Messages on a Coffee Cup

Chapter 21

   We awoke, hand-in-hand, to the amazing smell of bacon and eggs, and to the horrible sound of one miss Kimberly Mendez's' failed attempt of The Circle of Life via clearly mangled vocal cords. I saw a pair of blue eyes staring at me and smiled. Waking up in his arms was literally the best thing in the world. Ethan kissed me 'good morning' and hugged me tight as Kim continued to deafen us with the sound of her extremely off-pitch "Nants ingonyama bagithi Baba". Besides the fact that my ear drums were on the verge of exploding, I was starting to feel like everything was coming together. For once, I was actually somewhat satisfied with my not-so-shitty life.

   "You sound like a hippopotamus dying of throat cancer," I yelled, loud enough for her to hear me over the noise.

   "Sometimes, I believe I was one in a past life or something," she retorted.

   Cameron walked into the kitchen with nothing but a pair of socks on.

   Ethan quickly shielded my eyes as I squeal, "Sweet baby Jesus! Puts some pants on for Christ sake!"

   "Well, good morning to you too, Holland," he yelled back, mockingly.

   Kim shooed him back up the stairs and he later returned, thankfully, with a pair of skinny jeans on.

   Ethan and I slowly rolled off the couch, his cast slamming against the ground resulting in a brief "Ow",  and I once again stole his lacrosse jersey so I was not in my undergarments while eating breakfast. He slipped on some jeans and before we knew it, we were downing a cup of coffee and stuffing our faces with bacon. I looked at the clock and noticed the time, it was twelve-forty-eight. Shit, mom should've been home like two hours ago.

   "Guys, my mom should be home like any minute now," I stated cautiously.

   "Boys," Kimberly shouted, "Get yourselves clothed. If mama Summers asks, you guys are here for a 'study luncheon'."

   Cameron ran up the stairs -two at a time- and quickly returned wearing a shirt and socks. Ethan on the other hand, decided to change in the living room. He caught me staring at his unruly abs, smiled and began to stare at my butt which finally made me realize: I wasn't wearing pants, just my black, boy short underwear. I cocked an eyebrow at him causing a loud chuckle to erupt from his mouth. 

Suddenly, the doorbell rang, jolting me from my 'Ethan Abrams' perfect body' (yes, even the cast) day dream. Shit, mom. I bolted upstairs in a flash.

"Answer it, tell her I'm in the bathroom or something!"

   I threw on a pair of baggy grey track pants and knee high socks, and walked out of the room. I began to descend the stairs when I heard a man's voice coming from the front door and dead silence coming from Kimberly, Ethan, and Cameron. What the hell?

   I turned the corner quickly and stopped dead in my tracks when I realized who was at the door. It was the town's Sheriff, his head down, hat in hand.

   "No," I muttered, not willing to accept what ever tragic news awaited me.

   "Holland," Ethan said, before carefully resting my head on his chest.

   "What's going on?" 

   "She's gone."