"Um..hi," Ethan nervously said with a little wave. He stood in front of Becky, which I took to mean my suspicions were probably correct. She looked down at her feet and swayed slowly on the swing, as if in thought.
"What brings you guys out here?" Evie asked.
"Well Ethan wants to save his ears from his brother, and I was bored," I replied, trying to be funny. My face felt extremely red now, and I wondered what she was thinking about that.
"Was he singing?" asked Becky.
"Um no haha," Ethan chuckled, his face going ever redder. "He plays piano, badly."
"Ah right okay," returned Evie. "Do you guys play anything?"
"Yeah, flute," I said, trying to make it sound impressive.
"Hmm...video games?" Ethan answered with a nervous smile. At this, Becky threw her head back and laughed so hard that all the nearby birds took flight in surprise and her swing shook with every hard-fought breath she took. Evie simply smiled and looked at Becky with a little frown of light confusion.
Ethan smiled back nervously, as his face kept reddening. As i quickly glanced at Evie, she turned back to face us and her eyes met mine. Not knowing why, I rapidly averted my eyes to stare intently at an ant scurrying its way across the ground. I felt my face go red too, and the weight of Evie's eyes on me crushed the breath out of my chest. I had thought I was getting kind of comfortable around her, but apparently not.
With an image of her twinkling green eyes staring into my soul as her long, straight hair flapped about in the wind seared into my mind, I slowly raised my eyes again to stare at a chain in Becky's swing.
"So, what are you two doing out here?" Ethan asked, saving me from more embarrassment.
"I just...needed to get out of the house," Evie replied, stealing a glance at Becky which meant there was more to it than just that.
Suddenly, I had an idea.
"Wanna walk with us?" I asked. Ethan looked at me questioningly, but gave a slight shrug as if to say "Eh whatever, might as well."
The two girls looked at each other and nodded, and got up to follow us. I led them through the minefield of slush piles and emerged onto the main road, where a left turn and a minute's walk took us to the perfect place for a chat: Toffee Coffee, the town's version of Starbucks.
This coffee shop however, was a cosy little place on the corner of the street, with a cheerful collection of employees that guaranteed a warm welcome (and a steaming coffee). The two girls and I ordered a simple hot chocolate each, while Ethan chose an extravagantly-named ice cream.
"What, I'm hungry," he said after noticing our quizzical looks. No explanation was to be had for his choice of ice cream during winter however, but we left it at that.
As we waited for the food to arrive, I asked "So what are you people doing this holiday?"
Becky replied, "Oh not much, I'm probably going to stay here and watch tv shows 24/7 as usual."
"Same, I guess," added Evie with a shrug. "How about you?"
"Yeah, I think I'm staying here as well," I answered, not really knowing but hoping to God that I was right.
Ethan jumped in and said "I might be visiting my aunt up in Newcastle but that'll probably only be for the weekend and then she'll kick us out because I ate all of her food."
"Oh...well okay," Becky smiled. "We should do something like this again," she went on, "Coffee and chatting and ordering random things with big names," she said, looking at Ethan.
"Well I'd only order if I had money to spend, and it just so happens today is a day where my mum felt generous. Otherwise I'm stuck with a normal coffee or something like that," replied Ethan.
Our orders came just as Evie and I locked eyes again accidentally, but this time it was her that looked away first. I offered her the first mug of steaming hot chocolate which she gladly took, and started warming her hands around it. The next few minutes were spent lazily watching the comings and goings of people outside while draining the mugs. Ethan stuffed his face with cookies and ice cream as if he'd never tasted anything of the sort before.
Suddenly, Evie glanced at her watch. It was 6pm exactly, and as the realisation of this hit her, she hurriedly gulped the rest of her drink down and dashed out of the coffee shop with a hurried "Sorry, I have to go." Baffled, Ethan and I looked at each other, and finding no explanation we turned to Becky.
"What was that about?" Ethan gestured to the door.
"I um...probably shouldn't say.." came the reply.
Frowning, I asked "Was it anything we did?"
"No, it's just...I should go as well actually," she said, finishing her drink quickly as well. "It's not something you guys did," she added, "You'll find out in time."
And with that, she left.
Nursing a rapidly cooling mug of hot chocolate that by now was probably lukewarm chocolate, silence was the only sound that escaped my lips. Ethan had no words for it either, and eventually we both got up and made our way home together.
After a couple of minutes of silent walking and thinking, Ethan blurted out that Becky had given him her number.
"She slipped a little piece of paper under my napkin when I was looking away," he said with a little smile.
"I think she's got something for you," I teased, and he got red as a tomato once again. "I think you've got a little something for her as well hmm?"
"W-well maybe. She's cute and funny. I don't know. Maybe. Maybe not," Ethan stammered back. "Hey maybe I could ask her about Evie?" he proposed, rapidly changing the subject.
"Actually yeah that would be helpful. Becky said it wasn't us but that we'd find out soon enough. I wonder what it is?" I replied.
"Me too," said Ethan, "I hope it isn't anything too serious, I mean she seemed pretty distressed when she just ran off like that."
"Yeah..." I trailed off, not knowing what else to say.
