Incoming: A Second Chance

January: Noticed

Even though Ethan is a year ahead of me, we choose the same elective, giving us at least one class together. Ethan didn’t care for the elective, which was Western Art History, but I loved it. There is something about a piece of art and how each one has its own story behind it.  It’s fascinating to me, and I can always get lost in it. Now this is probably the only reason Ethan liked this class, because he got to sit and watch me daydream for an hour.

After Western Art History class was over, Ethan grabbed my hand and walked us out of class hand-in-hand.  I was still deep in thought about the Vermeer painting of the ‘Girl with a Pearl Earring’ that we discussed in class.  The girl in the painting had an expression in her eyes; I wish I could have known what she was thinking. I looked up and noticed Ethan was staring at me with a smirk on his face.

He bent down and kissed my forehead mumbling, “And that look on your face, is exactly why I have learned to love this class!”

I rolled my eyes trying to hide the fact I was now blushing.

“Ethan!” We heard someone calling.  We looked over to see John, one of Ethan’s teammates, walking over. 

“Hi Emma,” John said, and shot me a smile. He then turned to face Ethan, “Hey bro, some of the guys are going to grab dinner at the lounge before practice, you in?”

Ethan responded without a second thought. “Yup, I’ll be there.”

As if, he forgot something, he turned to look at me. “Meet me there?” His eyes met mine, which practically asked if that was ok. Looking into my eyes, a smile started to form on his lips, and before I knew it, there was his signature smile, that he knew I couldn’t say no to.

“Of course,” I say returning his smile and I swear my heart skipped a beat.

“Perfect, we’re going to get to our next class babe,” referring to John and himself, “But call me if you need anything, and I’ll see you at dinner.”  He quickly shot me a wink and kissed my hand, then headed off in the other direction with John.

I was still staring in the direction Ethan had gone, when someone bumped into me sending me back to reality.  I shook it off and headed toward my next class, still thinking about one thing.  Ethan.

Later that day I went to meet Kathy for lunch, like I usually do. We didn’t have any classes together so we practically met every day for lunch to catch up, since nights are usually occupied by our guys and homework.  Spotting her in the cafe, I walked towards her sitting at a small table by the window.  I didn’t even get to put my books down on the table before she started in on me.

“What was that about last night?” she said eyeing me.

I sat down sighing; she knew Brent and I would be at each other’s throats all night if I stayed. “Nothing, I needed to get some work done, so I headed to the library, plus I figured you and Brent would appreciate some alone time.”

Kathy cut me off, “Not that and you know it!” She just glared at me like I was an idiot. “Who was that on the phone last night?”

Now understanding where she was going with this, “Oh, that was Derek; and before you jump to conclusions, he’s just an old family friend,” I said holding my hands in the air innocently.

“Last time I checked, friends didn’t make you blush like that. I thought only Ethan could do that to you; so what’s the scoop on him?”

“Well, I can set you up with him if you’d like?” I asked to get a reaction out of her.