Let's Get Ethan ✔

Chapter 30

For the last few weeks, Ethan was sinking in piles of homework. Literally, he felt his back give out several times in the hallways from the sheer weight of his backpack as waves of students passed him. None offering sympathy as they too were struggling to contain the workload. Ethan utterly despised his major by that point, and couldn't understand how anyone, even if they liked their majors, could say they still loved what they were doing. There were plenty of late nights. And his prediction came true, he was now addicted to caffeine. Ethan worried that he was turning into his sisters, something that he was always aware would happen eventually.

That evening, after the last day of fall semester, Olivia had roped him into going skating with her.

"What took you so long? How many things could you possibly need to do?"

Olivia was already wearing her skates; Ethan knew that he was in trouble.

"Don't worry, Ethan, Aaron accidentally left his skates here, so you can use his. Well, at least, I think it was an accident," she assured him holding up the disaster skates.

Ethan groaned.

"I cleaned them!"

The park traffic was slow that day. It was right across from campus, but it was sort of hidden behind the highway. Trees faltered in the distance as the wind blew in either direction. It was cold but not too cold, crisp like the world was just beginning to change. They were on a paved trail, so the roller skating was supposed to be effortless. He said supposed to be because it certainly wouldn't be easy for him. On a path, there were no walls surrounding him that he could grab onto. Skating on this path was like bowling downhill, without bumpers, and instead of actual bowling balls he was the bowling ball.

Olivia wore a polka dotted skirt with leggings and a heavy vest paired with a long-sleeved shirt. She'll never stop with her crazy fashions. That said, Ethan liked them. She was one of kind, he liked people that were like that. She wore her hair in a ponytail, ready for the activity of the day.

Ethan knew that cleaning them wasn't exactly much of a step up, "Tell me why we are roller-skating again?"

"Rollerblading, my blades outrank your skates," she corrected with a smile, then continued, "and no one else is here, they all left, so I needed a skating buddy. Aaron and James just left me here, alone, with you! Not like I have that many other friends that would willingly do this."

"You planned this Olivia, why is no one else here? Also, alone with me? That's not alone, you do realize I am a person, right?" Ethan asked her accusingly.

"I don't know, who told you that you had to come?"

"You did? Or, did you think I wouldn't?"

"I don't know what to think, Ethan. But what I do think is that just tired of talking about why we are here. I love the outdoors, why not destress by skating?"

She laughed, fiddling away, skating around him. Ethan had destressed with running too. 

"So, what made you think 'hey, let's invite Ethan rollerblading, I'm sure he'll love the taste of pavement'?" Ethan inquired as he sat on a nearby bench looking up at her, gauging her reaction. He looked at Aaron's skates in front of him and felt a little queasy.

"A-ha-ha, very funny, you agreed to this. May I remind you that you won't see me for another four weeks, also, don't you want to finish the semester with something awesome, or are you just lame like Aaron and James?" she asked with a laugh.

"Oh, those jokers? Total lameos, not me. I'll tell you what, you can say 'I told you so' when you have to bring me to the emergency room," Ethan said.