Three hours later, the exam ended and it was finally time to go home. Ethan walked out of the tuition block and approached his motorcycle. He had just been fed up by the sight of white papers, pens and questions that demanded some answers that were really hard to find, and Lance. Just then, Elena rushed behind him." Ethan, wait up!" she called out. He stopped in his steps and waited for her to catch up.
"So here we are," he began.
"Yes, here we are." She nodded.
"How was your last paper?"
"Do you have money to buy tissues?" asked Elena smiling in the end. That smile did wonders to whoever saw it.
"No, why?" Asked Ethan in confusion.
"You'll need lots of them while you cry in your bathroom when I crush your expectations."
"Ha! Ha! Very funny." He teased her.
"So, I was wondering if you could give me a ride home." She asked.
Without hesitation Ethan accepted. This was more of what he had accepted from her. They usually went home together but after the Lance incident earlier, he thought that she was going to ignore him for the rest of the day. Suddenly, out of the blues, Lance intervened. He always seemed to be where they were.
"Elena, why would you want to go in that piece of trash, when you can move with the groove in my car?" He didn't waste time trying to get Elena's attention.
Lance was much of a bragger. He believed that he had everything good in his life. Or that he deserved those good things for himself. He was rich yes, a rich kid, though his family was well under the low key. It's not that Ethan wasn't rich...his family was also rich. His father owned a successful law firm that was well known in the country, and with such a great business came lots of cash into the family's account. He had heavy pockets but didn't like to display his prowess in that field for that matter.
"Come on Lance, really?'' Ethan quivered.
"What are you going to do?" Lance roared back.
"You two just ruined my day." Said Elena who had been watching the two all along. Just then, two of her friends popped up in some salon car. She got in and left the two boys by themselves to figure out their own issues.
"Nice going, Lance" remarked Ethan, bored of his presence now.
"You really thought I was going to let her go with you?"
"No..."
"You really amuse me Ethan. I hope to see you soon."
"I hope not." He couldn't bare another sight of the guy before him.
"Graduation is at the end of next week. I think we shall meet, Ethan."
"What's your problem Lance?" He asked. "What's bothering you if I'm with Elena?"
"You took her away from me. That's my problem!"
"I didn't take her from you, you lost her."
Lance chuckled a bit, stroking his chin with his fingers. "Like a coin there are two sides of a story Ethan. We'll see which side of flips in favor of us."
Ethan just looked at him and kept quiet. He got on his bike and rode away leaving Lance at the scene of the confrontation. Lance looked over to where his car had been parked. There were some girls waiting for him. "Life's good" he said as he walked towards them. Lance Harper was slightly shorter than Ethan but he had looks. Good ones. Public and academically. Sports and socially. You name it. He was fine piece crafted just for the right guy. He was charming and this led most girls begging for a piece of him. 'I mean why you out there looking so edible?' girls would lament.
He had some friends namely Mike and Myles. The three had been close great friends since high school and had luckily managed to join the same university. Talk about destiny. They were all almost the same height. Myles had short blonde hair and Mike's was dark. They shared a lot in personality. The big cool guys from the rugby squad. Good looks were on check and some sense of lethal atmosphere around them. They were just a cup of toxic sex.
"What's up Lance?" called Myles.
"Nothing much. Just the fact that I don't like seeing Ethan around Elena." replied Lance as he looked at the girls around them. He ignored all of them as he never found them interesting enough...though he was glad they were there.
"What about the other girls in the school? Some are amazing too and you, well you can manage to have one as your girlfriend." Asked Mike.
"No, I don't want them. There is something special in Elena that I see. I don't know what it is, but it makes me want her even more."
"So let me get this straight. You want Elena but Ethan is always in your way?" Asked Myles.
"Yes." Mumbled Lance.
"So what you're trying to say is that you need Ethan out of the picture?" he asked once more.
"Something like that..."
*****************
Ethan arrived at home at about 8:30pm. He was pretty quick today as the university was about thirty minutes away from his home. He got in and found his dad, Paul playing a video game in their large living room. Beautiful L-shaped leather couches were more than eye inviting. The family portraits hung on the walls with a large acrylic painting the center of the masterpiece
"Hey dad." He called out.
"Fine son. Wait..." he struggled to play while he talked at the same time. Finally, his car crashed into some rock and he couldn't continue anymore. He placed the pad down looked at his son.
"How comes you arrived late today?" he asked.
"I had to go out and have some groove with my friends. You know...sharing the moments!" There was a smile on his face that stretched from ear to ear.
"Well I have some bad news. My law firm has not been in good terms with the government lately since the Jenna Clara case and I hope that you really enjoy these last days of campus because I need you to help me with the firm when you finish your examinations. And pass. If you pass."
"Ha! Very funny. Dad you don't need to worry about that. I'm going to ace that test. So is mom around?"
"No."
"What about Ingrid?"
"Oh yeah, she's in. I think in the study room or her bedroom."
"Okay. I'll go talk to her."
So Ethan went on upstairs. Ingrid was his little sister and she had her room opposite his. They were the only kids of Layla and Paul. A lovely daughter and an elegant son... it was just the perfect balance. He walked to her room, knocked on the door and entered. There was no one in. He called out for her.
No response.
He called out once more. Still no response came back.
He couldn't bother to check for her in the study room. No teenager would be studying at such time of the day knowing well that tomorrow was a weekend. Ingrid was no exception either.
"Where is she?" he asked himself. He walked out of the room to the living room. His dad was still there playing the video game.
"Dad, she is not in the house."
"What?" They stared at each other. Ethan could notice the rage inside his father's eyes.
"Or maybe she has gone out for a walk." Ethan mumbled. By now, they probably all knew what Ingrid was up to. A high school teenager not at home at 8:30pm and the following day was a weekend? It doesn't take an Einstein nor an Elon to know what was up.
"I don't think so. People who go out for a walk can't be afraid to ask for permission to go for that walk." answered Paul.
Suddenly there was a sound of a tire screech outside the house, so loud that they heard it. The two lads peeped through the window blinds of the living room's biggest window. They saw her, Ingrid, coming out of a red car. They heard some giggling and saw her wave at the person inside. She then darted towards the backyard, climbed over the short fence and used a ladder to climb her old tree house. She then caught onto a rope that swung her right into her room. She changed her clothes quickly and when she opened her bedroom door— wham! Her dad and Ethan were there waiting on the other side.
"To the living room, young lady!" Growled her dad.