"Boys, time to get up," a soft voice whispered, and my eyes slowly peeled open. Ethan's mom was leaning over the couch, gently shaking her son's shoulder. Eventually Ethan groaned and slowly sat up, extending his arms to stretch out his back. A tiny sliver of skin between his t-shirt and jeans was exposed, and my eyes were immediately drawn to it like a moth to a lightbulb. Soon enough it was gone though, and Ethan's mom stood to her full height with her hands on her hips. "Oh Ethan, did you seriously sleep in your jeans? You boys are going to have kinks in your neck sleeping like that," she scolded, but gave me a mischievous smile. "Breakfast is ready in the kitchen."

As she walked off, I slowly rose off the couch, almost afraid of how sore my back would be. Wincing, I gripped my lower back once I finally managed to sit up.

"Sorry about falling asleep on you like that. That was the first time this entire week I felt even remotely okay again. So. . . thanks I guess," he muttered sheepishly, running a hand through his hair nervously.

"Ruining all my hard work already?" I smirked. Ethan frowned, looking at me funny before dropping his hand quickly with a grin. "I'm here for you. You know that right?"

"I do now," he said lowly. We stared at each other for a moment before his mom started yelling at us from the kitchen, forcing us to get up and get some food. I didn't realize how hungry I was until the smell of bacon and toast hit me like a brick wall, and I was suddenly very eager to eat. Ethan and I sat at the kitchen table with his little sister as his mom set our plates down in front of us. The kitchen was fairly quiet aside from the clanging of pans and his dad shuffling around in his slippers with his Garfield coffee mug.

"Mom, can I go play with Mary?" Ally asked, kicking her feet under the table and giving her mom an innocent smile.

"In a little bit, and only if Mrs. Clarissa says it's okay," Mercedes replied while viciously scrubbing a frying pan in the sink, not even bothering to look over as her thin eyebrows knitted together.

"Yes! Thank you!" Ally squealed, jumping down from her chair and running across the room in thundering steps. Ethan rested his elbow on the table, head in his hand as he bit off a piece of bacon.

"I'll have to spend all weekend just catching up on work," he grumbled. "I'd rather hangout with you."

I smiled, gently kicking his foot under the table. "You'll see me this Monday. Well, that is if I don't get expelled," I joked, finishing off the last of my orange juice.

"What?" He asked in shock, eyebrows furrowed. I waved my hand dismissively, getting up to clear my plate. "It's a long story. You missed a lot last week."

"I'm concerned," he eyed me warily, chewing slowly as his gaze searched my face for any indication that I was joking.

I sure wish I was.

~

My brain was going a thousand miles a minute as I rushed to the lunch room. It all started this morning, when Mrs. Clarissa woke me up at eight thirty to tell me I was in charge of breakfast and getting everyone ready. She looked a little worse for the wear, with dark circles under her eyes and slightly grey skin. My face probably looked more than a little alarmed as she reassured me she just had a little head cold, but that meant I was on the hook for everything until she had to drive Benji and Mary to school. Of course, a task like that made me more than a little late getting to Ethan's car, in which my apologies just seemed to tumble from my mouth out of control. No matter how much he tried to calm me down, tell me it was fine, that incident set me up to be chronically late and flustered for the rest of the day. And the best part? I had my very own personal rent-a-cop following me around everywhere.

Bursting through the cafeteria doors, I made a beeline towards the table Vera and I usually sit at, only now Ethan was sitting there too. Officer Hicks tried his best to keep up with me, but I was already late to lunch after being held behind by my science teacher for a shitty grade.

"Ivan! Hey what's- what the fuck?" Vera spun around in her seat to greet me, but quickly got distracted by Officer Hicks trailing behind me. That caused Ethan to look up too, eyebrows practically to his hairline and mouth parted in shock. Frustrated, I threw myself down next to Ethan and started to pull out my lunch. Vera and Ethan stared at me, their eyes asking for an explanation about the school resource officer currently following me around like I'm an unhinged maniac. Things were only about to get weirder as Chloe suddenly strutted over, raising an eyebrow at the cop as she sat across from me and next to Vera. Vera looked like her head was about to implode, looking between Chloe and I and trying to decipher how we went from at each other's throats to friends in a matter of days.

"That's my consequence for almost fighting you," I say, gesturing towards Officer Hicks with my head, who was currently leaning against the wall behind our table staring at his phone.

"Are you serious? I told Mr. Hannighan we worked it out ourselves," she exclaimed incredulously, flicking a piece of blonde hair over her shoulder.

"Well, they seem to think I'm a danger to others," I grit. Chloe's shoulders slumped, eyes searching my face, and I stared back, knowing she understood the context behind that. "I'm really sorry, Ivan. That isn't fair."

I shrug, going back to eating my sandwich. "I came over here to let you all know that I'm having a costume party on Halloween night. You're all invited, of course. And. . . I just hope to see you there. I'm glad you're back, Ethan." Chloe sent a tight lipped smile to Ethan and Vera as she waved us all goodbye, before going back to her own table.

Vera stared at me with wide eyes, "how the hell did that happen?"

"We talked it out. She stopped me after school and apologized, I did too. She's really a nice person Vera."

"Does this mean you're actually open to going to her party?" Vera breathed, aghast.

"Maybe I am."

"Oh my God I'm never missing this much school again," Ethan groaned, rubbing his temples. "I can't believe you have a cop following you around Ivy, and you're agreeing to a party. What the hell happened?" He laughed, glancing back at Officer Hicks, who was looking around the cafeteria uncomfortably.

"Chloe and I got into a little argument at lunch and it caused a scene. Mr. Hannighan thought I was trying to incite a fight, so now Officer Hicks is required to follow me around for the entire week."

Shaking his head, Ethan crunched aggressively on a potato chip. "That is so stupid. Hannighan's a dick."

"Well, to be fair it was Chloe's jughead jock friends who escalated the entire thing. How did you tolerate sitting with them, Ethan?" Vera gritted.

He shrugged. "They were nice. To me at least."

My eyes drifted back over to the bored cop, who was currently back on his phone and not at all paying attention to me. Even when stable, I'm constantly being punished for my illness, my past actions always coming back to haunt me. I have self control, and rational thought, but with voices that can be as loud and as persistent as mine- anyone would lose their shit every once in a while.

I saw Vera subtly roll her eyes when Ethan wasn't looking, before starting to pack up her lunch. "Well, I'd imagine Emma will be going to that party, and if Ivan's going. . . I'm pretty much sold."

"Okay, I didn't really agree yet-"

"I think you should go," Ethan perked up, slinging his backpack over his shoulder. "Just- don't take alcohol from fuckboys anymore."

I glared at Vera, my cheeks going pink as she bursted out in laughter, and with a huff I stood up. "Yeah, yeah, are we going to gym now?"

With a chuckle, Ethan shook his head and playfully pushed my shoulder. "See you goons later then!" Vera called over her shoulder before suddenly rushing off in the opposite direction of the entrance. Confused, I watched her springy brown hair bounce before I noticed Emma off to the side, who gave me a small wave. That explains it.

"You're starting to come out of your shell." My head whipped back over to Ethan, who was smiling at me with an endearing look on his face. God, when he looks at me like that, I can never seem to function properly.

"Huh?"

"Nothing. Let's get to gym."

~

Let's hope this party goes smoother than the last! ;)

Leave a vote if you liked the chapter!