Page 12 of Taking Care of You
We grab a few books about Shakespeare’s plays and sit at a table. We only have about twenty minutes left of class, but we put them to good use. By the time the bell rings, we have a good outline started and a general idea of what we want to do.
Though Shakespeare has tons of plays, we decided to stick to the classics withRomeo and Juliet. Ironically, but thankfully, we both hate the ending. We know why it happened, but we both agreed it could be done differently. So we decide to tweak it a bit and loosely base our play on an English couple that are from different social classes, forbidden from being together. Instead of killing themselves, they’ll run away together after making their families believe they’d perished in an accident. A bit dark, but so wasRomeo and Juliet.
When the bell rings and we walk out of the library, I make a right to get to my next class. I notice that Ethan is keeping in step with me.
Puzzled, I ask, “What are you doing?”
He shrugs his backpack higher on his shoulder. “Walking you to class.”
I stop in the middle of the hallway, making a few people bump into me and give me dirty looks. Ethan stops and faces me. “Why are you walking me to class?” I ask. “You’ve never walked me to class before.”
Ethan looks off to the side for a second, then back at me. “Just wanted to walk you. So we can talk. Friends talk.”
Not in the mood to argue with him about it, I let it be and start walking again.
“I need your number,” he comments casually, like he’s asking if he can borrow a pencil or something. Maybe it’s no big deal to him, but it makes my heart hammer behind my ribcage.
“Okay,” I murmur, not really knowing what else to say. He pulls his phone out, and I rattle my number off to him. My phone vibrates in my pocket and I pull it out. I read his message and snort.
Unknown: Does this text make me the creep?
I shakemy head and walk into my class, waving at him before he goes. He waves back with a smile and turns back in the direction we came from. He’ll probably be late because he walked me to class. Even though I feel bad that he may get in trouble, the thought of him walking with me makes me smile.
At the endof the day, I walk out of school to find Crystal so we can go home. Since she has a car, we don’t ride the bus.
Saying she has a car is being kind. She has a rust bucket that her father gave her when he got a newer used car. Her car has well over three hundred thousand miles on it. We’re both surprised every day when it starts. Since her father is a mechanic, he keeps it up as much as he can, but it’s definitely on its last leg, or wheel, as the case may be.
She’s parked in her usual spot, talking to her friend, Jenna, who’s parked beside her. I like Jenna. We don’t speak often, but she’s a nice girl. We don’t have much in common, but that’s okay. She’s always been nice to me.
Before I make my way over to her car, I feel an arm snake around my shoulder.
Ethan.
I can't figure out what he's doing. It’s like now that we’ve spoken, I can’t shake him. Not like I really want to. Surprisingly, I like being around him.
Ethan lets me go and stands in front of me. “I was thinking you can come over sometime this week. So we can get started on the play.”
At some point, I think my voice will go back to normal when I speak to him. Not today, obviously, because it comes out quiet and shaky. “Yeah. Okay. Text me?”
He hums. “I will. I have practice, but I’ll text you after that.”
I didn’t mean today, but I won’t turn it down. “Okay. Have fun at practice.”
“Are you coming to the Homecoming game?”
Homecoming. I completely forgot about the game and the dance. The games are usually packed, the entire student body in attendance. I’ve only been to one Homecoming game and that was freshman year, and only because Crystal got me a ticket. Ididn’t want her to feel like she wasted her money, so I went. I hated every minute of it.
Shaking my head, I look at the ground, toeing at a crack in the sidewalk, “Probably not. I don’t go to games.”
“Let me try again.” I look up at him and he has his lip poked out, giving me puppy dog eyes. “Creep, would you please come to the Homecoming game? It would be nice to have a friend there.”
What does he mean? He has plenty of friends, most of them play on the team with him.
Even without an explanation, I can’t say no to him. Not when he’s looking at me like this. “Yeah. Okay. I’ll be there.”
He smiles and puts his arm back around my shoulder. “Great. You can stay at my place after.” I nod, not really knowing what else to say. “Good. I’ll text you later, creep.”
Ethan jogs off and I’m left standing there, feeling stunned. What just happened? Crystal has been trying to get me to go to a football game for years, and I say yes because of puppy dog eyes? Ugh. This friend thing is not going to be a good idea. If Ethan keeps looking at me like that, I’ll give him anything he asks for.
