Kismet

Chapter Fourteen

Ethan walks me out in a rush, and then places me right on the edge of the lawn, like a stern dad or something. "Stay here," he orders, and then turns around and walks into the party. 

   "Don't do anything stupid!" I call after him, starting to feel a bit nervous. What could he be doing in there?

   I could still feel my heart racing as I stand there. Whether it's from anger or fear, I don't know. But I start pacing around to clear my heart racing, and I start snuffling through my bag. I find my phone and text Amanda what happened in a short paragraph.

   She replies after a second, "WHAT??!"

   "We're leaving now."

   "Why would he do that? Have you and Ethan hooked up yet?"

   Confused by her two different questions, I answer, "I don't know, and no. Why should we?"

   "Cuz he sounds cute :)"

   "What if I don't want a relationship right now?"

   "Well, this is the best time as ever before school starts and he gets with somebody else."

   The thought made me a bit. . .  unsettled. Why would he want to be with somebody else? I immidiately shake my head. Why would he want to be with me, is the real question. No, I wouldn't care if he got with somebody else, right? No, because he's my neighbor. That's it.

    "Here," Ethan suddenly says, not giving me time to rely to Amanda. I turn just as he tosses something in the air to me. I catch it barely by something metal. I look at the object in my hand. Keys? I glance up at him.

   "What for?" I ask.  "Why'd you go in there?"

   "To get Danny's keys," Ethan says simply, and opens the front passenger door. He slams it shut.

   "Wait wait wait wait," I say quickly, scurrying over to the door. The window was down, so I said, "Why am I the one to drive, and where's Danny? Who's he getting a ride from?"

   "He said he's getting a ride home from somebody, and I was free to take his ride," Ethan says simply. "And why shouldn't you drive?"

   I stutter. "But. . .  you're Danny's friend. And I bet he doesn't trust me to drive his car, so I don't think I should be driving and you are more older and quallified-"

   "Just drive, Kiara," Ethan says, a real smile forming on his face in a while. "It's fine."

   "Okay," I say, unsure. I walk around the front and swing open the driver's door. I sit down and slam the door, staring at the dashboard and all the buttons and levers. It made me a bit nervous, to be honest. I'd only drove before a few times.

   "Are you okay?" Ethan asks me.

   I nod. "Y-yeah." I put the key in the engine and start it up, pulling the gear into drive. Danny parked in a way so that we could just drive down the cul-di-sack, and we did. I was very aware I made the car jerk multiple times before we even made it to the street.

   "Just to say," I tell him as I drive down the nearly car-less road. "I'm not the best driver, though." 

   I suddenly whisk to the side, swerving away from a pothole in the road.

   "You don't say?" Ethan says, clutching the sides of the door. I laugh, and he smiles faintly. "I'm just kidding. But please try not to do that. . . thing, again."

   I smile playfully at him. "What thing? This thing?" I jerk the car violently to the left, which makes my stomach turn. But it was funny to see the look on his face. He closes his eyes and tilts his head upwards.

   "Don't," he warns. "I'm gunna barf all over."

   "Well, it's not my car so be my guest," I say.

   He doesn't say anything, and the car is silent for a moment. Almost. I almost forgot what happened back at the party. But not quite. We were there for only fourty-five minutes. Things went so wrong so fast, it was almost funny. Then a long silence stretched out over us. There was nothing to say, I guess. Ethan just stares out the window, and I keep my eyes on the road. We zoom past the town border, and I speed up a little.

    "When we get to your house," Ethan says quietly. "I'll take over the wheel."

   Without glancing over, I nod and say, "Okay." Long roads like these made me nervous. I hated going fast on these, in fear that we'll crash or something. I went a little below the speed limit, just to be safe.

   Glancing over briefly, I reach across the seats and grab his beanie. I place it on my head and continue to drive, like I didn't just take his hat. "Tonight was. . . interesting."

   He doesn't bother to take his hat. "Yeah. Now you see why I wanted to stay away from Evan."

   I glance over at him apoligetically. "Sorry. I'm really sorry, Ethan. I didn't mean to-"

   He cuts me off. "None of this was your fault. None of it. Evan was being his normal self back there. A partying, drunk ass." I smile a little, but then it fades as soon as it arrives.

   "Uh . . . his parents weren't really there, were they?" I ask.

   Ethan shakes his head. "I don't think so. When he texted me, he said that they were." That explains why I hadn't seen them there, or why the music was so loud. Or people being pushed into pools.

   After driving past the empty area, we reach the long rows of trees, the night getting a little darker as we passed under them. I glance over at Ethan, as he stares out the window again. Probably thinking. I loved staring at his brown eyes and long eyelashes, or the way that his chin stoops striaght down the side of his face like a hill, rounding into a chin.

   I swerve to the left unvoluntarily, and I snatch my eyes away from him, steadying the car. "Whoah!" I cry out, getting the car back into aline.

   Ethan laughs, which cases my face to redden. "Eyes on the road, sunshine, eyes on the road."

   "Pace yourself, skater boy, pace yourself," I retort back.

   He raises an eyebrow and looks over at me. "Skater boy? Since when do I skate?"

  I shrug, not taking my eyes off the road. "Has anybody ever told you you look like one? I mean, the hair and beanie and clothes and everything."

   That causes him to laugh- a real, genuine sorta loud one. "Wow, Kiara. And I thought I was weird."

   I lightly punch him in the arm with one hand. "We're both weird. We can be weirdos together, okay? Okay." He tries to take his beanie back, but I keep a hand on it so he can't snatch it back. "It's mine!"

   "Give it!" Ethan warns, like he's talking to a puppy to give his shoe back. "Kiara!" He tries again, but I sweep it underneath me and sit on it. "Not fair."

   "Too bad," I say, slowing down as I see my house come into sight. I come to a stop and I hop out of the car. Ethan does too, and he sits in driver's seat. Right before he shuts his door, he reaches over the door and catches his beanie I throw to him.

   "Thanks for. . . the night?" I say.

   "No problem," Ethan says, saluting. "We should do this everynight."

   I laugh, unsure whether he's serious or not. "Will do! Goodnight, Ethan."

   He pauses, and smiles lightly. "Goodnight, Kiara." 

   With that, he turns down the driveway, down the road to his house.