Page 24 of Taking Care of You
As soon as I walk into the building, I get stares. My face is on fire. I duck my head so I can’t see the people gawking at me or the fucking pointing.
Smiling like a loon, Crystal leans over to me and says, “Guess it’s not a bad thing to be dating the most popular guy at school.” I give her a small smile and head to homeroom.
After homeroom, I walk to my locker, wanting to grab my books for my next two classes. It’ll be easier for Ethan to walk me to class, and not be late for his, if I already have them.
Before I can get there, though, Elle catches up with me, sliding her arm through mine and leaning her head on my shoulder. If I hadn’t seen how touchy she is with everyone, I would feel weird about it. But she really is this friendly, so I let her be.
“You could have told me you and Ethan were dating yesterday,” she says. “I should have known though. He’s all different now. You two make a cute couple. He’s all tall and smiley, and you’re all small and quiet. Like…a contrast or something.”
I want to mention that that’s how she is to Mitch, but I don’t want to make her uncomfortable. It seems like it took a lot for her to mention Mitch possibly being the male lead for our play. Anything else about him might make her clam up.
“Yeah,” is all I say.
“So?” she asks leadingly, standing beside my locker while I grab my books.
“So what?” I try to hide my head in my locker so she doesn’t see how red my face is.
“Is he? Neither of you confirmed. It’s just a rumor. I want to hear it from you.”
Elle isn’t my friend, but I’d like her to be. I’d like to have other friends, even if only for senior year. It would be nice to look back on my last year of high school and think about how I put myself out there and talked to more people.
Nodding, I put the books I need in my bag and zip it up, sliding it on my shoulder. “Yeah. He’s my boyfriend.” My cheeks flame, but I hope she thinks it’s because I’m divulging information, not the lie.
She squeals and gives me a hug, almost knocking me over. “That’s so sweet. Ugh. I can’t. I just can’t.” She pulls back from me and asks, “So you’re going to be at the game tomorrow? And, oh, are you two going to Homecoming together? I think he might be crowned King.”
Are we going together? Shit, we didn’t even talk about that. I guess I’ll answer for him and tell him about it later. “We’re going together. We have matching suits.” That part just kinda slipped out.
Elle practically swoons. “That’s so cute. I’m going alone this year. Want to keep my options open, ya know?” I nod and we walk towards my class. I’m not sure where hers is.
She’s still talking when I see Ethan, a big smile on his face. I smile back and he opens his arms to me. I walk into them and he kisses my forehead. When I look at Elle, she looks like she’s not breathing.
She puts her hand over her chest and says, “You two are freaking adorable together. I can’t wait to see you at Homecoming.” She walks off, a bounce in her step, like our relationship made her day.
My forehead is tingling from where he kissed me, and to my surprise and my heart's excitement, he does it again. “Come on, the bell’s gonna ring soon.”
When we walk into English class, it’s like someone pressed the mute button. Everyone stops talking and looks at us. I duck my head and try to hustle to my desk. I sit in the front and no one sits beside me. Well, no oneusedto sit beside me. Now Ethan slides into the empty seat, stretching his long legs over to my side of the table.
I glance to the back of the room and see his teammates staring at him. Some with their mouths open.
“Go sit with your friends,” I tell him, dropping my head as I feel those eyes on my face now.
“Nah. We’re partners. We have to sit together to work on our project. Besides,” he says, pulling my chair closer to him and wrapping his arms around me. I don’t squeal, I swear. “My boyfriend is sitting up here.” He kisses my cheek and I laugh at him, not intentionally, but a light laugh does escape. Then I get self-conscious and my face gets warm when I realize people are staring.
“Fine, weirdo,” I murmur, taking out our rough draft and putting it between us.
Ethan laughs at me. “The creep and the weirdo. A match made in heaven.” I chuckle and we get to work when the bell rings.
With us working, it’s easy to ignore that some of the whispers cropping up around the room are about us. I guess it’s having the desired effect of people knowing we’re together, but it’s weird to hear my name whispered in association with Ethan. He’s, like, the most popular kid in school, certainly the best-looking. A football player. An amazing sprinter. And I’m…me. The geek. The quiet kid. The invisible boy.
He likes me, though. Even though I don’t think I’m that interesting, Ethan seems to disagree. I know he doesn't like me the way I like him, but that’s okay. This is enough.
It makes me wonder, though. When we were dancing, I thought for sure I felt his hardness on my belly. I thought he felt what I was feeling in the moment. Maybe not. I’m probably just hoping that’s what it was.
The bell rings and I look up, startled that I didn’t notice the time passing so quickly. I hurry to gather my things so Ethan will be on time for his own class. I’m not even sure where his next class is.
As usual, he slings his arm around my shoulders, pulling me down the hallway.
“Where is your class?” I ask. “You don’t have to walk me every day, you know.”
