Page 40 of Taking Care of You
Ethan keeps tapping the steering wheel and fiddling with the radio. Eventually, I reach over to stop him and when our hands meet, it’s like an electric charge passing through me. I gasp and look at him, noticing he has the same bewildered expression on his face. I snatch my hand back and press back into the seat. Ethan stops tapping and fiddling with the radio. We’ve touched dozens of times before and that’s never happened.
For the first time since we’ve met, we sit in uncomfortable silence. I want to reassure him that things are okay. Thatwe’reokay. That whatever this is isn’t anything more than our friendship getting stronger. But words stick in my throat and I can’t force them out.
It’s a relief to pull up to his house and get out of the car.
Once she’s parked behind Ethan, Elle skips over and puts her arm through mine and starts to talk a mile a minute. “So, I was thinking, we could get some costumes for the play. From the actual era, ya know? That would be fun. I’m sure Mitch would have an idea about what we could use.” Her cheeks pinken when she says his name.
Unlocking the door, Ethan ushers her inside, and goes into the kitchen. Elle looks around, a nervous look on her face. I yell to Ethan we’ll be right back and I pull her into the guest room.
“Nice room,” she says as she glances around. “This is where you stay when you’re here?”
“Yeah,” I answer offhandedly. “What’s wrong?”
She plops on the bed and puts her chin on her hands. “You know, don’t you?”
I don’t need to ask what she means. It’s pretty obvious. “Yeah. Why don’t you just speak to him? He seems like a nice person.”
Shrugging, she stands and paces around the room. “Jakoby, it’s not that easy. I mean, what will people say if we started…you know? I mean, I don’t really care. But I do.” She stops and looks at me. “High school sucks.”
I walk over to her and take her hands, something I wouldn’t have done a month ago. “Don’t worry about what people say. People talked about me and Ethan for a month, and now it’s over. And we’re in a whole different gossip bracket: Queer kid dating the most popular guy in school. You’re a cheerleader, he’s a Drama guy. Big deal.” She smiles softly at me and I keep going. “If you want to get to know him, do that. Don’t worry about what people say. We’re almost done with this high school shit, so don’t let that hold you back.”
“That’s true. But what if we do get together and we go to different colleges? What then?”
Laughing at her, I pull her to the door and walk out. “You’re thinking too far ahead. Let’s take it day by day. Where are you going to college?”
“UCLA,” she answers when we round the corner.
“No shit?” We hear a new voice from the couch. “I’m going to Caltech.”
Mitch must have gotten here while we were huddled in the room. Elle freezes, eyes wide. She looks at me nervously.
Ethan comes out of the kitchen and grabs my hand. Not to guide me anywhere, just to hold it. “That’s crazy. Creep and I are going to USC.”
All of the colleges we’re attending are within thirty minutes of each other. It’s really fucking wild. Guess none of us wanted to stay on the East Coast.
“So I guess I’ll be seeing the three of you often?” Mitch asks.
“Definitely,” Ethan says with a smile. Always so welcoming to everyone. I really am falling in love with my best friend.
“Did y’all apply together?” Elle asks, finding her voice.
“Nah. I got my acceptance last year,” Ethan says.
He told me after he broke the school record for the 200-meter dash in both indoor and outdoor track last year, he had several colleges send him scholarship offers. USC is the college he’s always wanted to go to, since his mom went to med school there.
I applied for colleges up and down the West Coast. I’m sure if I’d gotten accepted to the University of Anchorage, I would have accepted. Luckily, USC had the best scholarship package, and I grabbed it with both hands and feet. My grades have never been an issue, so I knew a few schools would offer something. Now I’m glad USC was willing to spend tons of money for me to learn about scientific equations.
“Ready to get started?” I inquire quietly, breaking the silence.
Everyone answers in the affirmative and we all sit down in the living room. I give Elle and Mitch a copy of the play and they look it over quickly. Elle is able to point out how certain things may not flow for her character, and Mitch helps us use stronger language that would fit the era. They’re definitely the right people for the play.
We run through it once, and I have to say, it’s really good. Elle and Mitch have great chemistry. They play off each other, evoking an emotion that fits perfectly with what we’re trying to convey for a condensed version ofRomeo and Juliet. Elle probably should have gone out for theater. She’s a natural.
After an hour or so, we call it quits. It’s our first ‘rehearsal’, but it went extremely well. We have three more weeks before they have to act it out, so we agree to meet twice a week. They both take the revised versions and head out.
When I look out the window at them, I see Mitch hesitantly reach out to Elle and they stand by her car and talk. As soon as I spot him taking his phone from his pocket, I let out what sounds like an ‘eep’ noise.
Classy.
