The Destiny of Ethan King

Chapter 10: True Colours

When Ethan met up with Gareth the next morning at the bus stop, he felt healthier than he'd been in a long time. It was the last day of college before the Christmas holiday and Christmas was in the air. Not in a religious way, neither of them was Christian, but that feeling of excitement and freedom that comes with the build-up to a holiday. The air was crisp, the clouds were grey, yet everything around him was pulsating with life. 

"You're in a good mood this mornin!" Gareth smiled. 

"Yeah, I woke up feelin really good," Ethan said. He paused. "I got beat up last night by a group of lads in the park." 

Gareth wasn't sure how to react. "You jokin?" 

"No, it was Aaron from school and a gang of his mates. They kicked the shit outta me too." 

Gareth frowned and examined his friend's face. Ethan had a dry sense of humour and he sometimes wasn't sure if he was winding him up or not. He didn't have a scratch on him, what was he talking about? He decided to play it safe. "You hurt? Where did they kick you?" 

"I was pretty messed up. Had a black eye and am pretty sure they cracked some ribs and my knee was fucked up too. It's gonna sound mental, but I got home and went to bed and just felt this like, energy and heat and stuff. And when I woke up, I was okay. Not a bruise or cut in sight." Ethan wasn't sure why he was telling Gareth this. He knew how it sounded and he didn't expect him to believe a word of it, but he wanted to tell someone. 

"Been sniffin somethin you shouldn't?" Gareth laughed. 

"I knew you'd think I was losin my mind." Ethan looked at his watch and then looked past Gareth down the road. No sign of the bus yet. Damn things never arrived on time. 

Gareth scratched his cheek. "You're serious, aren't you? What's goin on?" 

Ethan looked at his shoes. "I dunno. Something though. It's lots of things at once. Too many things to be a coincidence – it's like I'm not me anymore, like I'm changin or somethin It's hard to explain." 

"Yeah well you've got a lot goin on with your mum and all that." 

Ethan looked up. Word got around his town fast. His mum probably told a couple of close friends. It didn't take much more than that. He was glad that Gareth knew though, it was a relief. 

"Who told you?" He felt emotional all of a sudden. 

"My mum told me last night. I didn't want to say anythin at first in case you didn't want to talk about it, you know?" Gareth looked uncomfortable. 

"Yeah, I know. It's all right. There's not that much to talk about. She's got a tumour but the doctors will sort her out. She's gonna be fine." 

This time Gareth looked down. "Yeah." 

"Shit!" Ethan glanced up in time to see their bus go past. 

Gareth laughed and shook his head. "Come on." If they walked quickly they had a chance of getting to their English lesson on time. 

They walked side-by-side. Gareth was a few inches taller than Ethan but he modified his stride so that Ethan could keep up. 

"Anyway, it's not about my mum. I mean, that's messed up and I don't even know if it's sunk in fully yet, but all this other stuff started happenin before I found out about mum." 

"Could be stress from college. You been to your doctor about it?" Gareth zipped his jacket right up and tucked his chin inside. 

"Well I went to talk to a counsellor yesterday. That was a bit freaky," Ethan said.