[Wednesday]With only a few weeks left until their final exams, Everyone was in full stress mode. From biting their nails to chewing on their shoes, each and every person in Year 13 had a different way of coping with stress. For Ethan, something else was on his mind.
"s.h.i.t… I"ve got to tell them," He thought as he paced up and down the room with Owen and Sean revising their a.s.ses off.
"Can you stop pacing?" Owen said, throwing his pen at him.
"I need to tell them. But when?" Ethan thought skillfully dodging all the pens that came his way as if his body was in full autopilot.
"What"s wrong with him?" Sean asked using one eye to look up whilst keeping an eye on his notes and writing.
"He"s being an idiot," Owen said as he resorted to throwing chairs and tables.
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"Sorry," Ethan said sitting back down and joining them to continue his writing as nothing happened. "There is something on my mind…"
"Well? Are you going to tell us?"
"I want to… but I"m having trouble getting it out… I feel as if that when I tell you it will change everything."
"Don"t be so dramatic," Sean said. "We"ve been through a lot. What could be so bad?"
"You"re right!" Ethan said standing up dramatically already over his wariness of the past.
"What I wanted to say was that I will be studying abroad for the next few years…"
Owen and Sean looked at him with blank minds to take it all in. Owen attempted to speak several times but was confined by his mind, thinking that it wasn"t the right thing to say. He stuttered to get his words out as if he was holding back tears.
"I see…" He said gently resting his pen on the table. "That is the best decision for you… isn"t it?"
"Y-yeah…" Ethan said, "That"s what I thought as well."
"If this is what you want," Sean said. "It"s not like we won"t be able to see each other again. We can always keep in touch."
"Of course!" Ethan said rea.s.suring them. "I may be in a different timezone but I"ll always be down to play games online like we used to. Just message me and I"ll message right back. I"ll drop whatever I"m doing and always run to my PC to play with you all."
Ethan kept speaking whilst Owen listened in silence, with Sean continuing the conversation for him.
"Have you told the others?" Owen asked.
"No... should I?"
"Of course you should." He said. "It"s only right…"
"I mean… the only people that know are you guys and my parents… not even Bella knows."
"YOU HAVEN"T TOLD THE DEVIL?!" Owen shouted out of his chair. "What is wrong with you?"
"The time never came up. I should definitely tell Bella but Kaylee I can pa.s.s on. Who cares about her. It"ll help me move on."
"NO!" Owen said grabbing Ethan"s collar and pulling him up to his face, almost sharing his spit. "YOU SHOULD TELL HER NOW!"
"What? W-why?" Ethan said trying to push himself away and keep his mouth closed.
"I agree…" Sean said. "It"s better to at least say then not regret anything."
"Hmph…" Owen said putting Ethan back down. "That"s my line…"
"Alright… alright... I"ll tell her. Just let me mentally prepare myself first."
Ethan stood in the centre of the empty cla.s.sroom doing several breathing techniques. First, he did several deep breaths followed by holding it until his face turned purple. Only to gasp for air and retry it again. Owen and Sean were convinced he was killing himself and forced him out of the room.
"What an issue," Owen said now that he and Sean were alone.
"I know right… it"s not going to be easy."
"Yeah,"
"He"ll still be our friend," Sean said patting Owen on the back. "He"s only failed us several times before."
# # #
Despite it being after school, several students stay back to catch up on whatever it was they missed out on. In terms of the drama department, they were expected to stay back and practise on their upcoming performances during their free time.
"So what"s up?" Kaylee asked a terrified and suddenly panicked Ethan who didn"t rehea.r.s.e his own performance in his head.
"Errrrrrrrrrrrr," He said suddenly needing to reboot back to factory settings.
"Take your time." She said going back to her group to focus on her performance.
Ethan watched as Kaylee lead her group during the rehearsal. She leads with a fiery command that all the others obeyed with laughter and smiles on their faces. He listened to their performance and it seemed as if they were having the time of their lives. It was clear to Ethan what Kaylee was going to do with her future. He could see deeper into hers than he could his own.
"So, what did you want to talk about?" Not long after they finished practising, Kaylee ran back up to Ethan with sweat pouring down her face, illuminating her smile into Ethan"s eyes.
"Oh… um… I don"t know how to say this. I was told it was a good idea to inform you so I am doing that… but… um… next year… after we graduate… I"ll be studying abroad…"
Kaylee stared at Ethan with her smile open and her eyes wide, hoping there was some joke that would quickly follow.
"Excuse me?" She said hoping to force it out of him. Preparing a fake shock face for when the prank was revealed.
"That"s it… I thought I should tell you… I want us to enjoy our last few weeks together."
"R-rig… Of Course!" Kaylee said jumping into character. "Why wouldn"t we? It"s amazing that you will be going abroad. Will you be ok? Will you be eating ok? Don"t forget to message us once in a while. Anyway, forget all that. You must be busy, come on. Go home… get outta here."
Kaylee shoved Ethan out the door and watched as he turned the corner before collapsing to the ground.
"Just what am I doing?"
"Come on Kaylee!" Here group called. "Let"s do one more then call it a night!"
"R-right… I"ll be there…"