Onward And Sideways (Completed.)

Chapter 19

Holy crap, it's been a busy, weird year.

Where to even begin? Let's see. Sam started dating a really great girl. She's awesome, I like her. The boys moved. People switched jobs and schedules, so we didn't get to hang out as much, but that's alright.
And, Oh! I met a giant blue dork. More specifically, a really cute man/boy around my age who is hard to describe. He's fun-sized and super huggable, incredibly sweet and creative. When I met him, he had blue hair, but he let it go back to his natural brown, which is just as cute. Boy is the poster child for ADHD, but he's so creative, talented, and hard working, it's just something that doesn't even matter. He's my Bear. Nothing like an actual bear, but I've started calling the people and animals I love "bear" for some reason, and it stuck.
He has a name though. It's Ethan.

Again, we're just friends, but heck. I just don't even know anymore. I fully expect him to start dating some girl, and leave me with a broken heart. That's just how things work. I don't know. But gosh, I love him.

On a rare free day, when I didn't have work or school, Ethan and I are hanging out at my place. I had asked him if he could give me tips on bettering my YouTube channel, because he's freaking amazing at the whole thing. Filming, I do pretty well with by this point, but I could always use some help and a different perspective on things.
And my audio is... well is pretty crap.
So he decided to have mercy on me and help me with that.

Lucy moved out a few months back, and with my new job, I could afford the apartment on my own now. So I've turned her old room into my office/guest room.
Which is where we're working in today.

I haul in the last box of soundproofing foam tiles and deposit it on the floor. I step back and put my hands on my hips, surveying my work in progress of an "office", before turning to Ethan.

"Alright, Nestor, teach me your ways." I say.

He laughs, before wiping the smile off his face and feigning a serious expression.
"Alright then, McCune, what 'ways' are you referring to? Studio set up, or was this all a ploy to get me to teach you my sick dance moves."
I cannot describe the "dance moves" he employed, other than worryingly weird.

I felt my face go red as I tried to hold in my laughter.
"You've found me out. I invited you over and tried to seduce you with the promise of manual labor, all to try to steal some of the magic of your funky feet."

He took a step back, standing up straight with a serious face after choking on a laugh.
"I KNEW it! What was your play, trying to siphon my groove like sap from a tree, or were you just gonna rub me like a genie's lamp?"

I broke, doubled over, face red and eyes tearing up as I cackled like a loon.

"There will be no tapping and no rubbing. This is work, not a heavy date. I meant, how do I put the things on the other things?"

He snorted, arms crossed and one eyebrow raised. "Well now that you've used the technical terminology, let's get started."

We unboxed all the tiles, making a game plan as to where they were gonna go. Then we grabbed the thin wood panels we picked up from the hardware store on the way here, along with the spray adhesive.

"Are you sure this is gonna work?" I asked as we tag teamed, spraying adhesive while the other person secured it to a board before it dried too quickly to work with it.

Ethan stood up. "Well, not sure, per say. I've never put up tiles where it wasn't okay to use staples, but I swear, I've done a butt-ton of research for this."

"Well if you're using butts as a measurement, you must be serious. Continue." I say.

We worked for about an hour, talking about random stuff and video games before he asked a question.