Chapter 99: Chapter 99

Ethan's POV

" Guys, y'all fill this form and give me before noon, okay ?", Coach says after morning practice, giving us all a form to fill our details for the upcoming inter school Football match, happening next month. It's an important match and hence we will be practicing more zealously from now on.

After I get the form, I walk to Michael who is sitting on a side bench, tired after the ten lap jogging. He's been coming with me for Jogging since three days, actually without any reluctance. I think he now really has the goal to get stronger. Or maybe he just wants to see me practicing. Yesterday he surprised me by saying I look sexy all sweaty.

And I'm really happy he don't actually care about people's questions, stares and whispers anymore. He is surprisingly not nervous after last days incidents.

After Amelia got arrested, people's doubt about us increased ten fold. Between she got only 7 months sentence in jail along with a fine of $2500.

Somehow everyone got to know, she got arrested for trying to drug Nate. And people aren't negligent enough when coming to these kind of matters. They can't just think she tried to drug Nate cause he is the main reason she and her friends got dismissed and suspended from school and hence she wants to destroy his future, which is the reason recorded in the crime file.

The last two days, everywhere I went, I was being suffocated with questions about my and Michael's relationship. He also received a lot of questions. But we both still says ' We are just friends' although it's clear to everyone that 'we are not just friends.'

Thank fully the issue hasn't reached our parents yet as Grace's Dad did everything for the case. Grace honestly told him about our relationship and that our parents don't know about it. She pleaded him not to reveal the things to them, especially to Michael's parents. To our luck, her Dad decided to not let our parents know and also made sure to not mention about our relationship in the case file. But he told us to tell our parents soon.

However I'm a bit worried our warden will soon change our room again or call our parents. He definitely got to know about the rumours by now and yesterday evening he actually came to our room to check up on us.

Thankfully we both were studying Calculus then and we had our books spread out on the desk. Mr Garvey didn't ask us anything and soon went back after saying we must keep our room a bit more tidy. But I know he is suspicious. I think we should try to act more like friends in public. In fact we stopped holding hands while walking.

Michael gets up from the bench, taking his water bottle as he see me walking towards him.

" What's the paper?", he asks me pointing at the form.

" It's a form to fill our details for the upcoming football match. Just height, weight and all.", I reply. He nods and we both walk in direction of the canteen.

After we have breakfast with Gavin and Grace, we go back to our dorm to get ready for school. Michael showers first while I sit at the desk chair, filling the form. Once he comes out, I quickly rush to the bathroom taking my towel. It was already 8:35.

When I step out of the bathroom, Michael flinches and stands up from the edge of the bed, quickly turning and walking towards his cupboard. He is still in his towel and his hair is dripping wet.

" Hey, why haven't you dressed up yet? What were you doing ?", I ask him confused. He doesn't reply.

" Baby..didn't you hear me ?", I ask.

" Ahm..I- I was...I was speaking to my M..mom on phone.", he stammers terribly whilst rummaging inside his cupboard.

" Hey, what happened to you ?", I ask and starts walking towards him.

" E..Ethan....don't come to me now. Please s..stop there.", he says in a hoarse voice, still his back facing me.

" Baby..what's wrong ?", I ask taking slow steps towards him, nervously. What suddenly happened to him ?

He then quickly grabs a pair of clothes from the cupboard and starts rushing towards the bathroom through the other side of the room. But I quickly rush behind him and engulf him in a back hug. He lets out a small sob, further tensing me up.

" Michael..what's wrong ? Tell me..what happened?", I ask, tilting my head and looking at his cheeks. There's no sign he cried or anything. But he is so tensed and I can literally hear his heart thud vigorously against his chest.

" Nothing.", he shakes his head. " Leave me Ethan.", he says, trying to pluck away my hands from his waist.

" No..tell me what happened? What did your Mom say ? Did she come to know about our relationship or something ?", I ask.

" No. She d..didn't say anything. She just simply called to hear my v..voice and just wished me a g..great day.", he says.

" Then what ?", I ask.

" It's nothing Ethan. L..let me dress up. It's late.", he says.

" No..we aren't going without knowing what your problem is. Why are you so tensed ?", I ask.

"I'm j..just scared of my parents knowing about our r..relationship. Everyone here knows now. ", he says.

I realize I was total wrong when I thought he isn't scared and nervous anymore. But he acted like he isn't tensed. What happened suddenly? Did the call with his Mom made him suddenly think about the seriousness of things ?

" It's just rumours, right ? We haven't admitted anything. If your parents come to know about it, you may deny it. And how are they coming to know ? They won't, Michael.", I tell him. I can't afford to end this whole thing up in a break up. I'm ready to do anything to make him stay in this relationship.

" Hmm..", he nods. " They won't know. Now let me d..dress up Ethan. It's time for bell."

I hesitantly unwrap my hands from his waist. And the very instant, he rushes to the bathroom and shuts the door behind, locking it.

I'm tensed as I wear my clothes. Why he decided to change in bathroom ? All these days, he has been changing right in front of me. I'm afraid he is gonna break up with me.

He takes some time to come out of the bathroom. I observe his face as he steps out. It's still very tensed. But he gives me a tight lipped smile to cover up his nervous expressions.

Once he gets ready, he steps out of the room without giving me any time to reach and kiss him. A kiss before going to class had become our routine since some days. So it scares me further. But I don't make an attempt to pull him back to room and kiss him. Also there were people in the corridor.

I try to make him feel better saying his parents won't know, as we walk down the steps and head towards class. But he isn't even listening to me. He is in some deep thought. I feel like he is hiding something from me. He was perfectly alright until we reached back dorm from Canteen. What suddenly happened after that ? What might have he talked with his Mom ?

" Michael, just stop simply worrying about it. Do listen in class.", I tell him while we part ways to our classes. He nods to me before he quickly walks away.

When I see him again at lunch, he is still tensed and miserable. He is again in some deep thoughts as he have his lunch.

" Hey Nate..", Grace calls him. He doesn't even hear. So she shakes him and he flinches hard.

" Oh..uhm..what did you say ?" , he asks as she frowns at him.

" What's wrong with you ? You are in some other world. Only your body is here.", she says.

" Ahmm..I was just thinking about something.", he says.

" The rumours about you and Ethan ?", Milan asks. " Just don't mind it, Nate."

He nods wordlessly and looks back at his plate. I think it's high time since we tell about us to Milan and Dulce. Anyway I think they are just pretending clueless.

Evening, Michael has a strangely calm facade. As soon as we reach back at dorm, he lie back on our bed. I throw my bag on the floor and lie down beside him. I simply lie there staring at his side profile as he stares at the ceiling above us.

" Ethan, talk to me something.", he suddenly says.

" What ?", I ask him.

" About you. There are lot of th..things we don't know about e..each other..", he says.

"Okay, uhm...what do you want me to talk about now ? My earlier school.", I ask.

" Yeah....but there are more important things. I d..don't even know who is older among us. Do you...know ?", he asks.

" Oh ! ", I gasp almost shocked. How come we didn't ask that yet ? We have talked about a lot of things, even about our relatives and distant cousins but didn't bother to find out who is older. But we both are 18, so technically we are same age.

" When's your birthday?", I ask as he tilts his head to me. He doesn't reply and just stare at me.

Wait ! Was it his birthday today ? Was that why he was upset ? Cause I didn't wish him ? Oh fuck !

" August 10.", he finally replies.

Uff thank God ! It was before I met him.

" So I'm older than you by two months. Mine is June 7.", I smile. I actually wanted to be older.

He tilts his head back and look up at the ceiling. " Your sister ?"

" She is February 3.", I reply.

" You were so big when she was b..born, right ? You went to the h..hospital to see her ?", he asks.

" Yeah...I was almost 12.", I chuckle. " And yeah..I was actually at the hospital during the time of her birth with my Uncle. Even then my Dad was not at place."

" Was he there d..during your birth ?", he asks.

" No. He was out of country and came back only one week after my birth. ", I say and look up at the ceiling, feeling angry. " He never loved my Mom and didn't care for her during her both pregnancy. It was me who cared while she was pregnant with Eve and during mine, she was with my Grandparents."

" Where's your Grand parents?", he asks.

" They are in Arkansas.", I reply. " You know what all tension they went through during the time of my birth ? "

He doesn't reply or hum to me that I tilt my head to him, only to find him biting down on his lips and looking miserable again.

" What happened?", I ask.

" Hmm...what happened during your b..birth ? It was complicated ?", he asks.

" Extremely complicated.", I reply. " I'm actually prematurely born. At 8 months. It was surgery and my Mom lost a lot of blood. My Uncle had to run to arrange blood and stuff. Also then I was placed in Incubator for 2 days and it was only on the third day my Mom finally got to see me. And then she was struck with the shocking news that I've CBT. I stayed in hospital for almost two months, I needed extreme care. Don't know how much pain and tension my Mom might have went through during that time.."

" Wh..which hospital you were b..born in ?", he asks.

" St Bernards, Arkansas. Why ?", I ask.

He suddenly starts coughing.

" What happened Michael ?", I ask quickly sitting up and pulling him up by his arms. He keeps on coughing out loud while I pat on his head.

Where did this sudden cough came from ?

" E..Ethan...g..get me some water.", he says in between coughs. I crawl out of the bed and rush to get my water bottle from my bag. But then he slides out of the bed and rushes towards the bathroom, coughing.

" Michael ! What happened?", I screech in panic. He steps inside and closes the door shut.

" Hey ! Are you alright ?", I yell rushing to the doors. "Don't you want water ? Why you closed the door ? Open ! ", I shout knocking on the doors in panic as he keeps on coughing. What is actually happening to him ?

And then someone knocks on our room door. I ignore it and keep on shouting Michael's name.

" What's happening !?"

It's Mr Garvey's voice. I turn to see him standing at the doors. We hadn't locked the room door actually.

"Sir.., Michael....he..suddenly broke out into a fit of cough. He is inside.", I say in nervousness. He is still coughing but now the coughs has decreased in sound and frequency.

Mr Garvey immediately walks towards me. "Boy..are you alright?", he asks knocking on the door.

" Y..yeah..I'm...fine.", Michael says after a few moments and I let out a relieved sigh.

" Okay, he is alright. Don't worry.", Mr Garvey says turning to me. I nod to him. Why he now came to check up on us ? Seems like he will be coming every day.

" Between Ethan, you are changing room. I came to say that.", he says.

" What ? Why ?", I ask with widened eyes. Although I already expected this, It really shocks me.

" Ahm...you know there are some rumours in school regarding you and him...", Mr Garvey says motioning with his chin at the bathroom door.

" There's nothing like that between us. We are just good friends.", I reply.

" Yeah..I know. ", he nods. " I don't believe it or anything. I know you are just friends. But I'm just changing your rooms. I just don't want people saying bad things about our hostel. So you may pack your bags and move to Grace Adams’ room now. Gavin will move back to here."

I stare at Mr Garvey in shock for a few more moments before nodding to him. I can do nothing but agree to this, right ?

Michael doesn't get out of bathroom, even when I start packing my things. Mr Garvey sits on the chair, watching me. I try to pack as slowly as possible.

Why the hell isn't Michael coming out ?

" Ethan, make it fast.", Mr Garvey says. I nod to him frustratedly.

Michael ! Fuck ! Come out !

Maybe he is afraid to face Mr Garvey.

But baby please come out !

I instantly turn my head around as I hear the sound of bathroom door click open. Michael steps out, his gaze on the floor and wet bangs covering his forehead completely and falling to his eyes.

" Michael, what had happened to you ?", Mr Garvey asks turning to him.

" It's j..just..I suddenly got a cough. S..sometimes it happens to me.", he replies looking up.

" Oh..you are fine now, right ?", Michael just nods in reply and averts his gaze back to the floor. " Okay, your roommate is changing room. Gavin will be your roommate from now on." Mr Garvey says. He again nods, looking up for a brief second.

" Okay Ethan...C'mon pack fast.", Mr Garvey says turning back to me. I nod to him and turn around pulling out my stuff.

Within ten minutes I'm done packing and I walk out of our room 69 with Mr Garvey, without a word to Michael. He doesn't even glance up at me as I walk out.