Obstruction

Only you

I crossed the stage and locked eyes with him doing more or less the same as I had with Simon only not quite as amped up.
It didn't feel like play acting, but somehow it felt real. I let myself go, revelling in the fact that I could basically stand there, in public, and tell him straight to his face that I wanted him. It felt liberating to have the song as an excuse to flirt with him so openly.
Where Simon had been grinning and enjoying the act, Ethan's eyes became darker and there was a look on his face I couldn't quite read. Simon had been all smiles and smirks, Ethan stayed tight jawed and serious.
I let my butterfly farm have a field day with my flirting and couldn't have wiped the smile off my face if I had tried.
Despite his grumpiness I still found myself looking for that little piece of softness in his eyes or that little smile he usually had while playing. Whatever was bothering him, I wanted to take it away.
After a few beats I gave him a playful wink before I turned back to the audience to finish the song. My sultry act had Oddball grinning and the audience roared to life at the final beat. I felt like I was flying.
All in all we were doing a great gig.
If it wasn't for Ethan being a total grouch.

- January 7th -
Vero was in her usual seat next to mine when I came in on Monday. The whole previous week she had boasted about how she had snuck out from her parents house to see Alex and shown us a necklace he had gotten her for christmas. This morning, however she was unusually quiet. Her face waz make up free and she had pink splotches on her face.

"What's wrong?" I asked, secretly feeling the dread of an upcoming too much information attack.

"Alex has found someone else," she muttered.

In all Vero's shallowness and sensationalism, she seemed to actually care about Alex. God knows why, the guy still struck me as a lecherous creep.

"He spent ew years eve in bed with some skank," Veronica sobbed.

Amazed at how some guys obviously had no use for both their heads, I gave her a spontaneous hug.

"He's too stupid for his own good," I said.

"I know right? I would have given him all the sex he'd want. And it wasn't good enough," Vero huffed.

"You'll be fine," I reassured her before returning to my sketches.

During the break, Simon sat next to me on the bench outside.

"What's the deal with girls and sex?" He asked.

"The deal?" I asked.

"Yeah... Like Ellen... and it feels kinda wrong saying this to you, but I'm confused," Simon started.

I nodded for him to continue.

"I mean... She says she wants to, but then when we almost get into it, she changes her mind," he muttered.

I smirked at him.

"Is Simon the sex god unable to score?" I asked, trying to hide a laugh.

"Simon the sex god is very capable, thank you! The trouble is she won't let me... well... show her my moves," he muttered looking unusually embarrassed.

"Has she said why?" I asked.

"No. She just said about wanting things to get serious. I thought we were. And there are only so many cold showers I can take!" He huffed.

I laughed at his hopelessness.

"Do you actually love her?" I asked.

He shrugged.

"Well... there you go. That's what she's waiting for," I said and patted his head before I returned to the last lesson before lunch.

Unusual for us, there was silence around the lunch table. Not even Oddball was making weird jokes. Ellen and Simon looked like they didn't even belong in the same room.
Simon kept looking between me and Ellen with a conflicted look as if our earlier conversation had confused him.
And Ethan was pushing some pasta around on his plate.
Slowly he lifted his head and looked at Simon.