I bolted up in bed, scrambling sideways against the wall. I was panting heavily, my eyes darting around. My body was covered in cold sweat, and my heart was hammering against my chest, the sound filling my ears.

                I carefully scanned every inch of my bedroom, making sure that there was really nothing in there. I pushed my hair out of my face.

                “Just a dream,” I mumbled to myself. I couldn’t remember what it had been about. But it hadn’t been real, and that’s all that really mattered.

                Still, my body was trembling. I found myself fumbling with my cell phone, dialing Will’s number and holding the phone to my ear.

                I backed myself into the corner, pulling my knees up to my chest and allowing my eyes to dart around my room again. It was dark, the only light coming from a streetlight outside. It cast a dull orange glow through my room, illuminating it just enough for me to see everything.

                “Hello?”

                Will’s voice was sleepy, but I could tell by the tone that he had already been awake. I mentally kicked myself. I shouldn’t have called him. If I had called him while he had been sleeping, I would’ve beaten myself up over it. The kid needed to sleep.

                “Hey, were you already up?” I asked.

                “Yea. I never went to bed. I’ve been working on a paper,” he said, yawning. “Why, what’s up? It’s three in the morning.”

                I checked the clock. It red out 3.17, and I knew I wasn’t going to be falling back to sleep anytime soon.

                “You should go to bed,” I said.

                “I know you didn’t just call me at three in the morning to tell me to go to bed. What’s up?” he asked.

                “I couldn’t sleep. So I figured I’d call you, I guess,” I said, slowly uncurling my body and cautiously lying down. I rolled over so that I was facing my room, my eyes continuing their patrol.

                “Nightmare?” he guessed.

                “You could say that. I don’t know. I can’t remember what it was,” I said.

                “What’s the worst dream you’ve ever had?” he asked.

                Normally, I would’ve made some snarky comeback. But I had just woken up violently, and I was exhausted. I wasn’t thinking right. So I answered honestly.

                “I once had a nightmare that I got killed in a hit and run. No one came to my funeral, and no one remembered who I was by the next day. Not even my own parents. My ghost floated around, trying to get someone’s attention to remind them that I had been alive. To let them know that I was still there. But everyone forgot about me, and I faded away. Then I just…woke up.” I rubbed at my eyes. God, I was so tired.

                “Do you want me to come over?” he asked.

                “No,” I said, shaking my head even though he couldn’t see me. “I want you to go to bed.”

                “Do me a favor, Ethan. Close your eyes,” he said.

                But I didn’t want to close my eyes. I didn’t want to risk something crawling out of its hiding place in my room and getting me.

                “Please,” he said quietly. “Just close your eyes.”

                I gulped and slowly closed my eyes, forcing myself to keep them shut. “Okay, yea, I closed my eyes. Why am I doing this?”

                “Because. Now, tell me some of your best memories. Hell, tell me all of your best memories, no matter what they are,” he said.

                “Uh…okay?” I said in confusion.

                “Just do it. And keep your eyes shut,” he commanded.

                I sighed. “Fine. Um, I guess a good memory is going to Disney World every year until I was 13. I went with my parents and grandparents. Meeting Benji, and having him introduce me to his friends.” I yawned. “Getting into a relationship with you. Um…one time, when I played soccer, I scored a goal that won the championship and my dad hugged me. I could tell he was honestly proud of me in that moment. He hasn’t been since. I think that’s one of my happiest memories.”

                “More happy ones,” Will said. “I want to hear more happy memories, Ethan.”

                “Overcoming school and managing to cling to good grades.” Another yawn. “Dating you.” My voice was drifting off.

                “You’ve said that twice already,” he pointed out.

                “I did?” I was mumbling now.

                “Yes, you did,” he said and laughed.

                I thought I replied to that, but I couldn’t be sure. My hand relaxed and the phone tumbled out of it, landing on my bed as I drifted off to sleep.

                                                                                                ***

                “We’ll leave no heart unbroken! Let’s love like 17. I’m in love with poisoning. Only bring your pretty, frightful gifts to me. Let’s love and kill like 17 now.”

                I rolled over, turning my alarm off. I rubbed my eyes and reached over, picking up whatever was resting against my head.

                I stared in surprise. “Will?” I asked in shock.

                “William Alexander Duvet, at your service.” His voice came out of the cell phone.

                My phone announced that we had been having a conversation for nearly four hours now. What the hell?

                “You called me last night,” he supplied helpfully, as if reading my mind.

                “I remember that much. I don’t remember falling asleep,” I said.

                “Well, you did,” he said.

                “Thanks for that, Sherlock. Have you been awake all night?” I asked.

                “Nah, I passed out a half hour after you did. I woke up about an hour ago and couldn’t get back to sleep. I’m just in bed reading,” he said. “I’ve kept the phone on speaker in case you woke up.”

                “Right.” I rubbed the back of my neck. “Do you have class today?”          

                “Yep.”

                “Are you going to go to all of them?”

                “Nope.”

                “Will.” I rolled my eyes. “Look, I get it. You’re struggling, you’re stressed, your grades suck. But you can’t just skip. That’s the pussy move. You need to actually go to your classes. I thought you were stronger than this.”

                “Call me if you need anything else, Ethan,” he said and hung up the phone.

                “Asshole,” I grumbled, tossing my phone onto my nightstand.

                I forced myself to get up and get ready for school. I got into my mom’s car. We only had two cars, so my mom typically dropped me off every day.

                “Ethan, are you okay? You look really tired,” she said, sounding nervous.

                “I’m fine,” I assured. My thoughts were on Will. Here I was, claiming I was so determined to help him. And so far, all I had accomplished was letting him slip in too far to the dark parts of my mind. I had to seal off the bad things and focus on him.

                She pulled up to the school a few minutes later. “Goodbye, Ethan. Have a good day at school. I love you,” she said.

                “Bye,” I said, jumping out of her car.

                I went into school and made my way over to Benji’s locker. He and Gideon were talking about something.

                “Hey guys,” I said, stepping up to them.

                “Hey Ethan!” Gideon said with a smile.

                “Hey,” Benji said, giving me a small wave. “We’re all going to my house after school. Do you want to come?”

                “Nah, I’m going to go bother Will,” I said.

                “Don’t bother.” Sonnet suddenly materialized behind me. “He said he won’t be home until at least four.”

                “Bummer. Guess I’m stuck with you three,” I said.

                “Thanks,” Benji said with a pout.

                “I say that with the greatest affections,” I said, slinging an arm around his shoulders.

                “Gideon,” Nate said, coming up to Gideon. Jude was trailing behind him, his head held high. His impossibly black eyes slid over each of us, but didn’t linger on any of us until they finally stopped on Gideon.

                “Yes Nate?” Gideon asked, ignoring Jude.

                “Come with us. Me, Landon, and Rob need to talk to you about the game next week,” he said.

                “Greyson is on the team too,” Gideon said.

                “Yea, but we don’t need to talk to him. We’re talking about practicing the strategy coach taught us at practice. That strategy only involved the four of us,” Nate said flatly.

                “Okay, okay. Fine,” Gideon said. He glanced at us. “I’ll see you guys in a little, I guess.”

                We watched them until they had disappeared. Benji groaned and leaned against his locker.

                “Jude freaks me out with those dark eyes,” he said.

                “He freaks me out with his psycho pathetic tendencies. But the eyes don’t help either,” I said.

                The bell rang and we all made our way to class. We ended up at Benji’s house afterschool, hanging out in his living room.

                “No, no, NO!” Benji cried in despair as I stole his star in Mario Party.

                “Sorry. No mercy in this game,” I said with a shrug.

                “The game that ruins friendships,” Sonnet said fondly.

                “Dammit,” Benji groaned, falling against Gideon’s shoulder.

                Gideon laughed and pat his back reassuringly. “Don’t worry Greyson! You’re doing fine!”

                “No he’s not. I just stole his only star, he has 3 coins, he hasn’t won a single mini game, and he’s on his way to Bowser,” I pointed out.

                “You are not a nice person,” Benji said, aimlessly button smashing as the final mini game started up.

                “I never said I was,” I said, grinning.

                “Bathroom break,” Gideon said, jumping up.

                “Hell yea. I call upstairs bathroom,” Sonnet said, pushing Gideon out of her way and heading down the hallway.

                “Jerk!” he whined and made his way downstairs.

                “Hey Ethan, are you okay? You look really tired. And you seem…different,” Benji said.

                “I finally hit puberty,” I said.

                “I’m serious.” He rolled his eyes at me. “You look like something is really bothering you.”

                I forced a grin. “Yea, my virginity. Want to take it?”

                “Pervert,” he grumbled, turning to dig through his Nintendo 64 games. Unlike Will, he fell for my distractions. It was nice.

                Gideon and Sonnet returned and Benji put in Mario Kart, handing all of us controllers. I leaned against his couch as we started to play.

                “Remember that time we played with Jamie?” Gideon said and started laughing.

                “He never even got through one course,” Sonnet said, also laughing now.

                “That was the day with the poptart revolution and the thing with the purple jeans!” Benji said, joining the laughter.

                “And Jamie just completely tripped outside over the tree stump,” Gideon said.

                “That was such a great day. Remember the thing with you, Benji, Jamie, and the soda slurping?” Sonnet said fondly.

                I grit my teeth, jealously flashing through me so violently that it shocked me. I desperately tried to stop the flood of thoughts coming to me.

                So many inside jokes. I bet they had a shit ton of fun together with their friends. Laughing and smiling and never once stopping to considering how lucky they are that they even have friends. I really hate them.

                I firmly pushed those thoughts aside. I didn’t hate them. They were my friends. They were good to me. I had fun with them. There was nothing to be jealous of and no reason to hate them.

                “Ethan?” Benji poked my shoulder. “What’s wrong?”

                “Huh? Oh, nothing. I zoned out,” I said.

                My phone buzzed and I pulled it out of my pocket. “Hello?”

                “You’re at Benji’s right?” Will asked.

                “Yea, I am. Why?” I asked.

                “I’ll be there in about two minutes. You and the bitch get your asses outside,” he said and hung up.

                “That was your charming brother informing me that he’s picking us up in two minutes,” I said, sliding my phone back into my pocket and standing up.

                “I hate him,” Sonnet said, also standing up.

                “Bye guys!” Benji said, waving to us.

                “Bye Benji,” we said, heading downstairs and outside.

                Will pulled into the driveway a minute later. We headed over to the car. Sonnet went to get in the passenger seat, but Will locked the door and pointed towards the backseat.

                “William Alexander Duvet!” Sonnet said, glaring at him.

                “Backseat, bitch,” he said to her, cracking the window a little.

                She glared at him but got in the backseat. Will motioned at me to get in the passenger seat, and I did.

                “I hate you,” Sonnet reminded Will patiently.

                “Yea, yea, yea,” he said, tipping a box of Nerds back into his mouth. He set them down and pulled out of the driveway.

                “Why do you like Nerds so much?” I asked, picking up the box.

                Will shrugged. “I just do. I always have.”

                “He’s addicted to candy, especially Nerds,” Sonnet said. “I’m surprised he’s still so scrawny.”

                “No, Ethan is scrawny. I’m in shape,” Will corrected.

                I pouted. “Thank you, Will.”

                He pulled into his driveway and we got out of the car. We went inside and Will led me to the dining room, where there was food on the table.

                “Ethan’s allergic to nuts,” Will said, pushing a bowl of something I couldn’t identify away.

                “Oh, I’m sorry Ethan. I didn’t know,” Grace said with a frown.

                “If you even look at the food in this bowl, I will kill you,” Will promised me.

                “William!” Grace frowned at him.

                “What? He eats food with nuts in it all the time,” Will said.

                “Oh, it’s only been a few times in the past year!” I said.

                “You should be more careful,” Will said, scowling.

                “Okay mom,” I said, sitting down.

                Will scowled more, sitting down next to me. Sonnet walked in and raised an eyebrow at her brother.

                “Will is scowling. What else is new?” she said, sitting down across from him.

                Will’s scowl deepened even more. I swear this boy could out scowl everyone else on the planet.

                “Alright, here Ethan. This doesn’t have nuts,” Grace said, sliding a plate of spaghetti to me.

                “I feel like I have to babysit you whenever food is involved,” Will said, taking a bite of whatever the hell it was that I wasn’t allowed to eat.

                “I can take care of myself,” I grumbled, shoving spaghetti into my mouth.

                Once we had finished eating, Will stood up and pulled me downstairs with him. I sat on his chair as he laid down on his bed, hands behind his head.

                “So are you okay?” he asked. “I mean, you did call me at three in the morning.”

                “I just couldn’t sleep. Thanks for helping me fall back to sleep, by the way,” I said.

                “No problem,” he said. He glanced over at me. “You’re breaking.”

                I raised an eyebrow. “What?”

                “You know what I mean. You’re breaking. You’re breaking on the inside and it’s starting to show on the outside. You look tired and afraid and lonely. And sad. Horribly sad.”

                “Maybe I’ll cry a river and drown the whole world,” I said.

                He snickered. “There you go again, trying to make it a joke.”

                “What do you want me to do?” I asked, my voice coming out sharper than intended. “Sit here and cry about it like you? Shit happens. Life gets better. You just have to shoulder the rough times.”

                “Don’t talk like you understand,” he said, glaring at me.

                “I get it, Will. I really do. Your grades suck and you can’t get them up. So you quit. You thought you were going to have this great social life, and you didn’t. So you moved back home. You think life owes you happiness, and it doesn’t. So you scowl and mope,” I said.

                “Ethan,” he growled. “Watch your mouth.”

                He had broken down some of my walls. Dragged bad memories out as they kicked and screamed and tried to crawl their way back to the dark parts of my mind. So why couldn’t I do the same to him?

                “You’re 20 years old, Will. Go to class. Work your ass off. Do something with your life. Work hard for your dream,” I said, controlling my urge to pick a serious fight with him.

                “Easy for you to say,” he said, turning his gaze back to the ceiling.

                “How is that easy for me to say? Seriously?” I pointed to the scar under my eye, and then at my torn ear. “In case you forgot, I haven’t had it very easy growing up. School is the last place I want to go. But I go there, I suffer through it, and I work hard. Because I want to do something with my life. And I honestly want to see you do something with your life. So go to class, you lazy bastard.”

                He sat up, getting off of his bed and coming over to me. He brushed his fingers against my cheek, searching my eyes.

                “Sometimes I think you’re the strongest person I’ve ever met. And sometimes I think you’re just really good at pretending,” he said and kissed me.

                “Sometimes I think I’m lucky to be dating you. And then you start talking and I wonder how hard I’d have to bang my head against the wall to kill myself,” I said when he had pulled away from my lips.

                He grinned and pulled me over to his bed. We laid down together and he put on a movie. He pulled me into his arms, kissing me.

                We laid together in comfortable silence as we watched the movie. When it was over, I got up, stretching.

                “I better head home before my mom has a heart attack,” I said.

                “Alright. Call me if you need me,” he said, adjusting his pillow and flinging his arm over his eyes.

                “Bye Will,” I said, leaving the room after receiving a lazy wave from him.

                I made my way home, greeting my mother in the kitchen. My father was in the living room, and I pretended not to notice him, hurrying to my bedroom instead.

                I sat down on my bed, running a hand through my hair. I really had to get control of myself before Will got to me. He was trying to make me snap at him. He was hoping I would let something slip that I didn’t mean to. He wanted to pry into my past, and that was the last thing I was going to let him do.

                Still, Will was having a better time figuring me out than I was having figuring him out. He was stubborn as hell and-

                “That sneaky fuck,” I said, my eyes widening.

                “Don’t bother. He said he won’t be home until at least four.”

                I whipped out my iPod, scanning through the picture of his college schedule. Sure, his hair was a mess and he had been wearing sweatpants and a ratty T-shirt, but…His classes today ended just before three. And it was approximately an hour between the college and Benji’s house. Which meant…

                Will had gone to all of his classes today.

                “Well,” I mumbled to myself, rubbing my temples. “I have no idea what this means. But it’s good. It’s definitely good.”

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A.N.- I am so sorry for that last chapter, everyone. It should be illegal to have so many typos in a single chapter. I wrote it while I was hanging out with some friends, so I wasn't completely focused on my writing. Super sorry for that! But, thank you guys for making Changing Will #3 in the Other category!!!!!!!! You guys are the best and deserve the exclamation point abuse!!!

Also, updating is going to slow down drastically because I have an exam every day next week except for Thursday. So basically I'm going to be studying my brains out until Friday afternoon. But then I'm off for almost a month, so I can have a lot more writing time! Yayyy. 

Anyways, hope you're enjoying Will and Ethan! :)