Don't Leave • Ethan Dolan

1

"That is so gross," Thea grimaces, watching me untangle food from my braces.

I shrug, freeing a sliver of noodle from the wires and handing it towards her. Thea pretends to be sick and turns away from me at our table. I laugh, standing up and letting the small pasta piece fall to the floor.

"I need to get to Ms. Hodge's class, English," I sigh.

Thea stands up, too, facing me.

"Have fun, I guess. I have calculus," Thea frowns, and begins to walk away. "Text me after school."

I nod and pick up two heavy writing and language books from the small lunch table. There's only a few kids eating lunch around, but they are all staring at me. Shyly I walk away, focusing on getting to class.

I walk into room 212 to see an empty classroom, except for Ms. Hodge.

"Good afternoon, Jordan," Ms. Hodge smiles at me, stapling some papers at her desk.

I'm surprised to see that no one else is in here. Maybe I read the time wrong.

"Hey," I say quietly, sitting down in the back row.

"How was your weekend?" She asks, looking up for a moment.

I respond with a polite, "Good, how was yours?"

Ms. Hodge begins to talk about this man she went on a date with, it's kinda cute how she seems so in love with him.

Students begin to file into the room now. Ms. Hodge finishes her story quickly and walks slowly to the front of the class.

"Alright, today we will be starting our short novel writing pieces. I'm sure you all did something like this in middle school, so this should be a piece of cake," Ms. Hodge announces, handing out the rubric.

She walks to her desk with extras, then resorts back up front.

"There will be partners for this assignment, and I'll be picking them," she adds, earning some groans.

Ms. Hodge goes around the room pairing people up randomly. At the end, she comes to me. Nobody is left to partner with.

She signals for me to hold on, and goes to check the attendance list. Ms. Hodge nods to herself and comes over to me.

"It looks like Ethan Dolan is not here today, but he will be your partner."

All I can do is nod, and try to work efficiently. Ethan is basically the typical high school guy. He plays football, basketball, wrestling, and lacrosse. He's also really attractive, so it's going to be hard to focus while working with him. And... His twin brother, Grayson, died a little over three years ago. He seems to blame himself for it, still.

Before I could stretch more of my thinking, Ethan walks in. His hair is a mess, and his face is flushed and sweaty. I eye him as he brings a small slip of paper towards Ms. Hodge. They have a small conversation and Ethan soon turns around, catching my eyes. I flash a small smile at him but look away quickly, and act like I'm working. I sense his body sit down in the desk next to mine.

"So, we're partners?" He asks tiredly.

"Yeah," I say blankly, sliding the rubric between us and avoiding eye contact.

"Cool."

We talk about basic points the plot might have, twists, and come up with characters for the story. All that stuff. Then, the sound of students opening and closing lockers becomes audible from the hallway.

Ethan looks up to the clock, "It's 1:40."

"Yes! I can't wait to get home."

"Me too," he chuckles, packing up some papers.

Announcements ring through the room, Ms. Hodge skips to the front of the class right after they finish.

"Just want to warn everyone that this assignment is due in a month. Have it done, please!" Once she finishes, the bell rings and everyone rushes out of the classroom. I walk out slowly with Ethan.

"So, do you want to work on the project tomorrow after school? At your house?" He asks, walking by my side.

I blush a little but respond, "Sure."

"Okay," Ethan says, looking up to see his friends making their way over to the two of us. "Are you going to the basketball game tonight?" he asks facing me, slowing the pace but talking quickly.

I shake my head, no. "Too much social interaction," I joke.

Ethan grins and chuckles before waving lightly, "Alright, well see you tomorrow." He walks away to his friends.

One guy from the group stares at me as I leave school. Of course Ethan doesn't even notice because he's talking to the others, but Jack Dail observes my every move.

———

"How was school?" My aunt smiles as I shut the car door.

"Eh, the usual," I respond, watching tiny rain droplets fall from the dark sky.

Aunt Jill fishes the AUX cord from the center console, and plugs it into the car.

"Do the honors," she says handing it over to me. I shake my head at her, but gladly plug some Drake in to cut the approaching silence.

I love my aunt, she's basically my mom... well she kind of is. When I was five years old, my father shot and killed my mom. He killed himself almost immediately after. At the time I was in kindergarten, luckily never seeing the actually scene. But the thing that impacts me the most, is that I never got to say goodbye to my parents.

"MY ONLY WISH IS I DIE REAL, CAUSE THAT TRUTH HURTS AND THOSE LIES HEAL!" Aunt Jill screams, turning into our private road. I laugh. I've taught her well.

We pull into the driveway and make it into the garage. The music is cut off and we sit in silence for a second. I should probably ask her about Ethan.

"Can I have someone over tomorrow after school? It's for a project," I say, mentally crossing my fingers.

"Sure, who is it?" Aunt Jill asks, wiggling her eyebrows at me while pulling the car keys from the ignition.

"Um... Ethan Dolan," I respond, his name coming out like a question.

"Oh he's a good kid, I know his sister and I did know his brother...," she trails off. I wonder how she knows them, but also, who doesn't? "Yes of course he can come over."

I stare into the white unfinished walls of the garage, lined with gardening tools and sleds for the winter snow. Then snap back and nod at her.

"Alright, let's get inside," Aunt Jill says, moving along and switching subjects. "What do you want for dinner?"

I shrug, grabbing my backpack and following her inside. I make an excuse for having a ton of homework and head to my room.

I plop down on my bed and get onto Google. My fingers then take over, searching about Grayson Dolan's death.