Friendly Dating 2 - Ethan

Chapter 21 - Rules Exist for Savages

"What are you up to?" my cousin, Hunter, asks on the other end of the video call, and something about him seems to be really off. He is a bit red in the face, the colour gradually increasing the longer we're talking.

"Cleaning a shell for Kira."

"Is that code for something weird?" he asks, and I wonder if I am in the habit of speaking in code while meaning weird things because Kira is always asking me the same thing. When I want to say weird things, I just say them. Hunt should know all about that; he is always saying weird things, after all. Seriously, this guy cannot ask other people if they're being weird... that is just... well... weird! It would be like me asking other people if they're trying to be a pest... Actually, he cannot ask that either...

"No." I hold the shell closer to the phone, propped against the sugar bowl on the kitchen table for Hunter to get a look. I made the coffee and started to clean the shell while I'm waiting for Kira when Hunter called. He often calls just to check in and see if we're all still alive and doing well, and if he doesn't call me, I call him. 

Since he finally stopped trying to hide from all of us, as if he has something to feel guilty about (he doesn't), he has become really big on looking out for the family. I can see that the restored relationships mean a lot to my dad too. These last couple of years, our family ties with the Drakes have strengthened until they became solid again. We had a few sketchy years after Aunt Misty died, during which my dad and Uncle Ryan tried to keep the family together, but that is all behind us now.

"Okay," he grunts. "You're really cleaning a shell; that's just sad."

"It's for Aunt Trudy's collection," I chuckle. "The one in the sectioned frame I built that's hanging in their living room."

"Oh! Right!" Hunter groans, and I think he is turning purple; he is beginning to struggle to speak properly. "That's really... cool. It's a... nice... shell."

"What the hell are you doing?" 

"Studying," comes the huffed answer, and I don't mean the kind of huff one makes when you're angry or irritated; it's the kind where you're straining yourself. 

Oh, hell no!

"Please tell me you're not calling me from the toilet again!"

"What?!" Hunter barks, and then he's laughing, his world exploding into chaos. There's a crash and some commotion, during which I lose all visual contact with him, and I find myself looking into pitch black. Just when I'm about to get worried that the dude has finally wiped himself out, the screen of my phone gains light again and shows me Hunter's ceiling, the floor, his bed covered in books and clothes and finally, there is my cousin, his dark hair a mess and his brown eyes laughing at me even more than his mouth is. "No! That was you!"

"Oh! Right..." For the record, when I called him from the bathroom, I was taking a bath. That's all.

"I was standing on my head, trying to get this stuff to get stuck in my brain," he says, showing me a thick-ass textbook. "It's a bit hard to read in that position. I think I should get Missy to come read it to me."

Wow, Hunter always has the best ideas when it comes to doing boring things like studying. He always makes everything fun. Now that he's a second-year university student, his ideas are becoming more and more advanced. I'm impressed... maybe I should rather be worried... or both.

"Does it work?" I ask hopefully.

"No," he scowls, rubbing his head. "It gave me a headache."

"Bummer, I was going to give it a shot." So much for advanced study methods.