My whole body was acting so strangely and I couldn't understand why. It seemed unreasonable for me to be tensed up among Ethan and his friends since we had been hanging out a lot.

Any normal, rational person could have just left the scene but of course, after one failed attempt, my reserved timid self only retreated into my shell to stay embedded on the bleacher.

Aside from my waist being held back by Ethan's arm in front of the guys, I think getting a side-eye from Kaleb might also be the source of my discomfort. If looks could set fires, I would have been burned alive by now.

I knew Ethan was simply wanting to express his affection in the way he could but, the moment he chose to do so was just bad. I understand where Kaleb's anger had came from, given what he revealed to me from our last interaction.

Ethan had been bullied because of me, and I had given him my words to not be anywhere near his captain for Ethan's own good. Yet here I was sitting with them. I knew it was so selfish of me and if I were Kaleb I would be furious as well.

"They've been spending a lot of time together, don't you guys think?" Kaden stated, peeling me away from my thoughts.

The three of us watched him silently pulled out a vape pen from his jacket pocket before taking a long drag. I must say, Kaden's got some big balls for vaping on school property.

"Who?" Kaleb, sitting one bleacher back from him asked back, his attention nailed on my face.

"Steve and Charlie, dude," Kaden clarified, a cloud of blueberry-scented vapor escaping his mouth as he talked.

"What's wrong with that?" Ethan wondered. His frown told me he was somewhat confused about where Kaden was going with this.

"I never said it's wrong," Kaden defended himself. "Just pointing out the obvious."

"They are doing a play together, so it makes sense," I told him, finally finding the strength to join in the conversation.

I spared a glance back to Kaleb to see if he was still glaring at me and it turned out he was. Consequently, I attempted to break free from Ethan's hold but unfortunately he tightened his grip on my waist, keeping me close to his side.

Kaden sighed. "I know. It's just he's been distancing himself from us lately. Haven't you guys noticed?"

"Is he?" Ethan questioned and glanced at me causing me to shrug. He sounded more confused than concerned.

"Come on, man. Steve barely has time for his bros these days. Always with his drama friends - mostly Charlie. It's fine with me, though. I'm not jealous or anything."

"Sounds like you are, Kade," I pointed out and Ethan nodded with a simple 'mm-hmm'.

Kaden scoffed at my accusation. "Jealous? I'm not jealous."

Kaleb let out an exasperated sigh, thankfully taking his eyes off me to glare at his friend. "Yes, you are, jerknut. Admit it."

"I mean, maybe I feel something, like - just a teeny tiny bit," Kaden said before he deeply inhaled from the vape pen.

"Kade, it's fine. Close friends don't have to talk every day. Tell Steve if you miss talking to him. It's like when Ethan went to a training camp and I -"

"Yawn!" Kaden interrupted, annoying me in the process as well as making me lose any and all interest I might have had before in giving him advice. "That seems like a lot of work."

"Jerknut," I muttered under my breath.

"I have a feeling Charlie tries to overtake my number one spot as his buddy," Kaden said with a huff, standing up to his full height.

"Kade, you're spiraling here, buddy," Ethan stated, trying to calm his friend down.

Ignoring his QB's comment, he continued. "I bet Steve will talk him into doing our thing soon."

"Which is?" I asked, uninterested.

"Hitting girls on live stream," Kaden replied, his tone exasperated.

"There's nothing to worry about." Ethan laughed. "Charlie is gay."

That caused Kaden to perk his eyebrows up. "That's impossible. I swear I heard he took a girl out to a concert."

I wasn't even sure what I heard was possible because, for the longest time, I was ninety-nine percent sure Charlie only likes boys.

"A concert?" I butted in. Not sure why I was starting to get invested all of sudden.

"Yes, I think it's Troye Sivan," he told me, sitting himself down again. "Or was it Lil Nas X?"

"Well..." I trailed off and my doubt was instantly gone.

I look over to Ethan to find him shaking his head in such disappointment. "The girl is Elle, dumbass, and it was a Pride concert."

"Oh?" was all Kaden could say as a look of shock overtook his face.

"I've lost some brain cells from interacting with you," Kaleb's voice emerged after being silent for a while.

"Okay, I'm wrong," Kaden grumbled as he stuffed the vape pen back into his pocket. "Jesus, all of you can stop being annoying now."

Moments later, Ethan removed his arm around me, causing my eyes to shift back to him. He was looking down texting away from his phone and judging from the amused look shown on his face, the first thought that came to my mind was Elle.

Then I felt a pang of jealousy rippled through my stomach, followed by a pang of guilt.

How long would it take before she knows about me and her boyfriend? I had no idea. Neither did I know how she would react to it. The least she could do was to assail me with curses. Worst; cutting me off and out of her life.

The uncertainty of the future scared me.

"Listen, Steve just texted me back and he agreed to us coming to his house later," Ethan spoke up and I couldn't out into words what a relief it was to know that I was wrong.

Just then, a series of shouts came out from the three of them. They seemed very eager and enthusiastic, in contrast to me who didn't feel compelled to go at all. I had to think of a quick excuse because I knew Ethan would try to include me.

"Andy, you coming, too, right?" Ethan asked after the thought just crossed my mind.

"Actually I have -"

"Nothing to do? Sweet!" And he was fast to cut me off. "I'll pick you up at the usual time."

I heaved a surrendering sigh which Ethan smiled innocently at. I needed to learn to say no and I needed to say it often.

"Oh shit!" Kaleb exclaimed out of mix of annoyance. "My dad's gonna take the car to run some errands."

Ethan eyed up at him. "You're not coming?"

"Looks like it, but it would be great if you'd offer me a ride," Kaleb replied, smiling.

"Or you could just walk. Your house is not that far from Steve's," Kaden interrupted before Ethan could answer, and for an instant, his smile dissipated.

While Kaleb practically glaring a hole through Kaden's head, Ethan and I shared a look and the way he was staring at me made me think as if he was wordlessly asking me if I was bothered by it.

"You know you can tell me if you disagree," he told me, putting his face close to mine. His voice was soft like a whisper and only meant for me to hear.

"How about you just go with Kaleb?" I murmured back.

"Why?"

"I have a lot of homework to do anyway, so I will probably stay at home finishing everything," I admitted.

One of the qualities I admire most about Ethan Cushing was his determination, he was never going to give up that easily and he would fight for what he wanted.

"Please... I miss you and we need to make up for the time we didn't spend yesterday. I understand how you still want to be a good friend to her and want to keep us a secret but, we can still hang out as buddies," he pleaded while shooting me a striking smile.

Whether Ethan forgot we were out in the open or he just had no concern about his public image, I had no idea. All I knew was that he seemed comfortable enough to behave the way he was right now.

Catching a glimpse of Kaden's confused reaction to our proximity made me worry, though. "What's with the whispering?"

"It means the information is not for you to know," Ethan retorted for me.

"Alright, alright, Ethan. I'll go with you," I caved in and his smile morphed into a triumphant one.

"I knew you wouldn't disappoint me."

"Can you move a little bit back?" I asked, or well, more like begged for him to do so. "You're acting pretty sus right now. They might suspect us."

"Awh, he's even cuter when he's worried," he teased, looking at each one of his friend. "If we were alone I'd be acting more sussy than this," he said as his eyes met mine again.

"Stop kidding around," I warned him.

"Sorry," he apologized, sliding back a few inches from me. "Are you cool with me giving Kaleb a ride?"

"The more the merrier, right?" I told him with a strained smile.

"Are you sure?"

I nodded slowly. "Mm-hmm."

Although I would have preferred to confide in Ethan about my uneasiness, I chose to lie anyway for the sake of becoming more mentally mature and being a less dramatic person in front of him.

"On a scale of one to ten, how sure are you?" he asked, one eyebrow cocked.

"Yes."

Ethan let out a chuckle at my answer before turning to his teammates again.

"Ah shit, my backseat is packed full, man. I can only take one person," he said surprisingly.

"That's unfortunate," Kaleb responded with a smirk. "I'll say hi to Steve for you, Andrew."

"Actually, I'm really sorry, man. Andy has asked me first so..." Ethan trailed, awkwardly scratching the back of his neck.

Kaleb looked pointedly at me. "Of course," he remarked with a subtle rage in his voice.

Not that I wasn't pleased but I must have had a selective memory given that I didn't remember ever asking Ethan to do that. I couldn't help but feel bad for Kaleb. He must have been upset at hearing Ethan's decision. Unlike me, he genuinely came off eager earlier considering all he wanted was to spend time with his buddies.

"You should've agreed to my idea," Kaden said to Kaleb. "Walking can help you with your physical appearance."

"What's that mean? You think I'm fat?" Kaleb groaned, lifting his shirt up to show off his incredibly ripped abs.

"No, but you could use some sun," Kaden shot back, laughing which was later joined by Ethan.

"Whatever. I have better things to do at home anyway," Kaleb muttered sulkily.

After that, no one made a sound anymore, just quietly waiting for the free period to past. Turning to look at Ethan, who was spacing out while being effortlessly handsome, I couldn't help but feel an overwhelming sense of pride in myself.

I really made him turn down his friend's request without directly telling him that I opposed it, meaning that, it was wrong of Charlie to say Ethan was oblivious about my feelings when he was always the most attentive one.

"Now that I know Charlie is suddenly gay, do you guys think he's more into butt stuff or lightsaber action?" Kaden spoke up after that minute of silence.

My eyes went wide as I gasped while Ethan's and Kaleb's mouths both fell open simultaneously. Being around Kaden, I have had heard a lot of weird stuff coming out of his mouth except what he had said just now was even more outrageous.

"Kaden, what the fuck?" Ethan exclaimed, barely able to hide the amusement on his face.

"That's disgusting," Kaleb said, face twisting into a grimace.

I shook my head. "Seriously, Kaden?"

"Pftt, can't anyone take a joke anymore? You guys are some sensitive generation," Kaden retorted.

"I can but, can you take a punch in the face though?" Ethan spat and reached out to grab my hand. "Let's go before he corrupts your innocent mind."

Kaden was completely offended by the reply. "Ugh, don't act like you guys never searched up gay porn."

There was no reason for me to stay, after all, I had been wanting to leave and once Ethan pulled me up with him, I followed after him like a little lost puppy. I flicked a glance behind and saw the look of panic and regret on Kaden's face the moment Ethan and I started to slowly walk away.

"Wait, where are you guys going?" Kaden called out to which his question was met with no response.

"You too?" Kaden proceeded to say to Kaleb soon as the guy picked up his backpack and slung it over his shoulder

We all ended up leaving him there alone to think about what he said.