“Your friends suck by the way. Why would they choose to see this shitty movie again?”
“I don’t know.” The hurt from before came rolling back. How come they hadn’t invited him? He feared that this was a regular occurrence. No need for Ethan.
“Why do you hang out with them? You’re much cooler.”
Ethan blushed at the compliment. “They’re my friends.”
“Maybe you should find new ones.”
“Easier said than done,” Ethan said with an edge to his voice.We can’t all be Greg Sanderson.
Outside the theater, a gust of wind blew between them, and it shuffled Greg’s hair in all directions. “So I’ll see you in class tomorrow?”
“Yeah.”
Greg nodded. He didn’t ask if Ethan was all right when he was so obviously tongue-tied.
“I have a question,” Ethan said, his voice rising way more than it needed to.
Greg was all ears, but Ethan noticed an awkward look flash across his face for an instant. Maybe that handholding was meant to stay in the theater; Ethan didn’t want to ruin the moment by overanalyzing.
“Did you study for the exam?” Ethan asked. “It’s tomorrow.”
Greg bobbed his head side to side. Ethan desperately wanted to brush the silky strands out of his eyes, to run his fingers through it and feel the warmth radiate onto his fingers. “I perused the PowerPoint slides.”
“I’m shocked.”
“Unfortunately, the copy of the exam at my frat house is missing.”
“What a tough life.” Ethan smiled. He’d delivered that line perfectly and applauded himself on the well-executed sarcasm.
Greg laughed and massaged his shoulder a little too hard. “You’re funny, Folly.”
“Are you sure that’s a good nickname?
“Yep.” Greg waved goodbye and left.
Ethan was glad he hadn’t brought up the handholding and date-ish qualities of this afternoon. He enjoyed what they had, and there was no need to rock the boat.
Φ
By the time Ethan returned to his dorm, he felt differently. Much differently. He needed to talk to someone.
He was wrong before. This day had to be analyzed. This whole relationship had to be analyzed. It wasn’t just a few harmless public hookups anymore. There was handholding. And date-ish qualities. And Greg’s dimple and warm eyes. These could not be ignored.
Ethan headed to Jessica’s room, but dreaded his choice with every step. He needed to talk to someone and she was his closest friend, but at this moment, that didn’t feel like much. He wasn’t close enough to get an invite to the movies. Sure, she’d have some excuse about it being a last-minute thing. That did happen. But watching the five of them find an empty row this afternoon had felt like a slap to the face for Ethan. Why should he tell them about his private life if they didn’t include him?
He reached Jessica’s room, but wanted to turn back, debating if she should know about this. Did she deserve to be let in?
“Hey,” Lorna called out behind him.
“Hi,” Ethan said awkwardly. She carried a laundry basket.
“Jessica’s not here. I think she has class. What’s up?” He was taken aback by her friendliness. Didn’t she know what her roommate and roommate’s friends said about her behind her back? Yet here she was, folding laundry with a smile on her face, asking Ethan how he was.
“Not much.”
“Cool.”
