by Namita Singh
seriously doesn’t mind. He sees no point in being upset at lacking something that didn’t seem to want him in the first place.
Before, however, both of these can carry out a mushy conversation and have a heart to heart, we reach closer to the school gates. I watch Ethan and smile at him. Only, he isn’t looking at me. The smile which he had put on moments before doesn’t look like a smile anymore as his mouth awkwardly remains hung open. His greenish eyes are trained at Neal. All in all, he looks a little taken aback. I sigh. I should have warned him about Neal’s aura but hey, it’s not like I knew he was going to turn up at my school or even meet my partner in the future. I didn’t anticipate any of our guests to meet my partner. Plus Neal’s aura has always been a sensitive topic for me.
“Hey, what are you doing here?” Aakir asks him, smiling hugely at him. Ethan is wonderful with us youngsters and it literally took no time for Aakir to find his new idol.
Ethan snaps his head towards Aakir at his voice. His pleasant expressions are long gone now, as he expresses befuddled shock. Aakir tames his gaiety at the less than welcome expressions on Ethan’s face.
“Hmm, hey.” Ethan says quietly, absentmindedly, his eyes returning towards Neal, “This is your friend?” he asks, making Neal stop next to us too.
“Uh,” I start awkwardly, “Yeah, this is Neal.” I say, emphasizing on his name so Ethan knows he is my partner, “Neal, this is Ethan…our uncle.” I finish lamely.
Neal smiles back with a nod. “Pleasure to meet you.” He says politely.
“Oh, the pleasure is all mine.” Ethan says, his voice sounding as if he is in a trance, his face expressing cautious shock.His greeting is slightly suspicious, making me be on guard instantly. The few days he has spent with us, he hasn’t been this shady or just plain weird in his behavior. He takes a deliberate step forward and lifts his hand for a shake. Neal, not looking wary of Ethan’s unusual behavior, cautiously returns the hand-shake.
“You dropped by just like that?” I ask Ethan, hoping to divert his attention from my partner. I don’t know why but his gaze is unnerving as hell, especially when directed at my partner.
Ethan turns his head towards me, his eyebrows rising as if he isfor the first time realizing that I am here too, “Oh, yeah.” He says, smiling tightly. He hasn’t let go of Neal’s hand yet, I notice. “I was passing by and saw the sign of your school. Decided to surprise you.” He finishes, smiling again.
I can’t help but notice that Ethan’s smile is nothing like the warm smiles he has been giving in the past days. It seems deliberate as if he is forcing himself to smile. It obviously raises my guard even more.
“Um,” Neal says, trying to snatch back his hand, “It was nice to meet you, Ethan…” he tugs his hand subtly but Ethan doesn’t let go.
I take a step forward, “Ethan?” I say, indicating his hold on my partner.
“When did your birth occur?” Ethan asks Neal, ignoring us.
“How is that relevant?” Neal says in his usual satirical tone.
“How old are you?” Ethan asks again, taking another step towards Neal.
“Aye…Ethan, I think we should go.” Aakir says, taking a step behind Ethan. He has obviously sensed Ethan’s offensive stance as much as I have.
“Seventeen,” Neal replies, unwavering andmatching Ethan’s stare with his cold one. He tries to tug his hand back again but fails. Considering a therian is holding him, I don’t think Neal is going to succeed either.
“Let go of him.” I say quietly, stepping between Ethan and Neal. Ethan is deliberately making this situation awkward for all of us. I discreetly put a hand on Ethan’s chest. His demeanor is seriously ticking me off.
Ethan smiles condescendingly, “I am just trying to have a nice chat, Josh.”
“You can do that without holding my hand.” Neal quips, sounding irked and again tugging on his hand.
“Let go.” I say, again in a quiet voice, making sure to express my threatening poise. With me standing in front of him and Aakir standing at his back, he has no choice but to let go of Neal’s hand. Elder or not, he still can’t be a match for two mature therians.
Neal immediately takes a step back. I stare at Ethan for a moment who in turn has his eyes on Neal. I turn around to see Neal. His eyes move from Ethan to Aakir to me, his facial muscles taut.
“I’ll see you later.” Neal says in a tight voice, nodding at me and Aakir. He gives one ephemeral stare at Ethan and then turns around, swinging his bag on his shoulder and briskly walking away, probably towards the bus stop.
I return my gaze towards Ethan, “What the hell was that?” I ask him, my voice still low.
“How long has he been here?” He asks instead, his eyes still following Neal’s form in the distance.
“You had no right to behave in such an undignified manner.” I tell him, my temper short circuiting. Aakir briefly places a hand on my shoulder, expecting me to calm down. Calm down? I scoff, “My partner or not, you being our guest or not, you have no right to behave like this with any of my friends.” Ethan is looking at me now, stoically. “I know his aura is different but that doesn’t mean you jump him for it.” I finish.
“Yeah, it doesn’t mean that?” Ethan asks, his tone sarcastic. “Do you even know-”
“I don’t care how bizarre his aura is.” I thunder, stepping onto Ethan’s face. I can’t believe he is even thinking of justifying his behavior. “Neal is my partner and if his aura is a bother to you, please don’t feel welcomed at my home.” I snap and walk past him towards the woods.
As soon as I reach the woods, I break into a fast pace, hoping to relieve some of the tension in my muscles. How dare he? He has some galls to come to my country, to my city and behave like an imbecile with my people, not less than my partner! And to top it, he is ready to argue with me about it. Talk about a downer. He has made such a nice rapport with everyone at home in these few days. I can see all of it going down the drain. I have first-hand experienced the reprimands at questioning about Gwen aunt and my intentions and demeanor have always expressed concern for her, at least outwardly. Speaking against someone’s partner is not at all tolerated in my family and I know now why. Since I have known that Neal is my partner, I just can’t tolerate anybody antagonizing him. I don’t even pause to consider if Neal is even in the right.
Ethan has crossed that invisible line. He has outwardly threatened my partner, somehow his antagonism coming off more impactful because he is a therian. And all just because my partner has a unique aura. Couldn’t Ethan simply inquire about it later? What was the need for him to counter like that? What am I going to say to Neal when he’ll ask about it? Obviously he’ll ask about it. If we ignore the last few incidents with Duato, Neal is not the guy who gets threatened occasionally, especially not by men double his age. He didn’t seem happy about Ethan’s actions and I don’t think he even should be.
When I reach home, I can sense only two therian auras at home. One of Gwen and one of Rome. I really wish father was here. I’ll obviously be informing him about this. But I need to do that in person, so I discard calling him for this. Plus, it’d be better if Ethan is present as well when I raise the topic so he has no way to deny his actions.
I walk into the kitchen and drink a tall glass of water, trying to calm my nerves. But I still have too much of tension in my body. I move into our backyard, towards the green pasture where logs of wood are stacked one upon another. I quickly shed my clothes and make myself flux into a complete animal this time. And I continue to change forms, making my skin melt and reform continuously, taking shape of various animals ranging from cougar to tiger to wildebeest to other forms which may be a mixture of several animals together. I keep pushing myself to metamorphose iteratively. After some time, I flux back to my human form and put on my trousers. Then I begin to throw log after log of woods at the nearest tree.
Later than I anticipated but still soon enough Aakir breaks into our pasture from the woods. After reprieving some of the tensio
n, I feel slightly better. Aakir notices me, half naked, punching the tree in the distance with wooden logs and he sighs heavily.
“You shouldn’t have been that rude to him.” He mutters as he starts walking towards me.
“Excuse me?” I ask, ireful, momentarily stopping my exercise.
Aakir sighs again. He sits on the porch, putting his bag beside him. “You literally told him to not step a foot inside the house, Josh. They have specially come here for you-”
“I didn’t ask them to.” I snap back. “Father did. I’ll tell father about this incident and he deems this fit enough, then he can allow Ethan to stay here.” I take a deep breath, “Which father probably won’t.” I look at Aakir, giving him an incredulous look, “Would you ask me to not be rude had he acted that way with Silvia?”
Aakir opened his mouth to say something but nothing escapes.
“Thought so.” I mutter.
Aakir sighs again, “Alright, yeah, Ethan is not in the right, I agree. But he says he was surprised by the assault of Neal’s aura. And he genuinely sounded very shocked.”
I scoff, “So were you. So was Faith. You guys didn’t get ready to rip out Neal’s throat.” I know I am exaggerating but I am pissed. “And whatever were you doing listening to his explanations?” giving him the ‘you are the traitor’ look.
He rolls his eyes, “Somebody had to