Ethan was tapping out the beat of some song against the steering wheel, and I was having a great time sneaking glances at him until my phone suddenly vibrated with a message. After digging it out from my pocket, I looked at the screen to see Benji's name appear.
Today 4:39 PM
Can u and your bf get me more toothpaste?
Rolling my eyes, I decided to ignore the first part of that message, and I quickly typed back a response.
Today 4:39 PM
Mrs. Clarissa didn't get you some yesterday?
I frowned, very clearly remembering Benji mentioning at breakfast yesterday morning that he needed more toothpaste, and Mrs. Clarissa had assured that she would get some for him. Mrs. Clarissa has always been extremely strict about personal hygiene, almost to a point where it got incredibly annoying. I suppose with a house full of kids who have mental health issues, personal hygiene was one of those things we all very easily let slip, so Mrs. Clarissa always kept on top of us with things like that. It was strange that she would forget something like toothpaste.
Today 4:40 PM
I think she forgot.
Today 4:40 PM
Okay, we can get you some. She's been busy with Mary, you know how her behavior has been recently.
Today 4:41 PM
Yeah. She freaking threw her pasta at me.
With a sigh, I put my phone back in my black windbreaker pocket, running a hand through my hair. Ethan glanced at me from the corner of his eye, before quickly averting them back to the road with a slight frown. "Everything okay?"
"Yeah, totally," I said, shaking my head. "That was just Benji. We need to pick him up some toothpaste after this."
"I'm sure we can manage that," he smirked.
"So, um. . . are you okay?" I ask, finding that I've been doing that pretty frequently since the death of his best friend. He looked at me from the corner of his eye, smiling. "I'm alright. Really. I miss her everyday, but now I feel warm and happy thinking of her instead of wanting to break down. She never would have wanted me to destroy myself over it."
I nodded in understanding. Knowing Ethan was still in a vulnerable state, I made sure we spent plenty of time together and checked in with him everyday. Even when we would just sit in his room and do our homework in silence, being around each other made everything feel like it would be okay in the end. Ethan turned right into a parking lot, and I squinted up at the Halloween store in front of us.
"Is this really necessary?" I groaned.
Ethan killed the engine, and sat back in his seat, looking me straight in the eye with a very serious look on his face. "Yes. This is very necessary, you're trying to go to a costume party without a costume. That is ridiculous."
"Can't I be a high school student? Then I can just show up as myself?"
"Oh my God Ivan that is so lame. Besides, wouldn't it be much more fun for our costumes to match?" He said while getting out of the car and slamming the door shut. Matching costumes? Like, a couples costume? I felt my cheeks get warm.
Hoping the cool autumn air will help stave away the redness in my face, I scrambled out of the car to walk with Ethan, who was currently whistling and twirling his key ring around his finger.
"Are we going with something cliche?" I asked in exasperation.
"What's wrong with cliche?"
I gave him a deadpan look. "What's wrong with cliches? Well, we'd be the fifth cop and robber costume or the eighth angel and demon costume there."
YOU ARE READING
When Worlds Collide
Teen FictionIvan Irlbeck was a boy whose brain has never, and will never, function properly for him. All he wanted was to live the life of a typical teenager, but being gay and having to live with a severe mental illness wasn't making that wish come easy. He li...
