“Ethan, your friends are here!”

                My mother’s voice went up far too high in pitch when she said the word friends. I stood up and rolled my eyes, leaving my bedroom.

                “Have fun with your friends!” she said, again putting way too much emphasis on the word friends.

                “Have fun with your craziness,” I grumbled.

                She followed me to the door, watching me as I pulled my shoes on. I could see Benji’s car parked out in the driveway. I stood up to open the door and paused, glancing back at my mom.

                “Are you going to follow me to his car, too? Sheesh woman, and you wonder why I don’t have any friends,” I said with a sigh.

                “Just go and have fun Ethan,” she said, reaching out and squeezing my shoulder.

                “Yea, yea, yea,” I said, brushing her hand off and leaving the house.

                I climbed into the backseat of Benji’s car and shut the door. He pulled out of my driveway and took off towards Sonnet’s house.

                “Hi Ethan!” Gideon greeted from the passenger seat.

                “Hey Gideon. Nice of you to say hi, Benji,” I said.

                “I’m driving!” he said.

                “Yes, because it’s so hard to drive and talk at the same time. I completely understand,” I assured.

                “I don’t like you Ethan,” he said in annoyance.

                I grinned. “Yea, I know.”

                We fell into comfortable silence, Alesana playing out of the car speakers. Gideon and Benji sang along with the music together until Benji pulled into Sonnet’s driveway.

                The three of us got out of the car and I followed them up to the front door. Benji rang the doorbell and we waited until Sonnet pulled the door open.

                “Hola,” she greeted, stepping aside so that we could enter.

                “I’m hungry. Do you have food?” I asked.

                “Nice to see you too Ethan,” she said, rolling her eyes. “But yes, my mom is almost done making dinner. There’s maybe ten minutes until it’s ready. So until then, let’s go in my bedroom.”

                We followed her upstairs. Benji and Gideon were holding hands as they walked, laughing at some joke.

                Sonnet paused once we were at the top of the stairs and motioned at us to follow her to her living room. Her parents were standing in there together, concern on their faces.

                “I don’t know,” Sonnet’s mom whispered. “I checked his grades today, and he failed another quiz. It’s like he’s not even trying anymore. I’m so worried about him, Leo.”

                Sonnet’s dad, Leo, sighed and ran a hand through his hair. “I’ll try talking to him again, but every other time I’ve tried, he just tunes me out. I’m worried about him too, Grace.”

                “Mother, father,” Sonnet said, interrupting their conversation.

                They look over at her, startled. Apparently they hadn’t noticed the four teenagers marching into the room.

                “Yes, Sonnet?” her mom, Grace, asked, forcing a smile.

                “When will dinner be ready? I have three hungry teen boys,” she said, gesturing to us.

                “Dinner will be ready in about ten minutes,” Grace said.

                “Told you. Let’s go boys,” Sonnet said, dragging Benji and Gideon with her out of the room with me following after them.

                “What were your parents talking about?” Benji asked curiously as we all sat down in Sonnet’s bedroom.

                “My brother. Will has been failing basically everything in school lately. He’s been skipping a lot, too.” Sonnet rolled her eyes. “He also stopped living on campus and started commuting on the days that he actually bothers to show up.”

                “Huh. That’s not like Will,” Benji said with a frown. “I hope he’s okay.”

                “The fatass is fine,” Sonnet said dismissively. But I could tell even she was a little uneasy about her brother’s behavior. I was very perceptive.

                “God, now that Ethan mentioned food, I’m hungry,” Benji said with a pout.

                “You can eat me,” I said with a wink.

                “Ahem.” Gideon raised an eyebrow, slipping his arm around Benji’s waist.

                “Oh, here horny boys,” Sonnet said, tossing sodas to all of us.

                I opened mine carefully and slid over next to Benji. “How about you and me find an alone place?” I asked, grinning.

                “Ethan,” Gideon whined. “He’s mine!”

                “I’m his!” Benji agreed, curling against Gideon. He began to open his soda and my eyes widened a little as I heard the fizzing.

                “Benji, wait!” I cried, but it was too late.

                Benji popped the top, and the soda sprayed out onto my shirt. I sighed and fixed Benji with a glare.

                “Lick it off!” I commanded, raising my shirt and pointing to my stomach.

                “I’m sorry Ethan!” he said apologetically.

                “Take that off, Ethan. I’ll toss it in the washing machine before it stains. Way to go Benji,” Sonnet said, smacking him in the back of the head. “Ethan, you can borrow one of Will’s shirts until yours is clean.”

                I pulled my shirt off and handed it to Sonnet. She balled it up and started to head out of her bedroom, pausing.

                “Will’s room is in the basement, first door on the right,” she said.

                I nodded and left her bedroom, heading down to her basement. I made my way to the first door on the right and knocked on it.

                “Come in. Unless you’re Sonnet,” a bored voice called.

                I pushed the door opened and stepped into Will’s room. He was lying on his bed, tossing a baseball up in the air and catching it as it came back down.

                He looked at me and raised an eyebrow. “Aren’t you another one of Sonnet’s gay friends? Why are you in my room without a shirt?”

                “Because Benji is an idiot,” I said. “And Sonnet told me to come down here and borrow one of your shirts.”

                “Ah Benji,” he said fondly. He pointed over at a drawer. “My T-shirts are in there. Just take any one of them.”

                “Thanks,” I said, moving over to his drawer and pulling it open. “So you don’t seem surprised. Do attractive young men constantly come in your room looking for shirts?”

                “Benji basically lives here half the time, and he always borrows my clothes,” Will said with a shrug.

                I dug around, pulling out a shirt that looked like it would fit me. I straightened up after closing the door and eyed Will curiously.

                He certainly had the potential to be an attractive boy. But, right now, it was only potential, and nothing more.

                His dark hair was a tangled mess, falling in his eyes. His shirt was tugged up from the way he was laying down, revealing his navel and teasing the eye with the slightest hint of abs peeking out. His jeans had slipped down on his waist, revealing the top of his boxers. He just looked messily put together. It was easy to tell that no effort had gone into his appearance. I had a feeling that he hadn’t even bothered to brush his hair today.

                He pushed his hair out of his eyes. “Why are you staring at me?”

                “Because you could be attractive if you tried,” I said.

                He snickered. “That was a compliment and an insult. You’re straightforward, huh?”

                “Typically, yea. Did you even bother to brush your hair today?”

                Will shrugged. “There was no point. I wasn’t planning on leaving my house all day. I also wasn’t planning on my little sister’s friends barging into my room.”

                “I knocked,” I countered. “And you gave me permission to enter unless I was Sonnet. Last time I checked, I’m not Sonnet.”

                “And hallelujah to that,” Will said.

                “KIDS! DINNER!” Grace’s voice called.

                Will shifted, getting off of his bed and fixing his shirt. He pushed his hair out of his eyes impatiently. “Come on. I’m not leaving you alone in my room.”

                “Someone has trust issues,” I said, scampering after him. I was starving.

                “Not really,” he said, shutting the door once I was out of the room and ushering me up the stairs. “You just seem like the type of guy that would sniff my boxers. You give off a creepy vibe.”

                “I am truly flattered that you know me so well William,” I said.

                “What’s your name again? Evan?” he asked.

                “Ethan,” I corrected.

                We entered the dining room together, where Benji, Sonnet, and Gideon were sitting and waiting. Sonnet made a face at Will.

                “Quit talking to him, fatass,” she said. “He’s going to try to turn you gay.”

                “Damn, my master plan has been uncovered,” I said.

                “Don’t worry. I’m straight,” Will assured, dropping into a chair. All of his movements were lazy.

                Leo entered the room and his eyes landed on Will. “William, we need to talk after dinner,” he said, trying to sound casual.

                “I bet we do. Sadly, I have plans after dinner,” Will said, not even bothering a glance at his father.

                “What plans?” Leo asked in confusion.

                “A nap, Tumblr, a Youtube video about Massachusetts,” he said.

                “William!” Leo said, shaking his head in annoyance. “We are talking after dinner.”

                Will sighed in despair. “Fine, fine, fine.”

                “Ethan? Come sit!” Benji said, patting the spot next to him.

                I went over and sat down as Sonnet’s mom came into the room. Grace set food down, and she and Leo sat down with us. Grace shot Will a concerned look, which he promptly ignored as he began to eat.

                I found my gaze drifting to Will as everyone began to eat and talk. He was absentmindedly staring out of the window.

                There was a carefully guarded look in his eyes. Whatever it was, I knew it was the reason that he was skipping school and not bothering with his appearance. Something was wrong with Will.

                Will was the first one done eating, and he stood up, leaving his dirty dishes on the table. He began to walk out of the dining room.

                “William! Your dishes,” Grace said sternly.

                Will glanced back at his plate. Without another word, he turned and left the room. A minute later, we heard the faint sound of his bedroom door shutting.

                “What has gotten into him?” Grace asked, looking upset.

                “I’ll go talk to him,” Leo said, squeezing her shoulder reassuringly and standing up. He left the room.

                “He’s such a drama queen,” Sonnet said, rolling her eyes.

                “Sonnet, stop it!” Grace said. “You know that Will never acts like this. Something is going on with him.”

                “Maybe he finally hit puberty,” she suggested.

                “Will is 20 years old. I’m pretty sure he hit puberty a while ago,” Benji said.

                “Sonnet be nice to your brother!” Grace said.

                “Yea, yea, yea,” Sonnet said, waving her hand dismissively. There were amusing similarities between her and Will.

                The four of us finished eating and put our dishes into the dishwasher. We followed Sonnet back to her bedroom and started playing Garbage.

                “Dammit Gideon!” Benji cried after a few minutes.

                Gideon smiled sheepishly and wrapped his arm around Benji, pulling him closer and kissing his cheek. “I just happen to be good at this game,” he said.

                “I think you cheat,” I grumbled, flinging my cards at Benji to shuffle. Gideon had won every game we had played so far.

                “You’re just sore losers,” Gideon teased, turning Benji’s head so that he could kiss him.

                “It’s getting pretty late. We should head out soon,” Benji said, checking the time.

                “I’ll go get Ethan’s shirt,” Sonnet said, standing up. “Ethan, you can go give that back to my idiot of a brother.”

                I hopped up and left her room, heading downstairs to the basement. I knocked on Will’s bedroom door.

                “Who is it?” he called.

                “Ethan,” I said. “I have your shirt.”

                “Come in,” he said, sounding a bit reluctant.

                I let myself into his bedroom and tugged his shirt off, tossing it at his bed. “There you go,” I said.

                “Yea. Thanks,” he said, his eyes fixed firmly on his computer screen, a PS3 controller in his hands. He was hitting buttons rapidly, and I couldn’t help but peek at his computer screen to see what he was playing.

                “You can flip over that table to have Ezlo shrink you, and go that way,” I said, pointing at the screen.

                Will raised a thin eyebrow at me. “How do you know?”

                “Because I kick ass at Minish Cap,” I said. “Just trust me.”

                Will shrugged and did what I instructed. “It’s getting late. Shouldn’t you be leaving soon?”

                “Ouch, why not just throw me out yourself,” I said.

                Will tipped a large box of Nerds into his mouth, ignoring me. I could hear him crunching on the Nerds as he carefully set the box down next to him and continued to rapidly press buttons on his controller.

                That guarded look was still in Will’s eyes. A look that said the boy was hiding something. It bothered me to see it in his eyes.

                “What are you studying in college?” I asked, just to strike up conversation.

                “Mass communications,” he said without much interest.

                “And you skip classes because…?”

                He finally looked up at me and blinked in surprise. “See, you are straightforward.”

                “We heard your parents talking about you. I’m curious,” I said honestly.

                “Well, curiosity killed the cat,” he said, turning his attention back to the game. “Now get out of my room.”

                A certain defensiveness had entered his tone. It was nearly undetectable, but I did pick up on it.

                “I’m going, calm down,” I said, rolling my eyes at him.

                “You’re not going fast enough,” he grumbled. “And next time you go into someone’s room, at least wear a damn shirt.”

                “Oh, you know you love it,” I said, opening the door to leave his room.

                “I’m straight!” he called after me as I began to leave.

                “I’ll change that,” I promised with a wink, shutting the door.

                I began to walk up the stairs and paused, gripping the railing. Will’s face flashed through my mind. That look in his eyes, his messy appearance, and even the defensiveness of his tone.

                “You haven’t left your room in days! You aren’t eating, you aren’t talking, and you aren’t going to school. I’m worried about you! I’m losing you!”

                No, I knew what path William was going down. And I wasn’t going to let him go down that path. I would do anything I had to in order to save Will.

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A.N.- Alright, you guys wanted it, and here it is! Ethan and Will's story! Also, as usual, the cover sucks so...some help? XD But let me know what you guys think of it so far :)