Across The Hall

Chapter 2: Weird Neighbor

Lena barely slept.

Not because of the rain.

Not because of the new school.

But because of Ethan Blackwood.

The fact that he knew her name when she had never introduced herself kept replaying in her head all night.

Maybe someone told him.

Maybe he saw her student file somewhere.

Or maybe Blackridge students were just creepy.

By morning, Lena had convinced herself it wasn’t a big deal.

Still, she avoided looking at room 315 while leaving for class.

The hallway buzzed with students rushing around carrying coffee and backpacks. Lena checked the schedule on her phone while trying not to look lost.

Too late.

“You’re definitely new.”

Lena looked up to see a girl with curly brown hair smiling at her.

“I’m Maya,” the girl said. “And you look one wrong turn away from crying.”

Lena laughed despite herself. “That obvious?”

“A little.”

Maya grabbed Lena’s wrist dramatically. “Come on. I’ll save your life before you accidentally walk into the engineering building. Nobody comes back from there.”

For the first time since arriving at Blackridge, Lena relaxed a little.

Maya talked a lot—about professors, dorm drama, horrible cafeteria food, and random campus gossip Lena didn’t understand yet.

“And stay away from the third-floor gym after midnight,” Maya added seriously.

“Why?”

“Because weird rich kids do underground fights there.”

Lena blinked. “You’re joking.”

“I wish.”

This school kept getting stranger.

As they entered the main building, students suddenly started moving aside again.

Lena immediately recognized the pattern.

Ethan.

He walked through the hallway wearing a black sweatshirt and headphones around his neck. A few girls stared openly while others whispered behind their phones.

He ignored all of them.

Then his eyes landed on Lena.

Great.

Maya noticed instantly.

“Wait,” she whispered loudly. “Why is Ethan Blackwood looking at you?”

“He’s not.”

“He definitely is.”

Lena quickly looked away. “He’s just my neighbor.”

Maya nearly stopped walking.

“Across-the-hall neighbor?”

“Yeah.”

“Oh, you’re doomed.”

Lena rolled her eyes. “Can people stop talking about him like he’s a serial killer?”

“You don’t understand,” Maya said quietly. “Nobody knows anything about him.”

“That’s normal.”

“No. I mean literally nobody.”

Maya lowered her voice.

“He barely talks. He skips classes but still gets the highest grades. Professors never question him. Half the campus is scared of him, and the other half is obsessed with him.”

“That sounds ridiculous.”

“It gets worse.”

Of course it did.

“They say someone got expelled after starting a fight with him last year.”

Lena frowned. “Did Ethan beat him up?”

“No idea. Nobody saw what happened.”

That honestly sounded more like rich-school gossip than actual truth.

Still… something about Ethan felt off.

Not dangerous exactly.

Just difficult to understand.

By lunchtime, Lena already hated Blackridge.

Her economics professor talked like he was reading from a funeral speech, and two girls in class spent twenty minutes judging someone’s outfit loud enough for everyone to hear.

Rich people were exhausting.

Lena grabbed a sandwich from the cafeteria and searched for an empty table.

Almost every seat was taken.

Except one.

Unfortunately, it was directly across from Ethan Blackwood.

Of course.

He sat alone at the corner table scrolling through his phone while the rest of the cafeteria avoided him like he carried a disease.

Lena hesitated.

Then sighed.

A seat was a seat.

She walked over and sat down without asking.

For a second, Ethan didn’t react.

Then he slowly looked up.

“You again.”

Lena unwrapped her sandwich. “Don’t sound too excited.”

“You sat here voluntarily.”

“There are no seats left.”

“There are.”

She looked around.

Every nearby table suddenly became very interested in their food.

Cowards.

Lena looked back at him. “Okay, correction. There are no seats where people aren’t acting weird.”

A tiny smile appeared on his face before disappearing again.

“You talk a lot.”

“And you stare too much.”

“Maybe you’re just noticeable.”

Lena almost choked on her drink.

Was he flirting?

No.

Probably not.

He didn’t look like someone who flirted. He looked like someone who scared people for fun.

“You know,” Lena said carefully, “everyone here acts like you’re some criminal.”

Ethan leaned back slightly.

“And what do you think?”

“I think people at this school are dramatic.”

His expression changed for a second.

Not fully surprised.

But close.

Before he could respond, someone suddenly approached the table.

A blonde girl.

Pretty. Confident. Expensive-looking.

She ignored Lena completely.

“Ethan, are you coming tonight?”

“No.”

“You already promised.”

“I changed my mind.”

The girl crossed her arms. “You can’t keep avoiding everyone.”

“I can.”

Lena focused very hard on her sandwich.

This was awkward.

The girl finally noticed her.

“And who’s this?”

“Lena,” Ethan answered before she could speak.

Again with the name thing.

The girl looked irritated immediately.

Interesting.

“I’m Vanessa,” she said flatly.

“Nice to meet you.”

It clearly wasn’t.

Vanessa turned back to Ethan. “Your father called earlier.”

That got his attention.

His jaw tightened slightly.

“I’ll deal with it later.”

Without another word, he stood up and grabbed his bag.

Then he looked at Lena.

“Don’t wander around campus alone at night.”

Lena blinked.

“What?”

But he had already walked away.

Vanessa stared after him before looking back at Lena suspiciously.

“What’s going on between you two?”

“Nothing.”

“Ethan doesn’t talk to people.”

“Well… he talks.”

“Not like this.”

Lena suddenly understood something.

Nobody actually knew Ethan.

They only knew rumors.

And for some reason, Ethan was letting her see pieces of him nobody else noticed.

Which honestly should have felt flattering.

Instead, it made her nervous.

Very nervous.