Page 4 of Unfolding Ethan

“I didn’t even know you two were dating, lol.”

“Nope, I was busy binge-watchingTokyo Ghoul.Again.”

“Meh.”

“No, how would I know?”

“I am new.”

My gaze dropped to the new kid who was wearing a cream sweater and glasses. I narrowed my eyes at him, and Kiara shot me a glare that clearly meant ‘behave’ when the guy’s cheeks reddened under my gaze.

I looked down at my tray and started eating the sandwich I had made at five in the morning. Kiara shared her Gujarati snack called bhakarwadi with us. It looked like a tiny cinnamon roll and, if you ate a bunch of them together like popcorn, it would taste really spicy, and your taste buds would moan in pleasure.

Volt was busy eyeing Becky Whitestone, one of the cheerleaders sitting on the other corner of the canteen. He always had a crush on her ever since they talked one time in the eighth grade about Naruto. He thought she was his first and last love and would marry her one day. Rio, on the other hand, was busy reading a book, eating fries from the tray and nodding along whenever Volt said something about the new anime he was watching.

Katherine was FaceTiming her college boyfriend, Ryan, and sketching in her sketchbook, which she kept to herself all the time. Kiara once told me she even slept with it, so it was like her child and one should never take it away from her or she would raise hell on Earth.

Meanwhile, Kiara was talking to the new guy, whose name was Neels, and his cheeks were already flushed when she talked to him animatedly. She had that effect on guys. Like right now, even though her hair was messily pulled into a ponytail, Dan from my swim team kept glancing at her from the table beside us. Aman from the school book club couldn’t stop his dreamy look while looking at her. Andrew, a sophomore, had a whipped look on his face when his group of friends kept pointing at her, gushing about her. She had a kind, gentle aura about her that made the boys of Summer High wish to be around her all the time.

“Hey, Ethan!” Kiara snapped her fingers in front of my face and I blinked at her. “I was asking if you want a cookie or not?”

“Sure, I want a cookie.”

She stood up, Neels following her like a lost puppy, and as she made her way to the snack bar, most of the girls and guys turned to watch her. Even the grumpy old man at the snack bar who never smiled, smiled at her when she bought our cookies.

“Where’s Kiara?”

I internally groaned hearing Alice’s chirpy voice, her eyes darting around the table until she saw her and Neels walking back to the table. Alice took her seat and I glared at Volt until he shifted and made space for Kiara to sit beside me.

“Who is the guy with her?” she hissed.

“Please shut up,” I muttered under my breath and she narrowed her eyes at me, straightening herself when Kiara sat beside me, our knees brushing under the table.

Her almond-shaped brown eyes pinned on the newcomer and smiled, a dimple poking her left cheek. “Hey, Alice. How was Disneyland?”

I gladly took the cookie from Kiara and blurred out the talk between Alice and Kiara when I saw Liam and Ariana laughing. They were already behaving like a couple, kissing and whispering into each other’s ears.

A soft hand wrapped around mine and I looked down under the table where Kiara squeezed my hand, dropping her cookie in my tray. Smiling, I squeezed back and broke the cookie, giving her the other half.

Alice looked away at the exchange between us and said, “So, did you get any flowers?” She grinned.

Vivian was one of those guys who was obsessed with the idea of loving Kiara and dating her. He’d had his eyes set on her for almost three years now and wouldn’t take no for an answer. We had lost count of the amount of times she had politely declined his every proposal. I almost punched him when he wouldn’t stop talking with her when she kept ignoring him. He did stop that shit afterward because Kiara said he almost peed his pants when I held him by his collar, ready to land my fist on his face.

“What flowers?” Kiara asked, frowning at me.

I shrugged.

“Yes, he told me if you got the bouquet of flowers and a very special letter from him—”

“They’re in the car,” I said, hopefully ending the conversation.

“But he gave her the letter, too. How could you just take it and keep it in your car?” She scowled at me. Alice was a close friend of Vivian and supported his every antic when it came to Kiara. I hated the fact she only befriended her so she could play Cupid between her and Vivian.

“Tell him something, Kiara!”

She turned to me and I bit back my grin at the teasing glint in her chocolate brown eyes, “Hey, Ethan.”

She was teasing Alice.Ha!

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