Ethan step through the threshold of Stan and Shelly's front door and paused at the stairs. Shelly, not allowed to have boys in her room, instructed him to wait in the living room while she went upstairs to change. Ethan sat on the coach and nervously bobbled his leg up and down while waiting.
Mrs. Marsh came into the living room with a tea tray full of drinks and snacks. She sat down two glasses on the coffee table and laid out some of the snacks.
"Well, hello there." she said, "I'm Shelly's mother, Sharon."
"H-hello." Ethan replied tentatively, he didn't have much practice in being addressed by a parent other than his own, and talking politely to another grown-up still felt pretty awkward to him. He also couldn't help but wonder if she might start hitting him if he refused to play nice with her daughter.
"Just though I'd bring you kids some snacks incase you get hungry while studying." she continued holding the tray aloft, "I'm going to go give this to Stan, it was nice meeting you."
"Likewise, and thank you." was all Ethan could manage as she made her way upstairs.
Shelly came back downstairs a moment later wearing a ratty looking grey t-shirt and some pajama bottoms. Her mud colored hair was kept back in a ponytail, showing off the contours of her face. She sat down on the couch next to him and lounged back into it nonchalantly.
"So?" she demanded.
"So?" replied Ethan.
"What are we doing for our project?" Shelly said irritably.
"I don't know, I haven't given it much thought." He was still bobbing his leg up and down, causing the sofa to vibrate slightly.
"Will you stop doing that?" She kicked at his shin, Ethan immediately stopped moving his leg and sat up straighter in his seat.
"Why don't you think of something?" he said reproachfully.
Dylan sat on the computer chair in Stan's room with his back to Stan's desk. Stan sat on his bed with a glass of iced tea in his hand. The two looked at each other for a long time without speaking. After same time had passed, Dylan annoyed about the lack of progress, decided to be the bigger man and was the first to speak.
"So what do you think about bass playing as part of our project?" he asked.
"What?" Stan replied unpleasantly. Then he added, "Dude, I don't even really care about this dumb project, it's fucking gay. I don't even know why I'm bothering with it."
"Because the teacher said we had to," Dylan said, his temper flaring slightly, "and I'll be damned if I fail Mrs. Saunders' class because you refused to cooperate."
"Dude, why do you even care what some dumb teacher says? I've never known you to give a shit about anything."
"You barely know me at all, and it's your fault."
"You've been acting different since Mrs. Saunders started teaching at our school," said Stan ignoring the comment, "is it because she's a Goth?"
"You don't get it, do you?" Dylan said icily. His nostrils flared as he now struggled to keep his temper under control. "She's important to us, she cares about us. When you stand out, when you're a freak, there's a sense of companionship when you get together with people who are like you. People who understand you. You obviously don't, and you never did…"
"Oh, don't I?" Stan said sarcastically, "Was I or was I not Goth at some point? I think I have a little understanding-"
"Do you really, Raven? You betrayed us! You completely obliterated our trust! If you had any real understanding, you would know that leaving us the way you did was wrong. And if you think that dressing in black while wallowing in pain makes you a Goth, you are dead wrong you fucking poseur!"
"GET OUT! GET THE FUCK OUT!"
Downstairs, Shelly and Ethan sat in silence as they mulled over what they were going to do for their project. Ethan sat with his legs crossed and had now taken to rapidly jiggling his foot up and down. Shelly grabbed hold of his foot to make him stop.
"How about we do Romeo and Juliet?" Shelly suggested.
"No way." Ethan replied.
"Aw, come on! You said I could pick!"
"That was before the words Romeo and Juliet came out of your mouth."
"Why not?"
Ethan sat up and uncrossed his legs. He scooted to the edge of the couch and began counting off reasons on his fingers. "One, Romeo and Juliet is way overdone. It's like the original cliché. Two, anything else that Shakespeare has written would be better than that monstrosity. And three, there's no way we're doing a romantic love scene together, so you can just forget it."
Shelly narrowed her eyes at him and was about to retort, when muffled shouting could be heard from upstairs. The two of them paused as the shouting became even more heated. A moment later, they heard a door open and the unmistakable sound of Stan's voice screaming, "GET OUT! GET THE FUCK OUT!"
"I'm more than glad to!" Dylan shouted as he came stomping down the stairs, "And for the record, the next time Wendy Testaburger tears out your heart and tosses it to the vultures, don't expect us to pick up the pieces!"
He stormed out leaving the front door wide open. Ethan looked at the door his friend just disappeared through, then looked back at Shelly, and then looked at Stan.
"What the hell was that about?"