TUTORS ; E.D.

SIXTEEN: RETURNS

The back of the school parking lot is filled with cars, but practically void of people due to class starting in just a few minutes. Aphrodite drags her feet across it, phone in her face as she approaches the car that parked just moments before. Inside, the twins are arguing.

With a roll of her eyes, her teeth grit, she opens the passenger door and glares at Ethan. "You're in my fucking spot."

"Get to class, E," Grayson mutters, shoving his brother right out of the seat. "We have plans, get the hell out of here. I'll catch you later or something."

Ethan looks up at Aphrodite before clambering to his feet, whispering, "Sorry." The door slams shut behind him and she doesn't spare a second glance.

He knows that they're skipping, again, from the way she pulls out a lighter and Grayson reaches into his center console with no sign of worry about getting to class. They've skipped more classes than they've been to in the last week--close as ever, like they never even fought. Ethan knows it's not good for either of them but he can't get Grayson to care, and Aphrodite's, rightfully, avoiding him as much as possible.

Their grades? Dropping like flies. Their money? Dwindling, from spending so much of it on weed and alcohol. Their mental health? Obviously fucking terrible.

Ethan hasn't been doing too great either. He was back to a total of zero friends who lived anywhere near him, and with how many people Aphrodite partied with, people cared about her a lot more than him. When they were together, mostly, Ethan was left alone. But now that they weren't it was pretty much open season in the hallways.

He groans as Colton shoves him into a locker, Elijah snatching a notebook from his arms and ripping out some of the pages. "...come on, c-can I just--"

"Quit your whining, little Dolan," Elijah snorts, shoving him another time. "Man, you got one girl and thought you were worth something. You always have been, and always will be, just a freak."

"You should hurry up, you're gonna be late for class. Wouldn't want you to cry about that like you cried about Aphrodite."

Swallowing slowly, Ethan just drags himself further down the hallway toward his class. He catches sight of Miranda in passing, who rolls her eyes at him. And then, of course, Rachel--she winks before resuming her conversation.

Things are somehow worse than before he started dating Aphrodite, and all he wants is to have never gone to that stupid party with her in the first place. He offered to go help look for Carla, but he should've just stayed home and let her deal with it. Everything would be fine if he didn't fucking go, and he wouldn't be cursed to hear her say, "Is this why you don't love me back?" on repeat in his head forever. At this point, any fate was better than that.

In the car, Aphrodite giggles with Grayson as they smoke, the air getting thick and filled with smoke. Just how they like it.

"I missed mornings like these," he grins, stealing a swig of her coffee. "We should go grab breakfast. Skip the first couple periods, I don't have anything I care about missing."

"Let's do it. I'll text Carla, Rosa, and Joey to meet us."

"Nah, leave Rosa out of it. I'm ghosting her," he shrugs, blowing out smoke rings into the air. "You were right about it being uncool of me. Plus, she's always been kind of a bitch anyway."

They go out for breakfast, which turns into brunch, and then they drive around for far too long. By the time they actually get to their first classes of the day, it's after lunch.

Aphrodite, with half-open eyes, uses eye drops before going into school. The perfume can't fully hide the strong scent of weed that's soaked into her hair and clothes. She's forgotten what class she has until after she's gone to her locker--chemistry, which she's been avoiding since the party. Her grade has already started dropping, and she'll be failing in no time if she doesn't start, so today she goes.