Just Friends - Chapter 26: Chapter 26

Ethan's POV
"This – these – are stupid." Spencer grumbled; arms folded across his barley-there chest. His hips were slightly cocked to the side as he leaned against the clear, windex-ed glass and his face held a heavy scowl with his eyes blinking back and forth between my face and hands.
We were standing near the display window of a popular pet store after another one of my pet cats died. I had come to complain about them giving me faulty animals and to demand a refund and an actual working, fully functional housecat but was denied by the store manager who said that she couldn't give me another cat because she didn't want another one dead. Bitch, much?
Eventually I was forcefully removed...but not empty handed.
"You always say that." I replied and extended what was in my hand to him. He swatted it away. I frowned. "Why do you have to be such an ass about these things?" I grouched, keeping my hand extended just in case he decided to be civil. Just in case.
But, today just wasn't my lucky day. He shoved my hand back to my chest. "Keep it." He muttered.
"But," I squeaked, but he started walking. "They're supposed to..." I sighed and started to jog after him. "Wait up, loser!"
Saturday was sunny and hot and sticky and all around a good day. The weather was humid, sure, but it was the weekend and the sky practically screamed beach as me and Spence walked along the pavement somewhere in downtown Pleasant Acres.
It was quiet between us, but something comfortable and tangible and I liked it. Spencer's eyes were in his phone and I took in the sight of the odd red colored taxis pick up women in knee length dresses and large sun hats and big shades as well as took in the smells of corner side hotdogs and coffee. I hated coffee, but the smell was nice.
"Sniff any harder and you're going to inhale the entire sidewalk." Spencer mumbled, apathetically with his head still in his phone and his shades still sitting on top of his tamed hair. "And why are you wearing that thing?" he asked, looking over. His eyes went to my pocket. "What did you do with the other one?"
I shrugged. "Threw it away."
He raised a brow. "Why?"
"Does it matter? It's not like you wanted it..." I grumbled grudgingly, stuffing my hands into my jeans' pocket and kicking a loose pebble that was in front of me.
He didn't reply. So I took the moment to bring up the question I had asked earlier. "Do you..." I exhaled sharply, "Do you-you think you'll ever come back?"
"Don't be foolish, E." Spencer barked. "It's for the summer break." He had answered, though he didn't create eye contact.
"I heard your parents talking about maybe getting a place there in Manhattan...or something."
"Yeah," he laughed sharply; and void of humor, "they also wanted to get a home in Britain when we vacationed there last year, but home we came didn't we?"
"I guess." I answered, though it was meant for my ears and thoughts more than Spencer's. "I won't have anyone to cuddle with while you're gone." I pouted, folding my arms over my chest as I tried to avoid knocking into a businessman on his cellphone. "I won't even have a furry companion."
Spencer looked over with a little smirk. "Do you really think a little cat can replace my cuddle sessions?"
Nope. "Yeah." Spencer scoffed at that. "I mean, cats are just as damn sour as you are. Thinking they're kings of the world and shit." I chuckled and Spence mumbled something that didn't sound so nice under his breath.
"Well, then I'm glad that they denied you're attempt to purchase one."
I frowned. "It's not fair! I love and love them with my big-ass heart. And I cuddle with them and give them really cute names and one by one they die on me." I threw my hands up. "What else do cats possibly need!?"
"Food, basically." The older quipped. "Water is a close second though." Spencer sassed nonchalantly, but I could see the right side of his lips curve upwards.
"Dick." I mumbled.
Spencer chuckled. "Besides, do you really need another smelly animal in your room?" he stopped walking and stood near the entrance of Mocca... Hot, this really quaint and quiet (and stuffy – I hated stuffy) coffee shop that he liked to go to(mostly because it was a rip-off of that one coffee shop that the FRIENDS cast usually went to). The only reason I tagged along was because of the smell and hot girls asking what would I like today? I liked coming up with annoying-guy responses that made them blush and/or pour hot coffee on me. "Aren't you unkept and smelly enough?"
"Hey," I barked, "I'm a fourteen year old football playing male." I opened the door and he briskly walked in before me and I followed with a scowl. "If my room didn't smell like sweaty socks and dying and/or dead members of the feline family, then we'd have something to worry about."
He took a seat near the window and I sat across from him in one of the glossy wooden seats with round tables of the same color and patterned place mats; one of those round scented candles sat in the middle. "If that's how a guy's room is supposed to smell, then why doesn't mine smell like that?"
"That's because you're Spencer." I quipped and he raised his eyebrows.
"Is that supposed to mean anything?" he asked and I chuckled a little while avoiding answering his question because I liked seeing him get all red in the face when I did and the fact that he always had a problem with me and the boys finding him a bit girlier than us (He hated it. I was used to it.). "You're such an idiot." He steamed, rolling his eyes until only the whites were visible. He stood. "I'm going to pee." He mumbled and stalked off as I snickered light enough for him to not smack me at the back of my head.
Once he disappeared to the back of the where the bathrooms were, I heaved a sigh. Everything seemed a little bit wrong at this point. I was failing biology (again), I wasn't sure if I was going to get on the football team and I wouldn't even see Spencer for the entire summer.
I had tried everything to get him to stay so we could have The Best Summer Ev-ar together – just me and him and a lot of sun and girls and maybe a little self-discovery like those kids in the movies, but then his douch-ey parents pulled the ultimate act of douche and decided to take him away from me for three whole freaking months! I even suggested that he stay at my place while his parents and Kai go on vacation, but Jake said that it was a stupid idea (I personally disagreed).
Spencer on the other hand was willing to go with them because he said he had no choice and fighting it was futile..."so we should just buy some coffee or something and get over it" he said in classic apathetic Spencer fashion. If I wasn't so used to it, I'd be hurt.
"Hey."
I looked up, scowl still a little in place. "What."
The boy – blue eyes, tall, lots of curly possibly (definitely) dyed brunette hair and tanned blinked. "Are you...going to order anything?" he asked, sounding a bit annoyed. His voice was a little too deep for my liking, and he looked like he was still in grade school.
I raised a brow. "What's it to Ya?"
"Well, we have a buy or leave policy." He replied.
"Really," I hummed. "And what does...'policy' entail, my good man."
"You buy or you get out." He spat and I eyed him down narrowly.
I had just noticed his green apron. "Is this how you treat your entire clientele," I leaned closer to him so I could I could aggressively read his fake gold nametag that sat somewhere above his left breast, "Austin?"
What a stupid name, I thought.
"You're not clientele if you don't buy anything." He retorted. "So, buy a fucking Mocha Frappuccino or get the hell out."
I sat back down, planted my two big boots firmly on the ground and folded my arms across my chest. "I'm not going anywhere."
"Why are you outside?" Spencer said, coming through the store's door with a confused glint.
I waved his question off but narrowed my eyes at the drink, half empty might I add, in between his hands. "Did your ass sit in there and actually order without me?" I had thought he was taking the world's longest pee break.
Spencer's eyes blinked towards the clear cup with his name written on it and then back to me. "I guess." He answered with a light shrug and started walking again. I growled...but followed him anyway.
"So, since everything I have done has failed and you don't leave until four in the morning, what should we do for the rest of the day?"
Spence shrugged, throwing his emptied cup into a trash. "Whatever you want to do, really."
I groaned. "You know how I get when I have to choose between things, Spence." He rolled his eyes. "Wait." I said, stopping suddenly and he did a few moments later and turned around with his hands folded. "What about Beach and ice-cream?"
Spencer's eyes flickered with some a mixture of confusion and judgeiness." New flash, Littman: Pleasant Acres has no beaches."
"But Boise does." I responded. He gave me a dead look before spinning on his heels. I frowned and ran after him, draping a limp arm over his shoulder once I caught up. "Oh come on, Spencer. It isn't that far out of town and if I can't have a freaking sherbet ice-cream cone with my bestie on his last day here, well, then the terrorists have won."
"Ugh." Spencer mumbled. "Fine."
"Yes." I boomed, throwing my fist in the air. "Okay so we'll need some sun screen, two towels, swim trunks...or maybe we could just swim in our boxers, a killer playlist to dance to, a football, volleyball, a basketball, a soccer ball, a ping pong ball – that's what it's called right? I don't know, I don't play ping pong, it's a girl's sport...no offence to girls or whatever but,"
"Ethan?"
"Yeah?"
"Shut up."
"'kay."
We caught the bus back to Spencer's place to get what we needed for the beach and he was currently trying to get permission from his parents while I sat in the living room with Kai and Josh playing the new NBA game.
Kai looked different. His hair was a covering his eyes a bit and went from its natural brunette to a black sheen with blue highlights running through it. He even had a tattoo on his arm now; one of a human with a lion's head sitting on a throne. I wanted to get a tattoo last summer, but Spencer told me to not get one unless I wanted to get infected with HP5667-B..."a disease so frightening that they had to name it with only letters and numbers," he explained and that he "totally wasn't just spewing random numbers and letters". I guess they found a vaccine.
Kai's different appearance didn't detract from his stupid gaming skills though. In fact, I'm sure they added to it. "You pansies couldn't beat me even if your girl's life was on the line." He laughed.
"Dick." Josh grumbled and threw his controller onto the floor.
Kai chuckled and slapped him on the cheek. "Someone's a damn sore loser." He snickered, looking over to me. "You don't see your little brother acting all faggish and shit."
"Hey," Josh said sharply, "watch your mouth." He snapped and I swore his eyes blinked over to me for a quick second, but maybe he was just trying to avoid Kai's.
"Sorry," the newly raven haired boy laughed, holding up his hands in surrender and rested back into the couch. "I didn't mean to offend anyone." He said, and I swore again that he looked at me too! Was I missing something?
"So," Josh started, snapping me out of my thoughts, "where are you and Spence headed?"
"Library."
Kai snorted and Josh raised his brow. "Didn't school close last week Friday?"
"Well- well, how would you know?"
Josh blinked and Kai howled. "Dude," he laughed, "we go there." He wiped a laughed-induced tear from his eye. "Now, really. Where are you and brother off to?" Kai smirked. "Gonna bang some chicks or something?"
"No, we're just going to hang I guess."
"Where?"
My eyes went to Josh. "At the beach," I stopped him before he pointed out what Spence did earlier, "In Boise."
Josh deadpanned. "That's a three hour drive...and it's already one in the afternoon." He (obnoxiously) pointed out. "You'll never get there in time to get some sun in...or is that not much of a factor?"
"What do you mean by that?"
Kai shrugged. "Sunsets are cool to watch on dates."
"This isn't a date."
"Okay."
"That okay sounded really judge-y, Kai." I grumbled and they threw each other a look. "What was that look for?" I asked but was only answered by another set of annoying looks between them. "Look, I'm just trying to say our goodbyes the proper way...just like the both of you are."
"Yeah, but we're playing video games...not taking each other out on the beach to watch sunsets." Kai snickered. "I bet you're going to buy him ice-cream too."
"No, I'm not." I hissed and I growled once I felt my cheeks burning.
Kai cooed. "I personally find you guys' relationship a-freaking-dorable." Josh nodded in agreement and yet another stupid-ass look passed between them. Kai looked back to me. "You can take my car if you want to."
I blinked. " I'm fourteen."
Kai snorted. "You steal Josh's car all the time."
"What?!"
"He's lying! I swear! You can't prove anything!"
Josh scoffed. "I'll drop you both and I'll deal with you later."
"Picking you guys up at eight!" Josh yelled from the car and I threw up a lazy thumb to signal that I had heard him.
"Have fun, you crazy kids!" Kai yelled from the passenger side and both Spencer and I grunted in annoyance.
Once the older siblings were gone, we set up camp under one of the trees that barely touched the beach itself – or at least the sandy part that led to the water. Spencer had on a pair of shades, which was ridiculous since it was already after four and the sun wasn't exactly a big factor anymore.
"Soooo," I began, standing next to him, "you want an ice-cream cone?"
He looked up; although with those shades it was hard to tell if he was confused since he had his own money or happy because he didn't have to spend it. "Sure."
I nodded and nearly tripped, but caught myself before I had the chance to finally know just what sand tasted like. And on my trip to and fro, I learned a few things:
One: Boise's ice-cream was outrageously overpriced. 4.99 for a cone! As in singular!
"Why don't you take my arm and leg while you're at it!" I wailed, flailing my arms in the air like a madman at the blonde haired, green eyed vender before grudgingly buying two cones; rainbow flavor for me, vanilla for Spence. Was the economy that bad? Because it always seemed like those people on FOX News were over exaggerating. "Hide yo kids, hide yo wife and hide yo money because you'll need it when this economy crashes," that one news reporter had said.
Two: Boise's ice-cream was the greatest thing on planet earth...like...ever.
And Three: Spencer's parents actually thought we were at the library.
"They seriously believed you?" I questioned while trying to sneak a lick off of his vanilla ice-cream.
He smacked me in the middle of my forehead and licked his cone. "Yup." He answered. "Mom was too deep in her accounting stuff and Dad was on the phone with his boss to really care."
There was a deafening silence. "Oh."
"Yeah," he snickered but the somber honeyed laugh was drenched with bitterness. "Story of my life, right?" he asked, I assumed rhetorically, as he stood up with his empty cone (Spencer never ate the cone of his ice-cream for some reason). He blew out a patch of cool air and wandered over to the trash bin.
I took the moment to cheer him up...or piss him off depending on what angle you looked at it. I ran in his direction and tackled him the moment he dropped his cone into the garbage. We landed onto the sand with a loud thud and cursed pretty damn loud as well.
"Get off of me, you large oaf!" he grunted, sounding absent of breath. "You're crushing my spleen."
I snickered and placed my two open palms on the side of his; a little too hard because sand and dust shot up into the air and into Spencer's face and as he gasped for air, I couldn't help but chuckle at his expense.
That was until he kneed me in my gut. The air that unexpectedly left my lungs seemed to go into his because he was the one laughing now, almost breathlessly. "You're such a dick." I gasped, clutching my stomach and rocking back and forth slightly with my back and hair in the sand.
"Says the boy who tackled me and made me eat sand."
"You'll," I coughed as I got up, "pay for that." And I lunged myself at him.
That exchanged turn into a full on battle. We tackled each other almost everywhere on the beach; even joining in a game of tag football with a couple of guys. Spencer was obviously wary of doing so, but did anyway and he was pretty good until one of them who didn't understand what tag football meant tackled him so hard that I swear his head went in one direction, his body in the next and his dignity in another.
"That was pretty awesome." I mumbled, moving his hair out of his eyes. He smacked it away though, still a little bit upset – even though he was the only one because everyone else thought he was tough as nails for still walking around after essentially being speared. He even got a few numbers from some of the babes.
"We lost."
"But you were pretty good." I noted as we sat somewhere in the sand close enough to the water that the smell of salt and fish was pretty palpable and the sea would caress our feet as it came crashing against the late day shoreline. "You should try out for the football team with me in September."
"Right." He snorted and I could basically hear Sarcastic Spencer clawing his way back up now. And I wasn't ready for Happy-Go-Lucky Spencer to leave just yet. So I took the opportunity of silence to dig into my pocket and take out what I bought from the pet store earlier.
Without a word, I span Spence around in my direction and before he could protest to my sudden grabiness, I hung the dog tag around his neck. "...So, we can be together...even when we're not."
He blinked understandably, and looked down at it for a while as I put mine on. "I thought you said you-"
"I lied."
Another wave of silence crashed against us as the waves bathed the shore. Spencer gave me a gaping look – sparkling eyes and all – before he turned to the water again. "Oh..." came his only response...and I wasn't sure if it was meant for my ears or if he was just thinking aloud.
The sun was mighty fine this time of day and was fast descending. The ocean had cut it in half as it went down and the color it was giving off slapped and stuck onto the ocean and painted it in a pretty mixture of dark blue and light orange.
Spencer had been quiet for a while. Chewing at his nails; something I had never seen him do before. I didn't comment on it.
Every now and again, I'd sneak peeks over at him and more times than not, I would mentally pimp slap myself for it.
'Why are you looking over at him when there's a beautiful sunset sitting in front you?' I'd grumble underneath my breath only to hear something else chuckle 'something more beautiful is sitting beside you...and he's sneaking peeks too.'
I almost listened to that voice. I almost snapped my head in Spence's direction to see if he was looking but, barley stopped myself.
Instead, I snuck a glimpse over again. He wasn't looking, but the side of his face with his hair lightly dancing in the light tug of the wind, his little nose that was sharp at the end (He hated it. I liked it.), even the way he blinked in between ten second intervals (not that I counted or anything) was something to be admired...and loved. It always bothered me how he was so against getting a girlfriend. Every time I asked him if he liked one of the girls I pointed out, he'd shrug and say "she's alright, I guess" and that would be end of it. So, I decided to date girls for the both of us.
A few more seconds chugged pass before I decided to bug him with him leaving one more time before the sun completely disappeared and my time was up. "Do you think we'll be friends forever?"
He looked over with something resting in his eyes and on his face that I couldn't make out. "Maybe." He mumbled, reverting back to watching the sea. "Forever is a long time. People change."
"Not us." I responded, quietly but cuttingly. "You've been Spencer since I met you and I've been me...since forever. Nothing's change and I don't think anything ever will."
Spencer smiled and my heart tugged and I made a mental note to ask my doctor about that. "That's true, I guess. You still eat spaghetti like a walrus."
"And you still quote Mean Girls, even though that movie sucked."
Spencer scoffed. "I don't even...whatever."
I snorted out a laugh. "Seeeee." I hummed. "We can be besties for life and who knows, maybe we'll even date for a month or two!"
"Riiiight," Spence laughed. "And we'll go on dates at carnivals and such."
I grinned. "And maybe, I'll propose to you with a ring pop!"
"Cherry flavored." Spencer added and I wheezed out a laugh and started clapping my hands like a seal – sounds and all. "Yeah," he laughed, "that'll happen the day Russo gets a girlfriend, Abby dyes her hair blonde."
"Maybe we'll even get married." I added, laughing.
"And Karla and Jake will as well."
"It's not that impossible." I grinned, gummily. "You know how much they dislike each other."
"My point exactly."
After a few more little grins passed through our lips, silence took over again. Not that it was noticeable, really. My brain was more than filled with sounds and noises, most of which were made up of Spencer's grin and his laugh and his chuckle and his sigh and his breathing and maybe his heartbeat soon...who knows.
"You okay?" I could barely heard him over my own thoughts. But once I was able to make it out, my head snapped over to him wearing a solemn, genuinely worried look. "You've got those three lines streaking across your forehead again."
"I'm fine." I said, chewing on my bottom lip and playing with my fingers, though I didn't remember ever clasping them together. Spencer took notice; his eyes looked down at them before I had a chance to break them apart and gave me another look that I couldn't quite make out.
"Okay." He answered and moved himself over so he was a little closer to me. The sand had but all dissolved from our legs and he was shaking since he was shirtless. I took off my own to hand to him but he refused it. "I'm not your woman."
He took it about three minutes later.
It was a few minutes later – 8 minutes, 58 seconds and 23 milliseconds, to be more (needlessly more) specific when Spencer's right hand carelessly landed in my lap. And my heart tugged and fist pumped and moonwalked and single lady-ed from corner to ribcage-d corner.
I stared at that soft, half balled hand in my lap, not three inches away from my third hand ('not bragging if it's true) and I got this sinking nauseous feeling somewhere in the lower half of my body. And the rippling, house of cards effect shot through me like a gamma ray burst.
My hands shook slightly and the hairs on my neck and back felt as if they were trying to fly to the moon. And the thoughts were back. Only this time they weren't alone in screaming at me. Something from the bottom part of my gut and something from the top of my heart joined in.
Are you stupid or stupid?
Make a move, you big oaf!
Touch him! God, you suck!
Rest your hand on top of his, yuh moron!
Put his hand on your-
"No!" Spencer's head whipped in my direction as I brought my hands up over my mouth to keep something else from stupidly pouring out. He already was looking at me like I was a freak. "Sorry." I squeaked, but he didn't take his eyes off of me until a few seconds later when they slowly turned back to the ocean and took his hand with him.
I coughed. My brain was acting strange today...or more strange than usual anyway. Maybe my body was wanting Spence because he'd be gone soon? I didn't know, and I probably shouldn't care, but my heart felt like it was going to power its way out of my chest any minute now; and his hand casually and randomly rubbing against mine in the sand every thirty seconds (I swear I didn't count) sent this odd sensation racing up that hand and onto my arm, and over my chest, then it punched me in the gut and clogged my throat.
Maybe I was just, I don't know, excited. It wasn't as if I didn't find Spencer a little bit (okay, a lot) attractive...and I'd be lying if I didn't have one or two (okay four) dreams about him in a not so best friends kinda way, but but but you couldn't control dreams and I didn't have control over my tongue in said dreams and where that tongue went on said body of other said boy. Maybe the full moon was to blame. That's a thing right? Or is that exclusively for those werewolf guys?
I swallowedand took a glimpse in Spence's direction; just in time to see him smile silently into the vast amount of dark blue lying in front of him. That little smile turned into a toothy grin and before I could question him on why he's smiling like an idiot at nothing, he closed his mouth and tried to subdue the laughter; jaw clenched and everything. Spencer tended to snort when he laughed (He hated it. I Loved It.), and would cover it up at any cost. Watching him to do so was one of my favorite things to watch; it always sent my body into hyper-drive. Maybe I liked him......as in like liked him.
A laughed escaped him followed by a little squeak and my heart nearly deflated.
Definitely the full moon.