Friendly Dating 2 - Ethan

Chapter 33 - Facing Reality

Kira has been acting strangely since Simon mentioned the festival. I cannot even begin to imagine why. She loves the festival. At least, she used to. She acted weird about it when we were sitting outside the bank, and she mentioned it the first time too.

Does she not like the idea of being my girlfriend during the festival? Why not?! We always play games together and hang out with our friends. We'll do the same this year, but just together more... won't we?

Is it the dance?

For the first time, I'm actually looking forward to the dance because of the whole it's-a-dance-part of the thing. Usually, I just look forward to it because I get to hang out with my friends, jeering at Jet while he does dirty dancing with multiple girls. The music usually sucks, and Barn and I don't like the dancing part much, but there's always good food. We eventually end up making a bonfire on the beach and doing fun things there.

We're young, we're free; there's sand and sea... what more could a bunch of spirited kids want?

This year, I want to dance with my girlfriend at that dance and not get dragged onto the dancefloor by some girl I don't even like. This year, I'll do whatever Kira wants to do. The only thing I'm not compromising on is the boat race. I have to do the boat race, and I doubt Kira would want me to sit it out anyway. She and Deli love helping us decorate the boats and watching the race. They're a huge part of it all.

This year's festival is going to be different and special, so why does she look ill each time someone says something about the weekend? When my sister talked about how happy she was that she'd have a boy she loves with her at the dance for a change, Kira looked ready to run away.

We've danced together before. Yeah, sure, it's usually against her will and involves her shrieking at me to stop being a moron and to put her down, or she's going to turn me into a Soprano.

Seriously! She's always saying that, thinking it's a legitimate threat. How is she going to turn me into a member of a mafia family? I've asked her that once, and she just stared at me, blinking her eyes, and then she wanted to know if my brain hurts when I sneeze.

Yeah, she's a weirdo!

I honestly don't know what to make of the way she's acting about the weekend or how to feel about it. It is making me really uneasy.

"Hey, talk to me, Kicks. What's up?" I say, trapping her against the counter between their refrigerator and the crockery cabinets. She'll have to go through me if she wants to run away.

Kira and I are in the Croft's kitchen after we got a ride home with Simon when we declined his cocky offer to let us stalk them home. Seriously, I think the guy spends too much time with me and the guys. He is not as polite and well-mannered as he used to be. I even occasionally see Deli glare at him, and she might have pinched him once or twice.

Still, I enjoy it. He can be great fun when he wants to be. He is usually on board to do stuff with us as long as we're not doing anything too physical and injury-inducing.

I am not threatening Kira at all; I merely have my hands on the counter on either side of her hips, stopping her from dodging me or running away, but she looks completely freaked out, staring into my eyes like a frightened bunny. Is she even breathing?!

I don't get it. I've never hurt Kira, and I never will... not on purpose.

"You've been acting odd since Sy mentioned this weekend. What is it about the weekend that is freaking you out so much? I won't ask you to join us on the boat for the race; don't worry."

She doesn't answer; she just puts her hands on my chest, trying to push me away, but I'm not going to budge. She's going to have to try a lot harder. Well, I think she was pushing. It definitely started out as a push, but I'm not entirely sure what she's doing now. Is she feeling my pecs? Her hands are moving around over my chest, her eyes growing wider and wider. Does that mean she likes what she's feeling, or she hates it?