Let's Get Ethan ✔

Chapter 5

The air was thick with the scent of weed and alcohol. Ethan could tell someone definitely had too much to drink as there was also the putrid odor of vomit. One would have to be incredibly drunk, or stoned, to stand it. This wasn't going to be a small, intimate gathering; this party was going to be one for the history books. People got wild at the beginning of the year, and this year was no exception.

"Jesus Christ," Ethan muttered, scanning the room. There were red solo cups on the stairs, curtains flung off windows, kids crowded around the pool table. It was also quite dim in the entry way. Perhaps the ambient lighting was to match the party's enigmatic nature. The place was packed with students of all ages which made Ethan feel slightly at ease, knowing that there was the possibility of other freshmen.

"Link! My man!" A boy around Ethan's height approached Lincoln. Arms spread wide as he hugged Lincoln with a beer in one hand. The boy hung onto Lincoln slightly longer than necessary, practically falling into him. It looked unintentional.

"Nice place, Tucker." Lincoln looked around, his eyes barely skimming the room.

"Thanks, you should have lived here with us, bro! You were the king of these things as a freshman!" Tucker announced loudly. His speech becoming slurred with longer sentences.

"Oh, Tucker, you can't handle your liquor. Your landlord is going to kill you!" Lincoln said raising his eyebrows. He then laughed, easing the tension.

"Yeah, Link, she's a grandma. What the f-fuck is she gonna do? Yell me to death?" Ethan smiled nervously as he found Lincoln's gaze. Lincoln smiled back and nodded to Ethan and the rest. They all seemed to understand each other. Suddenly, Ethan was led to the crowded pool table and watching a game of beer pong. Lincoln and his crew were over talking to a guy, presumably the game host. Most of the crowd around Ethan weren't watching the game though, they were chatting up their neighbors.

"You know what, I don't think they even use this room to play pool," Ethan stated to no one in particular, pretending to be completely naïve. A group closest to him, against the wall, made eye contact with him and smiled. It was two guys and one girl. The guy who spoke to Ethan had glasses and a beard.

"Hey, and yeah, I'm not so sure either." Matching Ethan's naiveté, he smiled at him.

"I'm Aaron Lewis, and you are?"

"I'm Ethan Harper, nice to meet you," Ethan said to the friendly stranger.

The girl introduced herself as Olivia Fang, her smile was incredibly contagious. Her medium length black hair fell into her face as she nodded, grabbing his hand to shake it. Ethan noticed her posh sounding accent right away. She was also impressively dressed for a college party. She wore a black skirt with a cropped denim jacket and white shirt. She also wore heels that were bright pink.

He wondered if she was dating one of the guys.

There was another guy next to her, shorter than Aaron. He wore a blue polo and jeans. He had a young face with hair the color of dull sand. He introduced himself as James.

"My name is Cleever, James Cleever," he impersonated the famed James Bond as he introduced himself.

"What majors are you?" Ethan asked the quintessential question.

"Senior, computer science," James said.

"Junior, theatre," Olivia added.

"Senior, poli sci," Aaron said finally. A good range of majors Ethan thought, hopefully, they liked what they were doing.

"Freshman, marketing. Or so, they tell me," Ethan said openly.

"Oh, we hooked us a freshman. What are you doing here? Making some upperclassman friends?" Aaron joked his glasses bouncing comically, as he nodded around to his friends. "I'm just kidding, how are you liking Welcome Week?" Aaron asked genuinely curious. It was nice to have some familial dialogue being spoken to him.