Ungifted (2 page)

So, with that wonderful intro, you can only imagine what the student populace is like. If you’re thinking a bunch of over-privileged, self-centered snobs who put on the mask of perfection for their parents, but in truth are most likely into more bad stuff than the inner city gangs, then you’d be correct.

Ethan Dunn is probably the biggest culprit of them all, too. I’ve never been able to figure out what his deal is, but he plays the role of perfection way too well. He seems more straight-laced than the Brady Bunch, gets straight A’s, and is one of the most sought-after guys in school.

And I’m not even going to get into how freaking hot he is. Okay, that’s a lie. I can’t not talk about Ethan’s looks. I’m sorry, but nobody should be as beautiful as he is. It’s disgusting. He’s got this sort of unearthly perfection about him. He’s over six feet tall and is slender but really well defined. He has a perfect-teeth-and-killer-smile combo, big blue eyes rimmed with lashes girls would kill for, and hair so blond it practically glows in the sunlight. I’d even put money on the highlights being natural.

Add all that to him being my own personal superhero, and you’d think I’d be in love with him, right? This is the part where I should call him perfect and say that even though he is all of these amazing things, that somehow he’s miraculously still the nicest guy on the planet and totally crushworthy. Well, unfortunately my life is not a teen romance novel. Ethan Dunn is no Edward Cullen. He’s quite the arrogant prick, actually. And not in an endearing Jace Wayland kind of way.

I can’t stand the guy. Every time he comes to my rescue, I want to crawl into a hole and die. Today was no exception. Unfortunately, my time with him seemed as if it would never end. He’d managed to finagle his way into escorting me to the hospital since my dad was in New York and couldn’t make it right away. I didn’t understand his desire to come, but he’d put his foot down so strongly that the nurse called his mother and got permission.

Awkward.

“So, that was weird today,” I said, hoping to break the tension. “The light just falling like that. I wonder what happened.”

Ethan stiffened. When he didn’t say anything, I searched for something else to fill the silence. “How did you get up on stage so fast, anyway? Not that I’m not grateful you were there.”

Ethan seemed startled by my question, but he quickly plastered a smirk on his ridiculously beautiful face. “I was standing right by the stairs. There was just something about the idea of you and a stage in front of the whole school that didn’t seem like the best idea.”

His smile was playful, but I don’t think he was kidding. “I guess it’s a good thing I’m so predictable,” I said, gritting my teeth.

The worst thing about this torture was that I couldn’t stop myself from blushing. I had a whole mouthful of things I wanted to say to him, but another thing I’m not very good at? Confrontation. Besides, he was technically right—even if he was being a jerk. How could I defend myself?

“You saved my life today, Ethan. Thank you for that.”

“You’re welcome.” Ethan paused a moment, and then said, “Hey, Grace, you ever wonder how you managed to survive the first ten years of your life without me?” He laughed at the mortified expression on my face. “I’m serious. Rescuing you is practically a full-time gig. If I didn’t know any better, I’d think you did it on purpose in order to get my attention.”

He would assume that—the arrogant jerk. His comment pissed me off, but unfortunately I still blushed, so all the denying it in the world wouldn’t make him believe me. I think he could tell I wanted to say something—and the look he gave me was practically daring me to do so—but of course I couldn’t.

I shrugged and put the homework I’d finished back in my backpack. When I pulled out a book to read, Ethan realized how long we’d been there and got antsy. The doctors had long since finished with me. My dad wasn’t here yet, so we were still sitting in the waiting room.

Ethan put his books away, too. He looked at the time on his phone and huffed in annoyance. “A flight from New York doesn’t take this long. Where is your dad?”

I looked up at the TV screen in the corner of the room where the debate was playing. “You’re kidding, right?”

Ethan followed my gaze to where my dad’s face lit up the screen. “The debate’s
live
?” I nodded. “So your dad’s still in New York?”

When I nodded again, Ethan glared at me as if it were my fault he was stuck there. As if I’d even asked him to come in the first place! “You don’t have to stay with me. If you don’t have a ride, I can call Cynthia. She’ll come get you and take you back to the school to get your car.”

“And just leave you here alone?”

I didn’t understand why he was so worried about that. It’s not like I’d never been alone before. “I don’t mind. My dad’s a busy guy. I’m sort of used to it.”

“
I
mind. I’m not leaving you here by yourself.”

I looked back up at the TV and tried not to sound annoyed as I said, “Well, it’s going to be a few more hours at least.”

Ethan frowned, but then sighed in defeat and pulled out his phone. I thought he was going to call someone to come get him, but instead he slumped down in his chair and started playing a game. Apparently he wasn’t going anywhere.

“Definitely broken,” I told Cynthia
when she finally called me later that evening. “They had to cast it up to my knee.”

“Bummer.”

“At least they let me keep the cast white. They didn’t make it pink or neon yellow or something obnoxious like that.”

“But you have to use crutches?”

“For at least six weeks,” I moaned. “I can’t even walk under normal circumstances. Do you know how disastrous crutches are going to be?”

“Look on the bright side: you’ll get a boyfriend out of the deal.”

“How do you figure?”

“Ethan will have to help you around so much there’s no way he’ll be able to hide his feelings for you any longer.”

When I didn’t laugh, Cynthia gasped. “What? I missed something juicy, I can tell.”

I cast a nervous glance at Ethan, who was sitting in the chair next to me flipping through a magazine. “Uh, Cyn?” I whispered quietly, turning away from him as best I could without being too obvious. “Ethan came with me today.”

After an embarrassingly loud squeal that Ethan probably heard through the phone, Cynthia screamed, “Holy crap, he came to the hospital with you? That’s so romantic!”

“Cynthia!” I hissed. I looked up and several people, including Ethan—who I’m sure just heard every word of that—were looking at me. “Shut up! You’re drawing attention to me. If someone recognizes me, my dad will be pissed.”

That made Cynthia forget about Ethan. “Why?” she asked suspiciously. “Where are you?”

“In the emergency room waiting area.”

“Still? You went to the hospital hours ago.”

“I’m a minor. They won’t release me until a parent shows up to sign me out.”

Cynthia broke into a string of four-letter words and I had to pull the phone away from my ear again. “Cynthia, seriously, tone it down. I’m not kidding. If the media finds out my dad didn’t come to the hospital when I broke my ankle, he’ll be blasted. He might even drop a few points. Guess who he’ll blame for that.”

“He should be blasted! We have a dead-beat dad running for office. I’m sorry, Gracie, but I’m not voting for the jerk.”

“You’re not old enough to vote anyway.”

“Yeah, well, if I could, I totally wouldn’t. I can’t believe he didn’t come to get you from the hospital. What if they didn’t agree to treat you without your parent there? Would he have come then?”

“They called him when I showed up. He faxed over some consent-to-treat form. They just can’t let me leave on my own.”

“It’s ten P
.
M.! You’ve been there since, like, eleven o’clock this morning!”

“It was the last debate before the election. I’d have to be on my deathbed for him to cancel that.”

“Bastard,” Cynthia grumbled.

“He’s not so bad, Cyn. He’s just busy right now and under a lot of pressure. He’ll be better after the election’s over.”

“If you say so.” Cynthia sighed as if the world were coming to an end. “Will they let my mom come get you?”

“Maybe if I were some delinquent no one cared about. Ethan already tried that, and they said no. I think they’re being extra fussy because of my dad.”

“Well, do you want me to come keep you company while you wait?”

“Nah, it’s late and he’ll just show up the minute you get here.”

“Are you sure? I don’t mind.”

“Just keep me company over the phone.”

“Okay. Let’s discuss the Ethan issue, then. He totally saved your life today. That is so hot.”

Cynthia was talking at a reasonable volume now. I was pretty sure Ethan hadn’t heard her, but I still blushed. “First of all,” I said, lowering my voice, “there is no issue there.”

“Oh, come on—”

“And secondly,” I continued quickly, “that is not something I care to discuss at this particular moment.”

Cynthia understood my hesitancy and squealed again. “He’s still there with you? After all this time? Come on, Gracie. That totally proves there is most definitely an Ethan issue.”

I sighed.

“Tell him you’re going to the bathroom.”

She wasn’t going to quit. No one could stop Cynthia when she was determined. “All right,” I said. “Hold on a minute.”

Scrambling for my crutches, I pressed my phone to my ear with my shoulder, but before I got fully to my feet Ethan was standing in front of me. “Where do you think you’re going?”

“Uh…” I was a little more than confused by the glare Ethan was giving me. “I was just going to walk around for a few minutes. I’ve been sitting for too long. I need to stretch.”

“I don’t think so. You are not going to attempt to walk and talk on the phone while on crutches.”

“Excuse me?”

“You’ve already escaped death once today. No need to tempt fate.”

Cynthia heard what Ethan said and laughed, but Ethan was absolutely not kidding. He was so serious that I didn’t know what to say. “I—I’m sorry. I just…” Ethan crossed his arms over his chest. He wasn’t about to let me get up. I took a deep breath. “I was just hoping to get a little privacy for a few minutes. I won’t walk around. I’ll go sit over there. I can make it across the room without killing myself.”

“I wouldn’t be too sure about that,” Ethan muttered, stalking over to the chair I’d been pointing at so that I wouldn’t have to move. He threw himself into the seat, then leaned back and closed his eyes.

“Shoot me now,” I groaned. “Before I shoot him.”

“What are you talking about? The guy sat at the hospital with you all day.”

“Don’t remind me. Ugh, I just want this day to be over.”

“What is your deal, Grace?”

“What? I can’t stand him.”

“You can’t seriously mean that.”

“Oh, yes I can. Today he accused me of being a spaz on purpose in order to keep getting his attention.”

“I’m sure he didn’t actually mean it. He was probably flirting with you.”

“Yeah right. He was making fun of me. In fact, he’s done nothing but tease me all day. And seriously, what’s with the hovering? I hardly even know the guy and he refuses to leave. Don’t you think that’s weird?”

“No, I think it’s incredibly sweet.” Cynthia sighed. “He’s probably just in love with you and afraid his friends would make fun of him if he acted on it.” I snorted. “Seriously, Grace. Don’t kill your best shot at teenage romance.”

“Gee, thanks for having confidence in me. And besides, if Ethan Dunn is my only option for romance, I’d rather die an old spinster.”

I glance across the room again. Ethan’s eyes were no longer closed—he was gaping at me openmouthed. He’d heard me. Somehow from across the room, he’d heard my conversation.

“What?” Cynthia asked at my sudden gasp.

My heart skipped a beat as a red-faced Ethan headed my direction.

“I’ll call you back.” I hung up before Cynthia could protest.

I closed my eyes and took a deep breath. “I’m sorry, Ethan,” I whispered when I felt him sit down next to me. “I didn’t mean it.”