color blind | e.d

iii. slapped with the hurtful truth

"Hello?" I answer my phone, waiting for my mother's voice to come through. She waits two beats before speaking. Note that my heart was racing like crazy and pounding so hard through my ears I was afraid I might not be able to hear her.

"April, when you have time, your father and I have some things to discuss with you," she states calmly.

I can't wait that long because I had planned on staying with Ethan just a tiny bit longer than yesterday. He just had this calm state about him, and I can't wait to tell Mom, but as of right now, I'm going to keep it on the low.

"Actually, I going to be out for a while. If anything changes, I'll let you know," I say cautiously, afraid she was going to scold me for being out so much. She does the opposite.

"Alright, that's fine, April. We love you and I hope you have fun with whatever you're doing," Mom says.

"I love you, too. Goodbye." We hang up there.

An older man with thinning hair and bright gray eyes glares at me as he storms out, his wife struggling to keep up behind him. I am confused and when I enter back into the café, Ethan is for some reason standing. His fists are clench, jaw set, and a fire in his eyes that makes me question what happened.

Obviously something has or else everyone else wouldn't be staring at him and I. I slowly make my way towards him.

"Are you okay? Your face is red," I observe. He takes a few deep breaths before shaking his head. "C'mon let's just sit down."

Everyone turns back to their daily routines as I settle Ethan down, rubbing his back to help calm him down before sitting down myself.

"Ethan, tell me what happened."

He's so zoned out, his face contorted in anger and frustration, his jaw muscles flexing every once in while as his leg bounces under the table. He then let's out a dark chuckle.

"That old bastard had the decency to even say that to my face," he chuckles sarcastically. I can tell he's clearly pissed, so I just wait and let him finish.

"He was so disrespectful, so disrespectful , that it absolutely disgusts me," he says with venom. "He told me that I needed my ass beat because I was talking to someone as beautiful as you. That's not his exact words, but I'm definitely not going to use the word he used."

So this man was racist, Ethan didn't appreciate the hate he was receiving from hanging out with me, and he's pissed he didn't get to do anything about it. That's the whole thing, what the whole situation is about.

"Yes, that's exactly the case," Ethan says suddenly. I said that out loud?

"Did I accidentally say that out loud?" I ask, even though I obviously did. Why was I fumbling with my own words? I'm usually a pretty grounded person, I don't fall for boys. I have to put a stop to this now.

"You did. I'm so sorry. I wanted to beat the devil out of him but... I couldn't make a scene like that. People are going to be stupid sometimes and I have to learn to walk away," the boy across me says, shaking his head before running a hand through it.

"Someone like you doesn't deserve that hate. April, I swear on God, if I wouldn't have thought before I acted you probably would be witnessing one of the worst days of your life. I couldn't do that to you." The tone in his voice breaks me, the way he wanted to protect me and everything I've been through.

I stick my hand out on the table, like he did earlier, and hope that he'll take it. Without hesitation he does, getting a firm grip. It wasn't too soft or too hard, it was just perfect.

"Ethan, it doesn't matter if you didn't fight him. I'm just so grateful I had someone like you who had my back. Thank you. You literally have such a good heart," I start to lightly rub my thumb over his hand.

"I love the fact that you did what you did. It takes a lot of bravery for someone to stand up like that. And I admire that about you." I give him a genuine, simple smile.

I never smiled this genuine before, especially over someone who's standing up for me. This boy, being white, stood up for someone like me when they didn't even have to. I don't know how I could ever repay him.

"I wish you smiled like that more often," he compliments. It makes me blush fiercely. "You look way more beautiful with a smile on your face."

I nod, pushing some of my hair over my shoulder. Yes, before you ask, it is my real hair. Black girls can have long pretty hair, too, you know.

"I'm working on it," mumble, looking down at our conjoined hands.

"Do I make you smile?" Ethan thankfully changes the subject to something lighter. I wonder if I should answer this honestly.

"Sometimes," I admit shyly, instantly regretting it as he beams at me.

"I knew it."

"No you didn't."

"Yes I did. How I knew it was because if you made me smile at just the thought of you, I knew I should at least mean something to you," he says. I stare at him.

"What?" he asks, now turning concerned. He thinks I'm fragile. "What's wrong?"

"You actually think about me?" I wonder, scanning his features.

"If you don't believe me, as my twin Grayson," he holds his hands up in surrender.

"Hold on, Ethan," I laugh lightly. "You have a twin? Grayson, your brother, is the twin?"

"Yeah...?"

"No way there's two of you," I shake my head. "Lemme see."

He takes out his phone, scrolling and tapping some before facing it towards me. He wasn't kidding. He and Grayson did favor a lot, the same jawline and the same kind of eyebrows, except his brother was slightly taller than him and smiled more. They both had pretty smiles.

"You have a pretty smile," I say as he sticks his phone back in his pocket.

"This one?" he makes the same smile he made in the picture. I nod my head and laugh lightly again.

"Eh, it's okay. It's not as nice as yours," he gives me a wink, which has me over the moon and this goofy grin on my face.

"You sure know how to flirt," I wet my lips and fold my hands underneath me.

"Well, I learned from the best," he slides down a bit in his seat, giving his best impression of a cool kid.

"Whatever," I playfully roll my eyes. Noticing the time, I decided now was a perfect time to be heading home.

"Well, I guess I better be on my way." Ethan stands up with me as I gather my things from today and we walk out the door together.

"Ah man," he snaps his fingers. "I was hoping we'd get to hang more today."

"No, I'm sorry. I have some important things to do today."

"Well how about tomorrow we go and catch a movie?" he suggests quickly as I start the car and start to buckle up. He sticks his head inside the window, his face a little too close to mine for my comfort.

"That sounds great. Just text me," I say, putting the car in reverse but keeping my foot on the brake.

"Will do. Bye, April."

A/N
-I listened to Girls Talk Boys while writing this and ugh that song will literally be the death of me.
-ilysafm
~m. xo