Good Kid-Bad Kid[COMPLETED]

Chapter 7 (Ethan)

A/N:  this is all of a sudden a different point of view but this guy is important! Remember to VOTE, COMMENT, and SHARE! 

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Ethan Hallows leaned against the wall of the cafeteria, his arms folded against his chest. He'd just sat through an hour of Calculus and his head was throbbing. It didn't help he'd stayed up half the night partying with Buria initiates.
Despite this his father had still made him come to this stupid school.

And it was all that stupid girl's fault.

She was seated across the cafeteria, her side to him, nibbling on a donut.

Laila Mohammed, the new Muslim girl.

He'd kept his eye on her since she'd arrived on his father's orders but so far there seemed to be nothing special about her. She hung out with the rest of the Muslim girls, although had been shy of them at first, had joined the school girls soccer team, and seemed to be an automatic teacher's favorite everywhere. He resisted rolling his eyes in irritation when she pulled out her Classics book and poured over the contents. What a freak.
A voice snapped him out of his reverie.
"You okay bro?"
It belonged to Harrison, who was a Buria initiate and looked just as tired as Ethan felt from the night before. Harrison had joined Buria recently, but Ethan had been born into it. His father was the co-leader of the whole thing, but that didn't mean he got special treatment or was excused from work, in fact he had quite the task after school. That task was associated with this girl, Laila.
"I'm fine" he snapped at Harrison, pushing his back off the wall and making his way to a table. Harrison shrugged, "sorry man. You look pissed"
When Ethan didn't reply he continued,
"Having second thoughts or something?"
"Not really" he shrugged, "but would it kill the old man to give an explanation once in a while?"
Harrison laughed, "Bro, that's how it works. Do what you're told- if I asked questions I'd probably get kicked out. Or worse."
They both knew it was probably 'or worse'.

He decided to talk to her. His curiosity was untamable.

"I'll be right back" he said to Harrison. He let hoisted his bag over one shoulder and made his way through the tables, sensing eyes on him. Everyone seemed to want to know what Ethan Hallows was doing all the time; who he talked to, who he hung out with, when the next party was at his place...
He reached her table, stood next to her for a few moments and when she didn't notice him he cleared his throat,
"Hey" he said.
Laila turned her head, and he was momentarily dazed by the warmth of those brown eyes. They were ringed with dark lashes and full of innocence. She also immediately swallowed a chunk of her donut whole. He could see the redness on her cheeks as she seemed to be trying really hard not to choke on it. Her friends seated around her, Husna, Mariyam, Shouq and Zahra giggled.
"Hi" she croaked.
"I'm Ethan" he offered her a award-winning smile which she returned with a sweet, kind of embarrassed one, "I heard there was a new student in our year, that must be you?"
She nodded, "Laila Mohammed"
"Lay-la" he repeated, tasting the word. Zahra laughed, "something like that!"
He laughed too, "I'm not that good with names" and they all giggled more.
"So...Laila, where were you before New Forest? I'm assuming you just moved here?"
"Arizona" she said lightly.
"Niiice. Did your mom or dad get a good job here or something?"
She paused a moment, then nodded, "something like that. It's just me and my mom by the way"
"Oh. Cool" he looked around a bit with his hands in his pockets then- "and your dad?"
"I don't really talk about my dad" she said a little sharply, almost like a reflex. Then she winced, "sorry, it's just that it's a bit personal, if you don't mind"
He shook his head with a small smile, "it's okay. I shouldn't be so blunt like that. I have to get going now but see you around?"
She nodded and smiled, "sure".
With that Ethan turned and left the cafeteria, deep in thought and did not notice Harrison's sharp eyes follow his exit.

So far his earlier annoyance at Laila had evaporated and replaced with a strange fondness. A sense of 'she's not actually too bad'. And she wasn't- she was instantly nice to him, and not a flicker of judgement had passed through her eyes. She'd also not been taken by his good looks and was able to speak normally unlike a lot of girls who seemed to go a little crazy when he was around. The only other girl who was able to do that was Ellie, his girlfriend.

Despite all this he hadn't missed the reaction when it came to Laila's dad. Obviously she had hard feelings toward him, and he was certain now that whatever Buria had to do with the Mohammeds was because of that man.
Understandable.

What he didn't understand was why the f**** he was supposed to get rid of this girl's mom.