In Deep (rewriting?? )

36

I get home and was greeted by the smell of my mom's cooking. My dad was seated at the table with his phone in his hand.

"Okay, so what about this one," he asks my mom, "It looks nice and solid. The reviews on Amazon are good," I walk into the kitchen and see that he is looking for a new barbeque for our backyard.

"Honey, please," my mom begs. "I think this is something we should go into the store for," she finishes. My dad sighs in response, eventually muttering a reluctant fine.

"Hi baby, dinner is ready in a minute," she says, looking back to the stove. I slide into my seat at the dinner table and glanced at my phone. There is an unread text from Ethan.

E: Okay, okay, fine. Maybe I'm a little needy for your attention, I read.

S: How can you be needy for my attention when you haven't even met me, I type back, acting as though I am unfazed by his words. I haven't even met this boy, but his flirtatious ways still find a way to make my heart race.

E: Idk, just a vibe I get. I bet you a smoke show, the text reads and a blush creeps onto my cheeks.

S: Again you don't know what I look like, I repeat

E: Well I don't know what you look like, but I know your personality and let me tell you it's hot,

S: omg stop being such a flirt

E: It's in my DNA

S: Okay Mr. lady-charmer

E: You know you're not far off with that nickname, I charm all the ladies

S: Ummmm and what about the name dickhead? I think that fits you too

E: You haven't even met me, he sends my words back at me. I sent a few laughing emojis and say,

S: I think I know your personality

E: Babe you wound me, he texts and continues, want to call tonight?

S: Yeah okay, I have to eat dinner tho

E: Okay, I'm free all night so...

I put my phone down and see my mom placing my plate of spaghetti in front of me. My mouth watered at the smell of the delicious meal.

"So honey, has was seeing Jessica?" she asks as we begin to dig into our food.

"She was good, just telling me all the drama I missed, which wasn't much." My dad scoffed at this, not liking drama and my mom smacked him lightly on the arm.

"Well tell that girl she needs to come over here more often," she says and I nod. We finish up dinner and put the dishes away. I wave to my parents as I make my way upstairs to my room. I flop onto my bed and sent Ethan a text and not even a second later my phone rings.

"Hello," I say, answering the phone.

"You know what, I have found that I actually enjoy talking to you," he says bluntly. All I could get out in response was an 'oh' as he continued. "Like you're annoying as hell, don't get me wrong, but you're nice and it's refreshing."

"I'm going to ignore the annoying part," I murmur as he laughs on the other end. "But Ethan?" I say "Why is me being nice refreshing?" I ask, referring to what he had just said.

"I don't know, I just feel that sometimes people are so fake; like I have my boys but some of the people are my friends because they want something, you know? Also, people are just mean. There are a lot of bad people in this world," he finishes. I agree with him. "Anyways, I just watched this new movie and you need to watch it," he says, quickly transitioning the conversation. We talk about everything and nothing for two hours.

"So Ethan, what do your parents do?" I ask, curious about his home life.

"Oh you know," he pauses and sounds as though he is trying to make something up. "They are in business."

"Okay..." I say, deciding to drop the topic, sensing that he doesn't want to answer me. "Do you have any siblings?" I ask instead.

"Umm..." he hesitates, caught off guard. "I-I, had a younger sister," he finishes and there is silence between us as I register the use of past tense. I was unsure of how to respond. I could tell he was crying.

"Oh my god, I'm so weak," he sobs out after a few moments of silence.

"No, you are not," I quickly say, "Don't ever think you are weak for showing emotion. God, I cried to you so much over a boy! If anyone is weak here, it's me."

"You're not weak," he says quietly.

"I feel as though I have to agree to disagree with you... Do you want to talk to me about it?"

"I've never really talked about it with anyone," he confesses, and after a sigh he continues, "She was so pretty - the most beautiful human on the planet. She was too good for this world and all that bad it has to offer. I remember one time there was a spider in her room, and as the brave, big brother I was, I went to go kill it. Even though she was crying because she was so scared, she screamed at me not to kill it. I had to 'relocate it', as she called it. I never understood it, you know? Why would you not want to kill something that scares you so much? But I think I get it now. Just because you don't like something or are scared of something, that doesn't give you the right to kill it. You may not like it but it serves a purpose. You know?" he says.

I hum in response, "She sounds very wise."

"She was, and at such a young age too. I learned so much from her and I was the older brother. It should have been the other way around," he says with a sigh and a sad chuckle. "I miss her," he whispers.

"She's with you, you know? I believe that our loved ones are with us. In our hearts," I say fiddling with my sheets on my bed as I curl myself more into a ball.

"You know, you are the first person I have ever talked to about her."

"I'm honored," I say with a warm feeling blooming in my heart. "It's probably because you have never seen me in person," I said with a laugh, referencing our text conversation from before.

"Oh, I think it's more than that," he says and a smile graces my face.

"Goodnight Ethan,"

"Goodnight Sar."

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Hey guys, 34k reads that's crazy. I hope you are all staying safe out there with all the crazy going on. Love you all.