Friendly Dating - Kira

Chapter 41 - Snow Castles and Sand People

"You are such a bloody misogynist!" Jet is yelling at Ethan when Akari and I join them on the sidewalk outside Raffaello's. He has his fists clenched at his side and seems to be ready to use them.

"How the hell am I a misogynist?" Ethan wants to know, and so do I. Misogynism isn't one of the many, many things Ethan can be accused of. "You're not even a girl!"

"You offered me friggin' tissues! You're implying that I'm one."

"If you think offering guys tissues implies that they're girls, you're the misogynistic one. Men use tissues too!"

There are so many things wrong with this conversation, and I'm not only referring to the fact that they're using big words, which I'm not convinced they even understand.

"Maybe I was looking for a different word..." Jet grumbles, unclenching his fists. Oh, good, their conversation could possibly start to make sense soon.

"I wasn't mocking you; I was being sincere! You're really going to need some."

They glare at each other for a few silent seconds, Jet narrowing his disconcerting ice cream green eyes, but whatever he sees in Ethan's face suddenly makes him relax, holding out his hand. "Yes, give me some."

"I... don't have any," Ethan shrugs, stroking the back of his head, looking like a cute, sheepish anime character.

"Why the hell did you offer me tissues if you don't have any? I'm going to need tissues!"

Nope, I am still not following this strange conversation, but I hastily open my purse, pull out the wrapped packet of tissues I keep in there and hand them to Jet.

"Thanks," he grunts, taking them, still glaring at Ethan. "Come, Akki, we're going to be late."

We say our goodbyes, Ethan taking my hand as we watch Akari and Jet cross the street to the movie theatre.

"Want to walk on the beach?" he asks when our friends disappear through the door. "Or do you also want to go see the movie?"

"Beach," I scoff. Egret's Rest's theatre doesn't generally show new releases. It recycles old ones, and tonight's movie is The Notebook, which is not our kind of movie at all. Ethan and I like witty action adventures, not tear-jerkers. In fact, I can't stand tear-jerkers. Life is sad enough. "Wait! Does Jet know what movie is playing?"

Akari said that there was a movie they both wanted to go watch tonight but got forced into attending the function in Silverview instead. Surely, she didn't mean The Notebook?!

"Yeah," Ethan shrugs, starting to walk towards the beach. "Jet needs a good cry now and then. Movies like that help him get the job done."

This might actually top the list of strange things I've seen and heard since I became Ethan's girlfriend. Jet, the most unromantic, most insensitive jerk I know, voluntarily watches sensitive movies to make himself cry.

Do we ever really know anybody?

Being on the beach, it doesn't take long for me to realise that I've made a huge mistake. Ethan and I kicked off our shoes, rolled up our pantlegs, and strolled along the water line like actual lovers in a sweet, swoon-worthy movie of our own... for about ten minutes.

We soon got bored, obviously and decided to build a sand castle instead. Playing with the sand made me wonder about important life questions, such as why people build sand castles and snowmen, not snow castles and sandmen. These questions are so important that I asked them out loud.

Ethan told me that building snow anything in Egret's Rest was impossible since the temperatures here range from pre-hell to beyond-hell, as if I didn't already know that. I sweetly explained to him that he is an idiot and missing my point, which inspired the dude to throw a poorly made ball of moist sand at me.