Chapter 5: THE HOUSE DOWN THE STREET 1

THE HOUSE DOWN THE STREET

The 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 barked once before settling into a low growl.

Behind them, Tom's house thudded with the low pulse of bass-heavy metal music. It wasn't loud enough to be distracting, but its low boom rattled the walls and shook the wooden porch beneath them.

Actually… the place was quieter than Ethan expected.

“Your home’s silent today," Ethan said to Tom as he swung his bag from his shoulder and dropped it to the floor. "Frank isn't in?”

“He is," Tom answered with a sigh. “I guess he's just sleeping."

Ethan nodded. That explained the low music.

Leaning forward, Tom placed his arm on the table and ran it across the surface, sweeping off the rain-plastered leaves to the floor. He was about to drop his books when Ethan called him.

“Hey, wait."

Tom paused before turning to Ethan, his brows creased. "Yeah?”

“I just-you…” Ethan stuttered, his grip tightening around the strap of his backpack crumpled at his side. “I wanted to know if your sister’s in."

Tom blinked, his brows arching. "My sis?” he repeated, his book dropping to the table with a low thud. “Well.. she is in. Why are you asking though?”

Ethan bit down on his lips, his gaze dropping to the floor. His thoughts traveled back to what his brother had said to him. And the chill that ran down his spine when he nearly sniffed his secret out.

Highschool was ending in a few months and he wasn't ready to be tagged as the ‘gay kid’. That could do a lot to his messed up reputation.

He needed to ask Chloe out.

“Well, I was wondering if she'd be going to the dance," he said, lifting his gaze to meet Tom's. "I thought maybe we could—”

“Ethan," Tom cut in sharply, his gaze narrowing.

"Uh… yeah?”

Tom's head tilted slightly. “Are you trying to fuck my sister?"

Ethan's eyes widened as he took a large step back. "Yo, hell, no,” he said quickly, shaking his head. "I'm not trying fuck Chloe. I just… I need someone to go to the dance with so that my brother won't see…"

He swallowed his words, running a hand through his hair.

“Just… never mind,” he said instead, picking his bag up again. “Let's just get to work."

Tom let out a snort first, then slowly descended into a loud cackle as he held his sides. Ethan, now confused than ever, just stood there staring with a frown on his face.

"What the hell are you laughing at?” he asked, already settling on one of the seats behind the table. “Did I say anything funny? You think I can't get your sister?"

That shut Tom up immediately.

“First of… no, you don't have any fucking game,” he began, dropping down on the seat opposite Ethan. “Secondly, I was only laughing ‘cause I was messing with you. My sister’s leaving town today to celebrate her boyfriends birthday.”

“Oh," Ethan mumbled, slowly nodding. "Of-fucking-course, she has a boyfriend.”

“Oh, cheer up." Tom stretched, slapping Ethan's shoulder gently. "I heard you were paired up with Roseanne yesterday. You could ask her out."

Ethan scoffed. “I'd rather die."

The quick statement tore a single laugh out of Tom and Ethan chuckled too. But he knew that wasn't the truth. If it really came down to it, just so he could avoid his brother's brashness, he'd do the unthinkable.

He'd ask Roseanne out.

That's if she wasn't dating Blake already…

The mere thought of his name sent a jolt down Ethan's spine as his thoughts traveling back to the stare he had given him back in class. That knowing look that seemed to only draw Ethan closer—

“Man, are you having a hard-on thinking about my sis?"

Tom's voice instantly pulled Ethan back to the present. He looked up to see his best friend staring down at his trousers from under glass table. His eyes dropped down to his crotch where his dick prodded the zipper, begging to be seen.

"Shit,” he cursed under his breath as he pushed down on his hard-on. "Look it's… it's not… she's not the reason… let's just get to work, please."

Ton stared at Ethan for a second too long, his brows furrowed and eyes narrowed. “Sure," he muttered, turning his book open. “Let's get to work."

Ethan crossed his legs, chewing against the side of his mouth as he fixed his gaze on the open notebook in front of him. He tapped his pencil lightly against the page, forcing the image of Blake into the creases of his thoughts as he tried concentrating on the words dancing in front of him.

Tom’s eyes remained on Ethan until he got bored and returned back to his own books. The tension soon eased away and everything returned to normalcy as both boys began solving delved into their works.

For a long moment, there was silence—broken only by the thud of Frank’s music and the dog barking over the fence. Then Ethan spoke, absentmindedly.

“Okay,” Ethan muttered, adjusting his glasses. “If the reaction rate doubles when the temperature increases by ten degrees, then the catalyst—”

BEEP.

The sharp sound caused Ethan to look up. He found Tom looking down at his smartwatch, trying to turn off an alarm.

“What's it for?" he asked, leaning back against his seat. “The alarm, I mean."

Tom glanced up at Ethan briefly before snapping his book shut. Without a word, he stacked all three together and stood up.

Ethan blinked, watching as he brushed dried leaves off his jeans and stretches his arms.

“What are you doing?" he asked, his brows furrowing. “Why are you standing up?"

“I'm going to meet a… friend,” Tom said, shrugging casually. "No big deal.”

Ethan cocked his head slowly, his eyes narrowing. "A friend?” he repeated as a slow smirk tugged at his lips. "Well, I never knew you even had any.”

Tom rolled his eyes and snorted at the remark. “Ha ha. Very funny.”

"So…” Ethan mumbled, fiddling with his fingers. "You're going over to your… friend's place to study then."

“Yeah," Tom answered simply, already tucking his books under his arm. "Sorry you have to do it alone.”

Ethan kept his smile as he swallowed the lump forming in his throat. "No big deal," he said after a sharp exhale. “Make sure to send my greetings to whoever they are.”

Tom nodded, his lips pressed into a thin line. “Will do."

Ethan saluted in response before returning his attention back to his textbooks. Tom turned toward the sidewalk and was already halfway across the lawn when he paused. His frame drooped lightly as he let out a sigh.

Then slowly, he turned back toward Ethan.

"Um… yeah,” he said, scratching his head with his free hand. "So… Blake actually invited me to his place to… help him... with his assignment."