Cinderfella

Chapter Eleven

"Ethan, what happened back there?" Alice asked.

Ethan climbed into the car behind Mikey and slammed the door. "Nothing, I just want to get out of here," he responded.

Mikey bit his lip as they pulled away. "Did your mom-did she kick you out?"

Ethan nodded. He bit down on his hand, trying not to cry in the back of the car. "She ripped my suit too. It's stupid, but I don't even feel like going tonight. Can one of you just drop me off somewhere? I think I need to be alone right now."

Maddy looked into the rearview mirror, trying to see the boys in the back. "Nonsense. You shouldn't be alone after what just happened. I'll drive us to my house and you can borrow my brother's old suit jacket. You two might be the same size."

Alice turned around and patted Ethan's knee. "Don't be too hard on yourself. You deserve to go out and have a nice time, despite what other people will tell you. Now, get all the tears out and the two of us," she said gesturing between her and Maddy, "are going to make you look amazing."

Ethan wiped his eyes and smiled. "Thanks guys. If it's not too much to ask, could I come stay with one of you? She kicked me out, and I'm scared to go back there."

Alice pulled out her phone. "You could probably come stay with me. I'll have to ask first, but you can spend the night, at least."

Maddy looked back into the rearview mirror. "And don't worry about your stuff. It'll be dropped of at Alice's tomorrow morning."

Mikey set a shaking hand on Ethan's shoulder. "I know what it's like to have your parents not support you. I'm here to talk if you need me."

Ethan smiled and set an arm around Mikey, drawing the smaller teen into a half hug. Thanks, really, all of you. I don't think I could survive living here without you all."

A collected "aww" drowned out the music that had been playing softly through the car. Ethan felt his face go red and coughed into his hand. "So, Maddy, where do you live?"

She took a hard right turn towards a gated neighborhood. "I live in here. My parents aren't the most supportive people in the world, but they don't care who I'm with so long as I can get a scholarship like my brother. It gets really annoying, but it could be so much worst."

She stopped in front of a two story house made of gold colored bricks. Around the house, beds of flowers gave the dark yellow house a flash of color. A twisted, leafless tree sat over the concrete porch that took up half of the front. The emerald green door opened as Maddy stopped the car in the driveway.

A man built like a bear walked out of the house. "Maddison!" he yelled, his voice a cannon in the quiet night.

Maddy stepped out of the car and ran to her dad and tackled him to the ground. A year ago, Ethan had read The Kite Runner in class. Now, seeing the two of them wrestle, he could only imagine Baba wrestling the black bear. And like Amir, he couldn't tell who was the man and who was the beast.

Alice turned back to Ethan. "That's her uncle. He moved in with them two years ago when his daughter went off to the military. They're a really active family. Just don't say anything to make them angry and you'll survive."

She hopped out of the car and limped up the drive. Mikey followed, awkwardly walking towards the door where four little kids ran out to join the fight. One grabbed Alice's prosthetic, which was showed off by her knee length blue dress. She swatted the kid away and began to chase after them, limping as she went. One kid grabbed Mikey's arm and pulled him into the fight between Maddy and her uncle. Ethan slowly got out of the car, self conscious with the amount of eyes on him. Maddy pushed herself up from the ground and walked over to Ethan.