Be My Addiction

9 • Balancing on Stones

Ethan

After Eugene had visited me at work, we decided to continue to meet up after school to work on the project. I was secretly glad that he decided to still work with me. He's the only one who will talk to me without asking about the accident.

We had been meeting up random times in the week and I'd be lying if I said I didn't enjoy his company. Today we were going to meet at a cafe.

And I was nervous. Why was I nervous? I don't know. It was probably a side effect of my withdrawal. Lately, I hadn't been able to take as many pills as usual. I was still waiting to get paid, not to mention the dealer I work with has been too busy to get into contact with me. So I have been a bit jumpy or aggravated and I'm pretty sure Eugene has been noticing, though he hasn't said anything. Maybe he's just oblivious?

Yeah, probably.

Hopefully.

Today we were meeting at a cafe. I waited inside at a booth, my knee bouncing under the table. It was Saturday so I didn't have anywhere to be. I caught my reflection in the large window and I couldn't help but scan my appearance over. Today, I wore dark jeans, a grey shirt and my trusty converse. I brought my bag with me, which held a few papers and my laptop, and that was about it.

I turned my attention to my phone, scanning over the rather bland texts from my parents. They have thrown themselves into work. They text me but it doesn't feel like it used to, when Brian was alive.

When Brian was alive, there was warmth, 'I love you's and 'have a good day's. Now the texts have been simplified into monotone messages. Maybe they are still in shock.

Maybe they blame you.

The sound of someone sitting down across from me jolted me out of my daze. Glancing up, I let out a breath of relief to see it was only Eugene. His eyebrows scrunched above his chocolate eyes with an expression I assumed to be a concern.

"You ok?" Eugene asked softly "is something bothering you?" 

He was observant.

Shaking my head, I offer a smile "Just thinking." Before he could ask, the waitress came to take his order. While he was ordering, I pulled out my laptop to check on everything. Soon I noticed the quarterback peer over my screen. I unconsciously got a bit annoyed but quickly pushed it aside, knowing he didn't mean to be invasive. Besides, it was just the google document of our project "So I think we have everything. We just need to go to the store to get the candy"

Eugene sat back and nodded "Yeah, that sounds like a good idea. Should we get chocolate?"

Tilting my head, I thought for a moment, glancing at Eugene "I think we should do a mix of chocolate and suckers" He soon nodded and the waiter brought his order. It was a black coffee and he soon dumped sugar into it.

My nose scrunched up and he must have noticed because he laughed lightly "what?"

I shook my head and rolled my eyes "coffee is gross" He just chuckled and shrugged. 

"So. Ethan" he started, grinning when I rose an eyebrow "would you like to go to the park? It's a few blocks from the store so we can pick up the treats on the way"

Soon I smiled. We have gone to the park before and it was pretty fun besides the occasional ticks you would find afterward.

Pulling myself back to the present, my smile grew, "Sure, let's go. I don't have any plans today so we can stay as long as you want." I then gathered my things as Eugene politely paid for our drinks. Soon we made our way to the park.

We managed to get there at a decent time considering it was empty. That was good for me because I don't like people and Eugene because he probably didn't want to be seen around me.

Or maybe I just have bad self-esteem.
Definitely. 

The park was rather beautiful, with a large pond in the center of the park while a stone path led around the shore of the water. Off to the side, there was a small playset with a few swings and slides as well as sand for younger kids to play in. The first time
Eugene and I came here together, we took turns throwing sand at each other and getting it in each other's hair.

That took an entire three days to wash out, but I don't regret the sand fight.

After reminiscing about that sandy day, Eugene and I headed towards the rocky path around the pond. Feeling at peace in nature, I couldn't help my smile and soon I began walking along the rough terrain, trying to balance and not fall in the water. I heard Eugene chuckling behind me but I knew he wasn't laughing at me. He wasn't that type of person. I glanced his way to see him on his phone so I assumed he was looking at something funny and checking the time so I let it slip past my mind.

Turning my attention back to the obstacle, I wobbled a little, almost losing my balance. I could hear Gene gasp quietly from behind me, probably out of worry of me falling in the pond. Luckily, I managed to regain my footing and stayed standing. 

We both looked at each other and laughed.