Friendly Dating 2 - Ethan

Chapter 7 - Come Test Drive My Heart

Good times!

"My granddad said that he'll give it to me next year when I'm ready to start Uni." She knows about my deal with Grandpa Alistair, but I feel that I should refresh her memory since she just claimed to suffer from amnesia about the car.

"Hasn't he been saying that since you were born?"

"Yes," I grimace. Oh, shit, that was a good point... now what? "But now he has a condition." That was some quick thinking, Ethan Fletcher! Good job!

"I thought the condition was that you pass your matric and get into university."

Fine, maybe it wasn't all that quick. Come on! Stop with the questions, Kicks; just go with it! I can literally hear her bullshit meter ticking away. This is going nowhere really fast.

"There's another one now," I grunt and reaching out, I grab her messed-up ponytail and give it a sharp tug, hoping to shift her focus away from all the holes in my story and onto the target I want it to be aimed at, namely... crap, what's the target? Me, my heart... but not in the let's shoot Ethan way. I have no idea what I'm doing here!

"Seriously, Dude, stop with the violence!" Kira complains, trying to pull her ponytail back into its place. How is it possible for a girl to be so dirty and dishevelled and still look so friggin' hot? She even has some grimy smears on her face, and she's not wearing any makeup of any kind. Kira never breaks any of the school rules. 

She is the prettiest girl I know, and I think a lot of it has to do with the person she is and not just her big eyes, soft brown hair and sweet smile... and the way her school shirt is riding up now while she's adjusting her hair, flashing glimpses of her stomach at me. I can feel the colour rising in my cheeks. I'm over-heating! I might need to get off this boulder and go jump off the bridge!

Shit! Focus!

"Do you want to hear my story or not?!" That came out a little more aggressive than I meant it to.

"Not particularly," Kira says, giving her head a defiant tilt. I know she is messing with me again, but she has lowered her arms, sitting neatly with her hands primly folded in her lap - the image of piety - and the oxygen-rich blood is able to fight its way to my brain again.

"I could toss you in the water from here, you know?" I warn her, my voice sounding a bit hoarse to me now. Kira smiles demurely, flipping her hand palm up towards me, giving me permission to speak. Brat!

Awesome... I would also like to hear my story... Wish I actually had one... Well, here goes! I open my mouth, and yup, words are coming out, and these words don't even realise that the future of my heart might very well be up to them.

"He now says he'll only give it to me when I can give him solid proof that I've become a decent upstanding citizen and am no longer a ne'er-do-well-ruff-a-tuff."

Well, I'm impressed! He does sometimes say stuff like that to me when I get out of hand, and Kira is also constantly throwing words at me about being decent and upstanding and a citizen (of crazy town)... this should be right up her alley. It sounded very plausible to me.

She should definitely understand how tough it would be for me if my grandfather ever came up with a condition like that. I've actually scared myself a little now!

"I'm sorry, that sucks... How about a nice scooter instead?" See, she gets how impossible it will be!

"Shut up," I chuckle. Well, that was all I could come up with, and I think it is friggin' brilliant. Kira is a decent upstanding citizen of most normal places, and she has a huge capacity for compassion. She has, without being asked and contrary to expectations, come to my rescue many times before. She might be messing with me now, teasing me, giving me a hard time, but she has never let me down.