Devil's Eye

Chapter 6

5' 3"

To Ethan's surprise, Noah was indeed quite popular. Every person whom Ethan had asked about Morgan knew exactly who was the subject of the conversation. And then, like true experts, these people would sound like a broken record, telling over and over again about a thousand and a one dick that once had been in his mouth. When Ethan would ask them for some real evidence of his actions, besides dumb anonymous chat and endless rumors, everybody would get embarrassed and start saying a load of hooey. Despite them saying all this dumb stuff, Ethan managed to fish out some useful pieces of information. For instance, he found out that Noah was in his third year at the Art History and Criticism Department. or that he would always wear those weird kimono shirts. Or that he would buy an enormous amount of food for lunch and consume it with dangerous speed. 'But really, he stuffs himself with all those buns like he's training his throat or something. Have you seen that he's as thin as a rail? With that appetite? Probably he burns a shit ton of calories from sucking all those dicks. Wait, why do you ask? '

Noah was being criticized and judged. People mocked him for everything, starting from his clothes and up to his food preferences. And every single thing, of course, was connected with his bad reputation. Apparently he had acne because of sperm (nonsense). His clothes were whore-ish (absolutely ordinary). He had a bad attitude (on the contrary, Morgan seemed to be a bit uptight and not really a self-confident guy). And he smelled because all of his men (last time they met, Noah smelled like lavender; Ethan liked it). Everything related to Noah was immediately rendered stupidly absolute, with a sexual undertone. Ethan understood two things. The first one: people didn't judge Noah for his real action. People judged him because they just liked to judge. They liked to humiliate while remaining high and mighty. They were the jury of their imaginary court, hiding subjectivity and indulgence in their own egocentrism and so-called justice. And even the most genteel guys, from the beginning, turned out to be really talkative when they had a chance to share a couple of nasty stories about the guy they had never met before. The second one: Morgan was getting more and more interesting. If Ethan were him and had his 'Devil's Eye', he would turn this university into hell. He would reveal all the nasty secrets; he would point out everyone's imperfections. The best defense is a good offense.

Morgan was different from Ethan because his moral compass was facing the other direction, which Thomson had never chosen before. And it seemed nuts, but at the same time, it was...charming. Ethan had no idea that people like him still existed. The more Morgan was trashed, the more Ethan wanted to know him better and find out the truth.

It wasn't difficult to find the cafeteria closest to the art critics' block. Ethan didn't mean anything bad. He just wanted to observe Morgan for a bit. Thomson didn't plan to approach him or talk to him. He just wanted to see him and, if he got lucky, maybe hear him. Probably, if Ethan told anyone about this desire, he would be considered weird.

The only obstacle was that Ethan's classes were in another building, and he couldn't make it during lunch time. Only today he had some spare time in his schedule, which gave him the opportunity to make his dreams come true and 'accidentally' run into Noah.

While Ethan was going through campus, he was trying to convince himself to turn around and go back. Why would he pour salt on a wound? He knew quite well that there was no way they could develop some sort of relationship. He couldn't let himself date anyone. Just be friends, then? The idea was barbaric in the first place. Ethan knew himself too well to understand: his interest didn't mean friendship. It either expands and becomes something bigger and deeper, or it disappears completely. There could be nothing in between.

Ethan continued persuading himself, but he didn't leave the art department anyway. There was a lot of noise in the cafeteria. Ethan chose a vending machine over a huge line for pastries, even though some passing girls said that the coffee 'costs an arm and a leg'. Luckily, Ethan could afford all of that: an arm, a leg, and coffee. His dad made good money and never set limits for his son. Considering Ethan's basic needs, the money that his dad would send him occasionally was just piling up.