Diary of a Teenage Taxidermist
balance. Sorry, am I boring you?” Ethan bit his lip and clenched his fingers over Rob’s forearm as though it was the one thing that kept him from sinking into the murky sea of concrete beneath their feet.
    Robert shook his head and swallowed, looking at the stairs, just to make sure Ethan wouldn’t stumble. He had no idea what to say to this word-onslaught, and it hadn’t even ended because Ethan opened his mouth again.
    “I really hope it’ll get easier because all the craft stuff I was doing before is harder now. But I have some new projects in mind. I’m not going to let this stop me. You know, when Monet started losing his eyesight, he made some fantastic paintings, like, really mind-blowing. He saw the world differently and amazed everyone. It’s about trying to find an opportunity in all this,” he babbled on as they slowly reached the top of the stairs. At least his voice was pleasant to listen to.
    Robert clenched his teeth. He could imagine Ethan viewed the possibility of coercing him into sex as just that. An opportunity. This wasn’t how he had imagined his first experiences with another guy, but he would suck it up and be a man about it. It wasn’t as if it was something he didn’t want to do in the long run. He would have wanted Ethan in normal circumstances. He had this nice, silky hair, beautiful, angular face, and soft skin.
    It took Ethan a good couple of seconds too long before he reluctantly pulled back his hand from Robert’s arm. “Thanks.”
    “It’s my fault you have this problem in the first place, so it only seems fair,” said Rob, looking at the empty corridor. Everyone was already in class, but while he’d wanted to run just minutes ago, now the peaceful atmosphere was drawing him in with promises of time off from all this shit.
    Ethan looked at something behind Robert and then back into his eyes. “It would only be fair if you went to prom with me.” There was a small smile on Ethan’s lips, but at this point in their… acquaintance , Rob had no idea what was going on in that punctured brain.
    Robert’s breath caught in his throat. “Maybe you’d like me to donate my eye for you while I’m at it?”
    The smile was gone with a little twitch of Ethan’s eyebrow. “It was just a joke. I’d never actually inflict the horror of fake-dating me.”
    Robert bit his lip. A challenge was on the tip of his tongue, but was it really safe to call Ethan out on the Wednesday arrangement? What if it would piss Ethan off, and he’d report Robert’s role in the accident?
    Ethan watched him for the longest moment before pursing his lips and walking off toward the classroom, leaving only the fresh scent of shampoo behind him. He had nice legs. It only now hit Robert that Ethan seemed to be gaining back the weight he’d lost in hospital. He stepped toward their classroom but his eyes stopped at the prom poster on the wall. It must have been what sparked Ethan’s idea. Robert swallowed, lingering for a few more seconds before following the slim figure. Everyone was expecting him to invite a girl, but the last time he dated one was in his sophomore year, and changing this fact was the last thing he wanted. Being gay sucked sometimes. Though thinking of the next visit at Ethan’s home sucked more.

Chapter 5
     
    Robert parked his car in the driveway of Ethan’s home. Hidden away from the road and surrounded by trees, it was a well kept detached house with green and burgundy wooden panels covering the outer walls. In a place like this, Rob would expect to see a dog, but it seemed that Ethan’s parents settled on keeping three cars instead, each with its own gate to a separate garage built in the same style as the house.
    He cleared his throat, watching the skylights that were windows to Ethan’s room. The thought that he was here just to get Ethan’s rocks off made him beyond uncomfortable, but he had to do what he got to do, so after several minutes of sitting in the car and playing

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