Free Brightest Kind of Darkness by P. T. Michelle, Patrice Michelle

wonder, which made me angry all over again, because now I was being swayed by the rumor mill. I kept my tone calm. “There are two sides to every story.”
    Lainey snorted. “All that other stuff aside, what really worries me is the fact he draws very disturbing blood and gore pictures, like something out of a horror movie with demons and stuff—”
    She paused when my eyebrows shot up. “Oh, Anton grabbed his notebook and flipped through a couple of pages while he was in the bathroom. Another guy in the class said that was the most he’d heard Ethan say when he came back and saw Anton checking out his stuff. Ethan cussed Anton out like no tomorrow.”
    I could imagine Ethan in a rage over someone messing with his personal stuff. He seemed so private and contained. Though, learning he had drawn tons of disturbing pictures was a little worrisome. Did one of them look like that monster image I’d seen in the hall? Would he tell me about his drawings if I asked?
    My heart sank a little, and I was suddenly annoyed that Lainey had burst my bubble. Ethan had been kind, sympathizing with me over soccer stuff and she’d gone and ruined it.
    “I think you’ve got Ethan all wrong, Lainey. He seems like a decent guy. Sure he keeps to himself a lot, but—”
    “Nara, what I think is this guy’s some kind of psycho. I’m worried something might happen to you if you continue hanging with him.”
    The tension in her voice scared me a little, but when I pictured Ethan, all I could think about was the kindness in his eyes and the gentle way he’d rubbed my tears away. He’d cared, which was far more than any of my supposed friends had done recently.
    “He was there for me, Lainey. You’ve been so busy with your new boyfriend, you didn’t even notice your best friend was going through some stuff. But Ethan did, and that’s enough for me.”
    Lainey’s jaw dropped, but before she could say anything, I stalked off to my car. With each step I took, my stomach wound tighter and tighter. What did I really know about Ethan? Not a whole lot, but what I did know, I liked. I hated that people were judging him unfairly. Straightening my spine, I decided I was going to find out more about him.
    No one spoke to me during soccer practice, at least not on a social level. For some reason Lainey didn’t come to practice, so the entire two hours were torturous. Several times Miranda, Sophia and a couple other girls hammered on me as we ran up and down the field. They’d elbowed and kicked, cutting me off every chance they got. I avoided as many attacks as I could remember from my dream, but I couldn’t avoid all of them.
    I’d played in my old position in the field the last couple of games. I knew I was rusty, but part of that was due to me spending the majority of my time in the goal, which the team had been fine with so long as I was saving every single ball for them. Apparently now I was lower than dog’s poop on their cleats. If Miranda had her way, I would definitely be riding the bench during the next game.
    By the end of practice, while the rest of the team and Coach headed off to their cars, I stayed behind on the bench, feeling beaten on top of every single ache and pain. I saw Miranda whispering to the two other girls who’d helped her and Sophia give me hell during practice. When they all nodded in agreement, like they’d formed some kind of pact, I mumbled, “I can’t believe it. She’s trying to get me kicked off the team.”
    “You’re not going to let that happen, are you?” a familiar voice said from behind me.

Chapter Six

    I turned around and Ethan was standing on the field, balancing a soccer ball on his knee. My heart raced as I watched him bounce the soccer ball up and down. He kept his gaze on me, yet had complete control. Even though Lainey’s comments about his drawings and the story of him beating up that guy at his old school itched in the back of my mind, he intrigued me. I wanted to know his side of