chapter thirty: pumpkin spice

"Just because someone stumbles and loses their path, doesn't mean they're lost forever."

~X-Men: Days of Future Past

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"You've got a guy coming up around the corner," Jacob warned. He and Ethan were sitting rigidly on the coffee table, playing a seemingly intense game of Call of Duty.

Kelsey and Carissa sat on the couch, pretending to be interested in the explosions on the screen. Carissa had pulled out a book three minutes after they'd stopped playing Scrabble (Jacob had won).

"Dude, nice shot!" Ethan laughed.

Kelsey twirled her thumbs around and around, trying not to be frustrated at Ethan, or Jacob for that matter, since he was the one who suggested playing video games.

Ethan knew his sister was shy! And he knew that Kelsey was unbearably awkward. The two personalities were almost destined to be at odds.

At least they were getting along.

"So, uh, how long are you going to be in L.A.?" Kelsey asked.

"Just until Monday," Carissa replied with a polite smile before returning to her book.

"Cool," Kelsey muttered.

Ethan and Jacob's round ended and they high-fived.

"Did you see that last kill?" Ethan asked.

"Yeah! It was awesome. That sniper came out of nowhere."

Kelsey sat up. "Um, Ethan?"

"I think you should've used the SMG to take out that group in the warehouse," Ethan was saying.

"Ethan?"

"Nah, dude, I was on the other side of the map," Jacob replied.

Kelsey sighed and gave up. She firmed her lips and turned towards Carissa. "Do you like coffee?"

Carissa blinked as if she were annoyed and looked up. "Um, yeah, I do."

"I know a really great recipe for pumpkin spice," she offered.

"Oh, okay,"

Kelsey got up, relieved when Carissa put her book aside and followed her to the kitchen.

"Sometimes it feels like I can't go four hours without cooking something," Kelsey said with a jittery laugh. "I'd probably gain five hundred pounds at work if my boss didn't have me running around all day."

"Ethan told me you were a chef," Carissa replied quietly.

Kelsey smiled as she grabbed a can of pumpkin from Ethan's cupboard. She discreetly checked the expiration date, figuring he hadn't used pumpkin in a while. It had expired two months ago, but it was probably fine.

She dumped it into a pot of milk, allspice, nutmeg, cinnamon, and coffee.

"Do you like to bake?" Kelsey asked hopefully.

Carissa shrugged. "Not really. I mean, I like to eat baked stuff, don't get me wrong."

Kelsey laughed. "Understandable."

A shout came from the living room. "Ethan!"

"What?!"

"Dude, you might be good at acting, but you can't shoot zombies worth crap!"

"They're freakin' scary, man!"

Kelsey shook her head. "Boys."

"Yeah."

The mixture simmering in the pot reached the perfect temperature and Kelsey separated it into two mugs. "Here you go."

"Thanks." Carissa took a sip and gave a genuine smile. "This is really good!"

Kelsey smiled back and took a long drink of hers.

"You're not what I was expecting," Carissa admitted, wiping her mouth with the back of her sleeve.

"Oh really?" Kelsey asked with a gulp. "What, uh, what were you expecting?"

"I don't know." Carissa shrugged. "I guess a movie star." She frowned deeply. "Ethan doesn't have a great track record as far as relationships go. When I heard that he had a new girlfriend, I expected someone like—" her eyes darted up at Kelsey and she closed her mouth.

"Like Althea?" Kelsey asked quietly. "Don't worry. He told me."

Carissa gave a half-smile. "Yeah."

Kelsey bent her brow curiously. She realized that Carissa's bitterness wasn't directed towards her. It was towards Ethan. "It's hard to watch your family make bad choices, isn't it?"

"We kept telling him that she wasn't good for him," Carissa said, and Kelsey sensed a dormant exasperation arising in her tone. "But he didn't listen. And look what happened."

Kelsey kept forgetting that Ethan had been a different person a year and a half ago. And she'd probably seen him more than his family had.

"I'm glad he's started over, though," Carissa added.

"Why don't you believe that?" Kelsey prodded gently, noticing the way Carissa set her features as if she were trying to convince herself.

Carissa glanced up at her before saying, "Because I want him home. It's like...it's like he's scared to visit us! After what happened with Micah, it's like we're the plague or something."

Kelsey blinked. "Wait, who's Micah?"

Carissa furrowed her eyebrows, then raised them. "Our cousin?"

Kelsey shook her head.

"That's why Ethan ditched theater and got into movies," Carissa explained, still confused that this was new information to Kelsey. "Micah and Ethan went to L.A. together when they were fifteen. Ethan did his theater stuff and Micah hired an agent to try and get onto the screen. They were like brothers, basically. Anyway, they went cliff jumping at this spot up north." She shrugged one shoulder and shook her head. "They'd done it a million times. Ethan jumped first, then Micah, and he never came back up."

Kelsey's hands were frozen on her warm mug. "What happened?"

"He had a heart attack. It was the craziest thing. Apparently, the heart attack happened somewhere between the moment his feet left the rocks and when he hit the water."

"So that's why Ethan feels like he can't leave acting," Kelsey murmured. "He feels like he owes it to Micah."

Carissa nodded. "And that's why he never comes to see us. When he invited me to come and stay here, I was shocked."

Kelsey gave a sympathetic smile and rubbed Carissa's arm. "Ah, just give him another chance. I think he's making a full 180."

"As long as he keeps you around to make me pumpkin spice lattes, he can invite me over any time," Carissa laughed. "He's soooo boring! He's always like "wanna watch a movie" or "wanna go get pizza", and I'm like, hello??? The Walk of Fame? The beach? Literally anywhere in L.A.?"

Kelsey pressed her lips together before bursting into laughter. "That's so true!" she giggled.

"And we watch a movie and he's like—" Carissa's face immediately glazed over and her expression turned dead serious.

Kelsey snorted. "You look just like him!"

"And he keeps interrupting!"

"Every ten minutes!" Kelsey agreed, wiping a tear from her eye. "And then afterwards, it's like he switches back to normal and it's all good."

Carissa nodded. "He was like that when we were little too!"

"Really?"

"He'd be watching Thomas the Train and be so serious. My mom would get him in trouble because he totally blocked out the world and didn't hear her telling him to do stuff."

Kelsey shook her head and chuckled.

Ethan and Jacob came into the kitchen, curious expressions on their face.

"What are you girls talking about?' Ethan asked.

Kelsey and Carissa exchanged looks and grinned.

When Kelsey turned back to Ethan, it was almost like she was seeing him more clearly than before.

He'd been through more than she'd ever realized. More than he cared to share.

She wanted to make him happy. She wanted to make all the guilt from his past go away.

But she knew that there was only so much she could do.

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Hello everyone!

~What do you think about Carissa?

~It didn't take long for Ethan and Jacob to get along XD

~Thoughts on the new development in Ethan's story?

~General comments?

Thank you SO MUCH for reading! {Don't forget to comment, vote, and share!}