Alps ✰ Ethma

SEVENTEEN

Ethan Pov.

I sighed as Emma & I walked into the dreaded school building. I definitely did not want to be here, considering the fact that I had to wear my ugly ass glasses since I couldn't put contacts in until my eyes healed fully. The piece of plastic & glass felt heavy in the pocket of my hoodie as my thoughts raced about them, already knowing I would get made fun of. Ethan Dolan, once a hot jock, now a dumbass nerd with a pair of some ugly-ass glasses. I cringed at the thought, knowing that was probably what would happen.

"Stop it." I heard Emma say as she slapped my shoulder with purpose, bringing me out of my thoughts as I looked down at her next to me. "What?" I asked, confused. I didn't do anything. "Overthinking. Cut it out. I can practically hear your thoughts with how hard and loud you're thinking about them." She explained & I groaned. "I'm not gonna wear them." I stated, thinking about all the negative things that would happen if I did wear them. She stopped walking as we arrived at her locker, turning to look at me. "Yes you are. You can't see the board without them and you won't be able to play football next season if you start to fail classes." She said & I sighed loudly, not responding as I looked down at the floor. She had a point.

"Wassup Dolan?!" I heard somebody yell before I was brought into a harsh bro-hug, colliding with another built body. I let out a noise of pain & bit my lip as my bruised chest hit theirs. "Jake." I greeted, clenching my jaw at the throbbing pain in my chest. He laughed obnoxiously & pulled away from the hug, looking at Emma who was staring at me concerned. "Slut." Jake greeted her, bowing sarcastically & I lowered my eyelids at him. Emma stared at him tiredly for a moment, a flash of hurt crossing her face for a split second before she slammed her locker door shut & walked away to her first period. Jake laughed & patted my shoulder. "Alright E, see you around." He stated before walking away as well. I bit the inside of my cheek lightly, debating if I should've defended Emma or not. I mentally shrugged & turned on my heel, heading to my first period as well. Spanish, the same as Emma.

I walked into the fiesta-like room & looked toward the back of the room, seeing Emma staring at her twiddling fingers while she sat at her normal seat. I inhales & walked over to my usual desk as well, one row to the right & two desks in front of Emma. I slouched into my chair carefully, minding my hurt chest as I took out my Spanish folder from my backpack. As I waited for the rest of the students to pour in, I pulled out the homework that Emma had let me copy this morning. I stared at the sheet of grainy paper in my large hands, squinting my eyes & bringing the paper closer to my face as I tried to read some of the words. I groaned quietly. Useless pieces of shit, I thought referring to my eyes.

Our teacher-Señora Frego-stood up from her chair & walked to the front of the classroom, clapping her hands together loudly. "Hola clase," She started speaking in Spanish & I lost her, only being able to pick out a few words of what we would be doing today. Watching a verbal video lesson while taking notes & then checking homework at the end of class. I sighed, pulling out a loose leaf notebook & flipping it open to one of the many blank pages. I looked up at the large board, watching as Señora Frego pulled on the little string above it to release the flexible projector screen. The teacher scurried back over to her computer cart & fiddled with the keys for a moment, before the projector shown a very wordsy video on the screen. Señora Frego then flicked the lights off in the classroom & took her seat as the screen lit up. I cringed as it started to play, glaring at the board as I tried to read the tiny blurred words. I suppressed the urge to let out a groan of frustration & glanced around me, making sure that everybody was focused on the video infront of them instead of me. I cautiously pulled my handy-dandy glasses that I oh so needed out of the pocket on my hoodie & slid them discreetly onto my face. I sighed as the jumbled words came into focus & I began to take notes normally.