Connected To Him (ManxMan)

Part 1: Chapter 15

Chapter 15: Volleyball

Ethan’s chest expanded from the large breath he took, breathing in the fresh beach air. It was a bright sunny day that morning, the sun beaming in a bright blue sky. A gentle breeze passed around Ethan, gently shifting his clothes and providing some relief from the intense heat. As Ethan moved further and further from the bus stop, he took in the view around him. 

It barely took him a minute to move from the firm concrete to the soft brown sand. The further Ethan got from the bus stop and concrete roads behind him, the cleaner he found the sand to be. Ethan marvelled at the mixture of grass and trees that surrounded the boardwalk with the pale sand that led up to the water. 

He looked left towards the volleyball nets, smiling when he found groups of people practicing before the games started. Along with the volleyball crowd, Ethan could see families and friends relaxing on the beach or swimming in the cold water. Along the pier people ran, walked, or rode their bikes. 

There was so much life and energy all along the beach and Ethan was smiling happily as he made his way closer to the sand. Ethan was still scanning the scenery and observing the people around when he noticed a familiar boy watching the volleyball players practice. 

Ethan began jogging and the closer he got, the more he could tell that it was Chris standing there in green swimming trunks and a light gray t-shirt. Ethan was wearing similar clothing, but his t-shirt was a pale blue and his trunks were slightly shorter and black. 

“Chris!” Ethan called out, causing the aforementioned black man to turn around, black sunglasses adorning his face. Once Ethan closed the distance between them, he suddenly realized that ignoring all of the strangers, they were alone. The only people that they knew on this beach at the moment were each other. Ethan became conscious of how he should act. He wanted to give Chris a massive hug, but that would be a little too friendly for their situation. He decided to do the exact opposite and be extremely friend-like. “Hey man, what’s up.

Ethan’s smile didn’t fall, but his expression did wobble before freezing in an awkward,  wide-eyed, large smile place that felt as uncomfortable as it looked. Chris assumed that Ethan was just a bit nervous because this was the first time they agreed to meet outside of school before. To ease Ethan’s worries, Chris simply smiled wider and pulled his glasses off of his face. He hoped that seeing his eyes would help Ethan see that Chris was genuinely happy to see him and get Ethan to relax. 

“Hey, Ethan.” Chris replied, taking Ethan’s hand and pulling him into a man-hug that gripped both of their hearts painfully with how platonic it was. “I was just checking out the players since they maybe our competition.”

Ethan laughed at Chris’s comment, checking out the volleyball players from this closer distance. There were varying levels of skill among those in front of them. Some were trying to get their ball to get over the net consistently while others were leaping up, working to get their spikes as fast and accurate as possible. 

His eyes lingering on those more intimidating players, Ethan then looked up at Chris. He was squinting against the sun but Chris could still see his deadpan expression. 

“That’s a lot of confidence considering that you’ve been watching these killer players for the past few minutes.” Ethan noted, watching Chris carefully. He wasn’t sure if Chris was genuinely confident or just making a joke of it all. Chris looked down at Ethan, his eyes growing thin with the intensity of his smile. 

“I’m not that confident, actually.” Chris began, earning a little snort from Ethan. “I’m not! I just think that if money is on the line, we may as well try.”