Secrets // Ethan Dolan

14. Quiet Space

Chapter 14, Quiet Space

"Hey Katie, we should do yesterday again sometime soon." Grayson sat beside me, trying to whisper what he was saying. He couldn't whisper, let me tell you that.

My mouth immediately turned into a smile. "We should, it was fun." Thinking about last time, a second hang out wouldn't hurt anyone.

"What was fun? Ethan's voice interrupted our conversation. "Did you guys do something without me? What did you guys do?" and as quickly as I could, I turned around, facing him.

"Have you ever thought about the fact that maybe I don't want to hang out with you?" It came out bitter and harsh. Was he for real? I felt kind of guilty to snap at him like that, but he should just accept the fact that I didn't want anything to do with him.

There was a flash of hurt in his eyes, but as quick as it came, it vanished. "Well okay, have fun then." Ethan sat back in his seat, making it clear that he wouldn't start a conversation again. Grayson started talking about going ice skating or skateboarding and grabbing ice cream after that. My smile confirmed his questions and soon he was paying attention to Ms. Henderson again.

During break, I found a quiet space to think about things. It was nice to have a friendship with Grayson, 'cause how fun Hannah was, I needed some guy friends too. Grayson had the same humour and interests as me, we both liked superheroes and cookie dough. He was handsome too.

But as I was thinking about my new friend, my mind automatically drifted away to his handsome twin brother. Why were you so mean to him, Katie? I had asked myself that question a lot that day. And the most stressful thing was that I didn't have an answer for it. He just made me angry. Sometimes, he would act like I didn't exist and would act like a total assbutt to me, in class for instance. And at other times, he treated me like a friend, sort of. If there was one thing I hated most, it was being so damn confusing. Why can't people be straight forward and say how they really feel about a person?

The guy was so incomprehensible and I didn't know what to do about it or how to act around him. The thoughts messed with my head but I decided to push the subject far away, I didn't have time for this.  The bell rang, but I couldn't get up. Mathematics wasn't important anyways and I decided that as of now, this was my thinking space. What I didn't know was that I would be there a lot more than I initially thought.

*~*~*~*

Ethan's p.o.v

I was sitting on the couch, originally I was watching a film, about some soldier that was too small to be a soldier and accepted to be a guinea pig for some experiment and now was this mega strong dude with a spandex suit and a shield. He was called Captain America or something, I think. I've never been really into superheroes, but I heard that Katie likes 'em.

But for almost half an hour, I had been sitting and staring at the door. Waiting for it to open, revealing Grayson with a smug smile on his face. The film was still playing on the background but I paused it as soon as Grayson walked in. Acting like I didn't see him, I looked away with a blank face. The fragment of the movie that was showing on television became pretty interesting.

"Oh, you're still awake?" He asked me while typing a text to, who I assume was Katie. Which, I may add, didn't bother me at all. Nope.

"Of course I'm still awake, it's only" I paused to look at my watch, "twelve thirty!" I said cheerily. "Good movie, yeah, totally worth watching." Maybe I should press play again. Okay so maybe it was a little late but I wanted to know what he had been doing. "How were things with Katie?" I asked him, trying to be casual about the whole thing.

"Awesome, she's so nice to hang out with. We went skateboarding instead of ice skating and she got some skills, man! Okay, she fell a few times but it was so fun! You should come too, sometime."  I want to slap the grin off his face. Was the dude deaf or something? Didn't he hear what she said earlier today?

"Yeah sure I'll come too, with you and your lover and your skateboarding and your ice cream." I eyed him. "'Cause third wheeling is so fun, let's go." My eyes narrowed and my voice dripped sarcasm. "If she wouldn't have my head on a stick by the end of the day, that would be great, too" Was I overreacting? Maybe a little, maybe.

Grayson gave me a careful look "Dude, what's sticking up your ass? We just went skateboarding, nothing more." He shrugged, "And if it was a date, as you are assuming, which wasn't let me remind you, why would you even care, you hate her." He stated.

"Yeah, I don't care. Why would I care?" I said, standing up from the couch " She's Katie, we're rivals, enemies. No friends at all." I threw my hands in the air "I hate her so much, end of the story."

I saw Grayson raising his eyebrows "Who are you trying to convince here? I'll tell you, it's not me." I sat back down, totally forgetting about the film that I paused "I just don't like her, that's all."

"See, that's what I mean. You don't like her, so why even bother wh-" Grayson's laugh filled the whole room, "Were you watching Captain America?" Busted. Great.

"I was not! It happened to be on TV and there wasn't anything else on." I lied smoothly. He didn't need to know the reason, he'll never know the reason.

"You were watching Captain America, this has to be in the papers! Ethan Dolan watching a movie about superheroes! Wow." He grinned , fake clapping. "Why were you watching that film, anyway? I've asked to watch it with me so many times!" He was mocking me, obviously. "Are you getting something out of this I need to kno- Wait," realisations clear in his eyes. Seconds later, a big gasp filled the room. "Are you watching it because of Katie?" He murmured.

"No, Grayson. I'm not. Dude," I stood up walking over," I hate the girl." I clasped his shoulders.  If only I could say that it was true. He looked kind of weary, his face screamed that he didn't quite believe a single thing I was saying.

He got out of my hold and walked to the door: "I'm heading to bed, good night."

" Yeah, good night," I sat back down hearing Grayson close the door softly. I didn't miss the pinched look on his face.

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HIIII BUPS

I'm so very sorry that it took so long to upload a new chapter. I know I say this a lot, but I'm really trying to upload more frequently!! It's just that I've been soooo busy with school and other stuff.

I hope you enjoyed this chapter, threw some Ethan in it for ya.

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xoxo

Janne

Ps: ALMOST 2K READS?? THAT'S CRAZYYYY