Let's Get Ethan ✔

Chapter 7

When Ethan woke up the next morning he was not amused. It was nearly noon and he had overslept by a lot. How he managed to stay asleep for twelve hours after taking like a three-hour nap yesterday was insanity. The sun shone into the living room as the white canvas curtains were slightly ajar. He heard voices in the kitchen and sat up on the couch. He rubbed the sleep dust out of his eyes before reaching up to crack his back. He had also woken up with a killer headache which added to his sour mood.

He looked around the tiny living room. Directly in front of the couch was a television. It was small matching the room's miniature size. The voices grew louder and the aroma coming from the other room drew him in. He was coaxed off of the couch and into the kitchen where he saw his friends all eating breakfast together at a table in the corner.

The kitchen was L-shaped and tight quarters, though the nook in the back looked cozy. There was even an open space on the wooden bench for Ethan. The walls were bright yellow in the kitchen, he wondered if they used to be white.

"Hey, bud," James greeted Ethan, as the rest of them smiled. Ethan noticed the food they were eating, pancakes.

"Ah, yes, I thought I smelled pancakes," Ethan said, rubbing his hands together maniacally. He went over to the cupboard to grab a plate; he could smell the sugary maple syrup from there and instantly sat down at the table. It appeared they had just gotten started with breakfast as they all had nearly full plates.

"Yes, dig in everyone," Aaron said, "I made these for the beginning of the semester."

"I hate school," Olivia said through her food.

"Same!" everyone responded, eager to jump on the bandwagon. It was the one rallying cry they had as college students.

They ate their breakfast quietly, and quickly everyone became full. After breakfast, Ethan was driven back to his dorm by Aaron.

When he arrived back at his dorm Lincoln was gone which was a nice surprise to Ethan who sat comfortably in his bed for a good rest. That couch he slept on last night was not doing his back any favors.

As Ethan rested, he could only think of his interactions with his new group of friends last night. What an amazing time he had. He rolled in his hand an unfinished Rubik's cube, switching the colors nonsensically. Suddenly, the door flung off its hinges. So much for his much-needed free time.

Lincoln's hair was more of a mess than it usually was, and his grin was too eager for Ethan's exhaustion. A hangover, even a minor one, was still a hangover, and it had affected Ethan. He couldn't believe he had drunk alcohol for the first time last night. Mostly, because it was a milestone most people had reached by his age. Thank you, overbearing parents.

"Hey, dude," Lincoln greeted him. Lincoln then sat up in his bed, which was unfortunately right across from Ethan's. Ethan could tell this was boy code for let's talk about our feelings and stuff. If that didn't sound miserable to Ethan enough, Lincoln began with.

"I think I am in love."

Ethan groaned sadly before pulling himself up to face Lincoln, who was now lying on his back gazing up at the ceiling.

"You're not, dude," Ethan said mocking him.

Lincoln faced Ethan and narrowed his eyes.

"Something about my girlfriend has got you, I don't know, weird." Lincoln paused before staring back up at the ceiling thoughtfully, "Not that you weren't you know a bit quiet before, but you seem angry now."

So thick Lincoln got the idea that he was mad at Stephanie. Also, girlfriend? They met a day ago. Lincoln was quick.

"There's something you should know about Stephanie."

Ethan then preceded to tell Lincoln the story. Of how Stephanie and he were classmates. How Ethan was dumped by his girlfriend of two years. Then, because Stephanie had thought it would be funny to make Ethan's life worse for some reason, she fooled him with a fake date with one of her pretty friends. Lincoln's face was stone as Ethan told him the story.

"You're mad?" Lincoln asked.

"Yes!" Ethan said.

"Okay, I won't bring her around the dorms then." Lincoln shrugged before lying down and attempting to sleep. The reaction was not one that Ethan had hoped for. Perhaps, sympathy was too much to expect from Lincoln, especially when it came to his new girlfriend. Lincoln didn't seem convinced that she was evil.

Ethan woke up to darkness later that day. He felt shivers run down his spine as he lifted himself from his bed. He turned around to see that Lincoln had left the window open, and it was currently pouring down rain. The sound must have lulled him to sleep at some point. He shut the window and stretched out his arms as he sat on his bed. Lincoln must've left when he was asleep. The clouds deceived him as they darkened the sky, it turned out to be only five o'clock.

Ethan decided to go for an early dinner at the cafeteria. He left the safety of his dorm building. The sky stared down at Ethan menacingly. He pulled his grey sweatshirt hood over his head as the rain poured on his back. He was going to be soaked if he didn't run faster to the cafeteria. He picked up his pace staring at the cement sidewalk as he ran to the nearest building, hopefully this is where the food court was, though he wasn't entirely sure. The campus could be confusing for a freshman like himself.

As soon as Ethan got into the building, he had realized he had picked the wrong one. The rain had obscured his vision, and he had gone the wrong way. The buildings all looked the same, so it wasn't abnormal to enter the wrong one. Ethan felt the cool air conditioning immediately hit his wet clothes and skin. He had worn some baggy basketball shorts that were soaked in the back. He pulled them up grimacing from the wet mesh against his skin.

Puzzled, he continued to walk down the hallway of the building staring at the boring classroom doors. It was the liberal arts part of the school. There were no labs or lame science posters. The plain white bricks showed their age. Plenty of sinkholes in the walls.

Ethan knew that with Welcome Week they would be leaving all buildings unlocked for students to walk through their schedules. He had not thought about his classes and he would be starting tomorrow. He started out decently early with a nine in the morning class and he finished school around three in the afternoon much like the schedule he had in high school. Soon he would be starting his boring business lectures. Not his interest for sure, Ethan was definitely not a math or people person. It didn't seem as though he would succeed as a great salesman as he would need to be an extrovert who thrived on finances. Ethan couldn't sell butter to bread.

He walked dripping in his wet clothes and shoes all the way to the end of the hall and took a right to another hallway. The maze of a building was getting more intense when all he wanted was a cheeseburger.

Ethan reasoned that he was just going to get wet again even if he did manage to get dry by walking aimlessly through the building. But this didn't stop him. Instead he looked over the posters that hung on the white bricks. They were bright and colorful, targeted for liberal arts students with topics such as writing club, psychology department meetings, a guest speaker list for the Walker Auditorium, scholarships for students in fine arts. Ethan peered over them before siding with his logical side and his hunger pangs as he made his way out of the building in order to find that stupid food court.