CHAPTER 2: Everyone Knows Him
687 Words
Ariana’s POV
The whispers started the next morning, and this time, they were impossible to ignore.
At first, I thought I was imagining it. Schools always had gossip, and I wasn’t new to being talked about. But this felt different. The way people looked at me wasn’t casual curiosity—it was deliberate. Conversations lowered when I walked past, eyes followed me a second too long, and a strange awareness hung in the air like everyone knew something I didn’t.
“They’re talking about you.”
I turned at the voice beside me and found a girl watching me carefully. She didn’t look like the others. Her outfit was simple, her expression open, and there was something about her that felt… normal.
“About what?” I asked.
She blinked, clearly surprised. “You’re serious?”
“Yes,” I said, frowning slightly.
“You talked back to him.”
I let out a small breath. “And?”
Her expression shifted into something between disbelief and concern. “Do you even know who that is?”
I shook my head.
“That’s Ethan Cole.”
The name settled between us like it was supposed to mean something. But it didn’t. Not yet.
“I’m supposed to?” I asked.
She gave a short laugh and shook her head. “You’re definitely new.”
We walked into the lecture hall together, and she introduced herself as Maya. I nodded, appreciating the distraction, but my mind kept drifting back to the previous day. There had been something in the way he looked at me—something I couldn’t quite explain, and it was bothering me more than it should have.
“Ethan isn’t just some random guy,” Maya continued quietly as we found seats. “His family basically owns half this city. Money, power, connections—you name it. Professors don’t even try to challenge him.”
I leaned back slightly, folding my arms. “So he’s just another rich guy who thinks he’s untouchable.”
Maya didn’t smile this time. “No. He actually is untouchable.”
Before I could respond, the atmosphere in the room changed.
It wasn’t loud or obvious, but it was there—a shift, subtle but undeniable. Conversations softened, movements slowed, and a quiet tension spread across the room.
I didn’t need to be told what it meant.
I turned.
And there he was.
Ethan walked in like he didn’t need permission to exist anywhere. People moved aside without being asked, their attention drawn to him whether they liked it or not. There was something effortless about the way he carried himself, something that made it clear he wasn’t trying to impress anyone.
He didn’t have to.
Then his eyes found mine.
And stayed there.
My heart skipped before I could stop it, and I immediately hated the reaction. There was no anger in his expression this time, no irritation either. Just something unreadable. Something that made it difficult to look away.
He started walking toward me.
“Why is he coming here?” I whispered.
Maya stiffened beside me. “Don’t say anything.”
Too late.
He stopped right in front of me, his presence overwhelming even in silence.
“Scholarship girl,” he said.
I frowned slightly. “Do you always label people like that?”
A faint smirk touched his lips. “Only the interesting ones.”
“I’m not interested in whatever this is,” I replied, trying to keep my voice steady.
“Good,” he said calmly. “Because I don’t think you understand how this works.”
“And what exactly is this?” I asked.
His gaze held mine, steady and intense, like he was trying to read something beneath the surface.
“I don’t stay away from things I want.”
Something about the way he said it made my chest tighten, and for the first time, I felt a quiet sense of unease—not fear, but something far more complicated, something I couldn’t quite name, as I realized I might have stepped into something much bigger than I had expected.
- Writer
