TUTORS ; E.D.

FIFTEEN: DECEPTION

"O-oh my god. Oh much fucking--Aph, what do we--?"

"Shut up! Shh, E, just be quiet."

Ethan waits, still and silent next to her and gaping in fear. Sweat collects on his skin, he wrings his hands tightly, eyes darting to Aphrodite every few seconds--he's terrified. His heart is pounding in his throat, and yet he's also never been filled with so much adrenaline.

Next to him, Aphrodite is crouched, patient. She listens to the sound of twigs snapping outside and keeps her gaze on her very shaky boyfriend to make sure he's okay.

They're inside of an abandoned building, one they definitely don't want to get caught in.

Whoever is outside surely isn't police--but the neighbors in this area have a reputation of calling them if they get too suspicious. Teens often try to break into the old home, run down but filled with so many forgotten things.

After what feels like an hour to the antsy boy beside her, Aphrodite stands to her feet again. "Coast is clear, baby. Grab your spray paint and let's get out of here."

"Holy shit," he mumbles, mostly to himself. Securing the cap on the bright red paint, which definitely stained his fingers some and possibly his clothes, he tucks it into his pocket and throws up his hood. "We--that was so close!"

She laughs, unlocking her car as they rush to climb inside. "I've been here before. The neighbors are nosy, but not too hard to avoid. Smoked in there a couple times, but tagging it with you was more fun."

Ethan gives Aphrodite a soft smile and rests his hand on her leg as they drive away, though his heart won't stop pounding for some time. The rush of things like this always affected him for hours after. It was nerve-wracking, and too risky sometimes, but always so fun. Exploring abandoned buildings isn't what they did all the time, but sometimes they'd head out for a late night adventure and end up at a new place.

The history in many of them is fascinating. Family memorabilia and photo albums, dusty but almost pristine artifacts, an entire family's life laid out right in front of you but long forgotten a lot of the time. There's a lot you can learn just from looking through someone's things.

Aphrodite also recently got him kind of into tagging the places they went, just with silly little things or their initials in a heart. Something stupid and fun, like what they were doing together.

"It's pretty late... I should text Hades," Aphrodite hums, pulling out her phone. The clock reads 1:37am.

Aphrodite: hey just wanted to let you know i'm okay
Aphrodite: out with ethan. be home tomorrow sometime. don't get yourself into trouble
Hades: lmao gross
Hades: i'm making english muffin pizzas
Hades: can i hangout with johnny and eric tomorrow
Aphrodite: course. love you
Hades: love u too

"He's cool. Making pizzas," she laughs, shaking her head. "That was fun, baby. But I'm pretty tired now. We're crashing here, right?"

"Mhm... yeah, we can," Ethan nods, noticing they're parked in his driveway. He didn't even realize the car had stopped. "Grayson's probably sleeping. Won't have to talk to him."

"Thank god."

Things with Grayson have been tense to say the least. He texted Aphrodite a few more times with more apologies, and she's pretty sure he's been almost continuously high for days. Him and Ethan were avoiding each other.

Though his face is still a little sore, there's no real physical damage. He had a busted lip that faded quickly, but it wasn't noticeable. It feels bruised, but doesn't look it. Ethan decided not to tell his parents.