THE JOCK JUST WANTS THE NERD [2]

*trigger warning

||ETHAN||

"Ow!" I yelped, sucking in a sharp breath through my teeth. Blood was seeping through my finger because I had accidentally cut myself with a knife.

"You okay?" Kenny heard me wince as he sees me through the delivery window holding my stinging finger.

"Y-yeah, It's just a scratch," I swatted with the other clean hand. The cutting board has a couple droplets of crimson red, thankfully none had exactly touched the vegetable I was chopping. So instead, I redistributed the sliced greens into a separate bowl and rinsed off both the board and the leaking pain in the sink.

At least it's only a bit of blood. I can handle a minor wound.

-

It is 5:00 pm.

Carla, Kenny, and I stood out by the small parking lot by the side. He told that he didn't need a ride from us because Kyle will pick him up in just a few minutes. "I would take my broken bike, but I don't wanna return to my old house where I left it," Kenny sighs, "which is a bit of a letdown because Kyle still kept the rewarded money from the college fair he won weeks ago. He insists I take it, so I did and would want to use it for repairing purposes. But if he has the chance to bring me to both work and school, I guess I wouldn't mind," he shrugs. Carla and I have still have yet to get over that Kenny is a lot freer to speak. It wasn't a bad thing, the two of us enjoy how expressive he is now.

After a few bits of friendly banter, a car slowly approaches from the distance and carefully stops nead us. With a pause, the person gets out and looks at us with a friendly face, "hi there."

"About time Kyle," Kenny roles his eyes light-heartedly. He approaches the front seat and waves at us.

Kyle bids a farewell too, "bye Carla, bye... Ethan, yeah!" He sends a smile before they got in and eventually drove off.

Carla observes as the car passes further into the heart of town, "you know, I'm glad Kyle studies phycology. He's a great listener and advisor for Kenny, I'm sure."

I agreed, though I may not know the full context, I know he was with Kenny at the bridge and is trying his best to consult him whilst rehabilitating to get better. Kenny sure is lucky to have a friend like him. Sometimes, I can see how both of us are alike mentally:

we faced such horrible traumatic events in our lives, dealing with familial issues and scarring our innocence. At the time, all Kenny had was Kyle, while I had Kyomi and anti-depressant pills. Eventually, we both met, grew a bond, and made other friends along the journey.

However, I could never have the guts to pull the trigger and do a stunt that will end my life.

Kenny almost had nothing to lose, while I think about the people who would be extremely affected and distraught at my death. Just by the thought of friends and family feeling remorseful would inflict great pain on me just as much as it would on them.

Just now did I realize how dark my mindset was heading. I instantly dismissed them as I turn to Carla, "we should hang out again like last time," I suggested.

She complied, "oh definitely, I miss us."

With that, we part ways and directed towards our own transportation.