Chapter 24
I walked towards the parking lot doors, by the gym. Jared was supposed to bring me home, but it had already been more than 15minutes since school ended.
I had been walking back and forth around the school trying to find him, but there was no sign of him anywhere. He probably forgot that he was supposed to bring me home or he was out with his other girl.
I walked through the doors of the gym and was heading towards the locker rooms when I heard music playing. I looked toward the weight room that was on the far wall and saw that Chase was in there.
I ran over to the doors thinking he would be able to give me a ride home when he was done. I pushed open the heavy metal door and saw Case laying down on a bench lifting weights. I walked closer to him and he saw me.
He out the bar on the safety holder thing and slid out from under it. He looked at me confused. "What are you doing here? I thought Jared was bringing you home."
When he said that he wiped sweat off his face with his tank top. I saw someone from the other end of the weight room walking towards us. As he got closer I could tell that he was nicely built.
"Jared didn't pick me up so I was stuck here." I sat down on a bench in there and waited for him to finish. That other guy was now on this side of the weight room and he looked really familiar.
Chase followed my gaze and saw that I was looking at him. "Oh, you remember Devin, right?" he asked.
Oh yeah. That was the friend Chase talked about while we ate ice cream and he was the guy who called me hot the first day of school. I laughed to myself. "Yeah, nice to see you again," I said smiling at him. He gave me a nod and then started lifting weights. Chase continued as well and I just sat there for a while. I tried not to watch them directly because it would have been awkward if they caught me, but I did check them out, out of the corner of my eye. I mean they were muscular guys in tank tops.
When Chase and Devin finished we all got in his car. Chase had told Devin that he would give him a ride home. Apparently Devin usually walks to school, since he lives close. Devin let me sit in the passenger seat and he took the back. He was pretty sweet.
Devin and Chase talked about football a little bit and I just quietly listened to their conversations. "Ellie, have you heard the story about Chase and the cheerleading team?" he asked.
I laughed. That sounded like it was going to be something hilarious and embarrassing for him. "No, I haven't."
I turned around in my seat and looked at Devin. "Well, last year Chase was dared to start doing the cheerleaders cheers at one of our game. When he came off the field after scoring a touchdown he walked over to them and got in line. They planned out this whole routine and he even went to their practices to learn it." I laughed. That didn't seem that embarrassing though. "Anyway, when he was finishing the routine-"
"Devin, shut up," Chase interrupted. I saw that Chase's hands tightened around the steering wheel.
"Nope. When he finished the routine he went to do a split and ripped his pants. I don't know what he was thinking. He wasn't going to be able to do it." Devin sat back against the seat and started laughing. "Everyone in the stands saw and was laughing. It was definitely one of his shining moments."
I laughed at Devin joking around with Chase. That must have been so embarrassing. "Haha, very funny Devin. It was terrible. I had to play the rest of the game with my pants ripped."
I laughed at that too. "Well, it was your fault. You should have known you couldn't do a split."
After we dropped Devin off we drove back to the house. It got a little awkward between Chase and I. We didn't really know what to talk about.
"How was your day?" he asked.
"Well, I was stood up by Jared. He was probably going to meet the girl he's cheating on me with," I said.
"I'm sorry about that. But don't let him get you down," Chase said as we drove into the driveway. "He's not worth it."
He smiled at me as he turned off the car and got out. His smile was really cute. It was nice to just talk to him like this. We got out and went inside. Lydia was in the kitchen making some snacks for the younger boys. Chase took his stuff and went upstairs to his room. As I was walking towards Lydia, Ethan came running down the stairs and ran outside. I almost didn't realize that he was shirtless and in basketball shorts.
I stopped where I was so we wouldn't collide and as he passed me he yelled, "Sorry Ellie."
Lydia laughed at him and I sat on the stool across from her. "What's he in such a rush for?" I asked curiously.
"He has to mow the lawn and it's about to rain so he wants to get it done quickly." I nodded. I took a carrot out of the bag that was on the table and chomped on it.
"Can Paige come over?" I asked. She looked confused. I forgot she didn't really know who Paige was. "Oh, right uh sorry. Paige is the friend I brought to the movies the other day."
She smiled and nodded. "Of course she can come over." I smiled and thanked her. I then went upstairs to get my phone and text Paige. I sold the whole thing to her by saying Ethan was shirtless and she texted back instantly saying she would be here in ten minutes.
I plugged my phone in and went back downstairs. I sat on the couch next to William and Logan was next to him. Oliver had moved to the kitchen and was eating food with his mom. I looked around the room. I had never really looked at anything in detail in this house. It was always quick glances. I hadn't really spent a lot of time in this room.
Next to my side of the couch was a small table that had some picture frames on it. There was a picture of the boys when they were younger and there was another picture of a girl and Chase. It looked like it was probably taken five or six years ago if I had to guess. The girl looked really pretty. She had tan skin and long light brown hair, just like all the boys in this house. She looked like she wore minimal make up and was skinny.
I picked up the picture and showed it to William. "Do you know who this is?" I asked pointing at the girl.
"That's Brandy," William said and he smiled. "She was Chase's friend. Mommy told me that."
"Where is she?" I asked.
"She moved away after I was born." He made a pouty face and then started singing a song that was playing on the TV. I put it down and looked around. There were a few more pictures of her. They were when she was younger. There was one where she was with all of the boys on Christmas and another where she was with Chase and Ethan I guessed and they were all playing with water balloons and water guns.
I was about to get up to look at them, but the door bell rang. I got up and went to get the door. I opened it and Paige came running in. "He's shirtless?" she asked quietly.
I laughed and nodded. I pulled her into the other room that was like the living room, but didn't have a TV. I closed the door and we sat on the couch by the window. It gave her a perfect view of Ethan.
He wiped the sweat from his face with the back of his hand. Paige was sitting there eagerly. It was kind of funny how big of a crush she had on him. He pushed the lawn mower around the yard.
We sat there watching him for about an hour. Every time he would pass we would pop our heads up above the couch and Paige would sigh. We laughed about it after though. I'm pretty sure Ethan heard us once and looked up and saw us watching.
We laughed about that and we also talked about Chase and Ethan and Jared and other guys at our school. Paige told me that I should just break up with Jared already and just go out with Chase. "You obviously like him so go out with him," she said.
"I want to find out more about Jared first. We probably won't last much longer any way so what's the harm?" She was right though. I did have some feelings for Chase. I don't know what they are, but they are there. "You on the other hand need to talk to Ethan and at least get his number." Her eyes got wide and she shook her head. "Please," I begged and gave her puppy dog eyes.
"No, I can't he won't like me if he gets to know me." She was being completely irrational, but that's exactly what I would say.
"So what if he doesn't like you after. It's better that you find out instead of wondering. If he doesn't like you then that's his loss." After I said that she smiled then her phone vibrated.
She looked at it and stood up. "I have to go. My parents want me home." She rolled her eyes and started to walk out of the room. As we walked through the kitchen and to the door, Ethan came in from the back door and he was still shirtless. Lydia was in the kitchen still cutting food and she started to yell at Ethan. "Ethan, we have company. Go put on a shirt."
e looked up and saw Paige standing by the door. "Mrs. Johnson it's fine. I'm leaving now anyway." She smiled at Lydia and then at Ethan.
"Paige, hi," he said surprised that she was there. He smiled at her and scratched the back of his neck, which unintentionally made him flex.
I looked at Paige as she blushed. "Hi, Ethan." She smiled at him and then looked at me again. "I should get going. I'll see you tomorrow though."
We said goodbye and I shut the door behind her. Ethan was still standing in the kitchen and he was eating this time. I went in an sat with him and Lydia.
"So, Ethan, you know she likes you, right?" Lydia said.
"What?" he asked, almost choking on his carrot.
"Yeah, she does. You should ask her out," I said. It looked like he was thinking and then he shook his head. He walked upstairs and we could hear his door shut.
"Boys are so clueless," Lydia said. We laughed and started talking about Ethan ad Paige and how they'd make such a cute couple.