THE JOCK JUST WANTS THE NERD [2]

19

||JACKSON||

I couldn't shake the tad feelings of envy at the sight of Ethan being close to that girl. It was pretty much obvious that, I really want to spend time with him. The horrifying reality that these are the feelings that I keep repressing so hard, there's no denying the fact anymore that I like Ethan. It scared me to death, coming to my senses and accepting that I am gay. I've been telling myself that I wasn't since the very first time I laid eyes on him when he moved to our school. I was driving both of us on an empty road when I didn't realize that I was being a little off as I was just mindlessly gazing at the road in front of us. "Are you okay?" Ethan asked with concern, turning to me.

Blinking, snapping myself back to reality, I was stuttering, "o-oh, yeah, I'm fine," I say, "sorry, it's just that, I was thinking of stuff."

Ethan nodded silently but still kept his eyes on me, "what do you want to do?" He asked.

To be quite frank, I didn't have anything planned for us. All I wanted was to see him again, it was the first priority... well, the only priority I had in mind. Pouting embarrassingly,  I said, "wanna go out to eat?" With a smirk.

"Actually, I just came back from the mall where I had an early dinner," he says.

Shit.

Desperately trying to come up with other solutions to salvage my incompetence, I tried to think of things that he might enjoy. That's when I realized that I don't know much about him. Why am I like this? Come on Jackson, think hard. Doing so, my mind wanders back to when we were all students in high school. Ethan does choir, and I also witnessed his miraculous voice when I walked into the restaurant. Turning to him, I tried again, "w-would you like to go to a karaoke bar?"

He tilts his head with a bit of amusement, "A karaoke bar?" He grins.

"Yeah... I thought that you're a good singer and uh-" I felt myself blushing, I couldn't even finish my sentence.

Ethan let out a chuckle and I could feel my face getting even warmer, "do you know any karaoke bars around?" He asks.

"Not really, I can look it up," I admitted.

After a while, settling beside a road in a calm neighborhood, I pulled out my phone to research if there were any nearby, and to my relief, as if a merciful spiritual being pitied me with luck, I found one close by the city. "Would you want to go?" I asked one more time.

"Sure, but, on one condition..." Ethan pauses and looks at me straight in the eyes, "you'll have to sing too," he says.

I swallowed the lump in my throat, "erm, I suck at singing," I frowned.

"Come on now, you did ask me if we can go to a karaoke bar, I agreed, the least you can do is have fun with me," he smiles adorably.

Sighing in defeat, I complied with his request, "okay..." I murmured, but mirrored his cheerful expression, "at least I'll get to hear your voice again," I grinned.

-

After a few minutes of searching, I finally found the place. As we walked in, it looked fairly kept and maintained in a tidy manner. The walls were a dark shade and I could hear a few voices coming from the other halls where I assume the singing is partaking. We walk up to the staff member and asked for admission. Pulling out my wallet, I skimmed through my cards and cash until I felt Ethan lay his hand on me, "let me pay for my half," he says.

"Are you sure?" I raised a brow on him.

"Yeah," he nods, sticking his hands in to his pocket. I felt a slight tinge of guilt, but then again, my wallet isn't exactly thick at the moment. I really need to get working so I can earn me some money to treat Ethan... and get me some food, and help pay my crippling tuition of course. As we paid the worker, we were then assigned a room of our own. It still had the same dim walls, but the multi-colored lights gave it a night club vibe. A huge flatscreen monitor hung at our left side of the wall while a sofa is on the right and a coffee table in the middle of the room. Closing the door behind us, Ethan couldn't help but feel excited, "this is so cool," he twirls around.

Oh gosh, my heart...

Ethan holds up a book, I look over his shoulder to see that it contains all of the songs. We sit down next to each other on the couch, Ethan flipping through the pages. On the table, there are three microphones and a remote. I held one in my hand and waited as I just stared at Ethan. I felt my chest pounding, it's just us in a room together. After a while, he pointed out that he has a song that he wants to try. "You should look for one too," he motions me the book.

"What are you gonna sing?" I questioned curiously.

"I was thinking..." he murmurs, grasping the remote he took from the table and pushing in the buttons. The screen then displays the title, "all of me."

"I enjoy listening to slow songs, sometimes old, sometimes modern, sometimes throwbacks," Ethan says then clears his throat and stands up.