"And there were rows of ripe tomatoes where a secret was concealed" - The Calendar Hung Itself...
-
We ended up picking up Ethan along the way because Seth said he needed some fun in his life too. I don't know why Seth doesn't know that attendance laws are in place.
"It's okay Avery," Ethan reassured me. "I've got all of my work done for the next two weeks. All will be well."
I nodded slowly and turned towards Seth. "Do you have all of your work done for the next two weeks?" I questioned.
Seth shrugged and made a noncommittal noise. "I'm sure that it will get done eventually." He considered with a wave of his hand. For some reason, I didn't quite believe him.
"Anyways, wait till you taste me and Sophia's world-class tacos." Seth gloated, conveniently changing the subject. "They're to die for."
I looked in the rearview mirror for Ethan's confirmation, and he just rolled his eyes.
"They're pretty good tacos given that they're made by two white teenagers in the Northeast." Ethan clarified with an amused smirk.
I snorted, and Seth rose his fist at Ethan.
"We do our best!" Seth protested.
"I'm sure you do." Ethan placated. "Now please put both hands back on the steering wheel so that we can get to the grocery store in one piece."
Seth turned his attention back towards driving, but not without grumbling about Ethan being ungrateful. Ethan ignored him for the most part, smiling down at his phone throughout the majority of the drive. It was the kind of smile I give Sophia when she does something stupidly cute. I wanted to ask him about it, but given Seth's mood and his pre-existing lack of tact, I wouldn't get an actual answer.
When we got there, we spent 15 minutes walking around the store without picking up a single item. And it didn't look like Seth was planning on picking up anything anytime soon.
"If he's so good at this, why is he taking so long?" I asked Ethan in a hushed voice as we trailed behind Seth.
"Because no matter how much you tell him to, he refuses to make a list. Plus it takes him 10 minutes to debate between two brands. This is why I don't go shopping with him." Ethan complained, exhaling a tired sigh when he looked up from his phone.
"Because I'm a professional!" Seth declared, continuing to push the cart forward.
Ethan and I shared a look before he went back to texting on his phone. Operation snoop into Ethan's life is a go.
"So who are you talking to?" I asked innocently, peering over his shoulder the best I could on my crutches.
"A friend." He answered, an edge of suspicion in her tone. He took a step to the left and shielded his phone because that doesn't scream suspicious.
"What kind of friend?" I asked, a little more forcibly.
Ethan caught the suggestiveness in my tone and slid his phone into his pocket. His eyes narrowed at me, and he crossed his arms over his chest.
"A friend that I go to school with. Are you going to turn into my brother? One Seth is hard enough." Ethan whined in frustration.
Seth's head whipped around. "What's that supposed to mean?!" He hollered, making surrounding customers scowl at us. Skipping school and getting kicked out of a supermarket? Sophia was turning me into such a delinquent.
"It means that you are overly protective," Ethan retorted, and Seth scoffed. "And if Avery is going to be the same way and start reading my text messages-"
"Why wouldn't Avery be able to read your text messages? What are you hiding?" Seth interrupted, wheeling the cart back so he could stand face to face with Ethan.
Lightning bolts flew between the space of the two boys' eyes. If they kept it up, soon there'd be storm clouds and tornados picking up. I do not need for Zach to pick me up from the police station today. Somehow that would be worse than the hospital.
"Seth, don't you have grocery shopping to finish?" I jumped in hesitantly, physically swinging myself between the two.
Seth glared one last time at Ethan, before pushing the cart back down the aisle. Ethan threw me a dirty look without any real heat behind it before walking towards the exit of the store.
"We'll talk about this later Leon! I'm going to wait in the car." Ethan announced before walking out of my view.
How did I end up being the one interrogated?
Δ
"Avery, why did you leave school?! Do you know how worried I was?! Where did you and Seth go?! Why is Ethan here?! Does anybody want to tell me what's going on?!" Sophia's shrilled in a mix of hysterical, angry, and confused as she climbed into the car. Luckily there were four other people in the car to absorb it.
"We went to the store for tonight. Drake was supposed to tell you." Seth answered, pulling out of the parking lot. Sophia turned to Drake in the front seat with a furious glare.
"Hey Soph, Avery and Seth left school-"
"Shut up Weston." She snapped, sitting back in her seat.
"Now you know how I felt," Seth muttered from the drivers' seat. He should really learn how to keep his mouth shut.
Sophia jumped back up from her seat and pulled herself to the front. She started jabbing Seth in the arm, making everyone in the car start to panic.
"Excuse me mister, but I think that telling me where my already injured...friend is," She stumbled, a blush creeping up to her ears. Before I even had the chance to feel flattered though, she started screaming again. "is a lot more important than telling you about a party you were already invited to."
"Sophia, I know that you're a little upset-" Ethan started, reaching for Sophia's arm."
"No, I'm a lot upset Ethan." She corrected, shaking off Ethan's hands. Drake grabbed her next, trying to keep her from interfering with Seth driving any more than she already was.
"And that's understandable." Drake placated, pulling her back. "But Seth is driving. And I think that if you'd wait until we got to Avery's house, you'd have a lot more fun beating him up."
Seth threw Drake a look. "Thanks for the help best friend." He sneered.
A slow smirk crept onto my face as I connected eyes with Seth in the rearview mirror.
"You could even use him as your test dummy for Let's Painfully Interrogate The Perfectly Innocent Teenager: Extreme Edition. I'm pretty sure there's an old baseball bat somewhere in my attic." I suggested watching Seth's face turn pale. I promised him I would get revenge for before, and I keep my promises.
"That's an awful idea!" Seth objected hysterically.
"I think that's a wonderful idea." Sophia sang, back to normal. She plopped back into her seat and rested her head on my shoulder.
"Ethan you can't let your only brother die! You've got to get me out of the country! I can't stay here with her out for blood! She's crazy!" Seth cried at his brother through the mirror. What happened to just being visible about your feelings?
Ethan just shrugged. "I have to tutor her for an hour, so you have some time to throw some travel plans together." He offered without any real interest.
Seth wailed and everyone went back to their own conversations.
Let's hope tonight doesn't end in murder, or else that will be three firsts in one day.