alive | ethma

3.

emma chamberlain

Everyday of the past week, the same man has been sitting in my library corner, and today was no exception.

I often caught myself glancing at him every once in a while as he turned the pages of his book.

The gesture seemed to be reciprocated, because I also caught him looking at me from time to time. But, he always turned away before I had time to say anything.

I'm still trying to figure out his story.

He could be a wealthy working man, reading a business book to further his career.

But that doesn't seem right.

He could be a college student like me, just trying to find pleasure in the words the author placed on pieces of paper.

But that seems a little off, too. None of my theories seemed to hit the nail on the head so far.

My curiosity was enough for me to want to go up to him and find out. What was the worst that could happen?

Linda watched me as I walked over to the man with no name, my skater skirt sashaying with each step. I stood about a foot in front of him while he was sitting in the bean bag chair.

I cleared my throat.

He looked up, confused.

"What book are you reading?" I ask with confidence.

"Um, it's uh, a John Green book." He stutters as a blush creeps on his face.

I could feel my face lighting up.

"I love John Green books."

"Well, uh, I'm reading Papertowns right now." He spoke out.

"They basically spend the whole time on a scavenger hunt, that's the shit I love." I smile.

"You do know the meaning behind this book right?" His nose scrunches up in confusion.

"Yeah. Adventure."

"More like, false perceptions. Quentin imagines Margo as different than she really is. Because that's the person she wants to be perceived as. It's an illusion, everyone is." He then realized just how deep his statement got, and blushed again.

I stood there for a few seconds, speechless, which doesn't happen often I'll admit.

Then an idea popped in my brain.

"Come on," I said as I reached my hand out to help him off the comfort of the bean bag chair.

He stared at my hand, not moving an inch.

I stared back at him, my eyebrow raised and my eyes challenging him.

He hesitantly grabbed my hand. As soon as his hand touched mine, I felt something. Not a spark. Almost like, a dull feeling of comfortability. I was surprised to actually enjoy it.

His eyes went wide as he stood up. I wonder if he felt it too.

"What are we, uh, doing?" He questioned.

"What's your name?" I ignored his question.

"Ethan." He stared at the floor.

"Emma." I smiled at him while he wasn't looking at me.

He didn't acknowledge me after I spoke. "Well, Ethan, we are going on an adventure."

Ethan's gaze changed from the floor to my hand.

I then realized we were still holding hands. I smiled to myself.

I pulled him in the direction of the double doors of the library, as he tossed his book on the bean bag chair.

"Linda I'm done for the day!" I yelled out, hoping she heard me.

The both of us burst through the entrance doors, me in front of Ethan.

Ethan looks at me blankly. "Where are we going?"

"Surprise." I say as I pull him down the sidewalk.

"How do I know you're not gonna kill me? How can I trust you?" He says with a slight look of fear in his eyes, I notice.

"Please, not everybody is out to get you," I roll my eyes at him.

After a couple minutes of walking and Ethan complaining about how he doesn't know my intentions, we show up to a pop-up fair. They have this carnival here every year. It's kind of special considering you don't usually find fairs in a city that often.

I walk up the booth with a skip in my step. "Two tickets please," I say to the worker, as I hand her a twenty dollar bill.

The girl behind the booth reluctantly tears off two tickets and hands them to me.

I start to walk towards the entrance of the fair, when I realize I don't see Ethan following me. I quickly look back and find him standing there looking up at the ferris wheel.

"Well, what are you waiting for?" I ask him while giggling.

He slowly starts to walk forward to me. No skip in his step.

"Since I'm forced to go through with this, i just have one request." He deadpans.

"What's that?" I scrunch my nose in confusion.

"The mirror maze." His face finally lights up.

[Sorry it took so long, but here's chapter 3 :) kind of a filler chapter but enjoy!]