Page 37 of Pick Me Up On Tuesdays

Then I remembered Principal Catherine’s warning. Keep your eyes on Ethan. No. KEEP YOUR EYES ON ETHAN. In bold capitalized letters.

I groaned, rubbing my temples.

"If he gets me killed, I’m haunting him," I muttered.

And then—because my life is cursed—I climbed out after him.

Chapter 13: The Great Midnight Snack Heist

I should have known Ethan was up to no good.

No one sneaks out of a hotel in the dead of night for wholesome reasons. And yet, when he landed on the ground with catlike ease, stretching like he hadn’t just jumped out a window, the first thing out of his mouth was—

"I’m going for a smoke."

Classic.

I squinted at him. "What?"

"A smoke," Ethan repeated, smirking. "You know, puff-puff, bad-boy aesthetic, etcetera." I swear that smirk was adding up to the no-good fact.

"You—you don’t even smoke!"

"I could start. Or maybe I already have," he said, as if he hadn’t just confessed to a felony against his lungs.

I gawked at him. "Do you know how dangerous smoking is?"

He groaned. "Clark—"

"Do you want to shrivel up into a prune by age twenty-five? Do you want your lungs to look like overcooked steak? You already suck as a person, but do you really want to suck at breathing too?"

Ethan stared.

"Also," I continued, "you of all people should not be talking about putting foreign substances into your body. You’re a quarterback. And you know… demons are extra flammable."

He rolled his eyes. "I was joking, nerd. I just want snacks."

I crossed my arms. "You lied to me?”

"I bluffed," Ethan corrected. "Huge difference."

I didn’t have the energy to argue let alone with a demon. FYI, Demons rarely lose in argument.

"Where are you even getting snacks from?"

"The petrol station down the road."

"The what?"

"Petrol station."

"We are in the middle of nowhere."

Ethan shrugged. "Magic. Civilization. Whatever. You coming or what?"

I sighed, rubbing my face. "As if I have another option. Principal Catherine said I need to keep an eye on you, and you just set off every single warning bell in my brain."

Ethan grinned. "I do have that effect on people."

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