Test Subjects

Chapter Two: Testing Perfection

"Pass the chips!" Ethan says with way too many chips already in his mouth. I honestly hope he chokes on them.

"Do you really need more than you already have in your mouth? I think you have enough for a party of children in there."

He looks at me in utter disbelief, his mouth still hanging open. I cringe at the half chewed up food.

His face then changes from disbelief into glee. Or what could be described as glee. I mean I think he looks like a sloth trying to smile. Slowly but surely the smile creeps on his face. And from there on out it keeps growing. Until you're to terrified to look at him and he looks like he just got back from ruling the world. Which knowing Ethan, he sure as heck could have. I mean nothing can stop that kid.

Except me.

"Are you okay? Like is your brain still intact?" I ask Ethan concerned for his health. That can not be good for it.

He just continues grinning at me and then finally speaks. "I just won a contest."

I suck in a breath. "No, you couldn't have! I always win!"

"Well, this one is mine." He says stretching his arms in the air in victory.

I stare at him in total shock. "It can't be! We weren't even competing over anything!"

He smirks back at me. "I want you to take a second and think way back with that itty bitty brain of yours. Back to when we were about", he pauses for a second to think about it, "11."

"11!" I say in shock. You can't blame me, that feels like forever ago.

He simply nods in response.

I stare at him for a while, waiting for him to say more.

So he does. "Take a trip" he says extending his arms wide, "down memory lane."

Not feeling like telling him how extremely cheesy that was I try to think back. But thinking back definitely is not as easy as it sounds. I mean I have to think back to awkward me. To the me that was trying to trade friendship bracelets with people. I even gave Ethan one!

But I do have to find out what this so called secret competition is. So I think back.

And I remember.

The football soars towards me. Or more specifically. My face. I let out a little shriek of horror and hold my hands out in front of my face. Hoping to protect it. But then something hard hits my hands and, surprisingly, stays there.

I hear a slow clap from in front of me and lower the football away from my face. A tinier, more awkward looking Ethan stands before me attempting at being humorous.

"Wow Em, you've really outdone yourself this time!" He pauses for a moment for a supposed dramatic effect. "I mean you actually caught the ball."

"Shut up!" My eleven-year-old self says and chucks the football at Ethan.

With a smirk on his face Ethan thinks he can catch it. Little does he know about my obviously inferior strength.

A loud scream of pain fills the air as the football hits Ethan square in the stomach.

I do the whole slow clap thing he did, just to see if it was dramatic. But it turns out that it's actually really fun. "Wow Walker, you just got beat by a girl."

Ethan's face turns a shade of bright red. If I placed a tomato to his face, they would be the same color. I never realized a person could be so embarrassed.