Mercy- Ethan Dolan

Intro

For years, Ethan was just a name that my best friend used to describe the person that hurt him more than anyone else ever could.The kid that looks identical to him with a complete three-sixty personality that left everyone they came across in awe. Grayson is an all around great guy. He's funny, sweet, he would do almost anything to make you laugh, he's a little awkward, but it just adds to his charm. All of these and so many more great qualities make up the guy I'm happy to call my best friend.. My point with that is all that Ethan has in common with him is his face. For the longest time I didn't believe that he was as bad as everyone brought him up to be.

He'd been gone years at a time and the trips home were always short. There was always a family member willing to take him in, they thought they could be the ones that changed him. They all thought they would be the family that Ethan needs to save him. It never lasted too long, though. He'd be with one family for about a year, maybe a little longer, than they'd just ship him back.. Until another family member could take him away.

Last year was the first time I met him. All of a sudden everything Grayson told me about came to life and it was just as horrifying and depressing as all the stories I've heard. Suddenly it wasn't so far fetched for me to believe that a person could be bad. Because truth be told that's the only rational word that you could use to describe him, he was bad.

Then after being home for about a week, thats when things got worse then they've ever been. When the big thing that got him thrown in juvie for the past year, the thing that made all family members turn their backs and not want him in their home. The thing that is going to mean as soon as he gets out, he's home. Only because it's frowned upon to kick your seventeen year old out.

The thing he did. He was home for almost a week at this point, I think. After getting in trouble with the law for underage drinking and substance possession, he was on his last straw. This particular night he was reportedly high. I'm not sure what on. A little drunk and feeling a little more brave than he should. He went into a gas station, pocketing as many things as he could without getting caught. That worked out about as well as you think it did. On his way out, he set off alarms, than ran outside. He told Grayson to run and he ended up punching the store owner multiple times, when he was able to get back up, the poor guy who was working that night called the cops and everything went as you'd imagine it to after that. His lawyer barely got three words out before he was sentenced to a year in juvie.

Grayson was devastated for after that. He only went with him that night because he knew Ethan wasn't sober and didn't want him getting hurt on his own. But Grayson really beat himself up over that. When Ethan told him to wait outside. He figured so he could buy some beer or something without getting ID'd. But when Ethan told him to run, without any thought Grayson was half way to my house because he was too freaked out to go to his and face his parents. My parents both work night shifts so he knew they'd be nowhere in sight. Luckily I was able to talk him down. At that point he didn't really know what happened, he just heard his brother yell at him to run then he saw him throw a fist. I don't know how many times I could tell him it's not his fault before he'll believe me.

I remember after the first couple of weeks people would look at Grayson with shame, as any of this is his fault. But in their eyes it reflected on him because they're twin brothers. Which also means I was shunned by my peers for still hanging out with him, but I really didn't care. Nobody really had an opinion of me before everything happened so why should it matter if it's negative because I still hang out with the only person that's given me the time of day since I moved here five years ago. To me it doesn't matter what his brother did. That's Ethan. Not Grayson.