Dylan

To Be Continued

The fireworks last a full fifteen minutes, and I'm pretty sure the air pollution from them must be beyond illegal levels. After the colours and sparks and ear-shattering thunder subsides, the festival plays some nice, night-time romance music and we settle in a little more. 

"So tell me about yourself," I say after we've had a few moments of nice silence. "You're from this town?"

Ethan smiles down at me and nods. "My dad used to own an auto shop here, and I used to help him out as a mechanic." He lifts his head and squints, then points to the far left. "Used to be somewhere down that lane, a couple streets over." 

"What happened?" I ask curiously. 

He pauses for a bit, but after peering into my face, he exhales. "It got burned down." 

I gape at him. What! "Was it an accident?" 

His eyes tightens and he shrugs. "Officially." 

Oooh intriguing. "So someone did it, hmmm, did you get back at whoever it was?" I may have asked this a bit too excitedly because he bursts out laughing and taps my nose. 

"You're a bloodthirsty little thing, aren't you?" He lays back. "I wish. I know who did it, but..." 

"But...?" I stare at him, completely hooked on the story. Then my phone alarm beeps. Dammit! No! 

"To be continued," he grins at me, and that boyish smile just makes me forgive everything. 

I point an accusing finger. "I'm holding you to that." 

We get up and dust ourselves down. 

"What about you?" Ethan asks, his hand finding mine and my heart warms instantly. "There was a commotion the day you brought your bird to school, what happened then?"

Oh. "Oh," I say aloud. Er... I should tell him. I probably should. But for some unknown reason, my brain succeeds in keeping my mouth shut for the first time ever. 

He peers at my face for a moment then sighs, but bumps my shoulder playfully. "To be continued?"

I nod with a rueful smile. "To be continued."

"How about we start with the easy stuff?" he chuckles. "We can play twenty questions."

I nod excitedly. "Okay. When's your birthday?" 

"Wow, that was fast. It's pretty easy to remember," he grins. "May fifth."

"Oh yeah, you're right," I laugh. Someone bumps my shoulder and I'm shoved into Ethan's arms. He automatically grabs onto me to keep me from falling. 

He chuckles. "Keeping you upright is a full time job." 

"Yeah, yeah," I snark, but am secretly thrilled. We're basically walking and hugging. I can feel his heartbeat and the heat from his body. "Your turn!"

"When's your birthday?" He asks back. 

Oh good question. "December tenth. Favourite music?"

"Alternative, but I like a lot of different genres." 

We reached maybe the seventh question when we finally spot Dylan and Jenny waiting by the pedestrian crossing. We look at each other and grin. 

"To be continued," we both say in unison and laugh. 

"Ethan? Ethan Boyle? Is that you?" a voice stops us before we could reach them, maybe twenty feet away. 

Ethan turns to the voice, and effectively turns me as well, as I'm pretty much glued to his side. It's a group of teens about our age, all very good-looking in a tough type of way. Kinda like Ethan. I watch them in absolutely fascination.