Let's Get Ethan ✔

Chapter 41

He stared lazily up at the girl who kicked his foot with her own. Her features turning into a cozy looking smile as she gave him a twitch of an eyebrow. 

"I'm up, I'm up," he assured her, stretching up from the couch smiling. She placed her hands in front of him and wiggled her fingers, and he grabbed her hands, using her to pick himself up off the couch.

"Finally, it's been like an hour!"

Ethan smiled at her obvious excitement.

"Look, like I told you before you passed out, the best way to keep awake and be able to fall asleep at night is to get outside and go for a little walk, what do you say, Ethan? C'mon, let's go." 

Suddenly, they were walking, small steps, toward the front door. Ethan grabbed a sweatshirt before they headed out. It was mild out that day, the wind softly blew, and quiet thoughts slipped through his mind like running water. Passing each house, he was reminded of cities and cars and people, and the whole world just seemed to drift into tiny insignificant chunks. They were bigger than the small house they lived in. Following the path Olivia led him on, she rambled, droning on about her new professor.

"Professor Howard seems like a sweet, sweet lady, she teaches Construction, but I'll be honest, it's a pain to work with her. I mean it is the first day and she was already breathing down my neck, I want to say, 'yes, I can sew, I've been sewing for the past ten years!'."

Her ray of sunshine attitude was hampered by her schoolwork, so Ethan just smiled and laughed along with her as she talked at length about her day, leaving out no small details. Even her smallest moments provided him joy, because she could tell them as if they were colossal events.

"And then, get this," she continued, "I was talking to Aaron this afternoon and he told me he went on a date!"

So, they had gotten into each other's love lives after all . . . Ethan wondered if Aaron felt guilty for prying into hers and threw her some details about his life to even it out. He was pretty sure Aaron would regret that decision later by the look on Olivia's face.

"Well, Carmen, the girl he went on a date with, was one of my study buddies!"

"I don't think the date went exactly as planned," Ethan suggested causing her to smile.

"You know, I'm still in contact with her. You wanna maybe try to, I don't know, mess around with Aaron's love life?"

"Oh, you are evil." Ethan sent her a worried look.

"Am not. Except maybe, I'll just text her 'what's up?'," she immediately got out her phone. Ethan panicked he needed to cover for Aaron.

"Olivia! I was kidding, let's not, okay?"

"Whatever you say, but I am an excellent wingwoman, I can get Aaron a second date in a snap. Although . . . " she paused, putting away her phone, "I should admit this now, I've never really had a 'long-term' relationship, I guess my longest was only about a month."

He thought it was honest of Olivia to admit that.

"You mean, I've got about four weeks left?" Ethan asked with a smile.

"Give or take," she said returning the playful grin.

"You know I always thought that if I put myself out there more, I'd do better. And I do try and talk to everyone, I make plans, and nothing works, but then here, I meet you, Ethan, and everything just feels easy. Like I am not playing games, I'm not trying to fake anything, we're just . . . Just . . . "

"Meant to be?"

"Yeah, Ethan, that," she looked up at him, and he could see the hope and slight blush on her face. "Meant to be" were the right words, he figured, then she added, "I don't make plans usually, I don't think big picture and all that, but suddenly I'm seeing a lot further in the future, like I know we have something to look forward to."