Ethan Vale

The sunlight was aggressive.

It sliced through the dorm blinds and landed directly across Liam’s face.

Liam groaned into his pillow. “Why is it so bright.”

Ethan was awake but unmoving, staring at the ceiling and letting the room exist in quiet shapes and shadows. Without his hearing aids in, the world was muted—distant, underwater. Liam’s complaints registered only as vibration and tone.

He rolled onto his side and reached for the small case on his nightstand.

One by one, he fitted the hearing aids into place.

The world clicked into focus.

Air conditioning. Footsteps in the hallway. Liam’s dramatic suffering.

“Ethan,” Liam muttered, voice thick with sleep and tequila. “Tell me I didn’t do anything catastrophic.”

“You define catastrophic,” Ethan said evenly.

Liam squinted at him through one eye. “Oh God. That tone means I did.”

Ethan sat up slowly. “You disappeared.”

“That’s vague.”

“With a redhead.”

Liam blinked. “Redhead.”

“Yes.”

“Like… natural redhead or bottle redhead?”

Ethan gave him a look.

Liam groaned and dragged a pillow over his face. “I vaguely remember a redhead.”

“She was wearing green.”

“Okay, that narrows it down to half the party.”

“You were gone for an hour.”

Liam went still. “An hour?”

“Approximately.”

Liam slowly lowered the pillow. “Did I seem coherent?”

“No.”

“Charming?”

“No.”

“Devastatingly handsome?”

Ethan stood and pulled a hoodie over his head. “Debatable.”

Liam pointed at him. “You’re supposed to be my wingman.”

“You vanished.”

“That’s fair.”

Ethan slid his laptop into his bag.

“Where are you going?” Liam asked.

“Student union.”

“For what?”

“Homework.”

Liam’s face twisted in betrayal. “On a Saturday morning?”

“Yes.”

“You’re insufferable.”

Ethan paused at the door. “Drink water.”

“Get out.”

—

The student union buzzed softly with late-morning traffic.

Ethan grabbed a black coffee and chose a table near the windows. He liked sitting where he could see the room. Where he didn’t have to guess who was speaking.

He opened his laptop.

GOV101 – Chapter 4 Problem Set.

Explain the structure of federalism in the United States…

He exhaled.

Easy.

He could finish this in thirty minutes.

He began typing.

Federalism refers to the division of power between national and state governments…

His fingers moved automatically.

And then they slowed.

Because he wasn’t thinking about federalism anymore.

He was thinking about Professor Moore.

Not recklessly. Not obsessively.

Just… curiously.

There were rumors about her divorce. Recent. Messy.

Upperclassmen had mentioned it like campus gossip, half admiration, half speculation.

She never addressed it.

She didn’t seem fragile.

She seemed sharpened.

Did she date?

The thought arrived uninvited.

Did she go out to bars near campus? Did she avoid them? Did she see twenty-year-old boys as children?

He tried to picture her outside the classroom.

Did she run in the mornings? She had the build for it. Lean. Defined. Controlled.

Or maybe she lifted weights. Something disciplined. Intentional.

He pictured her in workout clothes before he could stop himself.

High-waisted leggings. A fitted tank. Hair pulled into a tight ponytail.

Would she still look composed? Or flushed and human?

Would she ever look at someone the way girls looked at Liam?

The thought unsettled him.

He barely knew her.

She was his professor.

And yet.

He wanted—irrationally—to prove something to her.

That he wasn’t just the baseball twin.

That he wasn’t just a face on posters.

That he wasn’t just the deaf one.

He rubbed a hand over his jaw and forced himself to type.

Enumerated powers are those specifically granted…

The chair across from him scraped back.

“Hey.”

He looked up.

Blonde.

Glossy. Effortless. Barely dressed for February.

She held an iced coffee and a glittery phone case.

“You’re Ethan, right?”

“Yes.”

“I’m Chloe. We were at Theta Rho last night.”

He nodded once.

“You left kind of early.”

“I had practice.”

She leaned forward slightly. Her perfume was warm and sweet.

“That party was insane,” she said. “You guys are everywhere online already.”

He stilled slightly.

“What do you mean?”

She laughed. “Campus Central posted like five videos. And all my friends were reposting clips of you and your brother playing Pong. You went viral in like, three group chats.”

He kept his expression neutral.

“That happens,” he said.

“It’s kind of hot,” she added lightly. “The mysterious baseball star thing.”

“I’m not mysterious.”

“You seem mysterious.”

“I’m observant. And not talkative.”

“That’s hot too.”

She smiled slowly.

“So. Are either of you dating anyone?”

“No.”

“Both of you are single?”

“Yes.”

She looked pleased.

“I was kind of wondering…”

He waited.

She was objectively stunning.

Perfect hair. Perfect lashes. Legs that had drawn half the student union’s attention.

Sex appeal radiated off her.

And yet—

He felt nothing.

Because she wasn’t asking about him.

She was asking about the Vale twins.

The brand.

The campus celebrities.

“What’s it like being the quiet one?” she asked.

He met her eyes calmly. “Peaceful.”

She laughed.

She didn’t know that years of speech therapy were the only thing that made that calm possible.

She didn’t know how hard it had been to learn to speak clearly when he couldn’t hear himself.

She wanted proximity.

Access.

Not him.

“Well,” she said smoothly, flipping her hair, “you’re coming to more Theta Rho stuff, right?”

“Probably.”

“Good. I'll see you around then.”

She stood.

“Since Liam’s single too, you should tell him I said hi.”

“Sure, I guess.”

He watched her walk away.

She was looking at him.

But she wasn’t seeing him.