The White Rose

4

My name is Ethan Mar. And this is my story.

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School was over and I rode on the bus to go home, sitting in the last seat on the left side as usual. No one claimed that spot from me. Well, there was only one person who ever dared to. And that was my friend Kyle. I really enjoyed being around Kyle a lot. He was a ginger, one of my favorite hair colors, and liked to laugh and have fun. He also liked swimming. So we got along just fine.

I pushed my ear buds into my ears, pushed the plug into the headphone jack and clicked the button on the cord. The soundtrack from Harry Potter started up. I entered my password on my iPhone. Clicking on messages, nothing else showed up. I had asked Mary Ann about the Physics project last night, and earlier today I had talked with both her and Matt about this weekend and possibly seeing a movie. I scrolled down and shot Kyle a message.

What'cha up to?

Now we wait. Kyle often took a while to respond, he was home schooled, so I rarely saw him. He rode the bus once because he had to take exams in school, and they allowed him transportation for some reason. I never asked why.

He was cool though, he came to my seventeenth birthday party back in January. He bought me my iPhone. My parent's didn't have enough money to buy it for me, so he talked with them behind my back. I wasn't happy that he'd gone behind my back, but my parents were cool with it, so I was happy. My previous phone had been a flip phone, and it was dying ever so slowly.

My phone dinged. Not much, just finishing up some homework.

You should come over this weekend and hang.

I'll have to ask the rents.

I smiled to myself. I'd never met his parents and they never seemed to call him or text him when he was out. He always checked in with them anyways to make sure they knew where he was and that he was okay. They were always short calls and to the point.

Okay, let me know later.

I will. How you been?

Alright. I made an awesome catch in gym today.

Yeah?

Yupp. It was great lol

The bus slowed down at the first cul-de-sac, letting a group of kids off. I was usually the fourth stop. We were further out from the town. It isn't big, but Patrington is big enough for me. The school district has almost two thousand students. Most of them live within walking distance of the school, but I live on the outskirts of town. My house is big and grand. Some say it used to be a mansion, but I don't think it's that big.

I put my head on the window and felt the coolness of the glass. It felt great considering I was still angry with Matt. It felt good, but that's not who I was. I wasn't someone who liked other boys. I liked girls. We stopped at the second bust stop and another group of kids got off. The bus was slowly getting empty. My music quieted down as it got to the part where the fifth movie opened. Order of the Phoenix was my favorite book. The fight between Dumbledore and Voldemort was my favorite scene in the movie, but the entire book was amazing.

My phone dinged in my ears and I opened it to see a message from Kyle.

Rents said no for this weekend :(

My heart sank. I didn't realize how much I missed Kyle until he said he couldn't come over. Guess I would just have to hang out with Matt and Mary Ann.

Oh, that sucks :( are you sure you can't?

Yeah. They said we were going someplace up north this weekend.

At least you'll get to do something.

I guess :/

The bus stopped again and this time only a couple of kids got off. They were the Hine's, I had actually babysat them a couple of times. Two girls who were both nine now. And they caused a lot of trouble too. I watched them walk up the driveway as the bus pulled away.

My phone dinged. I twisted my head, looking down at it without lifting it off the window.

Maybe this week?

Maybe I typed. I didn't hit send yet. I knew that my parents would never let me have Kyle over in the middle of the week. A message from Matt popped up as I was thinking about my response to Kyle.

Sorry about earlier dude. I didn't mean to make you upset.

I wasn't upset. I typed in. I was, I'm going through things that I can't tell you right now. I sent the message.

I was embarrassed more than anything. I sent in another message to Matt.

What's been going on? You know you can talk to me right?

Yeah, I typed. I just don't know what's happening myself.

Well, what is it?

I bit my lip as I thought about it. Should I tell him? I mean, he has been my best friend since second grade. And we were seniors now.

Another message from Matt came in. Look, you don't have to tell me. I just wanna help if somethin's messing with you.

The bus slowed to a stop in front of my driveway. My heart was pounding. I had to tell him didn't I? I typed it quickly and pushed send before I could have second thoughts: I kinda liked it.