The hallway buzzed with whispers.
Students glanced at Ariana, then at Ethan, then back at their phones as if they were all waiting for some dramatic confirmation that would make the rumors feel real.
Ariana tightened her grip on the neatly folded navy hoodie in her arms.
“This is ridiculous,” she muttered under her breath.
Ethan walked toward her, completely unfazed by the curious stares around them.
“Morning.”
She looked up.
“Oh…
hi.”
His eyes flicked to the hoodie.
“You didn’t have to bring it back so quickly.”
“I washed it.”
“You washed it?”
“I couldn’t return it dirty.”
A small smile tugged at the corner of Ethan’s lips.
“You really are something.”
Ariana blinked, unsure whether that was a compliment or a tease.
Before she could answer, Maya appeared beside her like a storm cloud with sneakers.
“Okay,” Maya said, lowering her voice dramatically, “I leave you alone for one morning and suddenly the entire campus is acting like you’re in a secret relationship.”
Ariana groaned.
“Please don’t start.”
“I’m not starting anything.
I’m just observing the chaos.”
Ethan glanced between them, amused.
“Is it always like this?”
“Only when people have nothing better to do,” Ariana said.
Maya pointed at him.
“And you are absolutely not helping.”
Ethan raised both hands in surrender.
“I only said good morning.”
“That’s enough,” Maya replied.
“At Northfield, that counts as a marriage proposal.”
Ariana buried her face in her hands.
Ethan laughed softly, and for a moment the tension around them eased.
Then the bell rang.
Students began moving toward their classes, but the whispers did not stop.
They followed Ariana down the hallway like shadows.
By the time she reached her first lecture, she could feel eyes on her from every direction.
She slid into a seat near the back and tried to focus on the professor’s voice, but her mind kept drifting.
The umbrella.
The hoodie.
The photo.
The comments on the campus page.
She had checked it only once that morning, and that had been enough to make her want to disappear.
Apparently, Ethan Carter had covered her with his hoodie after she fell asleep in the workshop.
Apparently, someone had taken a picture.
Apparently, the entire university now believed they were secretly dating.
Ariana pressed her pen against her notebook and tried to breathe normally.
This was ridiculous.
She barely knew Ethan.
Yes, he was kind.
Yes, he was annoyingly handsome.
Yes, he had a smile that made people stare.
But that did not mean anything.
Right?
Across campus, Ethan was having a very different kind of morning.
He sat in the student council office with Noah, who was grinning like he had just won the lottery.
“You know,” Noah said, spinning in his chair, “I think this is the first time I’ve seen you become campus gossip.”
Ethan didn’t look up from the stack of papers in front of him.
“I’d prefer not to be.”
“Too late.”
Noah leaned over his shoulder and pointed at his phone.
“Look at this comment.”
Ethan sighed and glanced at the screen.
He covered her with his hoodie?
That’s not just being nice.
That’s boyfriend behavior.
He closed his eyes briefly.
“People are bored.”
“People are obsessed,” Noah corrected.
“And honestly?
I get it.”
Ethan set the papers down.
“Can you not make this worse?”
“No promises.”
Before Ethan could reply, his phone buzzed.
The name on the screen made his expression change instantly.
His mother.
He stared at it for a second too long before answering.
“Hello?”
Noah immediately sat up straighter, sensing the shift in the room.
Ethan listened in silence.
His face remained calm, but the muscles in his jaw tightened.
“Yes, I saw the email.”
Pause.
“No, I haven’t forgotten.”
Another pause.
“I understand.”
His voice was polite, controlled, almost too controlled.
Noah watched him carefully.
When Ethan finally ended the call, the silence in the room felt heavier than before.
“Everything okay?” Noah asked quietly.
Ethan slipped his phone into his pocket.
“Family stuff.”
Noah nodded, but he didn’t push.
That was the thing about Ethan Carter.
He could smile through almost anything.
He could joke, lead, and charm his way through every room on campus.
But when something truly bothered him, he locked it away so tightly that no one could reach it.
Noah had seen that side before.
Very few others had.
Later that afternoon, Ariana headed to the engineering workshop early, hoping to avoid more stares.
She pushed open the door and found Claire already inside, arranging papers on the table with precise, careful movements.
Claire looked up and smiled.
“You’re early.”
Ariana hesitated.
“So are you.”
Claire’s smile didn’t change, but something in her eyes sharpened.
“I like being prepared.”
Ariana nodded and moved toward her workstation.
For a few minutes, the room was quiet except for the sound of pages turning and chairs scraping against the floor.
Then Claire spoke again, her tone light and casual.
“So…the hoodie.”
Ariana froze.
“What about it?”
Claire tilted her head.
“Nothing.
It’s just interesting.”
“Interesting how?”
Claire shrugged.
“I mean, Ethan doesn’t usually do things like that.”
Ariana frowned.
“Like what?”
“Covering girls with his hoodie.
Walking them home.
Smiling at them in hallways.”
Ariana looked at her, suddenly uncomfortable.
“You’re reading too much into it.”
“Am I?” Claire asked softly.
There was something almost innocent in her expression, but Ariana could feel the edge beneath it.
“I think people are just making a big deal out of nothing.”
Claire gave a small laugh.
“Maybe.”
But the way she said it made Ariana uneasy.
Before she could respond, Ethan and Noah entered the workshop together.
Noah was talking about something involving practice schedules and food, while Ethan carried a folder under one arm.
The moment Ethan saw Ariana, his expression softened.
“You’re here early.”
“So are you,” Ariana replied.
He glanced at the hoodie folded neatly on the table.
“You really did wash it.”
“I told you.”
“I know.”
He looked almost amused, but there was something else in his eyes too.
Something quieter.
Something tired.
Ariana noticed it before she could stop herself.
“Are you okay?”
The question slipped out before she could think better of it.
Ethan blinked, clearly surprised.
“I’m fine.”
But he said it too quickly.
Too smoothly.
Too much like someone repeating a line he had used many times before.
Ariana studied him for a moment, then looked away.
“Right.”
The team began working, but Ethan seemed distracted.
He made a few mistakes while reviewing the design notes, and Noah noticed immediately.
“Whoa,” Noah said, peering over his shoulder.
“You okay, man?
You just called the sensor module a battery.”
Ethan exhaled through his nose.
“Long morning.”
Noah exchanged a glance with Ariana, then wisely decided not to comment.
Claire, however, watched Ethan with quiet interest.
By evening, the workshop had emptied out again.
Noah had left for practice.
Claire had gone to a meeting.
The lights in the room glowed softly over the scattered sketches and half-finished prototypes.
Ariana stayed behind to finish adjusting the medical interface design.
She was so focused that she didn’t notice Ethan standing near the window until he spoke.
“You should take a break.”
She looked up.
“You too.”
He gave a small shrug.
“I will.”
But he didn’t move.
Ariana set down her pencil.
“You’re not fine, are you?”
Ethan was silent for a moment.
Then he gave a faint, tired smile.
“That obvious?”
“Kind of.”
He leaned back against the table and looked away.
For the first time since she had met him, Ariana saw something crack in the perfect image everyone else seemed to worship.
He wasn’t just the confident, polished student council president.
He wasn’t just the brilliant engineering student everyone admired.
He looked…human.
Tired.
Pressured.
A little lost.
“My mother wants me to attend a family dinner this weekend,” he said quietly.
Ariana waited.
He stared at the floor.
“They’ve been talking about internships, future plans, all of it.
My father thinks I should focus on the family company after graduation.
My mother wants me to keep my grades perfect.
Everyone has expectations.”
His voice stayed calm, but Ariana could hear the strain underneath it.
“And if I don’t?” she asked softly.
Ethan gave a humorless laugh.
“Then I’m disappointing someone.”
The words hung in the air between them.
Ariana didn’t know what to say at first.
She had always assumed Ethan’s life was easy because he made everything look effortless.
But now she realized that maybe the smile he wore so well was also a shield.
A way to keep everyone from seeing how much pressure he was under.
“You don’t have to carry all of that alone,” she said finally.
Ethan looked at her then, really looked at her, as if he wasn’t used to hearing something like that.
For a second, the room felt very still.
Then he smiled again, but this time it was smaller, softer, and far less polished than the one he wore in public.
“You’re surprisingly good at saying the right thing.”
Ariana looked down at her notes, suddenly aware of how warm her face felt.
“I’m just being honest.”
“I know.”
He pushed away from the table and picked up one of her sketches.
“This one is good.”
She glanced at it.
“You think so?”
“I do.”
He handed it back carefully.
And in that quiet moment, Ariana realized something she hadn’t expected.
Behind Ethan Carter’s perfect smile was someone carrying more than anyone on campus knew.
And somehow, he had chosen to show that side to her.
Not to the rumors.
Not to the crowd.
To her.
Outside, the campus lights flickered on one by one as evening settled over Northfield University.
Inside the workshop, Ariana looked at Ethan and felt the strange, unsettling beginning of something she couldn’t quite name.
Something that felt a little too much like the start of trouble.
And maybe, just maybe, the start of something else too.
End of Chapter 5