Ethan woke up with a smile on his face. He wondered, only for a moment, what had him so happy. And just like that, all of his memories came back to him. Ethan woke up more positive and energetic than he had in years. He got his phone, turning off the alarm that was set to go off any minute, and started playing one of his favorite songs. Ethan hummed and danced (quite pitifully since it was early in the morning) all the way to the bathroom. He continued to hum all of the consecutive songs as they came up while he brushed his teeth and showered.

And it was all because of Chris. The disappointment Ethan had at realizing that he and Chris weren’t on the friend level was whisked away by their riveting text conversation. Ethan couldn’t speak to Chris at school, but he could do so on his phone. The exchange of letters on a screen somehow felt even more private when Ethan saw ‘Chris’ at the top of the screen. 

They were secret friends, sharing private messages away from the public eye. The two of them shared inside jokes and song recommendations, knowing that they bonded in a different way even if the rest of the world saw them as acquaintances.

That fact excited Ethan to no end. 

Ethan came down the stairs with a wide grin, which didn’t go unnoticed by his mom. Ethan was pouring himself a bowl of cereal and she watched him closely, taking in his perky step. Ethan turned around and found her staring at him.

“What’s got you so happy?” She asked, eyeing him up and down as if she would somehow find the answer herself. Ethan could tell that she obviously saw his attitude as suspicious. But, suspicious of what, Ethan didn’t know.

“Nothing.” Ethan replied lamely, shrugging his shoulders in typical teenager fashion. “I was just talking to a friend last night.”

This eased Mrs. Sterling’s worries greatly, judging from the way she sighed and pressed a hand against her chest in relief.

“Oh good.” She said with a smile, turning to her plate. “For a second I thought you had gotten involved in some of those drugs.”

Ethan’s mouth went open. He was shocked and a bit insulted that she had assumed that and wanting to tell her off for not trusting him. Then, it closed when Ethan remembered that he had tried something at a party once. It had been freshman year and Ethan had been eager to impress the upperclassmen around him. 

But, when Ethan couldn’t even remember what he’d done the night before, he was too freaked out to ever want to do drugs again. So, Ethan let his mother assume that he was still “innocent” and silently ate his breakfast. 

—————

As Ethan rode the bus to school, he imagined what he would say to Aiden. In his mind, he was the perfect story teller. Ethan could craft his conversation with Chris with such vivid description that Aiden could see Ethan’s bright phone screen in his mind’s eye. Ethan was an artist, painting a picture so perfect Aiden would forget he wasn’t already by the lake. 

By the time Ethan arrived at school, he had already told Aiden the story a dozen different times a dozen ways. At least he’d done so in his mind. Ethan found Aiden at his locker, same as yesterday, like they’d done for the past year. But, today wasn’t the same. The glow to Aiden’s skin was different. The smile that nearly broke his cheeks was different. A good different, of course, but still different.

“Hey, I have something to tell you.” Ethan began, smiling brightly. 

“Hey,” Aiden repeated, his smile twenty times brighter than Ethan’s. “I have something to tell you too.”

Ethan’s brows raised.

“Really?”

“Yeah, but you go first!”

Ethan was going to do as Aiden said, but the way Aiden rocked on his heels, barely able to contain his excitement, was too distracting. Aiden obviously wanted to get out his surprise far sooner than Ethan did.

“Nah, it’s okay. I want to find out what’s got you so lively.”

Aiden did not need to be told again.

“OK! So, I went back to Aaron’s house for our project and I snuck into his art room again because it’s beautiful and Ethan guess what I found.” Ethan didn’t get a chance to try because Aiden was already yelling out the answer. “A room filled with drawings and paintings of me, Ethan. Of me! I couldn’t believe it!”

Ethan couldn’t believe it either. He noticed that Aaron had a thing for Aiden but he would have never guessed that he would make so much art —like, a million of them, Aiden later added— of Aiden. Plus, a part of Ethan had wondered if he had mistook Aaron’s friendly affections as a romantic one because Aiden insisted that Aaron wasn’t into him like that.

“Then I told him that I liked him and he told me that he liked me and that he’d never even dated Scarlett!” Aiden revealed, barely taking a breath as he rushed out everything he’d learned. “They were just faking it the whole time and Ethan, I’m so happy.”

Ethan was stunned. In under a minute Aiden had revealed three secrets some would never expect to hear in a lifetime. Ethan was very happy for his best friend but needed some time to process all of the shocking news.

Then, Ethan acknowledged that last night, while he and Chris finally started texting, Aiden and Aaron were confessing to one another. Ethan looked at Aiden’s face, the shorter boy smiling so wide his eyes curled at the bottom, and his shoulders slumped. How in the world could his silly little messaging news compare to Aiden’s announcement of having a new boyfriend. It couldn’t, not without losing miserably.

Ethan suddenly felt silly for being so ecstatic not long ago. He had acted as if he and Chris had kissed when all they’d done is type words to each other for a few, measly hours.

“So, what did you want to tell me, Ethan?” Aiden asked, bringing a wince on to Ethan’s face.

“It’s nothing. I just found a cool new artist.” Ethan said softly, lying through his teeth. “That’s all.”

“Oh,” Aiden muttered, his soft smile the only interesting thing on an otherwise bored expression. “Cool.”

The boredom Ethan saw there, a result of Ethan saying what he did after Aiden’s CNN worthy news, made Ethan feel a little embarrassed. But Ethan knew that reaction was a tenth of what he would’ve seen if he told Aiden the truth. Ethan changed the subject to something that would distract Aiden in an instant.

“I bet you’re really happy to know that Aaron likes you as much as you like him, huh?”

A light immediately lit up in Aiden’s eyes and Ethan confirmed that his little story could never compare.

“Yeah, I really am.”

This opened the gateway for Aiden to go on and on about Aaron. He talked about his personality, his looks, his hobbies and interests, his long lashes, and his large hands. Aiden talked about their plans for this evening and their decision to become official. And, Ethan listened, keeping his and Chris' messages to himself.

It was better this way. Ethan decided. Through Aiden’s story he learned that he had nothing to be excited about.

Ethan did think about his messages again and get butterflies in the stomach that day. But whenever this occured, he could squash them in an instant by remembering what happened during his first period.

Nothing.

Absolutely nothing.

At least yesterday Chris had spared Ethan a small nod. It had been a pity-filled gesture from his royal highness to one of his lowly subjects. But, this morning, the king hadn’t even spared Ethan that. Chris didn’t look his way once. Ethan stared and stared, hoping that Chris would just turn around, but the dark-skinned man never did. It was like last night never happened. Ethan frequently pulled out his phone during the day to confirm that it had happened because with the way Chris treated him, or didn’t treat him, Ethan had his doubts.

So, it was true. Ethan obviously had nothing to be excited about.