Devil's Eye

Chapter 14

5' 8"-5' 9"

Noah was flourishing this morning. This lovesickness completely turned his brain, and it was growing exponentially. It was threatening to grow into something, starting with the letter 'L'. Morgan was aware of what kind of trouble he might get into. But this long-forgotten feeling made him look at these problems from another, less alarming point of view. It was pushing Morgan into a lovely world of dreams and fantasies, covering him like a soft duvet, making everything look nice and bright. Yes, if Noah got rejected, the same feeling would destroy all the bright colors, dooming Morgan to soul-searching, which, considering his character, was to last several months. He would definitely feel horrible. He would one hundred percent be hurt. There wasn't a single doubt that he would regret meeting Ethan, and he would regret letting himself fall in love with him.

Noah didn't plan to refuse any of that, even under these conditions. Amorousness gave him strength to move forward, breathe deeper, and not get into everyday life problems that much. He was diving into this feeling, like into deep, dark water, on the bottom of which he could find either treasure or death.

The morning conversation between him and his mom got partly erased since, while she was talking about her friend participating in New York Fashion Week, Noah was thinking about Ethan. While she was talking about the great deal she got for red beans, Noah was thinking about Ethan. And only after his mom mentioned Ethan... Noah finally concentrated on the conversation.

"How is that boy you talked about last time doing?" she asked and smiled, "Have you been out on a date yet?"

"No, it wasn't a date," Noah said, shaking his head.

"What was it, then?"

Morgan didn't like hiding things from his mother. Considering how many secrets there still were about him despite that, he decided to be honest about Ethan. Though he regretted it almost immediately, after mentioning the retirement home, their conversation switched again to the topic of him moving to New York.

"We live in the 21st century! You could work on your relationship with Ethan online!"

...and not a single word about his grandmother.

Their conversation ended with a small fight, so Noah decided to escape from the further discussion and go to the university. However, his mood was still great despite that. Even his university suddenly didn't feel that bad, even though he was already used to thinking of it as an emotional jail. Besides, Noah was dying to tell his friends about his meeting with Ethan. They didn't text Noah on Saturday because they probably gathered together at Scott's after the gig and drank beer till morning, which meant they were supposed to have a terrible hangover the next day. Andrea had mentioned before that they celebrated all of their performances that way. Noah had never been invited to such parties because it was their band thing, and he wasn't a part of that band. That was for the best. Noah didn't think it was a healthy situation to drink with Steve.

Morgan would've loved to tell his friends about Ethan on Sunday, but it didn't work out either. Scott raised the topic of Ethan himself in their group chat of three people and stated that Ethan was a terrible bargee. Andrea, the one who would always object to her friend's opinion, supported him awkwardly this time, calling him a 'negative guy'.

"He's a troublemaker," she said. "He's definitely a toxic abuser!"

Noah decided not to participate in that conversation, thinking that he would rather tell them everything in person. He was sure that Andrea and Scott would change their minds with Noah's help-maybe not entirely, but partly for sure.

Ethan wasn't an abuser of any kind! Toxic? Noah couldn't entirely understand the meaning of that characteristic. Anyway, Noah didn't think it was fair to concentrate only on his questionable character traits. Ethan was nice. Straightforward, but fair. Unpredictable, but interesting. Noah didn't know what to expect from him the next moment, and he liked that as well. Morgan believed that Andrea and Scott would be able to appreciate Ethan's discreet charm; they just needed a bit more time to do that. No, Ethan wasn't showering people with compliments. He didn't try to hug everyone or ask what the person's favorite drink was. Though he gave the impression of a person you could trust and rely on, Ethan seemed trustworthy; wasn't that the most important thing?