd, the one who tailored your suit.”
“Oh.”
“He said it’s ready for pick-up. Want to go grab it right after school? We don’t have practice today since the game is tomorrow.”
“Sure. Can I um…stay with you tonight?”
I really don’t want to go home. It’s not like my mom or dad notice I’m not home anyway. I’m sure if my mom did, she would have called me to come home. I haven’t spoken to her in days. Haven’t spoken to my dad in weeks, probably.
He leans down and kisses my forehead. “You’re always welcome to stay with me, creep. I’ll take you home to get your stuff after we leave the mall.”
The rest of the day passes by with whispers and stares, and outright anger from Dawn. At lunch, she talked loudly about me as she walked past our table, saying that Ethan was just going through a phase with me, and he’ll come to his senses soon enough.
Jaw clenched, Ethan looked at her and she quickly averted her eyes, shuffling off to put some distance between her and his penetrative gaze. He reached across the table and squeezed my hand, but I assured him I was okay.
I tell Crystal I’m going to ride with Ethan so we can get my suit for Homecoming, and she squeals and hugs me hard, excited that I’m going to Homecoming. I curse to myself for not telling her, realizing I’ve been spending less time with her than I was before. I promise myself I’ll fix that.
Telling Crystal that I’m going to Homecoming reminds me that I need to ask Ethan what the plan is. Are we going together? Are we going to meet there? Am I riding with Crystal? I need to know sooner rather than later.
I wait for Ethan outside of school, since I don’t know where his last class is. Elle sees me and waves as she hops in her car to drive home. After I wave back, I notice Mitch staring after her. God, it’s so weird that they won’t just talk to each other.
I laugh to myself, thinking that’s rich coming from me.
“Creeeep!” Ethan yells behind me, making me roll my eyes and my cheeks grow hot.
He likes to draw attention to us, that’s for sure.
People turn to look in our direction as he wraps me in his arms and kisses my forehead.
My hands automatically go up to his back and I squeeze, feeling all the hard muscles under my palms. God, I wish this could be real.
“You’re so extra,” I mumble to him.
The laugh he releases is so relaxed, so pretty and carefree. “I know. You like it, though.”