Chapter 3: Everyone saw it coming except them

Ethan was quiet.

That was the first sign.

Jake had known Ethan for three years,and quiet was not something Ethan did. Ethan filled silences. He made jokes about them. He turned them into something loud before they had a chance to settle. Quiet on Ethan was like snow in July.

They were walking back from the east side of campus,and Ethan had said exactly four words since they met outside the building. Jake had counted.

"How was class?" Jake asked.

"Fine."

That was two of the four.

Jake looked at him sideways. Ethan was looking straight ahead with his hands in his pockets, wearing that specific expression thinking very hard about something they had decided not to think about.

"Just fine."

"Yes."

Three and four.

Jake let it sit for a while. He was good at letting things sit. Ethan always broke first.

They walked past the fountain. Past the science block. Past the bench where a group of girls were laughing about something. Ethan did not look up. Ethan always looked up.

"Okay," Jake said finally. "What happened?"

"Nothing happened."

"You walked to the good cart this morning."

"I wanted good coffee."

"You came back with one cup."

"Ethan." ( Jake saying his name ,Waiting for an explanation.)

"It was for someone in my class."

"Someone."

"A person. In my class. Who looked like they needed coffee."

"You do not do things like that."

"I do nice things."

"Name one."

"I'll let you eat my granola bar."

"You did not let me. I took it and you sulked for a day and a half." Jake looked at him. "Who is she?”

Ethan said nothing for long enough that Jake had his answer.

"Maya," Ethan said finally. Like the name cost him something.

Jake nodded slowly. He had heard that name Tuesday when Ethan came back from his first Economics class and sat on his bed and stared at the wall for four minutes without speaking. Jake had waited him out.

"There was this girl," Ethan had said eventually.

"What kind of girl?"

"The kind that makes you move seats."

Jake had not fully understood that then. He understood it better now. He looked at Ethan walking beside him with his hands deep in his pockets and his eyes on the ground and thought: Four days. It had been four days.

"What is she like?"Jake asked.

Ethan was quiet for a moment. Then:

"She came to the lecture hall the day before class to pick her seat."

"Why."

"Because she had a system."

"What kind of system?"

"The kind where she comes to the lecture hall the day before class to pick her seat."

Jake thought about that. "I think I love her," he said.

"Jake."

"I am serious. That is the most committed thing I have ever heard."

"It is a lot."

"It is not a lot. It is dedication. There is a difference." He paused. "Did she like the coffee?"

"She told me not to do it again."

"But did she drink it?"

A pause. Jake could not tell if it was small or loaded.

"Yeah," Ethan said. "She drank it."

Jake smiled at the path ahead of him. He did not let Ethan see it.

They walked in silence for a bit. The good kind this time. The kind that meant something was being processed and did not need interrupting.

"She said okay," Ethan said suddenly.

"What?"

"I told her not to…I mean she told me not to buy her coffee again,and I said okay,

and she just…she looked at me like she was waiting for something else. Like she expected me to push back."

"But you did not."

"No."

"Why not."

Ethan thought about it. Really thought about it the way he rarely did with things.

"Because she meant it," he said. "When she says something she means it. You can just tell. So what is the point of pushing."

Jake looked at him then. Properly looked at him. Ethan was still staring at the path ahead but there was something different in his face now. Softer. More open than Ethan usually let himself be in daylight.

Jake felt something warm move through his chest. Genuine and full. This was his best friend. He wanted good things for his best friend.

He also felt something else. Smaller. Quieter. Something he was not going to look at directly.

He looked away.

"She sounds interesting," he said carefully.

"She is the most interesting person I have met since we got here."

"More interesting than me."

"Significantly."

"Rude." Jake paused. "Are you going to do something about it?"

"Like what."

"Like talk to her. Actually talk to her."

"We talk."

"About Economics."

"And other things."

"Ethan."

"What."

"You bought the girl coffee and walked back holding nothing. You are already doing something about it. You just have not told yourself yet."

Ethan stopped walking.

Jake stopped too and looked at him. Ethan was staring at the ground. 

Ethan wanted to say something but held it in.

They both went back to their dorm.

“Jake turned the light off.”

The room went quiet. Outside someone was laughing about something in the corridor. A door slammed somewhere. The ordinary sound of a Friday night.

Then Ethan said it. Quietly. Like he was not sure he meant to say it out loud.

"Do you think she thinks about any of it?"

Jake stared at the ceiling.

He thought about everything Ethan had told him. The careful measured eyes. The way she corrected him. The way she walked away like she already decided something. 

"Yeah," Jake said. "I think she does."

Ethan said nothing after that.

But he did not sleep. Jake could tell by his breathing.

Jake did not s

leep either. But for a completely different reason that he was not going to look at tonight.