Tuesday morning started with a quiz.
Damian knew that because Ethan had reminded him three times.
The fourth reminder came as they walked into the lecture hall.
"Last chance," Ethan said. "If you haven’t studied, pretend to be sick."
Damian dropped into his usual seat. "You studied for twenty minutes."
"Twenty-five."
"That doesn’t make it better."
"I watched a motivational video afterward."
Damian looked at him.
Ethan shrugged. "It counts."
The lecture hall slowly filled.
Damian pulled out his notebook while Ethan continued scrolling through his phone.
"What’s the topic again?" Ethan asked.
"You’re asking me now?"
"I know the topic. I’m testing you."
"Sure."
Ethan leaned closer.
"Supply and demand."
Damian nodded.
"Good."
"That’s not even the topic."
"It is in spirit."
Before Damian could answer, Professor Hayes walked into the room.
The talking died down almost immediately.
Professor Hayes placed a stack of papers on the desk and looked around the hall.
"Good morning."
A scattered response came back.
"Good morning, sir."
"I hope everyone remembered there was a quiz today."
Ethan quietly whispered, "I suddenly feel sick."
Damian almost laughed.
Professor Hayes began handing out the papers.
The quiz wasn’t long. Ten questions, mostly based on the previous lectures.
Damian worked through the first few without much trouble.
The sixth question slowed him down.
It presented a small business that had lowered its prices after losing customers, expecting demand to increase. Instead, revenue continued falling.
The question asked what the most likely explanation was.
Damian read it twice.
Then wrote his answer.
Ethan was already staring at the ceiling.
When the professor collected the papers, Ethan leaned toward him.
"How bad?"
"Not terrible."
"You always say that."
"Because it wasn’t terrible."
"That’s exactly what someone who just failed says."
Damian packed his notebook.
"You’ll survive."
Professor Hayes returned to the front of the room.
"Before we continue today’s lecture, let’s discuss one of the questions from the quiz."
A few students immediately looked nervous.
"The sixth question."
Ethan slowly turned toward Damian.
Damian ignored him.
Professor Hayes wrote the scenario on the board.
"A company loses customers. It lowers prices. Revenue continues to decline. Why?"
Several hands went up.
Professor Hayes pointed to a student near the front.
"They lowered the price too much?"
"That’s possible," Professor Hayes said. "But that’s not the strongest answer."
Another student answered.
"Maybe customers thought the lower price meant the product was worse."
"Possible."
Another hand.
"Competitors lowered their prices too?"
"Also possible."
Professor Hayes looked across the room.
"Anyone?"
Damian kept his eyes on his notebook.
He wasn’t planning to answer.
Professor Hayes noticed him anyway.
"Mr. Cross."
Damian looked up.
"Yes, sir?"
"What did you put?"
Ethan immediately looked interested.
Damian hesitated for a second.
"I said the company was treating the price as the problem without confirming why customers were leaving."
The room went quiet.
Professor Hayes nodded.
"Continue."
Damian glanced at the board.
"If customers were leaving because of poor service, product quality, delivery problems, or a competitor offering something better, lowering the price wouldn’t fix the actual reason."
Professor Hayes smiled slightly.
"Exactly."
He turned back to the board.
"Price is one variable. It isn’t automatically the solution."
Damian leaned back.
That was it.
He hadn’t said anything particularly complicated.
But Ethan was staring at him.
"What?" Damian whispered.
"You’ve been studying."
"A little."
"You’re becoming dangerous."
Damian shook his head.
Professor Hayes continued with the lecture.
A few minutes later, Damian noticed someone looking at him from across the room.
Adrian Cole.
Adrian sat two rows behind Emily.
He wasn’t staring openly. His attention moved between Professor Hayes and Damian, like he was trying to figure out whether the answer had been luck.
Emily, sitting nearby, caught Damian’s eye.
She smiled.
Damian smiled back before returning his attention to the lecture.
Adrian noticed.
He looked away.
After class, students began filing out.
Ethan packed his things slowly.
"I need food."
"You always need food."
"That’s because food is important."
"You had breakfast."
"That was hours ago."
"It was nine-thirty."
"Exactly."
Damian laughed.
They stepped into the hallway.
Emily was waiting outside.
"You two took forever."
Ethan pointed at Damian.
"His fault."
Damian looked at him.
"You were packing your bag for five minutes."
"I was organizing."
"You were looking for your charger."
"Organization includes finding things."
Emily laughed.
"You guys argue about the weirdest things."
Ethan checked his phone.
"I’ve got to go. I’m meeting someone from my project group."
He looked at Damian.
"Don’t disappear."
"I won’t."
Ethan walked away.
Emily turned toward Damian.
"So..."
"So?"
"That answer in class."
Damian raised an eyebrow.
"What about it?"
"You sounded confident."
"I knew the answer."
"it was pretty obvious."
They started walking toward the cafeteria.
Emily glanced at him.
"You’ve been studying more lately?"
"Trying to."
"It’s working."
"Don’t tell Ethan."
"I think he already suspects."
Damian smiled.
They reached the cafeteria entrance.
Emily stopped.
"I have to meet someone in ten minutes."
"Club?"
"Yeah. We’re still working on the pilot stuff."
"You’re a part of it?"
"Yeah."
She looked at him.
"You should come by sometime."
"I already work with Westbridge."
"I know. I’m talking about the club."
"Oh."
Emily smiled.
"You’re surprisingly bad at invitations."
"I didn’t realize I was being invited."
"You are now."
"Then I’ll consider it."
She rolled her eyes.
"You’re annoying."
"So I’ve been told."
Emily laughed and headed inside.
Damian watched her disappear into the crowd before continuing toward the other side of the building.
He hadn’t gone far when he heard a voice behind him.
"Damian."
He turned.
Adrian.
"Hey."
Adrian approached with his hands in his pockets.
"I heard your answer in class."
Damian waited.
"Good answer."
"Thanks."
Adrian nodded.
"You study economics outside class?"
"Sometimes."
"Business too?"
"A little."
Adrian smiled.
"Westbridge, right?"
Damian’s expression barely changed.
How’d he know I’m affiliated with westbridge?...
"Yeah."
"I heard about the student pilot."
"It’s going well."
Adrian glanced toward the cafeteria.
"You’re involved pretty heavily."
"I’m helping where I can."
Adrian nodded again.
There was nothing aggressive about him.
If anything, he seemed genuinely interested.
"You’ve got a different way of looking at things," Adrian said.
Damian shrugged.
"I just pay attention."
"Apparently."
A brief silence followed.
Then Adrian smiled.
"Anyway, I’ll see you around."
"Sure."
Adrian walked away.
Damian watched him for a moment before continuing.
There was something different about the conversation.
Not hostile.
Not friendly either.
More like Adrian had been measuring him.
Later that afternoon, Damian sat in the library with his laptop open.
He had an assignment due later in the week, and he wanted to finish it early.
His phone buzzed.
Ethan:
Bro.
Damian replied.
Damian:
What?
Ethan:
I just heard you aced Hayes’ quiz.
Damian stared at the message.
Damian:
Who told you?
Ethan:
People talk.
Damian:
People are not aware of undisclosed quiz scores moron.
Ethan:
Ohh shoot. Fair point.
Damian laughed quietly.
Another message appeared.
Ethan:
Anyway, football Saturday?
Damian:
Probably.
Ethan:
Good. I’m not going alone.
Damian put the phone down.
A few seconds later, another notification appeared.
This time, it was from Emily.
Emily:
You coming to the entrepreneurship club meeting tomorrow?
Damian looked at the message for a moment.
Then typed.
Damian:
What time?
Her reply came quickly.
Emily:
Around 3.
Damian:
I’ll come.
Emily:
Look at you being social.
Damian smiled.
Damian:
Don’t get used to it.
He put his phone down and returned to his assignment.
Across campus, Adrian sat with two friends outside a café.
One of them mentioned Damian’s name.
Adrian looked up.
"Who?"
"Damian Cross. The guy from class."
Adrian nodded slowly.
"Yeah. I know him."
His friend laughed.
"Since when?"
"Recently."
Adrian leaned back in his chair.
He wasn’t sure what bothered him about Damian.
Maybe it was the confidence.
Maybe it was how little effort Damian seemed to make to impress anyone.
Or maybe it was the way Emily looked at him.
Whatever it was, Adrian had noticed.
And now he was paying attention.