ethma || best friend's brother

chapter 34

2 months later...

Ethan's POV
It's officially the final countdown until graduation. It's March already. Oh yeah! I almost forgot. Grayson and I ended up taking the offer from the talent agents, and they were nice enough to let us graduate. Mom and Dad are happy for us. Especially dad. And speaking of Dad, he isn't doing good. He can't walk now, Gray and I have to carry him just about everywhere. He's getting weaker by the day. It's killing me. And of course no one knows that. Not even Emma. I'm sure she suspects it, but she never mentions it. She's been a huge help too. Making dinner with mom, and playing cards with dad. It's like she ignores everything that's happening around her, and I don't get how she could. Emma and I are doing great too. She helps us with videos sometimes and is even in some of them. She even went to talk to her dad a few times. She still doesn't forgive him, I don't think she ever will, but she's making an effort to be nice and help him battle the addiction. And I say, he's doing a pretty good job. The police haven't called us about it at least. Emma and I are driving into the school parking lot. Just talking and laughing about a video we saw. Grayson is already here doing God knows what. He's been a little off lately, and he claims it's nothing. So I'm just going to trust him.

"Hey, you okay?" Emma snaps her fingers in front of my face and I stop zoning out. Which I didn't even realize I was doing.

"Yeah. Just zoning out." I say.

"E...look you can talk to me. Just know that okay?" She says. I nod.

"Of course I know that. And that's why I love you." I say. I kiss her hand and open my car door." Emma opens her and Hannah and Ellie are already squealing over something. Oh and yeah, Emma and them started hanging out a lot more. She was always with me almost 24/7, but she's starting to grow out more and be more social.

"I'll see you in third period." I say to Emma.

"See you then!" She says. I walk into the school and go to my locker. We're normally never here early because of Emma's need for coffee and constant sleep. I look across the hall to Grayson's locker. The locks open. Now that's weird. Grayson Dolan, not having his locker locked all the way. I'm not one to snoop at things, but Grayson has been acting weird. I open his locker and see nothing but books. Of course there's nothing but books. He's Grayson. He wouldn't be hiding anything. I start to close the locker until I see a small yellow paper in the hold where the locker locks. I reach my finger into it and pull it out. Whatever the hell this is, he didn't want anyone to find it. I shove it in my hoodie pocket and close his locker. I then start to walk to my first class. Which happens to be with him. Maybe I could ask about it? No he'll murder me. I quickly go into the classroom and throw my backpack on the ground. I go into my pocket and grab the paper. I open it to see just a number and 2 times. 218, 7:30 & 12:15. What the fuck does that mean.

"Hey E." I hear Grayson say. I jump because of the sudden voice in the room.

"Shit bro, don't do that." I say. He laughs slightly.

"Sorry. What are you doing here early?" He asks.

"I could ask you the same thing." I say.

"Getting some extra help." He says.

"Oh. Like a tutor?" I ask.

"Yeah." He says. I'm not buying it. Grayson's smart. And he knows that.

"Now what are you doing here early?" He asks.