missing ; ethan cutkosky

six

"We could take you to see your mom," I muttered.

"Huh?" He called as he scrubbed his head.

"I said we could take you to see your family... But now that I think of it, it doesn't sound so smart."

"Why isn't that smart?"

"If your mom knew you were found she'd tell everyone, word would get out and then you could go missing again. I don't know, maybe we should figure this out before we decide on anything."

"You're probably right," Ethan said as he turned off the shower.

The handle squeaked and I could hear the water slosh onto the floor as he stepped out.

"Do you have a towel on yet?" I asked, still facing the wall.

"Yeah, you can turn around," He said, fixing the towel so it sat snug onto his hipbones.

His eyes met mine.

His eyes met mine, him trying to dodge and look back at the board. I tapped his shoulder.

"Do you have the answer to number 6?" I asked him.

"What?" He asked. I couldn't tell if he couldn't hear me over all the talking or if he had been surprised I was talking to him.

"Number 6."

"Oh, yeah, it's 76.4."

I smiled at him and he smiled back. I scooted closer and worked on my paper with him, pretending to just act a smidge bit dumb to talk to him. I'd never known who he was before that. We really liked eachother.

Weeks passed and as I sat next to him every day in math, it became apparent he was too afraid to make any moves.

"Ethan?"

"Yeah?"

"Do you maybe wanna go to the fair this weekend? We can ride that new rollercoaster they have, I think it'll be kinda fun."

His face tinted red, trying to keep a smile from popping up, "Sure, I'd like that."

"My treat," I smiled widely.

Friday rolled around and I'd looked through all my clothes looking for something nice to wear, which didn't take long since I barely had any. I cringed at my self for saying "My treat". I'd already worked two jobs and I could barely support myself. I sighed.

I brought my phone out, scrolling down my contacts list. I pressed "E"

It only rang three times before him picking up."Hey, Bryn! I'm almost ready, I'll pick you up soon."

"Hey, Ethan. About that..." I sighed, "I think I have to cancel. I kinda thought I had money to take you to the fair but.. I don't." I sighed into my hand, I was so excited and I had to cancel.

"Hey! That's fine, you know what? I'll treat you today, I have money to spare. So we're still on then?"

"Oh-" I was surprised, "Yeah. Okay! I'll see you....?"

"In 30 minutes."

"Okay. See you soon, bye." I hung up and continued to rummage through my thrifted and old clothes.

I ended up settling on a black crew neck T-shirt that had a small stain on the shoulder, I hoped my hair would cover it. The color was fading from it anyway. I put on my pair of jeans, unintentionally ripped. They were just from years of wearing them. And then I put on my combat boots, making sure to lace them all the way up. I swung my small yellow backpack over my shoulder and stepped outside the cellar doors, making sure no one was looking.

I turned off the short string of fairy lights that illuminated the whole room. I sat by the front of the apartment building, watching happy families enter and leave. A black car rolled up and the window rolled down. Ethan waving from the window. I smiled and stepped in.

Uhh so anyway.. still been dead.. kinda 4got abt this account so thats neat ig. anyway take this its all i got

xo lucy