[sorry about these next few chapters- they're not double-spaced. i promise it doesn't last for long!]
Since it has been two days since the big fight at the party, I decide I should call Sarah to check up on her and Charlie.
Lilly told me that Sarah was pretty pissed off and that Charlie's face was pretty bad, but I should probably call her myself.
"Hey Jessica," her voice echoes through the phone.
"Hey, I just called to check up on you and Charlie. Is he okay?"
I hear her sigh over the phone.
"I've been taking good care of him, but he's still pretty bad. He's been icing his face non-stop, but he still has a really bad headache. I feel so bad, I could cry."
If someone beat the shit out of my boyfriend, I would feel the same way.
"Is there anything I can do to help?" I ask her.
"You could go kill that Ethan guy for me,"
"Done."
We both laugh.
"I think he's going to be okay. Thank you for calling, I should probably call Lilly and thank her too."
"Okay. I'll talk to you later."
We hang up the phone.
I start to think about the twins. How in the world could Grayson be so kind and sweet and Ethan be the exact opposite? I still have no idea why Ethan would beat up Charlie like that.
It's crazy how they could cause so much drama when they've only just moved here.
-
I hesitantly walk into my Pre-Cal class and force myself to sit in my desk. For some reason, I'm incredibly tired today.
Mrs. Jones starts to take roll after the bell rings and I fiddle with the notebooks in front of me.
I glance up at the clock.
I look beside me to see an empty desk. Ethan usually shows up around this time, barely late for class. He's still not here, which is a bit odd.
I force myself to pay attention to Mrs. Jones, but today I'm finding it especially hard. I can't stop thinking about Ethan.
Why isn't he here today?
-
"Hey, is Grayson here today?" I ask Lilly as we walk to lunch.
"Yeah, why?"
"Ethan isn't. I guess he must be sick or something." I shrug.
-
After an entire week of Ethan not showing up to school, I still have no idea why, and it's killing me.
I've been meaning to ask Grayson the past few days, but I don't have any classes with him and can't seem to find him anywhere in the hallways.
This entire week I've been worried sick. I don't know why I'm worried about Ethan out of all people, but I can't help it. Nobody really likes him anyway after what he did to Charlie, but I still find myself becoming worried about the rude boy.
The bell finally rings, signaling that my first period is over. Normally, I would be happy that it's Friday.
But today I feel stressed out.
I realize that everyone around me has left and I'm the only student that remains in the classroom.
"Jessica, you wouldn't happen to know where Ethan has been this week, would you?" Mrs. Jones asks me.
Trust me, I wish I did know, Mrs. Jones.
"No, I don't."
"I have a huge pile of make up work to get to him," she taps her fingernails on her desk.
"I can take it to Grayson." I offer.
Plus, taking it to Grayson would mean I finally get an explanation as to where Ethan's been the entire week. Not that it's any of my business, but it would be nice to know so I could stop worrying so much.
Why am I so worried about Ethan?
"That would be great, it would help me out a ton." Mrs. Jones smiles.
I walk over to her desk and watch as she grabs a stack of papers and clips them all together. She gently hands them to me.
"Thank you, Jessica. Make sure to tell Grayson that Ethan must have this work done by next week. He's incredibly behind, and it's only the second week of school." She explains.
I nod.
"I will. I'll see you on Monday, Mrs. Jones."
I attempt to wave, but my hands are full with Ethan's papers.
-
"The bonfire is Saturday this weekend." Lilly tells me as we walk out of school.
"I'm not going. Especially after what happened last weekend." I decide.
Lilly sighs.
"I understand. Sarah and Charlie aren't going either, obviously." She says.
"How is Charlie?" I ask her.
"Better. His headache went away, and his scars are starting to heal up."
I don't have classes with Charlie so I haven't seen him anywhere.
"That's good." Is all I manage to say.
"Are you going to go?" I then ask Lilly.
"I guess I could use a weekend off." She shrugs.
"Good girl,"
We laugh.
We then both climb into my car and set our things in the backseat.
"Ethan hasn't been here all week." I tell Lilly.
"Really? That's odd, Grayson hasn't said anything about him." She tells me.
"Is it weird that I'm kind of worried about him?" I ask her.
"He beat up our good friend and has been nothing but a dick to anyone here. You shouldn't be worried about him."
I know she's right.
Why am I so worried about him anyways? It's a waste of my time.
I start my car and pull out of the school parking lot. The drive to Lilly's house is mostly silent.
I wave as she jumps out of the car and walks up to her house. I turn the radio up and drive off.
Suddenly, it hits me.
Ethan's papers.
I forgot to try and find Grayson to give them to him. I grab my phone out of my backpack and text Lilly, asking for Grayson's number. I save his contact and then dial the number.
"Hello?"
"Hey, Grayson. It's Jessica,"
"Oh, hey! How are you?"
Grayson lightens up my mood instantly.
"I'm okay. You?"
"I'm good," he says, "so what's up?"
"Well, Ethan and I have first period together, and our teacher has a stack of make up work for him, since he's been absent all week. I told her I could give them to you." I spill out the words, "I could come drop them off at your house, I'm out right now." I explain.
"Yeah, that's fine. I'll just text you the address."
I want to ask him why Ethan's been absent, but I'm afraid that would be pushing it.
"Okay. I'll see you soon." I say and hang up the phone.
-
I am surprised when I pull up to a very large, beautiful house. It is completely white with large columns and a huge front deck.
I try not to act so shocked as I slip out of my car and walk up to the front door and ring the doorbell.
I wait for a few moments, rocking back and forth on my heels.
Grayson finally answers the door. He's wearing sweatpants and a black t-shirt, and he's barefoot. He's so hot.
"Hey, give me a minute. I'm so sorry,"
"Is this a bad time? I can come back," I say.
"No, no. I'll be right back." He tells me before shuffling off into the house.
I stand awkwardly with the door creaked open. I peak inside for a second and try not to let my jaw drop to the floor when I notice how fancy and expensive everything looks. It reminds me of Amy's house.
I watch the door swing completely open and what appears to be their mom stands in the doorway.
I notice she wears a bright blue bandana on her head. I can't see any hair.
"Well hello, dear. How are you?" She asks.
She reminds me of Grayson.
"I'm good, I'm just here to drop off some papers for Ethan."
She throws her hand into the empty space between us.
"I'm their mom, you can call me Anne."
I shake Anne's hand.
"It's nice to meet you, I'm Jessica." I say.
"Well, Jessica, come on in. We're just about to eat dinner." Anne tells me.
I widen my eyes a bit.
"Um, thank you, but I'm really just here to drop off these papers. I appreciate the offer, though."
"No, really! I insist. I would love to meet Grayson and Ethan's new friend, come on in." She smiles widely.
Grayson's friend. Ethan's... I have no idea.
Not knowing what else to do, I awkwardly step into their house and smile again at Anne.
"I just have to do a few more things in the kitchen, you're welcome to come."
I admire her kindness and slowly follow her to the kitchen.
I walk into the grandiose room to see a gorgeous chandelier hanging from the ceiling and a kitchen space bigger than my living room.
"Go ahead, have a seat." She points to the kitchen table, which only seats four.
I trot over to the table and slip into a seat. I don't know what to think about all of this, and I wonder how Grayson and Ethan will react when they see me sitting at their kitchen table.
I shoot my mom a quick text, telling her I won't be home for dinner.
I still hold Ethan's stack of papers in my hand.
"Okay, which ones do you have to take today?" Grayson asks his mom as he enters the kitchen with pill bottles in each hand.
Judging from the bandana on Anne's head and these apparent pills she has to take, she must be sick. My heart breaks in half for them.
"The ones in your right hand. Just put them over there." She points to the edge of the kitchen tabletop.
Grayson does as he's told and then rushes out to the front door again, probably looking for me.
"Oh, Grayson! I invited Jessica to join us for dinner. She's in here." Anne yells to Grayson, smiling at me afterwards.
Grayson slowly enters the kitchen again and makes eye contact with me. He laughs lightly and mouths "I'm so sorry."
I laugh lightly.
I'm satisfied with the way he reacted, and glad he's not mad at his mom or anything.
He walks over and sits by me.
"Well, I guess you've met my mom." Grayson says, still laughing.
I nod.
"Oh, yes, we've met. She's very nice, Grayson. And pretty, too!" Anne announces as she stirs something in a huge red pot.
Grayson smiles at me.
"Do you need any help, mom?" Grayson asks.
"No, dear. I'm almost done, just a few more things."
Grayson and Anne are both so kind. I love Anne already.
I glance down at the stack of papers still in my hand, and begin to wonder where Ethan is.
I also begun to wonder where Grayson and Ethan's dad is.
"Oh, I'm sorry. I'll take those," Grayson says, reading my mind.
I hand him the stack.
"I'm going to go give these to Ethan, I'll be right back." Grayson tells his mom and I.
With a mom and brother so incredibly sweet, I wonder how and why Ethan is the way he is.
"So I suppose you've met Ethan, too?" Anne asks.
"Yes, I have." I force a smile.
She sighs.
I wonder if she knows that he beat up Charlie last weekend.
"He usually doesn't join us for dinner, so you won't have to worry about him tonight." Her smile fades.
My heart aches for her. Ethan has caused too many people to frown.
"I think he'll come around at some point. Grayson did," she adds.
Grayson did? What does that mean?
Grayson then enters the kitchen once again and returns to his seat next to me.
"Is everything okay?" I whisper to him.
He shrugs.
"I'll be right back, guys. I'm going to go see if Ethan will join us!" Anne excitedly rushes off.
Grayson sighs.
"He wouldn't even open up the door to get the papers." He says.
I feel for him.
"He's refused to go to school this entire week. I don't know why. It breaks moms heart. She was angry at first, but she doesn't have time to be angry anymore."
I nod understandingly, letting Grayson know that I'm listening.
"My mom has cancer," he sighs, "that's why we moved out here to LA. She doesn't have much longer, so she wanted to live in her favorite place in her last few months. Her best friend lives out here, too. You might know her, it's Samantha's mom."
Maybe that's why Ethan didn't want anyone knowing he hooked up with Samantha, they're probably close family friends.
"Her goal is to see Ethan and I graduate, but between you and I, I don't think she's going to make it that long."
I appreciate Grayson opening up to me. He didn't have to, yet he's kind enough to share this information with me. I continue to listen to him.
"Ethan's having a really hard time with it all. He's my brother, and I want to help him more than anything. But he's built this wall so big and so high that nobody, even his own brother, can't get through to him." Grayson shrugs, again.
"Maybe he just needs some more time. You're doing everything you possibly can, Grayson. At least he knows you're there for him even if he won't act upon it." I tell him.
"Thank you. I'm glad we've met, I needed to let all of that out to someone." He smiles.
Anne enters the room again with a small smirk.
"Well, it was worth a try." She happily says.
Grayson and I look at each other.
"Someday, mom. Don't worry." Grayson assures his mom.
"There may not even be time for a someday," Grayson whispers to me.
-
After eating the best spaghetti I've ever had, i stand up from the table and attempt to help Anne and Grayson wash the dishes.
"No, no. You're our guest, your only job was to eat the dinner." Anne smiles.
"Are you sure? I'd love to help."
"Yes, go sit back down. Grayson and I can handle these dishes." Anne smiles at her son.
After eating dinner with the two, I have gained a lot of respect for Grayson. He helps his mom with everything and constantly makes sure she's okay, and Anne is very grateful for him.
I guess Grayson has to remain strong and continue helping his mom to replace Ethan's absence.
I'm incredibly glad I've met Grayson and had the opportunity to meet his mom tonight. They're both incredible people.
"I'm going to go give this to Ethan. I'll be right back." Grayson says, holding a plate of spaghetti.
Anne looks over to me and smiles.
"Thank you so much for joining us, please come back at any time. I loved getting to meet you." She smiles.
"Thank you for having me. I loved meeting you, too."
She chuckles slightly as she finishes washing the last dish.
"I'll walk you out."
Anne and I walk together to the front door. I take one last moment to admire the lovely house.
"Your house is beautiful." I tell Anne.
"Oh, thank you. I appreciate that."
I open the front door and step out on the deck.
"Thanks again for having me." I wave at her.
"Any time. Come see me again soon!" She smiles.
She lightly closes the door and I realize I forgot to say goodbye to Grayson. I decide that I'll text him once I get home.
I'm almost to my car when I hear the front door open again and Grayson walk out.
"Hey, Jessica!" He calls.
I turn around and walk up to him.
"Can I ask you something?"
"Yeah, of course." I tell him.
He runs his hands through his hair.
"This might be asking too much, and it's completely okay if you don't want to do it. I'll understand."
I nod, urging him to continue.
"Maybe if you went up and tried to talk to Ethan, it would help. I don't know, maybe he just needs someone other than my mom and I," he rubs the back of his neck, obviously nervous.
I'm not too fond of the idea of talking to Ethan, but I would do just about anything at this point for Grayson.
"I don't think I can help, but I'll try." I decide not for Ethan, but for Grayson.
Grayson immediately smiles and let's out a deep breath.
"I swear, you're my favorite person ever. I might be completely wrong, but maybe Ethan just needs to talk to someone other than my mom and I. I don't know,"
"Maybe you're right, though." I reply.
He smiles.
-
Grayson leads me upstairs and to a large, white door. He gives me a thumbs up before slowly walking off.
I jokingly roll my eyes at him.
I then gently raise my hand up from my side and place it on Ethan's door. I hadn't realize my hand was shaking. I squint my eyes as I barely knock a few times.
"Ethan?" I call out.
No answer.
"It's Jessica, from first period." I say.
I hear shuffling from the other side of the door.
"I just came to see if everything is okay, I noticed you have met been at school all week. And I brought you some work to do from Mrs. Jones,"
It's as if I'm talking to a brick wall.
Except the brick wall is Ethan's bedroom door.
I notice that Grayson placed the stack of papers outside Ethan's door when he refused to take them. I sigh when I also see a plate of spaghetti next to them.
I carefully pick up the stack of papers, but am taken aback when the door suddenly creaks open. I drop almost all of them and they scatter around the floor.
A shirtless Ethan appears in the doorway, and my heart flutters for a reason I can't explain.
"What are you doing here?" He asks, eyes staring directly into mine, ignoring the dropped papers.
My chest moves up and down quickly before I realize how hard I'm breathing.
"Um, I told you. I, um, have some papers for you." My voice comes out as almost a whisper.
I bend down and frantically begin collecting the papers. I mentally scold myself for being so clumsy.
He watches me like an eagle watching its prey.
Once I have gathered all the papers with no help from Ethan, I clip them back together and hand them to him.
He snatches them from my hand, immediately reminding me of how he snatched the cup of alcohol from me last weekend. He places the papers on top of what looks to be a dresser on the other side of his door.
He then returns to the doorway, leaning against the side of it.
His face has no harm done to it from the fight, as opposed to Charlie's. I glance down at his knuckles and, unlike his face, they are scratched up and rough looking from the fight. They're bad now, so I can't imagine what they looked like a week ago.
Too scared to do or say anything else, I begin to walk off, breaking the intimidating eye contact between him and I.
"Wait," I hear him say behind me.
I swallow before turning around to look at him once again.
"Do I scare you?" He asks, almost smiling.
Again, he stares directly at me. He clenches his jaw, almost as if he's teasing me with how hot he is. The fact that he's still shirtless makes my knees go weak.
"No." I answer, my voice still coming out small.
He steps closer to me.
"Are you sure?" He asks, his voice coming out almost as small as mine now.
I nod my head.
He steps closer, again. Our faces are inches apart.
My heart beat accelerates.
"Why is your heart beating so fast right now, then?"
I dare to look up at him, entering once again into the threatening eye contact. His golden brown eyes melt themselves into mine.
He is no longer in the doorway, he has stepped completely out and is directly in front of me.
"Why weren't you at school?" I gain the confidence to ask, changing the subject.
I turn to look away from his eye contact. I can't handle his gaze anymore.
He smirks.
"Answer my question first." He breaths.
I take a deep breath.
"You are scared of me." He answers for me and smirks again, almost as if he gains pleasure out of my fright.
He probably does.
"You make it easy to be scared of you." I tell him.
"How's that?"
"You beat up Charlie, and you aren't exactly the friendliest person." I have no idea how I managed to get that out.
His intense eyes still look directly at me.
"Charlie started it."
What?
I meet his eyes once again.
"No he didn't."
Ethan chuckles deeply.
"I wouldn't fight someone who didn't give me a reason to. He punched me first, maybe because he was scared of me, just like you."
I gulp.
"So I fought back. And won." He says almost as if it's nothing.
I don't know whether to believe him or not, but for the time being, I guess I do.
"Why weren't you at school?" I ask again.
He shrugs.
"Are you going Monday?" I ask.
"No."
"Ethan, you need to go. You just moved here and you've already missed a week of school, you're really behind." I tell him something he already knows.
He takes yet another step towards me.
"Admit that you're scared of me, and I'll go." He breathes into my ear.
Shivers are sent down my spine. I close my eyes for a moment.
"No." I say, holding my ground.
Why would he want me to be scared of him anyways?
"I think I'll just miss all of next week too, then." He smiles to himself.
"Fine. I'm scared of you." I admit not for Ethan, but for the sake of Grayson and Anne.
I look down at the ground. Silence fills the air.
"I'll see you Monday, Jess." He steps away from me and enters his room once again, shutting the door behind him.