Chapter XI – Fallout
In a house with no privacy, some secrets still burn louder than the rest.
The semester lurched forward, though for Ethan it felt less like weeks passing and more like the same day on repeat. Wake up groggy in McClintock, shuffle through classes, pledge duties, study hall, line-ups, sleep too little, do it again.
Except nothing felt steady anymore. Not after Eli. The line between ordinary and impossible had blurred, and Ethan walked around with the secret buzzing in his chest like a trapped hornet.
The library fluorescents hummed above the long table where six pledges slumped with notebooks and half-dead pens. Ethan tried to focus on his Biology diagrams, the Krebs Cycle this time, but the lines blurred. His pen drifted into loops and spirals that turned into accidental initials.
Connor leaned so close their arms touched. “You’re out of it, Harris,” he whispered, smirking.
Ethan shook himself. “What?”
“Self-brain last night?” Connor said with a conspiratorial grin.
Marco groaned. “Jesus, Connor, not everything’s about your dick.”
Teddy snorted, socks off, big toe poking through a hole. “He’s just mad he can’t go five minutes without jerking it.”
Connor raised his hands in mock surrender, but his knee kept bouncing against Ethan’s. Ethan tried to shift, but there was nowhere to go. Six bodies jammed together in one row, elbows touching, knees bumping, breath sour with cigarette smoke.
“Anyway,” Connor pressed on, “you see who Travis went upstairs with last night? Anne, that Kingston brunette—one of Catherine’s crew.”
Teddy rolled his eyes. “She went upstairs with Luke two weeks ago. Trav’s just mopping up.”
Marco smirked, chewing his pen cap. “She’s been upstairs with half the house. Don’t act like you wouldn’t.”
Connor leaned back, grinning. “I heard she’s the type to narrate while she’s blowing you. Like Dick Vitale giving a play-by-play.”
Laughter shook the table. Teddy clapped his hand over his mouth, shoulders shaking. Ethan kept his eyes fixed on his notes, barely registering who Anne was. But the others lived for it.
Connor jabbed Ethan’s ribs suddenly. “Bet Harris has a crush on Anne.”
Ethan’s stomach flipped, but he managed a weak laugh. The others roared, convinced they’d found his secret.
It was cover. They didn’t see him watching Eli.
