"Sheesh! That was harder than I thought it would be," Ethan says, sounding rather breathless for such a fit guy. "I now have some real respect for that milk-soppy dude you dated. Saw him climb into your window once; he made it look easy. Figured if he could do it, I probably could do it too, but... pheeeew! Almost saw my ass a few times just now."

That's it! He's insane.

"Liam used a ladder," I tell him, causing him to stop mid-gasp to blink at me like an owl.

"What?"

"My dad was cleaning the gutters that week; he left the ladder out... didn't you see it?"

"It was dark..."

I shake my head, laughing at his appalled expression. He really could've injured himself quite badly! I don't even know how he got up here; there's not all that much to hold onto or step on. There are some vines, but they're really flimsy and couldn't possibly take his weight.

"Why are you here?"

"Got sick of texting," he says, sitting down on my windowsill; he has to bend over a bit because the window doesn't slide up high enough to make it a comfortable seat for a tall guy like him. 

I'm suddenly uncomfortably aware that I have a boy sitting in my window, wearing only a boxer. The fact that it's Ethan doesn't make it any better. 

"We have a home game tomorrow; you're going to come to watch it, right?"

"Rugby?" He nods his head slowly as if I'm a slow child. He did say rugby in his last message, after all. "It involves a ball, right?"

It is not a legitimate question. I know what rugby is. It is the biggest religion in our school, and I don't worship at its altar. I'm not all that into sports unless it's Delia playing hockey... or it's mountain climbing... and I'm the one doing it... except it's a hill and not an actual mountain.

Ethan is rolling his eyes, giving me looks now, and I try really hard not to look at him too much. The dude is all smooth, tanned skin and muscles; it's disturbing, even in this dim light.

When did he become so big?!

"We're playing St Albany Boys High. It's a pretty serious game; they're our biggest rivals. You want to do the whole good morning and good night thing, and I agree, sounds like a stupid corny thing a good boyfriend will do, so... I'm in. Well, I think going to her boyfriend's important matches is the kind of corny, stupid thing a good girlfriend will do, so..." he spreads his hands, shrugging.

"The idea is to change you into the perfect boyfriend. Why do I have to be a good girlfriend?"

I hate rugby!!!!!

"To inspire me to be a good boyfriend," he frowns, and then he's grinning, teasing me. "Besides, didn't you decide to do this so I could help you get off the shelf by teaching you how to be the perfect girlfriend?"

I'm going to kill Delia!

"No... I'm doing this out of the goodness of my heart," I say in a small, innocent voice, and now he's laughing at me.

"Come on; you go to all Deli's hockey matches, I don't want people to think that you're dating my sister more than you're dating me."

"We care about what people think now?"

He shrugs, hanging his head, clutching his hands dangling between his knees, and it suddenly dawns on me how much he is going to be mocked once his friends find out that he's dating me, of all people. I don't fit into his crowd... something I pride myself on. If I don't even do the minimum girlfriend-like things for him, it will be even worse.

That would be really petty of me.

Oh, my soul! Now I'm caring about what people think! I forgot about the whole limelight thing. Why did I think that I could quietly and invisibly date Ethan? I'm going to have to interact with people! 

This is a nightmare!

Thinking about the other rugby players having people at the match to cheer them on while Ethan has to brave the battle all by himself, his girlfriend nowhere to be found, suddenly makes me feel a little sad.

I've gone insane too...

"You're right; a good girlfriend would support her boyfriend in things that are important to him and vice versa. So, I'll go watch you play rugby tomorrow, and then you can go with me to the mudflats on Sunday to take pictures."

"You want to take pictures of... mud?" he is looking at me as if he's waiting for the punchline... there isn't one.

"Yes, it makes really cool patterns, and sometimes I get to photograph some interesting crabs and insects," I inform him. "If we're really lucky, we might even finally get to see a great, blue-spotted mudskipper."

"Really?" he says with absolutely no enthusiasm.

"Probably not."

He is rudely staring at me now with huge glassy eyes. Well, it's hard to read his expression properly because of the soft blue glow, so I pat my moon to make it turn to the next colour, white. I can see him better now, and yes, he is indeed rudely staring at me with huge glassy eyes...

"Deal," he says to my surprise. "Okay, I'll meet you downstairs in the morning around 6:30."

"Six in the morning?!" I squeak, watching him nod his head. "It's Saturday! Do you hate me?" I love having a lie-in on Saturdays. Sometimes I do it all day!

"I have to be at school at 6:45 for warm-up. The match starts at eight."

"And girlfriends need to warm up too?"

Ethan laughs, pushing a hand through his mussed-up hair.

"Only if they're cold. You're right; you can come with Deli."

"Dell's going?" that makes it all so much better. Ethan is giving me a confused look now, and he is right to give me that look. Dell goes to all his big games; I just didn't care before. "Oh, right... she's your sister... and she likes you... I forgot."

"Good night," he snorts, and I think he is planning on jumping out the window because he is swivelling in his seat and already has one foot on the windowsill.

"Wait!" I get out of my bed and cross to the vanity to find the necklace. "Here," I say, joining him in front of the window. "I had to swap our cords so it will be big enough for you."

He doesn't take it; instead, he smiles up at me, and when I continue to stand, holding the necklace out to him expectantly, he gestures with his head.

"Go ahead. Put it on me."

"You're gonna sleep with it?"

"I always do. Aren't you going to?"

"Won't it strangle me?" I want to know, the black scrunchy on his wrist catching my eye.

"I'm not giving it back," he says, covering it with his other hand, and I smirk at him, a little touched by his sentimentality. 

It shouldn't surprise me. Ethan has a box containing every birthday card he'd ever received and a few other strange mementoes. Not sure why he'd be all protective of the meaningless scrunchy, though. Perhaps he likes the way it feels. 

"No, it won't strangle you."

I lean over and fasten the necklace around his neck. I can smell the shampoo and body wash he'd used, and for a moment, the entire situation is feeling too strange and intimate for me to handle. This is too weird. I'm about to rise and step back when Ethan suddenly turns his head to face me, his lips lightly brushing against mine, shooting shockwaves rippling through my entire body.

I jump back with a gasp, clasping my hand over my mouth.

"What are you doing?!" I mumble against the palm of my hand.

"Sealing the deal with a kiss."

"Why the hell does anything require sealing?! There's nothing to seal!" I glare at him for a few seconds, and then I drop my hand from my mouth and grab his hand, giving it a shake. "How about this?! It's a deal! There you go! All sealed."

Ethan pulls a face.

"Yeah, guys are always going on one knee, handing a girl a ring and then shaking her hand. Very normal."

"We're not getting engaged; we're just... something..."

"Fine," he sighs, looking oddly deflated. "So, no kissing then?"

Is he for real?

"Well, not each other!"

Yeah, that sounded a little weird, even to my own ears.

"So, let me get this straight. We're dating each other, but we're kissing other people? Just who the hell is it you're planning on kissing?" he doesn't look happy at all now.

"I'm not planning on kissing anybody, especially not you!"

"Good, because that is the number one rule. No cheating. That means no kissing other guys, no sharing their sodas, no sitting in their laps, nothing!"

I frown at him, surprised about how seriously he is taking all of this. Besides, there's virtually no chance of me doing any of that.

"You have rules?"

"Yeah, that one. Don't you? You were going to draw up a contract or something."

"Couldn't think of a single rule... except the one we just made... no kissing... anybody."

"That's not the rule..."

"It goes for you too; no cheating on me either." I don't want to be made a fool of.

"I don't cheat." That is actually true; whenever I've seen Ethan misbehaving with a girl, it's always been with his actual girlfriend... if he had a steady one at the time.

"Actually, that is a very good idea. We should each make a list."

Ethan gives a weird snort-laugh, shaking his head. "Hell no! Lists? Seriously? The only lists I'm interested in are music playlists... and shopping lists. I'm gonna go now, crazy person; sleep tight."

"I'm serious! Make a list of all the things you think constitutes the perfect girlfriend, and I'll make one for the perfect boyfriend, and then we can use them as checklists to work towards our goal of becoming the perfect partners." I am being so incredibly logical about this; I deserve applause.

Ethan is not applauding...

"I am stunned that you are not dating more," he tells me, laughing when I slap his shoulder. His skin is really warm, even in the cool night air; my fingers don't want to let go right away; I have to force them.

"We... we need to f-find someplace to s-start..."

"Fine, I'll make a list," he starts to rise, and then he sits down again, giving me the look I always see just before he is going to make me mad. "So, I guess no kissing means there won't be any sex either?"

"Ew!" I give him a shove and take several steps away from him.

"Ew? Really?" he grunts.

"You are so gross!"

"No girlfriend I've dated has ever said "ew" or "gross" to me..." he stops, re-considering his theory. "Well... they have, but you probably don't want to hear about the context..."

"Shut up and go home! You have that big match tomorrow; you need to go to sleep!"

He is laughing at me now, clearly messing with me, but he is getting ready to climb out the window.

"Wait, you're not using the window again; you'll get hurt. I'll let you out the back door."

"I know the way now," he says, and then he's out the window and crawling down the wall before I can do anything to try to stop him, and I don't like what I'm hearing. Was that a crash? I'm sure it was a crash!

"Ethan!" I shout, hanging halfway out the window, trying to see into the darkness below. He is on the ground, getting ready to climb over the fence between our houses. A piece of the ivy got loose and slapped against the drainpipe where it is now resting. It wasn't a crash. I heave a sigh of relief.

He gives me a wave and vaults the fence, and then he is scaling the side of his house to his open bedroom window. He often uses that route to avoid interactions with his father. There are a lot more features to hold onto over there. A mounted hosepipe wheel, some brackets for gardening tools and a nice little balcony opening from his bedroom to the front of the house.

Ethan is extremely nimble.

A dog is howling somewhere, and another one is barking, disturbed by my shout. I hope I didn't wake my dad too... or Ethan's... especially not Ethan's. I watch him enter his bedroom window and drop my curtains in place.

So, dating means that you get up early on a Saturday to go watch friggin' rugby. Yay!

♂♀