In a small Arizona town, average teen Ethan Chen is just trying to survive another day of hell, er, high school with his best friend, Tweed, at his side. However, his world is turned upside-down when he learns that their favorite hang-out spot is cl...
After all, Red had a good reason to want Mrs. Heifenmeir gone. With her gone, Sol Bakery was no longer able to operate, and there would be no competition left in town. He would be able to upsell everyone as much as he would like to and have his revenge on his family.
"Mrs. Heifenmeir was doing fine and dandy yesterday, and it makes no sense that she... I mean, that-" Ethan choked out, rising to his feet with the almond still in his grasp. Tweed sighed and swatted the brown nut out of his hand.
"This is ridiculous, Ethan-"
"No!" he cried out and shoved Tweed away as he reached over to grab his arm. "He was planning this!" Ethan shouted, clenching his fists. Ethan's mind was still registering the shock of seeing the flashing bright lights of the ambulance, the paramedics rushing around the scene, and the sheet over the rolling stretcher.
He didn't know how to handle this, this... grief.
"Ethan..." Tweed trailed off, looking toward his friend, who was beginning to gain the same look Tweed once had in his gaze years ago, back when he ran with Cartier's boys.
Without another word, Ethan pushed off, carrying himself down the street with a mad idea in his mind. Tweed almost trailed after him, shouting his name, but he knew it wasn't going to be any use. Ethan was turning into who he used to be: Jesús.
***
Tweed had always been thought of as a troublemaker, a nuisance, and in general, a pest to teachers and students alike. It wasn't until his first year of high school that he began to explore the dark side of himself.
Cartier was the first one out of the group to befriend him. Tweed, who went by his real name then, Jesús, didn't immediately take a liking to him. Tweed had never really had a friend that was as talkative and social as himself, but after a business proposition that Cartier offered him, he began molding into their friend group.
Cartier wasn't a scrawny fella. He was lean, as he played a ton of baseball when he was younger, but he was still not intimidating enough that Tweed thought that he would win in a scrap.
"Hey, man, I think I've seen you in my class," he originally greeted Tweed as he walked to his locker to change out his books.
"Oh yeah, we have English class together," Tweed muttered as he opened his locker and threw his notebooks in, grabbing his algebra textbook and the notebooks for his next two classes. He tucked all of them in his bag with his laptop.
"Well, you're pretty smart, and I need a tutor apparently," he said, and Tweed sighed. There was always a catch when one of the popular kids began talking to someone who was boisterous, but lived in their own solitude.
"What's in it for me?" Tweed asked, scrunching his nose up as he watched a boy down the hall fall over a pair of shoes laying on the ground from god-knows-where. He assumed it was from a locker-room feud. The athletes at Ridgecrest competed and teased each other ruthlessly.
"Well, I have something that might help your social standing. Hang out with me and my boys," he ordered rather than proposed. Tweed's head shifted to the side as he contemplated Cartier's words.
"Do you even know my name?" Tweed asked the boy, whose serious and resolved face intimidated most. For some reason, Tweed wasn't as scared as he would have been a few months ago.
"Of course. Baby Jesus," he responded, and Tweed's eyebrows knitted together.
"That isn't my name," Tweed uttered, his face still contorted in confusion. Cartier gave him a knowing smile and clapped his back.
"Your name is Jesús. Thought I'd give you a fitting nickname if you're gonna huddle with us. After all, you'll be our moral compass, right, BJ?" A nickname. Tweed already had a nickname. Maybe this arrangement would work out after all.
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AHH! I finally revealed why Twara was so awkward around each other and were avoiding each other after that screaming match at Bjornie's! What did you all think of the ship??? Also, what about Ethan's freakout? All of your questions to be answered soon, so stick around!
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