its mafematics luv

“Oh I’ve heard of it,” Andrew said, watching as Ethan just barely missed.  “It just feels like if I read that when I get drunk it’s gonna put me in a bad headspace. Like sometimes these things are a little too close to reality, you know?” 

He’d caught the ball when it’d bounced off the table, so he straightened. “What happened to physics?” 

“Yeah, it’s kind of intense. I’ve only had one beer though, so I guess it isn’t really hitting me as hard,” he replied, nodding his head. Taking a look around, he couldn’t but notice the amount of people he knew on the beach. “I didn’t really expect this many people from town show up... I hope Amelia doesn’t get upset.”

“I think I’ll blame the beer, and maybe the book, too.”

Truth be told, part of the reason she was going through so much was because of him thinking it was a good idea to be the master party planner when she just needed time away. Still, she couldn’t find it in herself to be upset at him, especially when she’d told him he could invite whoever he wanted. Almost embarrassed by the blubbering mess she was, Amelia took a few practiced breaths and reached up to wipe her own eyes the best she could while in the hold of Ethan, finally looking up at him. For the first time in over two years, she felt so small, so protected and safe. “I–..I don’t know, Ethan…” she answered honestly, her voice dry at this point.

Ethan didn’t want to say anything. He was always so bad at finding the right words to say. He’d fumble over his words, or say the wrong thing, and he knew that was exactly what wasn’t needed right now. But at the same time, he couldn’t say anything. He couldn’t remain silent while she seemed so upset. He glanced down at her as she spoke up, shaking his head slightly at the words. “What... what happened, Amelia? Did someone hurt you?” he asked  loosening his grip around her body slightly.

“That’s legally binding, I hope you know. That means if I notice a shortage of ants around town, I might just have to put a bounty on your head.” With a dry laugh, she nudged his arm gently with her elbow. “My tarot cards, silly.” Kat replied breezily, as if him questioning her was the only abusrd thing about the topic. “Of course you did. I hope you’re not plannin’ on spending the whole summer holed up with books though.”

“Alright, you’ve got a deal,” Ethan nodded, a small grin playing on his lips. “Were you using your tarot cards... on me?” he questioned, his head titling off to the side. “I mean I’m sure Andrew and East and Bentley will get me out of the apartment some days,” he lets out with a laugh, only half-joking. He was sure more often than not, he’d find himself alone with his books, not that it ever bothered him.

Babs presses her lips together to hide a smile as Ethan speaks about girls bringing up his shoulders as topic of conversation. “Listen, I’m just sayin’ – take note of that,” she smiles with a shrug. “Are there any girls you got your eyes on? Little summer love cookin’ up?”

“Oh man, you think they’re too broad too?” he asked tentatively. “Summer love? Um... no, not really. I mean, I don’t know, I don’t really talk to girls like that, Babs... I’m more like their trusty friend you know?” Ethan shrugged, shaking his head a little.

“Yes! It’ll be perfect! Because you only get like five minutes or so with the girl. So, if you’re not vibing, they’re gone like that.” She punctuated with a snap of her fingers. “Also, if you say something cringe or get super nervous, you don’t have to worry too much because it’s such low stakes. I’ll totally sign up and be one of the girls in rotation and try to help you out.” 

“Only 5 minutes? Oh, I guess it can’t be that bad then, right? I mean if it’s only 5 minutes then maybe I won’t have enough time to be awkward around them?” Ethan nodded. Maybe he could do it, and not freeze up and mess up around girls. And it’d be good to have Kaleigh around, she’d always been such a good friend to him. “Thanks Kaleigh, you’re the best, I hope you know that.”

Are you okay, Amelia? For some reason, whenever someone had the nerve to ask her this question, she would crumble right there before their eyes. Was she okay? Not at all, she’d had so many emotions racing through her fragile body that she was almost positive she should’ve collapsed at least two days ago but she was pushing through. The biting of her bottom lip was a sad attempt at keeping herself from absolutely bawling out like the baby she was being, but she couldn’t help it, tears streaming down her face as she fall into his arms and rested her head against his chest. “No..” she choked out, clenching her eyes together tightly and trying to steady her breathing.

As Amelia seemingly fell apart right before his eyes, his first instinct was to hold her. He let his hands settle against her upper back, even if his mind was at a loss for words. But even so, his heart hurt for her, to see her cry and not know what to do. And he felt this need... this need to protect her, which was what prompted him to move from gently placing his hands on her back to pulling her in for a hug, letting one of his hands fall to the small of her back, while the other moved in circular moments, hoping that it could bring her the smallest amount of comfort. “Is there... is there anything I can do?” he spoke softly, not letting go of her.

She sighed as Ethan continued to not be helpful at all in this conversation. “It’s alright. I guess you’ll just have to date around and figure it out that way.” She wasn’t sure he’d actually do that though. “Oh! Maybe we can take a little trip into the city and hit up a speed dating event. You’ll get to meet all types there.” 

“Yeah, maybe I’ll just have to do that,” he nodded, not even really knowing if he knew how to ask a girl out in the first place. “A, a speeding dating event? Yeah, um... yeah, we could do that,” Ethan agreed, not wanting to seem ungrateful, even if he was actually awful at talking to girls, and the idea of it being in ‘speed’ form only made him more nervous.

“Well that’s super impressive. I’d say prove it but I somehow just believe ya.” She said with a smile. “I see why you’re so into pi now, and pie. That seems like a lot of fun. I’ll definitely come up with some good pie recipes if ya want, and like ya said we’ve got a long time I bet you can practice makin’ more before then. Get better at it.”

“Thank you,” Ethan replied with a grin, nodding his head. “Yeah, I think it just worked out me liking math so much. It definitely is! You work at Wild Flour right? You must be so good at baking! I’ve heard there’s a lot of measuring involved, so maybe I’d be good at it?”

“If you want, Nick and I can reenact the movie for ya.”

“Yeah, I think I’ll pass... thank you, though.”

“Okay!” She felt blurry, but she aimed to please. She sat, grinning, as she looked around, waiting almost diligently for Ethan to return. He got back, maybe a few moments later. Alice wasn’t really sure. “Thank you! You’re bein’ awful nice to someone you don’t know.”

Ethan had never been a big drinker. Partly because he really didn’t like how it made him feel, but also because he made a habit to look out for his friends, or really anyone else at places like this. “I guess it’s just my thing. What’s your name, though?”

“Oh – you were talking about the math number, not the edible. Is there really a whole lot to talk about when it comes to pi?”

Ethan resisted going off on a tangent. She didn’t really seem that interested in the pi he was talking about, “Oh, um... maybe it’s just a math people thing. There is a bit though, it’s a pretty important number.”

“It’s so cute that you think anythin’ excitin’ would happen in my life in that span of time. Or as if it anythin’ happens ever to me, but I appreciate the attitude. I did get your recipe. I’m interested though– ‘cause I’ve seen it both ways with the crescent rolls and the pancake batter, you don’t think the batter would get too messy in the basket? I kind feel like I should freeze ‘em first and then do it? I’m thinkin’ way to far into this, aren’t I?”

“Oh come on, Mads, you’ve always been way cooler than me. Everyone knows that. There has to be somethin’, who else am I supposed to live through? I think if you were makin’ it with the crescent rolls it would’ve be as messy, but freezin’ them with the batter does sound like a good idea. Of course, you’re not! I think I was thinkin’ of puttin’ parchiment paper at the bottom of the basket, thinkin’ it would make it less messy, but the freezer thing... I think you outdid me.”

She tilts her head. “Why not? You’re tall. You’re not ugly. What other qualifications are there?” She asks, resting the back of her hand under her chin. She grins. “Aileen’s terrifying. Guess that makes me your only choice.” She shrugs, trying to keep a hint of seriousness in her tone. As if she was actually gonna make him pay for some nail paint. “No. If you were tippin’ me anyway, you would’ve paid that… I dunno, ten or fifteen percent anyway. Right? Still saves you money. And I’m kind, I’ll take off thirty percent. It’s generous, considerin’ the price of a good manicure.”

“Um... I’m kind of awkward, aren’t models supposed to be all confident and self-assured? I’m only that way when it comes to football and math,” he replied, his brows furrowing. He nodded his head, “Yeah, I guess you’re right. I don’t know how much any of this is really supposed to cost, but I’m sure you’ve got it right. I trust you.”

Bentley was never awkward, not around anyone, but especially not around girls. Talking to them came naturally to him, it was almost unfair for everyone else – when the good Lord was making the two of them, he gave all the smooth moves to Bentley and Ethan got…math. “You just gotta find the right girl, dude. The one who’ll love that stuff about you. Girls are confusing as hell sometimes, they say one thing but secretly want the other, they’ll reject a really good guy like you to date some shithead like Cody…it doesn’t always make sense. But if you pay enough attention to your girl, you’ll be fine. Don’t worry about being awkward or dorky, just get to know them.” Bentley was ready to throw hands with Ethan’s self esteem issues. Like, if he could punch someone’s insecurities, he’d lay Ethan’s out right here and now. It killed him that he couldn’t do something to help. “Right, clubs, alcohol, bad idea. Wanna volunteer somewhere instead? We’d look pretty irresistible at an animal shelter.” 

Ethan had always been popular growing up. He had tons of friends, he played football in high school, and he was an all around good guy. But he never thought that anyone saw him as more than that: a good friend. And for the longest time, it never bothered him. It didn’t bother him that he was almost always the single guy in his friend group, because he just wasn’t really thinking about it too often. “You know, it’s not really a big deal or anything, Bentley... I’m fine bein’ single, most girls in town just see me as a friend anyways, it doesn’t bother me.” He’d thought about it, maybe once or twice, in the brief moments that he was alone and let himself think non-happy, self deprecating thoughts about himself. “An animal shelter sounds cool, I’ve been meaning to go in the past few weeks. Why would it make us look irresistible though?”

“See, that’s what I’ve been tellin’ her, but she says she gets enough exercise walkin’ across the Orchard to get to the house every day - as if she couldn’t throw a stone at the house from her front lawn.” Peachy just rolled her eyes.  Sometimes she thought Nanny might be the only person in the world who could be just as stubborn as she could, but it hadn’t ever stopped the young girl from pestering her Nanny until she was blue in the face about keeping herself active, or fed, or… The list went on. “Well, you must be as excited for the summer as everyone else around here is, then. Gotta say, even I’m excited not to have to see those idiots from school for a few months.” Peachy just shrugged, “You got anythin’ planned yet? I bet Nanny would, like…” The girl paused. “I don’t know. She’d, like, freak if stopped by, or whatever. She’s basically always complainin’ about the lack of young men knockin’ on her door.”

“I’ll make sure to mention next time I see her. Who knows, maybe she might listen to me,” he replied with a grin, slightly joking around with his words. Ethan had a habit of being nice to practically anyone he met, and Peach and her family were never excluded. He knew that people said that Peach could be mean, but he didn’t really buy into that, seeing as their conversations had always been pleasant. “Yeah, it’ll be nice to be able to hang around everyone for the next few months. But I’ve always loved school, probably why I went and signed myself up for 8 more years of it willingly,” he spoke, nodding at her words with a smile. “I’d love to come by! You know, only if that’s something you’re okay with, though. Maybe I could even convince her into doin’ some exercising.”

Ethan Wang had literally just offered her the shirt off his back. People kept saying that was what it meant to be selfless. Resa knew Ethan was a nice guy, but this made her feel bad. It was cold. He’d need his shirt at some point, and she was going to just get the thing wet and then what would he do? Not to mention now she had to actually take her clothes off and just put the shirt on over her bra and underwear. Ethan had committed, so she had to commit. She watched him to see if he actually did it. He’d put his hands over his face, which kind of broke her heart because he was being so nice and she was so ungrateful. Trying not to groan, she slipped his shirt over her clothes and shimmied out of her shorts. The shirt was a little harder, but eventually she got her elbow back through the v-neck. It was like a very baggy dress. 

Like, very baggy. But oddly freeing. Kind of cold. “You can open your eyes now,” Resa said as she sat down again, her legs stretched out in front of her, crossed at the ankles. She folded her clothes and rested them beside her. “This is gonna sound really weird, but I just didn’t think your shirt would be so big on me. Like— why  are you so tall?”

He was lucky. He couldn’t himself lucky every single day. Everything in his life had always worked out for the best. He had a happy, big family that always had his back. He was smart, and athletic, which meant that he excelled in school. He had a plan for his life, he’d always known that he wanted to pursue a career in mathematics. He had plenty of close friends growing up, plenty of people that he could count on him. And he was nice, nice to anyone he’d met because he’d been given everything in life to always assume the best in people. On the outside, Ethan Wang’s life was picture perfect. But on the inside? Ethan had his flaws. He was popular, yet he was awkward and didn’t like to party or drink and was more often than not the type of guy to bring a book to a party. He was attractive, yet he couldn’t admit it to himself. He looked in the mirror, and all he saw were flaws. But he never told anyone, because a guy like him didn’t have room to complain.

So of course he’d given Resa his shirt, and risked feeling self-conscious and cold. Because that was just the kind of guy he’d always been. As she spoke again, he uncovered his eyes, glancing over at her as she spoke again. “Um... I don’t really know. I mean, I’m taller than my mom and dad, so maybe I had tall grandparents or something? Adam and I are the same height, so maybe that says something,” he replied, giving her a sheepish look as he spoke again, “I’m sorry if my shirt is too big for you, Resa.”