When Everything Changes

Chapter 1

   "Have you guys seen Ethan?" I have been searching around the old  smoke filled  bar for half an hour. We decided (or should I say he decided and I was forced) to come here after spending the afternoon at one of our idiot friends houses.(though he's really just one Ethans friend that I happen to tolerate) And since it was finally the day before graduation the entire class at some point in the day decided that going out and getting drunk and or high was the way to go.

  Somehow-completely against my will- I ended up here, in the back of some bar, with far too many people, unable to breathe do to the thick cigarette and marijuana smoke pouring from everyone's mouth.

  The last time I'd seen Ethan was when he'd excused himself from his friends at the bar to use the restroom and that was an hour ago.

  My calls for him through out the bar have so far gone unanswered and I still have no clue where he is.Twenty more minutes pass before I find him in the corner of a room filled with even more smoke than the previous, playing pool on some old table with only three proper legs. The walls are painted a dark green, so dark it almost appears black in the dim lighting. There are wooden panels along the bottom half of the walls, cutting of the the painted walls. The floor is a deep red and sticky with spilled Liquor and God knows what else.

I make my way over to him, nearly falling over and bumping into the many people that litter the small room.

"Dude!" I basically yell at him, though due to the volume of the music he probably just thinks I'm talking for him to hear me.

"Lennie, where've you been?"

"Looking for you, where the hell have you been? I've been searching for you for like an hour and this place isn't that big." It's hot in here and I can feel myself becoming angry.

"Lennie calm down, it's not that big a deal"

I stop and stare at him for a few seconds slowly calming myself.  He looks a little buzzed and on what, I'm not sure but I'm definitely not looking for a fight right now, I really don't have the energy for that, I just need to get us home.

"I'm ready to go." I tell him.

"Now?" He asks with a sigh. I hate to be a buzz kill but I have to go.

"Yes now, it's getting late and we have things to do tomorrow morning."

He let out a heavy sigh before speaking. "Fine, lets go."

"Thanks." I say, surprised he gave in so quickly

We are on our way out of the building when his friend Derek calls him back. I watch as Ethan makes his way over to him and they have a small conversation, laughing and smiling. He looks over at me with a weird look on his face before saying bye to Derek.

"What was all that about?" I ask once we are down the street looking for a taxi. One finally appears and we flag him down.

Ethan gives the driver the address as we both climb into the back of the car.

"You didn't answer my question."

"Oh yeah, uh it was nothing." He pulls his phone out and begins typing, completely ignoring me. I don't believe him about it being nothing but I let it go.

Finally we pull up in front of our houses and I leave the cab first leaving Ethan to pay the driver. I don't wait to see if he would be following me, I just assume he won't be.

Stopping in front of my door I begin  to search my bag for my keys. I have them in hand about to open the door when a hand stops my movement.

"What do you want Ethan?" I try to hide the hostility in my voice but we are both aware of its presence.