DARK PARADISE ⎯⎯⎯⎯ ETHAN LANDRY

ii. instinctive slap

     THE STREETS OF NEW YORK WERE booming with people. Groups of teens in Halloween costumes, parents taking their kids trick or treating, and the occasional jogger. Ethan and I walked side by side on the crowded side walk, trying our best to navigate ourselves to the frat house the party was being thrown at. Tara had dropped her pin to me when I texted her we were leaving the house.

"Oh, I'm so sorry!" I heard Ethan screech from beside me. I picked my head up from looking at the phone screen over to see Ethan picking up pieces of candy he had accidentally knocked out a kids bucket. "Here you go. Nice costume!" He smiled at the kid as he put the candy back into her jack-o-lantern bucket. Cute.

"Thank you," The kid dressed up as the Scarlet Witch responded. "I like yours too. And yours, it's so pretty." She smiled at Ethan and I sweetly, her wide eyes racking over my costume.

"Thanks, cutie," I said back. She and her mom waved goodbye to us and we continued down the sidewalk.

"Are we almost there yet, Malia? My feet hurt." Ethan complained, slugging his shoulder the best he could in his cardboard clad body.

I rolled my eyes. "You are not the one to be complaining about your feet hurting." Ethan was right, the 6 inch heels weren't the best option. Suddenly, Ethan stopped in front of me, bending down. "What the hell are you doing?"

"Carrying you. Remember, I told you I'm strong?" He answered, looking back at me. "Hop on." I let out a giggle, wrapping my legs around his back and my arms around his neck. The cardboard on him made it a bit uncomfortable but it was better than the searing pain in my feet.

     Instant relief flooded into my body as the aching of my feet immediately began to subside. I held my phone out in front of Ethan's face, showing him what turns to make.

     After a few more minutes of walking, and Ethan bumping into people, we finally made it to the frat house. The party looked to be in full swing. The house was lit up with lights and music was blaring. I'm surprised no one's filed a noise complaint yet. Drunken people littered around the lawn, most throwing up and others passed out in the grass ⎯ which was probably led from throwing up.

     I tapped Ethan's back to let him know he could put me down now. He stood in front of me as I fixed my dress that has ridden up to my upper thigh. Grabbing his bicep, we made our way into the house and began a search for our friends.

     "Malia! Hey, come over!" Someone shouted as soon as I stepped into the living room. I looked over to find the source of the shouting and locked eyes with one of my classmates; Devin. He was waving his hands for me to come over. Devin wasn't the nicest of people, but I have a feeling he's sweet on me. Most of the times he would pick on kids that weren't associated with him or his friends— like he was still in middle school.

     I turned to Ethan, "You wanna come with me?" He shook his head in disgust.

     "No way, Lia. You go ahead, i'm going to go find Chad." He responded as he began to depart from me. I guess Ethan isn't too fond of Devin.

"I'll come find you in a bit!" I hollered to Ethan, who was already a good 15 feet from me. He turned around and sent me a thumbs up, a weak smile resting on his face. I scrunched my eyebrows together, wondering why he looked so sad all of the sudden, but ultimately I shrugged it off and made my way over to Devin.

     He looked me up and down as I stood in front of him. "Cute outfit, TinkerBell." He snickered, offering me a sip from his solo cup. I took it, sniffing it before bringing it to my lips. Smirnoff, yuck. I squeezed my eyes shut and stuck my tongue out, showing the distaste. "What? Not your kind of drink? Want some Pink Whitney?"