เข้าสู่ระบบTHE THING ABOUT BEING SEEN 2For the first twenty minutes, Ethan and Blake worked almost normally–Ethan controlled the laptop while Blake tried to connect it with the projector, swearing under his breath every time the cable slipped from his hands."You're doing it all wrong," Ethan said, looking up from the laptop screen."I'm not," Blake said, struggling with the connection."You are.""I know how to plug in a cable," Blake said, showing him his hand."You've been trying to plug it in upside down for thirty seconds," Ethan said, pointing at the cable.Blake looked at the cable in his hand, then at Ethan, and at the cable again. "It's a defective one," he said finally.Ethan laughed, putting the laptop aside. "Don't blame the cable," he said."I can blame whoever manufactured it," Blake said, dropping the cable on the table."You're hopeless," Ethan said, walking toward the desk and picking up the cable."And yet you keep helping me," Blake said, watching him with a small smile.Etha
THE THING ABOUT BEING SEENBy the time Ethan got to school the next morning, he had pretty much made up his mind to keep his head down. Not because anything had happened. On the contrary, Ethan had a problem. Nothing had happened. At least, nothing he could explain without making himself look like a complete moron.Blake kept running through his mind during the whole of the previous night. It wasn't exactly a new thing, but now Ethan found himself unable to concentrate on studying–after reading the same paragraph of his history book four times, he gave up and went to bed, only to find sleep taking much longer than usual, because the more Ethan tried to close his eyes, the more his mind would remind him of Blake–how Blake talked when nobody else was around, how his facial expressions were changing the minute he stopped pretending to be the school's golden boy. And the more annoyingly, Ethan was starting to find Blake's presence easy. And that scared him more than the kiss and the rumor
HOMECOMINGBy Monday morning, Brookwoods High School looked nothing like its ordinary self. Blue and silver streamers hung from the ceiling, colorful banners covered the walls, and the statue of the principal somehow had already been decorated in the football jersey. The hallway was particularly noisy since Homecoming week had officially begun.Ethan approached his locker and stared at the huge banner hanging right above the opposite hallway.HOMECOMING: ONE LAST YEAR. ONE LAST GAME.Ethan smiled slightly, absorbing the message of the banner in a strangely silent manner. One last year. One last football season. One last series of school events before everyone gets into different colleges, starts different careers, lives in different cities, and leaves."Don't tell me you're actually excited about that," Tom remarked, suddenly appearing right next to him and leaning against his neighboring locker."I'm not," Ethan said, still not taking his eyes off the banner."You've been looking at
SOMETHING TO PROVEThe following day was surprisingly mundane. And that was precisely what Ethan liked about it. Nothing suspicious was waiting for him on his cell when he awoke, no unidentified caller, and no photograph reminding him that somebody has been stalking him. For the first time since the whole story started, he could breathe easy, forgetting about the possible threats.He came to school earlier than usually and stood next to his locker, slowly placing his books there, when some of his fellow students appeared in the corridor.Then he sensed a familiar smell of Blake's shampoo when someone leant against his locker, without even turning his head to see who it was."Morning, nerd," Blake greeted him with a friendly smile, lightly knocking his knuckles against the metal door of his locker.Ethan smiled even without looking at him. "Morning, idiot."Blake grinned and tilted his head to catch his eye. "You missed me.""I saw you yesterday," Ethan answered, taking a book out of h
THE THINGS I CAN'T SAYAs Blake drew near, he seemed to change from looking relieved that he found Ethan to concerned for some reason. "What are you doing here?" he asked when he caught up with him.Ethan opened his mouth but no sound escaped from it. He could still feel the presence of that stranger even though they were gone. The threatening messages on his phone, the photograph inside his backpack and the video somewhere in the possession of someone who made it obvious they weren't finished with him."I needed some air," he managed to get out.Blake looked around. "Behind the gym?"Ethan shrugged, trying to look carefree. "It was quiet."Blake didn't answer him for a second or two; he just stared at him in silence which Ethan found even harder than when he was questioned. Blake didn't accuse him or anything; it was just concern visible in his gaze."You've been avoiding me all day," Blake finally said."I haven't.""You left class.""I needed a break.""You ignored my calls."Ethan
Price Of SilenceBlake found himself standing in the hallway for a few moments longer after Ethan disappeared in the opposite direction. There were students slowly coming back from their break and entering the classrooms and they created some noise, but for Blake, everything seemed oddly distant. All he could think about was the sight of Ethan — the fear in his eyes, the fact that he grabbed his backpack so tightly and his silent explanation.Blake took his phone and opened Ethan's contact. He typed *Are you okay?*. Blake looked at the text and erased it. He typed: *Talk to me*. This text disappeared as well.Blake put his phone in the pocket. He knew that if Ethan did not want to say anything and Blake would try to make him, it will not change anything, but there was something wrong about the situation. Ethan did not look at him in such a way ever.Blake started to move toward the classroom, but he stopped in front of the lockers and stared at them. 214. Why did he do it? Ethan was j
THE HOUSE DOWN THE STREET 2The name hit Ethan like a brick and he found himself choking on his own breath. His head snapped up instantly to Tom standing a few feet away. “…Huh?” was all that slipped past his lips as his eyes widened. Tom just shrugged again like it was nothing. "He met me after
THE HOUSE DOWN THE STREETThe glass door slid shut behind Ethan as he stepped into Tom's lawn. Thin sprinklers scattered lazily across the grass sent arcs of water glistening in the late afternoon sunlight, and the air held a faint smell of wet grass and mud. Somewhere over one of the fences, a dog
LEFTOVERSThe class buzzed with almost instantly. The moment Dr. Keller said they should pick their partners, the sound of chairs scraping across the floor echoed across the room as students began turning toward “Calm down," Dr. Keller shouted over the noise, slamming his palm against the desk. “G
THE TASTE OF REGRETThe house carried the strong smell of beer–one that Ethan knew too well. It mixed with the faint scent of cigarette smoke clinging to the couch cushions and curtains, welcoming him as he opened the door. Coughing, he pushed through the ash cloud as he prayed his brother was alr







