Fragile Threads [boyxboy]

Chapter 7

Ethan woke up with a text from Unknown, asking if he was feeling any better from the night before. Ethan stared bleary eyed at his phone for a moment. Something felt… wrong. He glanced out the window. Was it always so sunny at six in the morning? But then he didn’t remember his alarm going off…

He swore and finally paid attention to the time on his phone. “Ten,” he groaned, flopping down into his pillow. “Fuck, I missed the bus.” Next question was why his mother hadn’t woken him up.

Ethan sat up in bed and rubbed his eyes. He dialed the number for his mother’s work and asked to be put through to her. “Did you know I’m still asleep and at home?” he asked.

“Yes I do,” she informed. “You didn’t look very good last night, and I did try to wake you up this morning, but you were like a corpse. I called you in for the day.”

Ethan groaned and rubbed his face. What if he missed something important? The one kid who didn’t like to miss school… it had to be him.

“If you’re up, do some things around the house for me, will you? The dish washer needs to be emptied and the trash needs to be taken out,” she asked.

“What if I’m dying of a high fever? Why are you asking me to do chores if you called me in for being sick?” Ethan complained. He didn’t want to do chores if he was getting the day off.

“Ethan,” she warned. “If you don’t I’ll put parental controls on the computer again.”

Ethan sighed. He shouldn’t let her know that he knew her password and could change them right back. He agreed sourly and his mother ended the conversation. Ethan scratched his head, feeling the urgent need to take a shower. He went through his text messages and worked out a reply: Better, I guess. I overslept this morning so I’m not at school. Can you pick up my math homework?

He tossed his phone aside and hobbled into the shower. He felt slightly worn down after the day before, but told himself the chores would probably help him get back to feeling normal. He took his time in the shower because for once he wasn’t rushing to the bus afterwards.

He checked his phone again for a reply. Can do. Are you sure you’re feeling okay?

Just stressed or something, screwed up my sleep. Ethan put his phone into his pocket and went downstairs. He tied off the trash before taking it into the garage for the bin. He emptied the dishwasher and put everything away, only to eat breakfast and dirty more dishes.

Ethan retreated back to his room and the computer. He logged on to all of his regular websites and settled into the routine of endless scrolling. He realized he hadn’t been on quite as much—though saying he’d cut down was an understatement. He just spent an hour or so at someone’s house most days after school, and a few nights at parties.

He felt his phone go off and checked it with another text message from Unknown. I can cut class early to come by for a little while?

Ethan chuckled slightly. My mom gets home around 2:30, he informed. She always got home before him.