Valentine's Day Sucks: Ethan's Take 5/9

Sorry for the late update. Finals were crimping my style. I personally think this part is blah, but it sets up the action for later. Just you wait and see ^_^!!

After freshman year, I became really popular, and so did Tiffany.

This sounds hard to believe, but popularity didn’t change Tiffany. She never acted like she was better than anyone or any different, and I appreciated that. What I didn’t appreciate was that she thought up enough schemes to give even the most patient person a headache.

Like when she created an imaginary boyfriend.

For whatever reason, she thought having a real boyfriend, not gay old me, would make her even more popular. So she started to send herself flower bouquets on random occasions. It started out as a little joke, but it got out of control. Suddenly, everyone wondered who her secret boyfriend was--- a girl like her HAD to have one. And this being Tiffany, she fed it, making up stories and creating a fake ‘secret blog.’

It was crazy! This rumor became so popular that even Toby heard of it, and he never picks up on anything. The only good thing that came of it was that I could put Tiffany’s ‘gay’ diagnosis on Toby to the test.

“So.” I told him one day, while playing another random first-person shooter, “You heard about Tiffany’s boyfriend, right?”

“Yeah.” He replied, shooting a zombie through the chest.

“So… Think they’ll go steady?”

Typically, when a boy really likes a girl, he will say something bad about her current boyfriend. He will always give some sign.

“I don’t know. I hope so.”

I noted with hidden interest that Toby seemed more interested in shooting zombies.

At that, I grinned and clicked at my controller, “Yeah, me too.”

“So, what do you think about it?” he asked, “Think they’ll stay steady?”

“Maybe.”

His eyes lingered on me for a moment. Those big, deer-like eyes. They really did look that way. I noticed there was no other color in them, just pure brown, like cocoa powder. Tiffany was right, he did have nice eyes.

“Do you like her?” he asked me, matter-of-factly.

I shook my head, “We’re just friends. So it’s cool.”

Toby nodded, “Ok.”

Some people have a way of growing on you quickly. Toby is one of those people. Without Tiffany as a mutual distraction, it seemed we were closer than ever. I toyed with the idea that perhaps he thought I was crushing on her, and now that she had a ‘boyfriend’, we were finally free to crawl towards each other. We were kind of like hermit crabs, slowly and warily approaching each other. One day, I made contact.

“My mom’s getting me contacts for my birthday.” He announced.

“Contacts?” I asked.

“Yeah. Blue ones.”

I shook my head, “Nah.”

“I think it would look good.” He argued, then turned to me with an all-knowing kind of grin.

“Why, Ethan, do you like my honey-colored eyes?”

I laughed, “Maybe I do. I think brown eyes are the sexiest kind.”

He sat back and his eyes widened a moment; then he flushed red in the face. It was a good look on him.

“I think you’re sexy.” He replied, in that half-joking half-serious way of his, and I just smiled.

“I know.”

I should have kissed him, but I didn’t. Instead, I just turned back to the videogame. He did, too.

It may not seem much to you, but that’s how things go between two closeted guys. It’s slow and wary, especially when you’re in high school. Some guys told me it goes fast--- but I guess I’m just not that kind of guy. In fact, I was scared shitless when I went home that day. My parents asked why I was so pale, and I lied and said I had a cold. But the truth was, I wondered what exactly I was getting into, and whether I was imagining things.

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CHAPTERS

Part 1/9

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Part 2/9

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Part 3/9

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Part 4/9

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