august; ethan edwards

chapter viii. pink whitney emergencies

The party had been going on for an hour or two, and the multiple drinks that both Luca and Rutger insisted on making for the girl had caused the room to begin spinning. So, Spencer, in desperate need of some fresh air, had opted to breaking away from her small group of friends and sitting on a couch she found out the back of the frat house.

She spent ten minutes people watching. The two girls sharing a joint whilst whispering and giggling quietly about some gossip they had overheard. The group of five or so frat boys who were trying to perform cheerleading stunts, and the three girls who were attempting to stop them before someone got gravely injured.

"Hey Spence." Ethan Edwards sauntered outside, closing the sliding door behind him before plopping down next to the girl on the couch. His walk contained a slight sway, which informed the Estapa girl of his slight intoxication. "Whatcha doing out here?"

"Watching frat boys cheerlead." Spencer giggled as she pointed over to the group of college kids, whose girlfriends had given up and watched with scowls from the sidelines as they threw someone in the air. He landed safely, surprisingly.

"Why aren't you inside, with, I don't know, your friends?" His voice held humour as his eyes refused to stray away from the girl beside him. She wasn't looking at him, which meant he could take in the short, tight dress she adorned without her noticing. He had never seen her out of baggy clothing that covered her entire body, but he wasn't complaining.

"Parties aren't really my thing, and Rutger keeps making me really fricking gross drinks." She informed the boy, finally tearing her eyes away from the cheerleading scene. When she caught his eyes travelling her body, a small blush crept onto her face. "Here, try this."

She handed the boy a red solo cup, the liquid in it a light pink. Ethan eyed the cup cautiously before taking a sip, cringing at the taste. "That's fucking disgusting."

"That's what I said! But he keeps handing them to me, and he seems really proud of them, so obviously I have to drink them!"

Ethan laughed at the girl next to him, before placing the cup on the ground.

Silence consumed the two as Spencer went back to her people watching and Ethan went back to watching her. He should've gone back inside, Lily was waiting for him to get back from the bathroom. But when he saw the Estapa girl all by her lonesome, he couldn't stop himself from saying hi.

And now he thinks he might want to spend the rest of the night watching her watch and laugh at a group of drunk frat boys.

"Did you always want to play hockey?" She suddenly asked, glancing over at the boy whose eyes quickly adverted away. The question was random and caught Ethan off guard, but he nodded his head regardless.

"I've never been good at anything else." He shrugged nonchalantly. His words, despite holding no meaning for the boy, had made Spencer sad. "I'm sure you're good at a lot of things."

"I appreciate your faith in me, but no, hockey is pretty much the only thing I can't fuck up."
Silence consumed them both once more, and Spencer fiddled with her rings nervously. "What about you? Did you always want to do psychology?"

Spencer shrugged, "it's interesting. Not a lot of things interest me and I don't play any sports. Mark said I have the coordination of a baby goat."

"You cant skate?" Ethan asked the girl, his eyes flickering down to her fidgeting hands. He had noticed she did it frequently, either that or twirling the small silver chain that was always around her neck.

"God no!" Spencer laughed, "the one time I tried, I managed to slice my hand open on the blade."

The girl shuffled closer to the boy, holding her hand up so he could see and pointing out the large scar that began at the top of her hand and ended at the bottom. Ethan smiled to himself, one of his fingers tracing the scar gently.