Connected To Him (ManxMan)

Part 1: Chapter 18

Chapter 18: It's Time

Ethan rested his head on his palm, blond strands falling onto his wrist. Ethan's hair had grown long over the past few months and now it started to hang off of his head a bit awkwardly. But, because he was lazy and none of his friends had commented on it, Ethan hadn't touched it.

Ethan was reclined back on the living room couch, watching some movie on hallmark. Ethan wouldn't say he was a romance fan. Far from it actually, he was one of the last people you'd find trying to get tickets to the latest romcom in theaters. But, today he was a bit bored and watching Beth try to win the ice sculpting competition seemed entertaining enough.

Beth was currently distraught because her sculpting partner, Jack, was caught being hit on by the evil blond who was trying to win the competition.

"I can't believe you were dating her behind my back! I thought you cared about me." Beth told Jack as she confronted him. Despite knowing that he didn't do a thing wrong, Jack was still tongue-tied and let Beth storm off without telling her the truth.

Watching the drama unfold, Ethan was suddenly reminded of the drama in his own life. It was summer vacation and Ethan was spending his days wallowing instead of having fun. And, it was all because of Courtney.

Courtney wasn't an evil blond like the one in the movie. She was a kind and social latina girl who just happened to have a crush on the same guy Ethan did. She wasn't doing anything wrong. But, for some reason, Ethan felt like she was.

Ethan was one of the only people who knew that she had a crush on Chris. Although it annoyed Ethan to no end to have to hold such information, nothing else came because of it. Not until what happened two nights before.

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Like they often were when no one had any other ideas, they all found themselves at the Tyler house. The entirety of the group was there, lounging in different areas in the basement over soda and cheap beer Meaghan had brought.

"Are you going to be drinking tonight?" Meaghan had asked, holding up a beer can for Ethan to see. Ethan thought about it for a moment before shaking his head.

"Nah, I'm good." And he was.

Ethan was in a really good mood that day and because he didn't drink very often, he didn't see a need. Meaghan had shrugged, taking a quick swig of her own can casually. In the time that Ethan had known her, he saw her drink at parties a lot but it took forever to get her drunk. According to her, being allowed to have wine with her parents had increased her tolerance so a bit of beer wasn't too bad.

Ethan wished he had that ability. It would have made his few drinking escapades seem worth it. The times he woke up to a pounding headache and ass breath adding to his apprehension towards alcohol.

Ethan shifted where he sat, trying to make the carpeted floor more comfortable. He doubted it was possible with his flat ass but, still, he tried. Despite the fact that there was ample seating in the room, the four of them—Ethan, Aiden, Meaghan, and River—were sitting on a carpet near the left side of the room.

Ethan couldn't tell anyone exactly why they did this. It was never his idea, he was certain, but Aiden and Meaghan always got this idea of making it seem like a kids slumber party or wanting to gossip easily. It was all a bit vague in Ethan's mind but he never complained, just going along with their whims. That was partly because Ethan didn't feel like leaving their sides at the moment.

River had a can in his hand, steadily draining it as the night went on, but Aiden wasn't, deciding to stay sober with Ethan.

Once the four of them sat down, Aiden led the conversation, talking about a movie he'd seen with Aaron the other day. Ethan had been listening at first since the movie was cool and it was Aiden talking. But, his mind began drifting first and his eyes followed, eventually landing on Chris across the room.