Not What You Expected

Chapter Six

I sigh and slam the book closed as Mr. Jones and Charles loud laughter makes it's way out of the house once again. The sun is almost down and it's somewhere between dusk and night. It's getting colder and when I first came out to the porch to sit in the old rocky chair, I forgot to grab a blanket but instead I remembered to grab Pride and Prejudice. It's one of my favorite classic books, I just love the story between Elizabeth Bennett and Mr. Darcy.

"My good opinion once lost, is lost forever. -Mr. Darcy..."

The screen door opens and out comes his deep voice quoting Mr. Darcy himself.

I roll my eyes and smirk.

"Oh Mr. Darcy you do flatter me with your words."

I fake a British accent and fan my face using my hand as if it were a old timey fan. He chuckles as he comes to stand in front of me leaning against the porch railing.

"You know if that porch railing gives way under your weight, I'm going to laugh and not regret a moment of it."

I state with a little smirk, he chuckles again and his voice is just so deep that even if he said something wrong or mean it would still sound sexy.

"You are a lot more talkative than when we first met..."

He stares at me with those intense eyes of his and honestly the only word to describe his eyes are intense. It feels like he can just stare straight into my soul.

"Well I am not one for crowds."

I say with a sigh as I pick at the old cover of the book.

"Yeah your right, you look like you would rather take a quiet walk in the woods than talk to three people in a kitchen."

He says with a small smirk, I roll my eyes and stare off to the side of him, the sun is completely gone and in it's place is the beautiful grey moon.

I almost get lost staring so intensely at the moon but Ethan brings me back with his words.

"The sun watches what I do,
But the moon knows all my secrets.
J.M. Wonderland."

Looking at Ethan you would never imagine this...country looking boy who looks like he knows more about fixing a truck than quoting poetry. Women let alone don't like reading it but men now when you get a guy that likes and knows poetry like the back of his own two hands two things crosses your mind.

One he's gay....and two he is very and I mean very connected with his feelings.

But somehow I don't picture Ethan as either...

"So..Ethan where did you learn such poetry in such a small red neck town like Wild River..."

He scoffs and rolls his eyes before turning his back towards me. He grabs ahold of the railing and grips it so tightly that I fear it might break. He leans forward and let's out a deep breath.

"That's the problem with outsiders like you, you just don't get the bond between us 'red necks' have in Wild River. We're more like family then friends, of course there are the unwanted ones here but that's not the point..."

I cringe when he quotes me, but I can't help pay more attention to the last few words of his sentence than any other.

The unwanted ones...

I mean I have heard of small towns hating one person or a whole family because they are rude and mean but it's just the way he says it 'The unwanted ones' he let's it roll off his tongue with such hatred and brittleness that it makes me want to know every thing about The unwanted ones, And I mean every little thing...

"Riley Jane you really just don't get it and it just makes you look like a spoiled brat city girl when you call us red necks and trust me in Wild River once you get a bad reputation it's nearly impossible to change it...Trust me I know."

I sit in the rocking chair with a million different questions but the only one that makes it out of my mouth is.

"How do you know Charles?."

I mentally slap my forehead, I just wasted possibly the only question I can ask on 'How do you know Charles!' Seriously! I swear sometimes I don't even know why I do the things I do. Like when I was eight I had this big crush on this boy, Tommy I think his name was, but anyway this other girl had a crush on him and she made it ever so clear to me that he was hers and hers alone. But I remember one day I had enough of her rubbing it in my face and I just lunged for her and blacked out, but when I came back to my senses I was sitting in the principles office both my parents were there and my hands were covered in blood and the principal was explaining to my parents that I had almost killed the girl. I tired to explain to my parents about me blacking out but they didn't believe me and of course I got punished, one month grounded, I had to move schools and I never saw Tommy again, but the worst of it was my parents made me apologize to the girl. Of course this may sound reasonable to some people but I do NOT like apologizing, it goes against my human nature or what ever you call it. But of course I did it even if I was clenching my fists and frowning the whole entire time.

"Our dads go back ever since they were kids, even our grandparents were very good friends."

I frown, "That's impossible, Dad grew up in New york, went to Harvard university and then moved to Los Angels, California."

Charles didn't grow up here, he grew up in New York with grandma and grandfather, he lived in a mansion bigger than the Seattle Seahawks football field, he showed me pictures! And-And grandma talked about the gardens! And tennis courts!

Ethan scoffs, "Your Dad grew up here, he was on the school's football team, his parents used to own the old car garage in town and they grew up here too..."

I glare at Ethan, there is just no way Charles grew up here, he told me so many stories about growing up in New York and vacationing in London and Greece. Maybe that's what they were... Stories. I grab both sides of my head as a very strong headache makes it's way into my head as I try and search my brain for any memories of Charles ever telling me that those things were just stories he made up for the fun of it. But the longer I search the stronger the headache becomes.

"I-."

"Ethan come on we're leaving!"

Rose shouts from the inside of the house cutting Ethan off and making me wince in pain as her shouts do nothing but make my headache hurt even more.

Ethan turns back to me and stares at me in a searching way before just muttering something under his breath and storming off the porch and onto the darkened lawn. Where I can no longer see him.

🐺🐺🐺

I don't even try to hide my very irritated sigh as I collect the many different beer bottles and dirty plates from the living room coffee table. I send a glare over to Charles who is layed out on the couch watching some football game, not even offering to help me clean up his mess! It's almost ten thirty at night and I am tired but he doesn't seem to notice or care.

"Hey RJ, what did you think of the Jones?"

He doesn't take his eyes off the television when he asks and I can't help but roll my eyes. I grab the last bottle and head for the kitchen but not before muttering.

"They were nice enough..."

I mean I don't really have much to say about them, Mr. Jones and Rose didn't even speak to me and Ethan...well Ethan is just a mystery.

A mystery I want to figure out...