Ethan Adams

Chapter 30

"Hey, can we talk?" Ethan asks me as soon as I sit down at lunch.

I look at my pudding cups longingly but then realise there's something wrong with him. His hair's askew, his eyes are red and so are his cheeks.

"What's wrong?" I ask him but he avoids my eyes. I look at my friends, but none of them give anything away except David, who just shrugs. This makes me nervous. "Ethan?"

He just stands up beside me, hands in pockets. I decide that I am scared and don't know what to make of this talk of his, but I still stand up and follow him out of the cafeteria. About halfway through the room, he takes my hand which doesn't do anything to assuage my nerves, but it's nice to know he can still hold my hand I guess?

I feel like everyone's looking at me. They're not, but it's what I feel like. I also expect for Ethan to stop when we get directly outside the cafeteria but to my surprise, he keeps walking, taking me all the way outside to the front of the school. And then, to his car.

"Where are we going?" I ask him, alarmed.

"We're ditching the rest of the school day." He says calmly. I stop walking. He tugs on my hand, twice, but I don't budge. "Alisa, come on."

"Ditching? Ethan – what?"

He shrugs. "Yeah, I wanted to take you to –"

"Ethan, are you feeling okay? Do you know who I am?" I interrupt him. He finally looks at me properly. Like, really looks at me. And his eyebrows relax.

"I just thought we should – "

"Ethan, I just bought like two pudding cups and my bag is still in the cafeteria." I explain to him. "I can't just ditch – Are you feeling well? Have you caught another cold?"

Immediately, I busy myself with checking his temperature and his pupils, which have dilated. He tries to get me off him but I'm genuinely worried so it doesn't end that well for him. He succumbs to my pressures soon and when I'm sure he's feeling well, I take a step back.

"I wanted to show you something." He says when I've been staring at him for too long.

"And we had to ditch school to see it?"

Ethan blushes. "Yeah?"

"What is it?"

"A surprise, Alisa. Come on."

I think of my bag, of my pudding cups, and the Maury marathon I promised to watch with my mom and older brother tonight. He's on Spring Break and is going to Miami with his friends later in the week, but first wanted to spend time with us because he 'missed us'. Even though we saw him a few weeks ago, but I digress.

"Come on... I'll have you home in time to be with your mom and brother?" He says. I roll my eyes. Of course he knows my plans, even if I didn't tell him, my mom probably did over breakfast time or something.

I sigh. He starts smiling.

"Okay, but at least let me go get my bag and my pudding? I haven't eaten since seven am."

"Hurry!" He says, ushering me back towards the building. But then before I go, he pulls me back by my arm and kisses me on my lips. "Okay but seriously, be fast." He says, sounding breathless.

I smile at him and hurry like he says, back to the cafeteria where my friends are waiting. Janet looks at me with an obvious question mark on her face but I just shrug and try to stay calm even though I'm about to ditch school for the first time. I'm also trying not to think about how we're gonna do it, especially considering the security guards probably won't let us leave. Has Ethan even planned ahead? What are we gonna do? Where are we going? What is wrong with him?