Friendly Dating 2 - Ethan

Chapter 1 - If She Hates You, She Hates You

When the math textbook hits me in the head once, twice, and then a third time, probably hard enough to give a squirrel a concussion, I cannot stop myself from grinning. It is so worth it just to see those fiery sparks in Kira's green eyes.

Deli says those eyes are not green; they're breen, a perfect blend of brown and green, and they only appear to be green when Kicks is angry. I guess she's always angry with me because I've never seen them the colour my sister made up. To me, they've always been green.

"You are, without a doubt, the most infuriating human being on this planet, Ethan Fletcher!" Kira growls at me. She doesn't care that she's being loud now; we've already been given detention slips, and I'm not sure, but I think she might be mad at me about that.

Fair enough, it is my fault, after all.

"Just this planet? You sure, Kicks?"

"Ugh!" she huffs, dumping everything from her desk into her schoolbag before she hoists it onto her shoulder and takes off, storming out of the classroom, her ponytail swinging angrily behind her head.

Delia is also aiming for the door, joining the other students on their way out. She gives me a look, shaking her head, but I can see that she did, as usual, enjoy our squabble. She keeps on telling me that though she finds my way very entertaining, I need to find a better way to win Kira's heart, but she never tells me what that way is supposed to be.

I thought having your twin sister be the best friend of the girl of your dreams was supposed to be an advantage. Not really helping much so far.

"Man, that girl hates you," Barn rubs salt into my wounds, putting one big hand between my shoulder blades in an attempt at sympathy.

"She doesn't hate me; this is what we do. I irritate and annoy her, she gets mad and beats me up, and that way, we know that all is well with the world," I explain patiently, gathering my books as well. "Didn't you hear me get upgraded to "human being" just now? Yesterday she called me the back end of a horse's arse... Things are definitely looking up."

Barn laughs his rumbling laugh and pulls his bag onto his shoulder.

He's right; Kira hates me. She's hated me since the day she met me almost 12 years ago. Delia and I had been visiting our grandparents in Hummelton for the holidays and only got back the evening before school started.

It was our first day in the big school; our careers at nursery school were over. I was kinda nervous and excited. It was the first time I had to wear a school uniform and carry around a bag filled with crayons and crap. I wasn't sure whether I was going to like it much. I'm still not sure that I do... and this is my last year of school.

Deli was in heaven; she was born to be a student. I just wanted to go play in the pool at the waterfall, skip stones at the lagoon or try my new kiddie surfboard at the beach. It was bigger than my old one, making me feel all grown up, even though I was only six years old.

There was this new girl in class I'd never seen in town before, and when the teacher made us all introduce ourselves as if most of us hadn't known each other all our lives, this strange girl with her super long brown braids recited her address, and it was the house right next to ours!

I was a little pissed off because my friend Ted used to live there, but his parents got a divorce, and they moved away during the holiday. I was sad about that and hoped to get a new friend, not a skinny little girl who looked like she missed the bus to the baby school and ended up in our class by accident. She was only five years old! I was even more annoyed when Deli started bouncing on her chair next to mine, giggling happily when she heard the address, thrilled that our new neighbour was a girl.