Chapter 27

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Aaron rode shot gun as Ethan pulled out onto the road, then he heard a commotion in the backseat.

"Can you stop gushing about that girl for one second?" Olivia asked disgusted by James' obvious lust for Stephanie.

"Okay, we get it, Olivia, you're jealous. I still would, you know—" James petered off.

"You don't wanna finish that sentence," Olivia said fiercely. Ethan felt uncomfortable but knew that James was just joking. They were just friends.

"Don't make me turn this car around!" Ethan threatened jokingly. They just smiled at him through the rearview mirror.

"Focus on the road, Ethan. I've got this goof under control," Olivia assured him. James just laughed.

When Ethan got to their house, he breathed a deep sigh of relief. Even though Aaron wasn't sober, he was still staring daggers into Ethan the entire car ride. Ethan most certainly could not do "whatever he felt like." Though he understood Aaron being very wary of him driving his vehicle, especially on a night like tonight. Luckily, they had no traffic accidents on the way to their house, although it was probably less than five miles. Ethan had even stopped to get a pile of Butterfingers and a couple of KitKats for James, who had made his distaste for Butterfingers known.

They got inside and each of them piled onto the couch so that Ethan was forced to sit on the floor. They all began to eat the candy and watch some cartoons. It was hard to say what was more amusing, the cartoon, or James' reaction whenever they played a gag on the main character. Ethan could relate to the sad cartoon blob on the screen. Someone was always taking shots at him. Ethan was that kind of guy.

Ethan was a sad cartoon blob with no friends in high school, and he carried that identity with him to college no matter the new circumstances he found himself in.

He began to drift off around one. Later, at like three in the morning, he found himself alone on the floor, except for the stray candy wrappers he left. They were strewn around him in the darkness, picking them up wouldn't make sense if he could barely see them. Everyone went back to their rooms while he had nodded off and he was left without pajamas. Wagering if Olivia was going to come out, he decided stripping down for the night was not a smart idea and he slept in his clothes. Keeping a set of clothes there would be a good idea he thought.

He pulled himself onto the sofa without blankets or anything and passed out again. Sleep came easily, and soon, the bright sun shone through the window, unobstructed by curtains. It was about nine in the morning and everyone was still asleep, so he debated just hanging out on the couch until they all woke up. Luckily, he didn't have to wait long as Aaron came out of his bedroom and noticed Ethan awake on the couch.  His brown eyes turned to slits as he looked at the brightness.

"Oh, shit that's bright. Sorry, should've closed those," Aaron said, before pulling them closed. "Anyway, Ethan if you want, I can bring you to the dorms at around ten because I have work."

"Sounds fine," Ethan said.

He ate breakfast with Aaron and waited for him to shower before they left to drop him off. No one woke up to join them, so he didn't have the opportunity to say goodbye to the others. Aaron was so cool for driving him everywhere Ethan thought. He had to do something for the guy. Ethan doubted Olivia and James were that considerate considering the conversation about ride shares last night.

Ethan then went back to his dorm afraid of seeing Lincoln. His parents were going to be picking him up from campus at three so he would have to get changed and make himself look presentable, so seeing Lincoln was a necessary evil if he were in the dorm, which he wasn't.

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