Stuck Between Two Walls

"So, lemme get this straight. Your parents made a plan of going to Europe for weeks and they didn't bring you along with them?" Ethan asked sceptically, caressing his chin.

"Yeah." I told him, slumping on the couch.

He continued with a weird look on his face, "And they decided to make you stay for a month with the one person who can either bring you to life or maybe end it?"

I nodded, slightly rolling my eyes at his words for Damian.

"Cool parents." He announced sarcasm clear in his voice.

"I know, right?" I replied, holding the cold beverage he got us against my forehead to ease the throbbing from the loud blasting of music.

"I mean, Europe is an awesome place." he exclaimed, his eyes feeling a little bit sorry for me.

"But I still get to live with Damian so it's a win-win, anyway." I replied with a grin, now opening the soda can.

It was his turn to roll his eyes. "You know, I can't quite see beyond the reason why you like him so much. I mean, he's older and he looked boring."

Punching his arm with a little force than necessary, I defended myself, or rather the crush of myself. "He's sweet."

"And how exactly did he show that sweetness?" he questioned with a raise of one of his thick eyebrows.

"You heard Mellissa earlier. He's very concerned about me." I replied with a shrug, taking a quick sip from the can.

"And how exactly is that sweet?" he asked, rolling his own soda between his two hands. He seemed to be not absorbing anything I say.

"He's concerned about me! How is that not sweet?" I answered with a frown. What's wrong with him, anyway?

He shrugged. "That's not a good enough reason to have a crush on the guy."

I gave him a blank stare. "You do realize that before you came into my life, I was a loner which means I have nobody to care about me. Then there he is. He cared about me. He's sweet. That's why I like him."

"He is also three years older than you." He replied with a shake of the head.

"What's so wrong with that?" I crossed my arms over my chest, feeling a little bit annoyed with his comments about my feelings.

"It's illegal, silly." He looked at me like he was talking to someone like Jane.

"It's illegal to have a crush on someone whose older than you? Okay, now I'm seriously questioning which planet you are from."

He took a drink from his soda while he squinted his eyes at me. After the long agonizing flow of beverage down his throat, he coughed and shake his head. "Man, that's strong."

"That's... coke." I told him slowly, my jaw slightly dropping from the remark.

"I don't usually drink this stuff." He informed me, wrinkling his nose in disgust.

"Another reason why I should ask the same question from earlier."

He just shrugged, placing the coke into the floor. "I guess I just am different. It's a subject of taste, anyway."

"The soda?"

"That and everything else."

I nodded. He got an excellent point right there.

"Damian is three years older than you and yeah, it's illegal." He then told me, nudging my side with his elbow.

A not so excellent one right there now.

"How exactly having a crush on someone older illegal?" I asked him again. I mean, if that was illegal then all the good-looking Hollywood actors might be in jail now.

"Not the crush part, of course." He rolled his bright blue eyes heavenly if that was any possible. "If ever you had a romantic relationship with anyone and you're a minor, that's against the law."

"It's not. There are a lot of highschoolers these days who have boyfriends in college. I know so because I've seen them." I explained with majestic hand movements. "And it's only a romantic relationship, it's not like there's a physical one." My cheeks burned when those words slipped out of my mouth.

He gave me a teasing smile. "Do you seriously think those college guys would bear to not have a physical relationship?"

"They can if they really like the girl." I retorted.

"Which is rare." Ethan said with a flip of a hand. "These guys are mature and they have needs."

Becoming slightly uncomfortable with the flow of the conversation, I took a sip of my soda to calm myself. After a few seconds, I then replied with, "Why are we even talking about this? It's not like I have a chance with him."

His eyebrows furrowed together. "You think you have no chance with him?"

"Yeah. He likes Mellissa, as you can see."

His eyes widened, looking at me in surprise. "He does?"

"Yeah." I said, feeling my chest tightened with the confirmation. And in a low voice, I added, "And she likes him, too."

"That lucky bastard." He muttered under his breath.

I gave him a scowl and he raised both of his hands in the air, his face morphing into innocence.

"There you are, E-jay," some girly voice snapped both of us back into the scenery around us.

"E-jay?" I questioned Jane who is looking at Ethan like he's some sort of teddybear.

"Yeah. He's Ethan and I'm Jane. Mix it together and it's E-jay."

"Okay then..." I said, blinking at the newly registered information.

"Anyway, we're going to play spin-the-bottle." Jane said, wrapping a possessive hand on his.

Ethan almost choked when those words reached his ears. "Spin-the-bottle?"

Jane nodded, grinning with excitement.

"What is this? Middle school? What's with the spin-the-bottle thing?"

Jane had him into his feet right there. "It's not like that, E-jay. You'll see."

He looked at me with pleading eyes again. "What about Leslie? Can she come?"

Jane seemed to think about this for a moment, giving me a quick glance from head to toe. Her eyes seemed to glow bright red. "No, she can't."

Cool with me.

"But she has to, she's with me." Ethan said with an almost persuasive voice.

Well, almost since Jane hesitated but then shook her head. "No," she said in a cold, firm voice.

"We can't just leave her here." Ethan looked at me with so much concern that I'm debating whether he's worried about him or at me.

"It's not like she's going to get lost or anything. She can just stay here at the couch." Jane reasoned, pulling him forward.

"But-"

He didn't finish his sentence because Jane already have him dragged away. Is this how Jane treat all the guys she's with? A lifeless doll?

I shook my head, drinking more soda to just relax my system.

"Hey there, pretty lady."

My head snapped up to some smirking brown-haired guy standing in front of me. He's wearing the school varsity jacket and he display the image of a jock, complete it with the two bottles of beer in his hands. "Mind if I join you?" he asked in a husky voice.

I shrugged, not wanting to say anything.

He sat next to me, sighing in contentment. He offered me one of the beer bottles with a grin.

I shook my head, giving him a polite smile.

He just shrugged, opening one of the can. "Say, I haven't seen you before. Are you a new student?" he asked me, giving me a wink.

If he wasn't so drunk and arrogant, he might have looked good-looking.

He drink the whole content of the can in one gulp. Wiping the moisture from his lips, he threw the bottle and it hit the floor with a small 'thud'. All that with his eyes on me, waiting for my answer.

"Uh, no. I've been studying in that school for the past four years." I answered, fidgeting with both of my hands.

Both of his eyebrows rose, giving me a small nod. "You have? That's strange. Someone as cute as you should have attracted more attention."

I have no idea why, maybe because of not being used to gain compliments from strangers, but my face boiled.

He gave me a drunken chuckle. "You're cute and you have really pretty eyes. They're so dark that you can see right through your soul.."

"Thanks.." I said, lowering my gaze and biting my lip in the process.

"You really shouldn't do that."

"Do what?" I asked, looking up at his fierce gaze that made me feel uncomfortable. He looked quite... hungry, I don't know.

"Bite your lip. It's an open invitation, you know." He said, leaning closer to me. The smell of beer clogged my nostril.

I leaned back as well, almost to the side of the couch. He loomed closer, making only a fraction of an inch away from me. This made me press my hands against his chest as my back hit the end, trying to give myself a room.

"You... s-should move... back..." I tried to say, my thoughts drowning from his overpowering smell.

His lips pulled at the corners, his eyes darkening. "I think I quite like this position, though."

"Keep your disgusting hands to yourself and get the f*ck away from her, you foul beast." a voice roared not too far away. It was filled with indignation through clenched teeth.