Smoke of His Breath // Ethan Torchio

lesson 20: love doesn't come with a preface

Hi! I ,yet again, cannot stop writing.

Do you like Ethan or Thomas more? (in this story obv not in rl)

also you can follow me on Instagram

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Tell them they were made for meI'm thinking they'll know, know it alreadyI'm thinking they'll know just about everything

(Female Robbery- The Neighborhood)

"Hi Carmen," I heard Damiano say. He was leaving the house as I was entering it. "Bye Carmen."

I entered the living room and saw Ethan laying on the couch. "Where does he have to go to all the time?" I asked, meaning Damiano.

"Probably in the hunt for donneh."

I laughed it off, throwing myself on the empty couch. It was the day before our English Literature exam. It was Thursday, one day before the end of our exam week. The last one and a half week was a complete chaos. Exams had consumed all our energy. Miruna, the bright student she is, had closed herself to the outside world completely. I had barely seen her through out the exams.

I wasn't a bright student that she was. If I was at home, I knew I would procrastinate so I'd come over to Damiano's for almost everyday. Neither of them had complained.

But today was different. Today, we weren't going to study together with Ethan because the bet was still on the table. And I wasn't going to let him win.

"If you hope to get my help, I'm sorry to disappoint." He said. He clearly was thinking the same thing as me. I rolled my eyes at him. "Oh like I need your help."

We didn't say anything after that and went on with our work. It was one hour later that Damiano came back.

"I feel like I'm baby sitting elementary school students. Take a break." he said, looking at us. Now we were both sitting on the floor, our books open on the coffee table. I looked up to see Damiano. Usually when he left, he would be gone for hours and hours.

"Why are you here?" asked Ethan. Damiano was now taking his brown leather jacket off. He had a white tank top underneath. He fixed his hair with his hands and jumped on the couch behind Ethan.

"This is my motherfucking home." he said.

"We thought you were gone to see someone." I said. It was weird, spending most of my time at his house and not saying a word to him so I was trying to get myself involved in their conversations.

"Hate to break it to you Carmen, but I do things other than fuck."

I grinned, showing him that I wasn't believing him. He grinned back and leaned over to the coffee table, trying to see what we were studying. I wasn't expecting him to because he had graduated by begging to teachers. He wasn't going to university or anything, not that I knew of.

"Which book?" he asked.

"Pride and Prejudice." I said.

"Love in the time of Cholera." Ethan replied. Damiano grimaced."Isn't that Latin American?" he asked. Ethan frowned at him. "Hey! Don't complain about it. It's a masterpiece. Obviously, so much better than Pride and Prejudice."

Oh he did not.

He did not say that.

"Please say you're joking." I said, with fright in my face. "You did not disrespect Pride and Prejudice like that."

He also looked terrified. "So you think the marriage that was born out of an idea, an idea that seeks money is better? Darcy, pities Eliza. He underestimates her. She says she is in love with him because her whole family is obsessed with finding her a wealthy husband. Their love is ideal, it's only on the surface."

I couldn't believe my ears.

"Did you read the book with your dick?" I asked in shock. He shrugged.

"So you think, the love in Love in the time of Cholera is more impactful? He literally gets into relationship with over 500 women. He says he waits for her, who by the way is already married with someone else. How is that a fucking good love?" I asked, I didn't know why but my voice had gotten louder.

"Love isn't measured with sex, Carmen. Unlike Eliza and Darcy, what Florentina and Fermina have is real. They really love each other, even though they are apart for years and years. Their love remains committed, even when their bodies aren't."

I wanted to talk about this more, argue more. But Damiano stopped both of us.

"You know that both these books are literarily amazing, they are both unrealistic right? In real life, love doesn't come with a preface. It sure is not something to be lived once. Your feelings can change, over the time. You might not live love at all. These books are glamorizing it too much."

What he had said, had ended our argument .Though, I couldn't help but say "I can't believe you said Darcy and Eliza aren't really in love." as we were going back to study.

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The next morning, I felt confident while walking to the exam class. "Why are you so nervous?" asked Miruna, looking at my hands. I only realized it then that I was tearing out my cuticles with my nails.

"Like you keep reminding me all the time, it's our senior year. I have to have high grades to apply to colleges."

She looked at me in a weird way. She clearly had found it weird that I was actually caring about my grades.

"Okay then, congrats." she said and left.

When I entered the class I saw Ethan already sitting. I walked near him. "Let the best student win," I said. He winked at me and didn't say anything. The exam was about to start so I walked to my seat without saying anything else.

I held my breath when the teacher handed me the paper.

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A cute chapter in my opinion.

Who do you think will have the higher grade and what do you think that person will ask the other to do?

Also the way both of them disrespected the two masterpieces-

Also the way Damiano taught them today's lesson lmao

Stan Dami for clear skin (I'm too excited with his plot line)