THE JOCK JUST WANTS THE NERD [2]

50

||ETHAN||

"What do I think of gay people?" My dad raised a brow, unsure at the moment of how to respond to such a random question in the late night. I figured it was a ridiculous thing to ask right now, but I was just perplexed by the given circumstances, "well... I don't mind, your friend Noah is a good guy, no harm was done," he gives off a small smile. Frowning, I nodded in agreement to his opinion. Dad's eyes faltered, a gentle rest of his hand upon my shoulder, "is there something you wanna talk about?" His tone had a hint of solicitude.

Keeping my attention low, I just shook my head, "no, it's nothing."

Dad didn't seem convinced but let it swiftly go, "alright," he gives me a tight hug and a pat on the back, "good night buddy," he grins softly before returning to his bedroom. The sound of his door closes and I shut my eyes, remaining under the tranquil emptiness in my mind. After sinking into my thoughts, I opened them and took a breather as I sat down on our sofa. "What now..." I murmured silently to myself. Though today was indeed a delightful one, it's admitted that my body feels really tired. I let my sight roam around the room to which it landed on a bunch of papers scattered around the kitchen table. Slowly standing up, I dragged myself to check on it. Getting closer, it looks as though it's Dad's documents from the police department. Certain words bolded on different pages: suspects, leads, compounds, "investigation reports?" My eyes narrowed with concern at the records. It didn't feel exactly right to snoop around Dad's work, but I was slightly intrigued. Sliding across some of the notes, there were highlighted sections that caught my attention:

Bath salts, 21 Jumps St., Trent Russel, Jaylen Russel, Gary Truong, Dawud Hawkins, and many more bits of information.

It seems rather confusing, but by inferring from these it must correlate to the recent incident. Sighing, I decided to re-organize after messing them up.

After doing so, I went to give myself a quick rinse, took my meds, and went to bed.

-

The sound of the sizzling pan popped as oil fried the dish. My head was in a trance, mindlessly remembering last night. The way how Jackson cared and treated me nicely, how close we were as I comforted him during the movie, and him bringing me to eat a great meal. An unexpected searing feeling stung my hand, bringing me back to my senses, "ow!" I flinched, flinging my hand around when I realized that the oil was increasing with the splattering.

"You okay?" Carla turned to check on me.

"Y-yeah, I'm fine," I pressed the area of where it hurt with my fingers. I shook my head and resumed on getting the food done and prepared.

-

"So he does!" Carla, weirdly giving off the same Kate vibe as she flashed her teeth with a grin, enthusiasm pouring. As usual, the three of us settled around the break room having our lunch. Kenny didn't pay much attention as he always has his pencil running and scribbling his schoolwork. I thought that it would be okay to tell at least Kenny and Carla just to get thoughts out of my system. "So, what did you say?" Her arms folded with anticipation.

"Well..." my body slumped forward, "I didn't really say anything."

With a pout, she nods, "I see..."

"You shouldn't expect them to just like each other," Kenny mumbled, the sound of his writing utensil slapped on the surface of the table. We both look at him as he pinches the bridge of his nose. "That's not how things go..." he glares.

Carla frowns, "but..."

"Geez, give it a rest. We shouldn't be so invested into someone's personal life," grunting in retort, the shake of his head displaying annoyance towards her immaturity.

With a breath of disappointment, she decides to stop pressing further, "okay, you're right."

Realistically, Kenny's thought process can be agreed to  in a way; committing to a relationship isn't as simple with a blink of an eye. There are times in which complications ensue and confuse one and or the other. To be honest, I don't even know what to do about this. This isn't just some love story where things are happy throughout. Who knows what will happen in the future. "Anyways, time's almost up," Kenny pointed at the hanging clock ticking on the corner of the wall. Soon, we began packing things up and got ready to head back in the kitchen. For now, it must be best to keep information to myself. Manners such as these should be on the down-low in respect for Jackson as well.

Oh Jack, I'm sorry if I've disappointed you. It's just that I don't know who to choose. A matter of either picking Kyomi or you, only time will tell. As we stationed ourselves, an immediate bell simultaneously rung from the door, "Hey Kenny," a somewhat familiar face walked in.

"Hi Kyle," Kenny replied with a bored tone.

"Haven't been here in weeks, you're keeping up despite school and other stuff," the guy who's named Kyle according to Kenny chuckled, "by the way, how's the plant I gave you?" He adds.

Pulling out a notepad and a pen, Kenny readies himself to mark down the orders. With a leer, he says, "it'll stay alive for a few days."