Aloveen Rising

3. The Fate Of A Friendship

Ethan sat on his bed and glumly threw bits of blu tack into the bin, his mind just kept going over the fight between Lucy, Justin and himself. The look on Jake's face threatened to rip his heart to shreds but it was etched into his mind, he took a deep breath and looked around his room. The furniture had arrived today so Ethan's mum had redecorated his room and surprisingly he didn't hate it. His wooden desk by the window and his bed against the far wall, he didn't read so much anymore but there was an entire wall of his walk-in robe dedicated to his books. There was a muffled thump, Lucy he guessed was still annoyed, she had been banging things since they had gotten back.

Ethan sighed and flicked through the music on his phone, he laid down and stared at the ceiling. He spent several hours just thinking while listening to music, he was hungry but he chose not to eat knowing it would just be comfort food. He felt horrible about what had happened at school even though he knew deep down he hadn't done or said anything bad. The thought of heading back to school the next day filled him with anxiety, would Jake even give him the chance to sort things out? He really hoped so, it was silly but it was hurting him not being around Jake. How did my life change so much so quickly? He thought.

He vowed to make it up to Jake the first chance he could and eventually he fell asleep. His dreams struck viciously at him, Justin attacking him, Jake not forgiving him and Lucy finding out his secret.

Just like that he snapped awake, he felt sweaty, his fears had gotten to him in the worst possible way. His door opened and Lucy poked her head in,

"Oi, time to get up lazy"

"Why," he asked, "I don't want dinner, I'm not hungry",

Lucy laughed, "You slept through dinner, it is breakfast time, hurry up" She shook her head and closed the door.

Ethan sighed, stretching as he stood up. He hurried to the shower, scrubbed himself quickly this time with soap, and then got dressed in of course, black again. He raced into the kitchen and Lucy threw him two Nutella sandwiches badly wrapped in cling wrap.

"Eat on the way, we have to go," Lucy said,

She grabbed her car keys and rushed outside; Ethan shrugged and ran after her jumping in the car. He hadn't even closed the door when Lucy slammed the car into reverse and the car tyres squealed as she sped down the driveway and turned in the direction of the school. Ethan checked his phone, and stared at it for a second, they still had ten minutes till the first session but the school was only minutes away.

"Lucy, why are you in such a rush?"

She glanced over at him then pulled over to the side of the road, "I want to talk to you about yest-"

"I'm fine" he interrupted,

"You can't let those kinds of people bother you Ethan,"

Ethan scowled, "What do you mean by 'those kinds of people'?"

Lucy pinched the bridge of her nose, "You know what I mean Ethan"

Ethan bit back a retort and tried to smile "I'll be fine Lucy, It isn't a big deal."

"It is Ethan, That guy wanted to fight you."

Ethan opened the car door and got out "Thanks Lucy, I'll walk the rest of the way"

Lucy said something but Ethan blocked her out and started walking, it only took him about a minute to reach the school but with every step the urge to run home became stronger. Finally, he reached the school gates and the feeling vanished, replaced by an odd determination.