Chapter 11: "Beneath the Surface"

The students scattered down the hallway like a flooded river, each following their usual path. Conversations about the confrontation still hung in the air, mixed with nervous laughter and whispers trying to mask the shock of the moment.

Ethan calmly gathered his things, avoiding any curious glances. He felt exhausted, not so much physically, but mentally. He wanted to get out of the classroom as soon as possible and find a place to clear his mind, even if only for a few minutes. However, before he could move, he found himself surrounded by the same group of girls who had ambushed him the day before, led by Sarah. This time, they approached him with mischievous smiles, but with a different attitude.

—Hey, I didn't know you could fight like that. —Sarah said, giving him an interested, almost amused look. —You really gave Nate what he deserved. Sometimes I wonder why I keep going out with him, he's such a pain...

Ethan remained silent, watching Sarah carefully, trying to figure out her intentions. He wasn't sure if she was serious or just playing with him. The silence became awkward for a few seconds until Sarah broke it again, crouching in front of his desk and looking at him with big eyes, like a puppy.

—Hey, you said you'd play me a song. Where's your guitar? —she asked, with a sweet tone, tilting her head slightly.

Ethan let out a sigh, feeling trapped. The last thing he wanted to do right now was play to entertain someone, especially after the day he was having.

—Ah, about that... —he began in a tired voice. —You saw the viral video, right? Turns out my mom punished me for it and won't let me play the guitar anymore. So, maybe next time.

Without waiting for a response, Ethan stood up from his seat, grabbed his backpack, and quickly headed for the door. Sarah and her friends watched him leave with surprised expressions, not used to being ignored like that.

---

As Sarah walked away, Nate remained motionless in his seat, staring at the surface of the desk as if by staying still, he could make everything that had just happened disappear. The bell had rung a while ago, signaling the end of class, but he had no desire to get up or talk to anyone. Why the hell did he have to respond like that to Sarah? The scene kept replaying in his mind over and over, and everything seemed to be falling apart. *How could I have been so stupid?* he wondered, feeling a mix of frustration and regret. The viral video, the humiliation, everyone's stares… *How did everything go so wrong?*

*If it weren't for Ethan,* he thought with fury, *none of this would have happened.*

Ethan is nothing. *Nothing!* he thought, clenching his fists under the desk. *Why did I mess with him?* He felt completely foolish, frustrated by his own mistakes. If it weren't for him, Sarah would see me differently. He knew it. It was impossible that everything he had done so far felt so insignificant if it weren't for that idiot who seemed to have it all.

He closed his eyes and ran a hand through his hair, feeling the wave of regret and rage at the same time. He remembered the conversation with Sarah before she walked away, and the sharp pain that pierced his chest. *I had been cold to her,* even a little cruel. *Why did I talk to her like that?* A stab of guilt made him clench his teeth. *I was such an idiot...* The image of Sarah looking at him, surprised, before leaving haunted him, and it made him feel even smaller. *Why couldn't I control myself?* He knew Sarah was just joking, like she always did, but in that moment, his own anger and frustration had blinded him. *No... It was Ethan who made me explode,* he thought with rage. *It's because of him that I talked to Sarah like that.*

His anger consumed him. *Damn Ethan!* he thought, feeling the need to do something to make everyone see him for what he really was. Everyone saw him as a "genius," like he was the best at everything. But to Nate, Ethan was nothing but an idiot who played the guitar. *Who does he think he is, huh?* Humiliation washed over him. If it weren't for him, Sarah would see me as something more. *Why doesn't she look at me like that?*

He briefly remembered when he had seen him at the park, singing that song. The peace he had felt while listening to him seemed distant now, almost foreign. For a moment, he had felt good, even grateful for the moment, but it was quickly replaced by rage. *How does that idiot have everything I want?* he thought, closing his eyes in frustration.

The idea of what he had done to ridicule Ethan, the video he had posted, kept swirling in his mind. *If everyone thought he was a loser, maybe Sarah would see him differently.* That was what Nate really wanted: for her to stop seeing him just as a friend and start seeing him as something more. *Why doesn't she do it already?* He thought about how he could change that. *If I style my hair like him... if I start playing the guitar... maybe Sarah will see me differently,* he thought, convinced that if he did everything Ethan did, things would change. But what really hurt was that Ethan was still the center of attention, despite all his efforts. After everything he had done, after all his attempts, that guy was still the one everyone admired, while he was left behind.

At that exact moment, one of his friends approached. It was Dylan, a tall, stocky guy with messy brown hair and a perpetually arrogant expression. The same guy who had handed him the rag to clean the blood off his nose. Dylan dropped his backpack to the floor and leaned against Nate's desk, eyeing him with a mix of confusion and concern.

—"Hey, Nate, why didn't you let us step in?"— Dylan asked, crossing his arms. —"We could've handled it together, no problem. You know we're here for you, man."

Nate slowly lifted his head, looking at Dylan with a mix of irritation and exhaustion. The question felt unnecessary, but he knew his friend only wanted to help.

—"And what would that prove, Dylan?"— he said sharply, almost spitting the words. —"That I need a group to deal with some nobody like him? That I'm so weak I can't solve my own problems?"— His voice grew in intensity, filled with contempt, both for himself and for the situation. —"I don't need anyone fighting my battles."

Dylan took a step back, surprised by the intensity of Nate's response, but before he could say anything else, another one of the guys in the group, one of the many who always followed Nate like a shadow, spoke up from the classroom door.

—"We could go after him right now, Nate"— he said in a challenging tone. —"He's alone, how about we teach him a real lesson?"

Nate stood up abruptly, making his chair crash into the desk. His face was flushed with fury, and he took a step toward them, his fists clenched.

—"Shut up!"— he snapped, his voice low but dangerous, like a latent threat. The two guys fell silent, too afraid to move a muscle. —"Do you really think I need help with this? If I went after him now, with all of you behind me, what kind of leader would I be?"— Nate took a deep breath, though his chest was still heaving. —"This is personal. And I'll take care of him myself. When the time comes."

The guys looked at him, speechless, realizing they weren't in a position to question him. Nate turned toward the window, his mind spinning with everything that had just happened. The fight with Ethan had left a wound in his pride that he couldn't ignore. He couldn't let people see him as someone who needed the support of others to face a "nobody." But more importantly, he couldn't let Sarah keep looking at Ethan like he was anything more than a loser.

I'm going to make everyone see what he really is. he thought, with cold determination. If I don't truly humiliate him, no one will believe I'm the one in charge here.

Nate ran his hands through his hair, trying to calm down as the ideas started to form in his mind. I'm not going to make the same mistake as last time, no. This time, I'm going to do it right. Bigger. Stronger.

He didn't want to act impulsively anymore. The shame of losing control had shaken him more than he wanted to admit, and now, more than ever, he needed to make a plan. Something that would make it clear that Ethan had no place in his world.

If I want everyone to see what he really is, I need more than just a punch or a stupid video. he thought, with a bitter smile. I'm going to ridicule him in a way no one can think of him without thinking of me first.

Sarah... The image of her in his mind made him clench his teeth. If people start seeing him as the fool he is, Sarah will stop looking at him. She'll see what I really am.

---

Ethan, unaware that someone was conspiring against him, left the classroom searching for the quietest corner of the hallway. His steps were slow, almost automatic, as if his body walked while his mind remained trapped in a whirlwind of thoughts. The confrontation with Nate still lingered in his mind, but there was something else bothering him even more. That heaviness he felt not only in his body but in his head. The dreams, the memories he couldn't recall clearly, yet they haunted him. The guy in the dream... who was he? Why did it feel like he knew him, like he was... him?

"It can't be," he thought, pressing his head with one hand, trying to calm the storm of thoughts that kept crashing in his mind. "Who is that guy in the dream? Why does he have the same name as me? Am I... or is it someone else? Could it... be my future? But it doesn't make sense. The guy in the dream was different... but he felt the same as I do. Is it my past life? Is it like I'm seeing my future? My head is killing me."

He couldn't concentrate. The idea that the guy in his dream, that stranger, might be a version of himself kept spinning around in his mind. And the girl... who was she? She was there, in the dreams, as if she were someone important. But he didn't understand any of it. The confusion was overwhelming him.

"I need answers," he thought, stopping for a moment in the middle of the hallway, staring ahead without focusing on anything in particular. "Why do I have these dreams? Why do I feel like they're mine, but not mine at the same time?"

His mind was about to explode, but a familiar sound interrupted him: the growl of his stomach. Suddenly, the emptiness inside him seemed more urgent than all the questions hammering away in his head. "And I also need to eat something," he thought to himself, touching his stomach with one hand, as if that could calm the growing discomfort he felt.

"Yeah," he thought as he began walking again, heading toward the entrance to the cafeteria. "First answers. Then, some food." He looked around and saw the students beginning to disperse toward the school cafeteria. The day was far from over, but he didn't care. He needed to clear his mind, take a breath, and, above all, feed his stomach.

Just as he was about to enter, Ethan felt a tap on his shoulder. He thought, without turning around, that it was Jason. After all, the guy had been present during the fight, even though he had stayed on the sidelines. Ethan had been wondering all day why Jason hadn't come to check on him after the altercation with Nate. He felt that, even though he didn't know him well, there was something about him that made him different from the others, something that made him more genuine. With these thoughts in mind, Ethan didn't hesitate to speak.

—Hey, Jason, I was wondering why you didn't come looking for me after the fight. Listen...— His voice trailed off as he finally turned his head, and realized it wasn't Jason who had tapped him.