Ethan was quiet the next morning. He angrily grabbed the plate that Demi gave him. He had a glare on his face directed at me as he ate his breakfast. He was mad at me for snapping at him yesterday and he didn't deserve it. He had every right to be mad at me. He was just worried about me and I snapped at him. It wasn't fair.
"No run this morning dear?" Demi asked me and handed me a plate.
"Not this morning," I answered. "Can you give us a minute please?" I asked. She nodded and walked out of the kitchen. "I'm sorry for snapping at you last night. You didn't deserve it." I apologized and sat next to him.
"Damn right," he said and stared at his plate as he ate his food.
Here we go.
"Ethan, look at me," I ordered.
He continued to stare off. He was pissed and had every right to be. I was a dick last night. I was half tempted to tear the food away from him, that wouldn't help the situation. We tend to be hot-headed.
"Ethan I said I'm sorry. I admitted I was a dick. What more do you want from me?"
"You know exactly what I want from you! I've only been asking you the same thing for two years!" He yelled at me.
"If you think I'm going to sit in front of a shrink and release my inhibitions, you got another thing coming" I yelled back.
He stood up angrily. "Then tell Mason, tell Demi, tell Julia, tell somebody that isn't your fifteen-year-old brother who doesn't know anything! I'm tired of keeping your secret. I'm tired of being the only one who knows. I don't know how to deal with it and it" He softened up. "It scares me," he admitted.
Nothing ever scared the kid. He was fearless, besides our father he was never afraid of anything. He would do almost anything if you asked. That's where his smart-ass mouth comes in and gets him in trouble.
"Okay okay. I'll tell somebody, I promise" I told him. "Come on, let's get to school."
We got our stuff and went to school. I almost forgot it was Friday. Friday meant football. Football meant that Sam and his goons will be extra cocky all day long. This is gonna be a long day.
"Hey Qunicy, coming to the game tonight?" Sam asked. "Oh wait I forgot no dogs allowed." He laughed with Alex and Tucker.
"How long did it take you to come up with that one?" I asked and walked past him.
I could practically sense the anger radiating off of him as I walked by.
"I was actually referring to that puppy of a brother following your every move" He called after me.
I stopped in my tracks. I balled my fist. I could hear his annoying laugh from ten feet away. No one insults my brother like that. I knew he was just trying to get under my skin and it worked. I strode over to him and grabbed him by his shirt.
"Listen here asshole. You talk shit about my brother and I will kick your ass." I said lowly in his ear. "I'm going to walk away and I hear one more lame-ass remark, I will take a baseball bat and I will smash in all your windows to your car, understand?"
He nodded with wide eyes and raised eyebrows. He loved that almost as much as he loved himself.
I let go of his shirt and walked away. He didn't say another thing, nor did his friends laugh. I noticed all of the people around looking between me and Sam. They were probably wondering the same thing, what the hell just happened?
I walked to class to find Ashtyn sitting in her seat as normal. She was always here early. I assume he left with Mason, or in her car a little bit later. I don't think I could ever show up that early unless it's after a morning practice. That's not until track season starts.
"Hey Easton," she greeted. The bell rang as I made my way to my seat.
The class went by excruciatingly long as per usual with Ms. Wells teaching. The bell rang and I was happy to get out of there.
"Easton, can I ask you a question?" Ashtyn caught me in the hall.
"You just did," I smirked. I didn't miss the subtle eye roll from her. "What's up?"
"Can I sit with you at lunch today? The girl I normally sit with has a team lunch with the cheer team and I don't know any of the other people at the table," She explained.
I'm shocked she actually wants to sit with me. We don't exactly know each other besides Mason and some stupidly spilled personal things. I'm sure her friend has mentioned something about not getting near me, especially not sitting at my lunch table.
"Um yeah sure if you want," I answered.
"Okay thank you," She touched my arm. "I have to get to class, see you at lunch" she waved and left me in the middle of the half-empty hallway.
***
At lunch, I saw Ashtyn looking around the cafeteria for our table. I stood up and flagged her down. She saw me and walked over with a smile on her face. Everyone looked at her in shock and disbelief.
"Hey Easton," She said as she sat down across from me. "Why is everyone staring at me?" She looked cautiously around her and at her appearance.
"You're just the first person to sit here in the past two years that wasn't Ethan," I answered.
"Why?"
"Something that happened a while ago. They think I'm scary," I said.
"You're not scary. Far from it"
She would think differently if she knew what happened. I was a different person then, but then again maybe I haven't changed much. I'm just as bad as I was then, maybe even worse.
"What up nerds?" Ethan greeted as he walked up to the table with Erin following him with some sort of bag in her hand. "Sorry I meant nerd and Ashtyn" He laughed and sat down next to me and Erin opposite him. I shoved his shoulder and nearly made him fall out of his seat. He punched my arm in return.
Ashtyn laughed which caused me to look over at her. "You guys are such brothers," she laughed.
"Why? Is it the massively good looks that made you connect us?" He asked and ran a hand through his hair with a wink in Erin's direction. She blushed at him.
I shoved his shoulder again. "Ashhole"
"Jackass" he replied. Both Erin and Ashtyn laughed at us.
"No," She said. "it's your chemistry. You tease each other nonstop and you're so close. It makes me wish I had a sibling."
"Trust me it's not all it's cracked up to be. This morning he wouldn't even talk to me." I said and took a sip of my Gatorade.
"Why not?" Erin asked, looking between the two of us boys. Ashtyn was doing the same thing.
"He was being a dumbass last night," Ethan said and shot a small glare in my direction. He wasn't over the whole thing, but we came up with a solution this morning and he should be happy with it.
"We're not getting into this again" I warned him.
We dropped the conversation and turned to the girls. "So Erin, what's that bag for?" I motioned to the bag she had sitting to the side.
"It's a camera. I'm taking pictures at the football game tonight for the yearbook" She answered shyly.
"Oh, I didn't know you were on the yearbook committee. Do you like taking all those pictures?" I asked.
"Yeah, I take a lot more pictures with my own camera though." She answered.
I nodded and conversations flowed easily between the four of us. Everyone forgot about the thing between me and Ethan.
I heard the click of heels and I mentally prepared for what happened next. There was only one person who wore heels to school and would come up to our table confidently. Ethan went tense beside me as he looked at the person at the head of the table, only confirming my suspicions.
"Hello Easty," an all too familiar voice said in her whiny-sounding voice.
"Go away, bitch. You're not wanted here" Ethan snapped from beside me. I could see Erin tense up and look at Ethan shocked and confused. I looked over at him, silently telling him that I'll handle it.
"Hi Megan" I clenched my teeth.
"What aren't you excited to see me? I've been gone for almost a year and a half. I missed you Easty" She pouted and placed her hand on my shoulder.
I removed her hand from my shoulder. "I wish you stayed in Texas, Megan."
"But-" she began.
"There are no buts Megan. You know exactly what happened, why would you come back?" I bit.
"Because I missed you" She pouted, but I saw straight through her act.
"No Megan. You didn't miss me, you wanted to see how you fucked my life. Lucky you, you saw it. Now get out of my face I don't want to see you again." I snapped.
"Humph!" she exclaimed and walked away.
Ash looked at me confused and worried. "Who was that?" She asked.
"That was my ex. She's the reason everyone thinks I'm scary." I said and ended the conversation with a look. No one else asked a question. We finished our lunch in almost complete silence. Ashtyn tried to start a conversation a couple of times, but it never went longer than that.
The lunch dismissal bell rang and I shot up and out to my car. I wasn't staying here another minute, especially with Megan back from Texas.
***
"So Megan's back," Ethan said as I picked him up from school.
"I don't want to talk about it," I said shortly.
"Maybe if you reconcile things with her then it would help you" He offered.
I shot a glare at him. "Ethan you're not my fucking therapist stop trying to fix my fucked up life. There's no way in hell I'm going to even talk to Megan again, much less try to make things right between us" I snapped.
Ethan put his hands up in mock defense. "Touchy subject" he muttered.
"Buckle up" I spat and drove us to the house.
We walked in and Demi greeted us as normal. I stormed through the house and started up to my room.
"Megan's back" I heard Ethan tell Demi. Right now all I wanted was a hot shower and a nap.
So I did just that. I turned the water all the way up and blasted music so loud it drowned out my thoughts. I couldn't stand to think about Megan anymore. I stood there motionless as I let the water pound against me until it ran cold. I turned it off and dried off my body.
After I changed, I dropped onto my bed. I wanted to sleep.
There was a knock on my door. I groaned. "I'm not hungry" I called to Demi, who was undoubtedly calling me for dinner
"Easton, there's a girl here to see you. She said her name is Ashtyn." Demi said softly.
I sighed. "Let her in," I said and sat up.
The door opened revealing Ashtyn as she walked slowly over to me. "Hey Easton," She said.
"Did you tell Mason?" I got straight to the point.
She looked at me a little shocked and worried. She shook her head and sat on the bed next to me. "It's not any of my business who your ex is and how she affected your life. I don't care what happened between you two. If you want to tell Mason, you can tell Mason."
I looked up at her in shock. "Then why are you here?" I asked. I figured she was here to find out what made me such a stone-cold asshole.
"I was worried about you, Easton. You weren't at any afternoon classes and you weren't in the right headspace. You were pissed and I wanted to make sure you were okay" She said.
"Last time I wasn't in the right headspace something very bad happened and I didn't want history to repeat itself. So I left school and went on a run and cleared my head. It seemed like a better idea than beating the hell out of someone who didn't deserve it" I explained myself.
She wrapped her arms around me. It gave me a sense of deja vu from last night. I tensed but soon relaxed. I still didn't hug her back.
"Well, then I guess I'm glad you left school." She said and let go of me. "I should get back home now. I'm glad you're okay" She told me and left my room.
Time for that nap.