The following day began with the usual routine of the Salvatore School. The sun crossed the boarding school's corridors, and Ethan went about his duties, keeping pace with classes while maintaining a refined focus and a clear mind.
As soon as the classroom block's doors opened and the students dispersed across the courtyard, Ethan was approached by the school counselor, Emma Tig, who waited for him with a welcoming posture.
"What do you want to talk to me about?" Ethan asked, stopping his steps and evaluating her calmly.
"We haven't been introduced yet. I'm Emma Tig, the school's magical counselor," she said, offering him a warm smile.
"Counselor? What do you do, give lectures on how to use magic responsibly or something?" Ethan scoffed, laughing with his mouth closed in a lightly mocking tone.
Emma kept the smile on her face, but her left eye gave a slight, involuntary twitch at the provocation.
"You're quite aggressive, aren't you?" she said, crossing her arms and maintaining her diplomatic calm.
"My bad," Ethan replied, not making a big deal of it. "So, what did you want to talk to me about anyway?"
Emma let out a calm sigh and adjusted her posture:
"I just came to let you know that the school has a counseling service, and if you ever need anything, you can always come talk to me."
"Sure, Miss Emma. Whatever I need, I'll talk to you. Have a good one," Ethan answered, already turning around and walking away with firm strides, merely waving his hand backward without looking at her.
Emma watched the boy go and let out a tired sigh, slowly shaking her head:
"Kids these days have zero respect for anyone..."
As he walked away from Emma, Ethan hadn't even gone ten steps across the courtyard before noticing a transaction near the stone benches. Landon was standing nearby, alone or trying to look busy, wearing that distinct air of someone desperately trying to decode everything happening around him.
Landon must have been chewing over the absence of Hope—who had left on a mummy hunt goodness knows where—having no clue that the "new guy" he kept crossing paths with in the hallways not only shared an entire past with the tribrid, but had already destabilized their relationship in the cafeteria some time ago.
Ethan slowed his pace, a smirk playing at the corners of his lips as he remembered the advice and the complicity he'd forged with Penelope: don't charge in head-on; slowly undermine the terrain, creeping in from the sides until it's time to strike.
After parting ways with the counselor, Ethan headed straight for the cafeteria to grab some lunch. The expansive hall of the Salvatore School was busy and noisy, packed with vampires, witches, and werewolves chatting in groups. Several familiar faces moved about, but Ethan preferred to adopt a distant, reserved posture. He picked up his food tray and walked over to a more secluded table, sitting down by himself.
A short distance away, however, at a circular table, Penelope Park was having lunch with three witch friends. It didn't take long for Ethan's presence to draw the group's attention.
"Guys, look at the new guy over in the corner..." whispered one of the girls, resting her chin on her hands as she glanced sideways at Ethan. "I heard his name is Ethan. Damn, what a hottie!"
"Right? Look at those shoulders," another commented in a low voice, letting out a self-conscious, giddy giggle. "And he's got that serious-yet-mysterious vibe... I love that. Do you think he has a girlfriend?"
"Doesn't matter if he does or not, I'm seriously thinking about going over there and introducing myself," the first one finished, fixing her hair. "He's totally by himself. Maybe he needs some company to fit in."
Penelope, who had been listening to everything while sipping her juice, let out a mocking laugh and shook her head.
"If I were you girls, I'd get that thought right out of my head," Penelope said with an amused smile. "You can forget about hitting on the big guy. He's already very interested in someone else."
The girls snapped their heads around instantly, curious:
"What do you mean, Penelope? What do you know that we don't? Who is she?"
Penelope kept the mystery going, flashing a side-smile without giving any answers. She pushed herself up from the chair, adjusted her jacket, and walked with firm, confident steps straight toward Ethan's isolated table.
"Hey," she said, stopping beside his table and resting one hand on the wood.
Ethan, who had been absentmindedly staring down at the food on his plate, slowly lifted his gaze to look at her.
"Penelope... What is it?" he asked, keeping his expression neutral.
"Ouch, not even a 'good morning'? My feelings are hurt now," she replied in a purely playful tone, bringing a hand to her chest in a dramatic act before pulling out the chair opposite him and sitting down uninvited.
"My friends seem very interested in you... and I don't think it's just them," Penelope remarked, leaning her torso forward with a mischievous smirk.
She took a quick glance around the cafeteria and noted the obvious: practically sixty to seventy percent of the girls sitting at other tables were either discreetly or blatantly staring at Ethan.
"Wow, big guy... I have to admit. If you wanted to, you could easily build an entire harem around here," she teased, arching an eyebrow.
Ethan shrugged indifferently.
"I don't think that's happening," he answered dryly.
Curious about her comment, he subtly swept his gaze across the room. To his surprise, it was true: a silent crowd of girls was watching him. And the funniest part was the domino effect—as soon as Ethan's eyes met theirs, the students immediately looked away, blushing and pretending to focus on anything else.
He furrowed his brow slightly, shifting his attention back to Penelope.
"What's so special about me anyway?" I asked, genuinely intrigued.
Penelope brought a hand to her chin, narrowing her eyes as she analyzed him from top to bottom with a curious, assessing look.
"Hmm... Let me see," she murmured thoughtfully. "Your face? You're very handsome... But it's not just that. Your muscles? They're practically straining the fabric of your shirt, which draws half the she-wolves and vampires in this place. Maybe your height? You're one of the tallest guys in school, and girls love that sort of thing. But..."—she offered a side-smile, uncrossing her arms—"we both know you don't care much about any of that, right? I mean, you've already got your sights set on one very specific person."
Ethan broke into a slow, bright, and provocative smile for her.
"You know what, Penelope? If I ever change my mind about this whole harem-building thing, like you said... you can be sure you'd be right at the top of the list," he let out, giving the witch a light wink.
Hearing that, Penelope's superior smirk faltered for a second. A warm, unexpected flush immediately crept up her neck, dyeing her cheeks a very visible shade of pink. She swallowed hard, trying to regain her composure.
"Whoa..." she muttered, clearing her throat and adjusting her hair, taken aback by the swift comeback. "I didn't take you for the flirtatious type, big guy."
"Hahaha"—Ethan let out a short laugh upon seeing the witch lose her composure so easily, pushed his chair back, grabbed his tray, and walked away from the table.
He left Penelope struggling to catch her breath and regain control of the situation as he strolled calmly out of the cafeteria.
However, the exact moment he crossed the hall's double doors, fate dealt its hand: Hope was right ahead, walking into the room.
The tribrid froze in her tracks for a fraction of a second the moment her eyes locked onto his. An invisible shiver ran across her skin, and Hope swallowed hard, feeling her throat go dry instantly as she vividly remembered the sensation of his mouth on hers two days ago.
Ethan didn't stop walking, but as he passed right beside her, he maintained eye contact and flashed a charming, provocative wink before continuing his journey down the corridor.
Josie, who was walking right behind Hope and never missed a beat, immediately furrowed her brow, her eyes darting between the departing newcomer and her paralyzed friend.
"Did he... did he just wink at you, Hope?" Josie asked, visibly confused.
Hope stayed completely silent. She could feel her cheeks burning with embarrassment and her heart hammering against her chest, having no idea how to mask the overwhelming jolt that his mere presence caused in her.
While the two of them entered the cafeteria, Ethan headed straight for his dorm. He needed to change, as the time for his shift at the workshop was drawing near. Alaric had already left some simple, comfortable clothes in the closet for him to settle in with.
Ethan put on some battered pants, a fitted white t-shirt, and comfortable sneakers. He adjusted his sleeves and took one last look in the mirror, feeling it was time to step off campus, earn his own money at old Marcos's garage, and start building his path with his own hands.
After spending the entire afternoon tackling heavy labor at Marcos's auto repair shop, the late-day heat was simply unbearable. Ethan pulled his battered white t-shirt over his head and tossed it over his shoulder.
Sweat mixed with traces of grease glistened across his skin, highlighting his dense musculature and the veins bulging from physical exertion. As he walked along the sidewalks of Mystic Falls, his figure didn't go unnoticed—virtually every woman crossing his path turned her head for a second look.
Before heading back to the boarding school, he stopped at a diner and bought a nice, cold ice cream cone to beat the heat, eating it on his way back.
As soon as he crossed the main gates of the Salvatore School, Ethan instantly captured the attention of everyone in the courtyard. If he normally turned heads on a regular day, seeing him walk in shirtless, with his shirt slung over his shoulder, eating ice cream with grease-smudged skin and slightly messy hair was quite the spectacle for the local students.
He genuinely needed a shower urgently, but he kept walking calmly.
Near the entrance of the main building, a group of three girls chatted near the wooden benches. In the center of them stood a stunning blonde. She was striking, stylish, and—to put it mildly in Ethan's silent judgment—absurdly hot.
As Ethan passed near the group, the blonde separated from her friends and called out to him in a velvety voice:
"Hey! You're Ethan, right?"
Ethan stopped his steps, took one last lick of his ice cream, and turned slowly to face her.
"Yeah. And you are...?"
"Evangeline," she introduced herself without the slightest hesitation, trailing her blue eyes down his chest and defined abdomen without an ounce of shame, before giving her bottom lip a discreet bite.
Ethan returned the visual scan with complete ease. He wasn't blind: that blonde was a temptation for anyone.
Evangeline took a step forward, tossing her hair over her shoulder and trying to strike up a conversation right there in the middle of the courtyard:
"I saw you walking around earlier today and I thought—"
"Look, the chat sounds great, but I really need to take a shower right now," Ethan cut in with a side-smile, leaving his dirty hands and the dust of work on his body.
Evangeline made a slight face of disappointment at the quick brush-off, but quickly flashed a charming smile and nodded, refusing to be discouraged.
"Alright, garage boy... But I'm collecting on this chat later, okay?" she fired off, winking at him in a totally provocative way.
Ethan simply nodded, let out a short laugh, and continued on his way toward the dorms to finally take a well-deserved shower.
Just as he had his hand on the door handle of the school entrance, ready to head straight for the shower, a familiar voice cut through the air, calling his name.
"Damn, did the whole world decide to talk to me today?" Ethan thought, letting out a sigh and freezing in place.
He turned around slowly and came face-to-face with her. Hope.
Having just returned from her hunt in the countryside, Hope had left her friends further back and was walking across the courtyard. But the second she saw Ethan shirtless, talking and trading winks with Evangeline—easily the biggest slut at the Salvatore School—a hot wave of jealousy and irritation surged through the tribrid's chest. She couldn't hold herself back and marched straight toward him.
"Why are you shirtless, Ethan?" she demanded right off the bat, stopping in front of him with her arms crossed and a deep scowl.
Ethan broke into a wide, provocative smile the second he saw her, appreciating her not-so-discreet reaction.
"Well... Look who it is," he said, dragging a hand across his grease-stained chest and shrugging. "As you can see, my dear Hope, I'm all filthy after spending the entire afternoon grinding away at hard labor."
Hope swept her eyes over his sculpted body—the sweaty skin, the prominent muscles, and the white shirt slung over his shoulder—feeling her cheeks burn before hastily averting her gaze back to his face, trying to hold her ground.
"I need to talk to you," she fired in a harsh tone. "You still haven't given me the answers I need."
"Sure! Whatever answer you want to know, I'll give you," Ethan replied, tilting his head with a cheeky smile. "But you know everything has a price, right?"
Hope's face twisted instantly, her eyes flashing with indignation.
"What?! What are you talking about, Ethan? Didn't I already do exactly what you wanted the other day in the cafeteria?!" she retorted under her breath through clenched teeth, shocked by his audacity.
Ethan let out a nasal chuckle, stepped a bit closer, and winked at her, keeping his voice calm and magnetic:
"That was a day ago, gorgeous. That answer's expiration date has passed... If you want anything else out of me from here on out, you already know very well what you need to do."
"You... you...!" Hope choked out, her jaw dropping from sheer rage and frustration. She clenched her teeth so hard her knuckles turned white, spun around, and stomped off, completely furious, her chest boiling with confusion and unconfessed desire.
Ethan just watched her hurried walk back toward the courtyard, letting out a short, satisfied laugh. The ground was already starting to give way.