Alle Kapitel von GOLDEN BOY, BAD BOY: Kapitel 161 – Kapitel 170

AN ORDINARY KIND OF HAPPYThe next morning felt different, though nothing around Brookwoods High had actually changed. The same buses stopped outside the gates, and the same students crowded around the entrance. The same teachers stood in the hallways with coffee cups and tired expressions, reminding people not to run.But Ethan felt different walking through it all. He wasn't checking every reflection in the glass, and he wasn't wondering whether somebody was watching him. He wasn't thinking about the administration calling his parents or his grades being frozen. The investigation was still open, but the worst of it had passed, and his name had been cleared of the accusation. For now, that was enough.He was halfway to his locker when someone bumped his shoulder."Morning, genius," Blake said, grinning down at him with his football bag hanging from one shoulder.Ethan glanced up at him. "You're early.""You're late.""It's eight.""Exactly."Ethan looked at the clock above the hallwa

STILL BREATHINGThe front door was still wide open. Jake was inside, holding it open and watching them through the doorway."Are you two coming, or are you planning to nap in the driveway?" he shouted.Blake grinned and Ethan shook his head. "We'll be right there." Ethan stepped onto the porch with Blake right behind him.The night air had cooled considerably, with the last of the sun disappearing behind the houses on the other side of the street. A few cars passed by occasionally and headlights started to flicker on as the neighborhood settled into bedtime. Jake let go of the door, ran back to the SUV to turn out the headlights he'd left on, and grabbed his keys from the ignition."You two are gonna be the end of me," he said, leaning into the driver's seat.And then it happened. They heard a car coming way too fast, and not quite right, and Ethan barely turned his head before a vehicle shot around the corner. Everything started to slow down. It was going way too fast for this street

BETWEEN THE BEEPS The room was strangely silent, you know? Machines just kept measuring his heart, beeping, pausing, then beeping again, while the fluorescent lights buzzed loudly overhead, almost too bright for it being this late. Ethan could only see the dark through the tiny window next to the bed, with headlights crisscrossing across the parking lot. Jake was asleep, and for once not all broken up from the crash, and instead, he looked pretty peaceful. That didn't make Ethan any more comfortable, though. His eyes kept darting to the monitor, checking the changing numbers, and whenever Jake moved even a little, he pushed himself closer to the bed. Blake was in the chair on the other side of the bed, quietly for a few minutes until he finally spoke up. "You're doing it again," Blake said as his head tipped to the side. "Doing what?"Ethan asked. "Watching the monitor."Ethan looked at the screen again, his jaw tight. "I'm just making sure he's okay." "The monitor's already doi

THE RED LIGHT"Clear!"Jake's whole body jerked and Ethan cringed as if he'd been struck. The beep from the adjacent machine was sharp, horrific, and only lasted a second before it flattened out to a flat, monotone sound that vibrated all around-the room, down the hall, and right through Ethan's skull."No," Ethan whispered, stomach plummeting out from underneath him.Blake's grip tightened around Ethan's arm. "Stay with me, Ethan.""No," Ethan insisted again, trying to barrel through the door, but another nurse was in his path, palms raised."Sir, you got to back up.""That's my brother!" Ethan demanded, arching his neck to look past her."Sir, we're working on him right now.""Please," Ethan pleaded, voice cracking, "let me see him."Inside, the team was working frantically. One doctor was barking orders at the other, who was leaning over Jake, hands locked together pressing to his chest. "Keep going with the compressions," the first doctor ordered. "No pulse. Keep giving him the

CHAPTER 164The following forty minutes dragged on in a fog. A nurse eventually ushered Ethan and Blake further down the hall so that the doctors could do what they needed to do, then she drew the curtains tight around Jake's room. Ethan could not see his brother any longer, and that was almost more miserable than watching. Ethan sank down in a plastic chair with his elbows resting on his knees, his fingers interlocked so tightly that his knuckles ached. Blake sat next to him. Neither of them made a sound.The hospital had fallen silent once more. The alarms had ceased and the shouting had long since ceased, but Ethan couldn't settle down. Every time footsteps drew near, his head shot up, and every time they passed, his stomach clenched painfully more."Let's call your parents," Blake finally said in a soft voice.Ethan shut his eyes. He had tried not to think about it for hours, because the second you did, it became true. "Yeah.""Do you want me to do it?""No." Ethan drew his phon