Under the Stars by Geoff Laughton

Author:Geoff Laughton [Laughton, Geoff]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Published: 0101-01-01T00:00:00+00:00

Chapter 7

THE FOLLOWING afternoon, Ethan sat on the front porch of the ranch house in the large porch swing. He’d found an outlet nearby, so he sat in the shade, watching a movie. The guests were on a trail ride. The number of people at the ranch had dwindled to the point that everyone could go out together, so there was only one a day. His legs were still sore from his lesson, so Ethan had decided to stay back for this ride. He was still planning to have his lesson tomorrow, but mostly he’d been keeping to himself.

He knew his parents had noticed. They’d been giving him strange looks occasionally, but they hadn’t said anything. Maybe they thought he and Jason had had a fight or something. Last night at dinner, Jason had sat with other guests, laughing and joking with them. It was his job to mingle with everyone and make sure they were having a good time. At least that was what Ethan had told himself, and that was fine. The problem was that Rick had decided to sit with them, and he kept glancing at Ethan all through dinner. It was creepy. When he first noticed that Rick had noticed him, he’d gotten an excited thrill, but now it just seemed creepy, and he did his best to stay away from him as well. Consequently, he’d spent much of the past day or so alone.

He should be used to it by now. It just seemed harder since he’d thought he’d made a friend here. Ethan stopped the movie. He wasn’t watching it anyway. He set the tablet next to him, then lay back and closed his eyes, listening to the sounds of the ranch.

“Are you okay?”

Ethan opened his eyes and saw Jason’s mother standing near him. “Yes.” He sat up, trying to remember when he’d lain down on the swing. It was surprisingly comfortable, and he must have dozed off. “I was just enjoying the quiet.”

She chuckled lightly and sat in one of the chairs nearby. “You’re a little young for that. Don’t you usually have a million things to do?”

“Yeah, I guess,” Ethan answered her. “I usually have a lot of things going on. When I get back, I start rehearsals for a community theater production of Cats.” He didn’t figure she knew much about the show, but he didn’t go into the details.

“Do you do that kind of thing a lot? Theater and….” She seemed unsure of what she wanted to say.

“Yes. It’s what I want to do.” Ethan felt a surge of excitement. “I love being on the stage in costume, singing and dancing. It’s like the world falls away and I can be whoever I want to be for a few hours.” He didn’t know how to describe it. “It’s a place where I always fit in.”

“Is it hard for you to”—she looked him over—“fit in where you live?”

Ethan glanced down at what he was wearing. He’d never felt self-conscious about his clothes until now.

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