Let's Get Ethan ✔

Chapter 12

When Ethan woke up the next morning, he felt groggy and rolled over to see his roommate wasn't even in the dorm. Once again, Lincoln had left after he had gone to sleep. Presumably to spend the night with his "goddess" Stephanie. More like Medusa, Ethan wanted to point out. Today, he wore actual colors, a red tee with jeans. The shades of burgundy reflected off the white brick walls of his dorm. The atmosphere was all bright and warm as the sun shone through the thin curtains.

He opened the door to leave almost forgetting his backpack. He was certainly going to need that he thought before scrambling backward to pick it up, shutting the door simultaneously. He rushed out the dorm doors and felt the humidity pour over his skin like a bucket of water, drenching him.

Ethan and Lincoln had barely spoken since the party. Ethan was more confident that this year would be a breeze, barely having a roommate had its perks and privacy.

His business class had thinned out from the first day early arrivals. He took his "regular" spot in the back and watched as the room filled up. He enjoyed watching his peers tumble to their spots, most of them half-asleep. Ethan filled out the beginning of the notes and waited patiently for Dr. Jones, potentially the most enjoyable of his professors so far.

And though Dr. Jones brought up interesting morsels of information in his lectures; this didn't mean Ethan liked his class.

The first day, Dr. Jones equivalated the stock market to the stages of life. Comparing a relatively new business to a baby, sensitive to the changes of daily life and relatively unstable. You could, in theory, make the same argument about young adults in college. Although analogies that would offend the entire student body were not on the syllabus that semester.

The class was pushed to the back of his mind as he felt the grogginess overtake him. Could sleeping in class be legalized today?

The others around him were certainly feeling the way he was. A boy in his peripheral was playing minesweeper, there were plenty of doodlers, and only a small portion were actually paying attention.

Ethan began to drift; his thoughts being pulled to the encounter with Stephanie. What was it, her "shining whit"? Who was he trying to be, Shakespeare?

He frowned. Ethan knew that he was going down a troubled path. His roommate would wring his neck if he heard him talk to his girlfriend that way. Sure, they lived together, but that did not mean that Ethan was excused from a fight by pulling the roommate card. And if they did fight, surely, he was no match for tough guy Lincoln. An even fight lay in a geriatric ward.

The thought took Ethan further, he had crossed the line. He shouldn't have spoken to Stephanie at all. But was Stephanie excused?

That line about her "being likable" and him "not" really made him angry. Was it likable to set someone up on a fake date, how about bullying? Was that likable?

Soon class was over, and everyone left, rushing to the exit. They were all desperate to get out and mingle after class. He noticed that people were definitely more social in college. Everyone was trying to be somebody else and meet everyone that they couldn't in high school. Most likely due to the kings and queen bees of the world like Stephanie.

Ethan made his way to breakfast at the cafeteria. In the crowded hallways, one familiar face in particular caught his attention.

"Ethan, dude!" Lincoln shouted at him. Ethan smiled subconsciously; it was nice recognizing someone. And Lincoln motioned for him to come over.

"Hi, Lincoln," Ethan said. They both got to the side of the hall.

"I feel bad for kicking you out the other night, and I know you don't like Steph, but, hey, that's okay. I know you probably aren't into sports, or whatever, but have I got a deal for you. This Saturday night there is a football game on campus, and you can come with, okay?"