Chapter 2

5' 8"-5' 9"

Noah should've already gotten used to such kind of jokes, but after the summer with no humiliation, his armor was weak. After reading this text, he felt a lump in his throat and a nasty shiver ran through his body. 

'Get yourself together!' Noah ordered himself, put his phone away and started eating all the leftover appetizers savagely. He could feel others staring at him and tears choked him. He wanted to cry so badly. But if he had gone to the restroom to cry his eyes out, that wouldn't have left unnoticed. That would have been considered being a victory for those pranksters. He could go out for a smoke, though. God, Noah wanted to smoke so badly! But that also would have been taken as a weakness. The only right strategy, in Noah's opinion, was to be completely apathetic to the surroundings. It would have been so nice if he had felt apathy, not faked apathy. Life would have been so much easier. 

"I don't recall inviting whores to my house," a loud voice addressed him. Noah flinched and almost choked on another tartlet. It was Rufus' voice, of course. That text drew his attention to the fact that Noah was not only in his house, but especially in this very room. 

'The waves are rolling out to sea, the boats are rocking on the sea.'

Everybody deals with stress in their own way: some would count till ten, others would name cities and familiar streets, or even pray inside their head. Speaking of Noah, an old foreign nursery rhyme would start running in his head. His grandma taught him this rhyme. She loved the sea and Noah inherited it from her. 

"I'm talking to you, Morgan!" again this loud voice, after which a beer plastic cup flashed just a couple of inches past Noah's head. The cup hit the wall and beer spilled out, pouring over all the appetizers. That was an aggressive act and probably Rufus regretted doing it almost immediately. He was the one to clean everything afterwards. It's amazing how people are willing to make sacrifices to show off in front of others. 

Noah was doubtful this kind of behavior could impress anybody. Hughes had another point of view, just like his friends. 

'But the storm can't scare us - captain is here with us!' 

Noah put on the mask of indifference and turned to Rufus slowly, smiling like a horse. 

"Did you say something, sweety?" he replied slowly, licking crumbles from his fingers deliberately. 

"I said you weren't invited," announced Hughes, lounging on the couch like a king and showing everybody who's the boss here. 

Those present held their breath, observing impending conflict. The party couldn't be a success without a scandal. How nice that the main dancing monkey of the university, Noah Morgan, came to this abode of the intellectuals, so they could mock him as much as they wanted!

'The sea is rough — one.'

"You're right, I wasn't," Noah agreed immediately, "Like almost the rest of the others. So what? Are you gonna kick everybody out?" he asked acidly. 

"No, just you"-Rufus pointed his finger at Noah-"I don't care about the others. At least, they're not trying to moonlight at my party, giving a blowjob to anyone who asks." 

'The sea is rough — two.'

"Are you afraid of competition?" Noah laughed tensely, feeling that something was coming up. Something he couldn't bear. He shouldn't have brought himself down to Rufus' level, or to anyone's level. Noah understood it clearly, but he couldn't defend himself in any other way. 

Many people thought his answer was smart, even witty. Chuckles surged through the room, making Rufus angry. And now he was getting angry for real. 

"I'm afraid I don't want the others to take a boiling hot shower after sharing a room with you"-he growled, frowning-"I'm really worried about the guests, that's why I don't want to see the epicenter of the infection in my house." 

'The sea is rough — three! Sea figure, freeze in the blue sea!'

And Noah froze. Just for a second. That was the exact amount of time he gave himself to feel hurt before the defensive shield started moving, coming up from the depths of his subconsciousness, bringing up the feeling of suffocating rage and blind faith that 'an eye for an eye' – is a fair solution to any problem. 

"According to my information, contagious diseases are your thing," Noah smiled as if he had just recalled that a year ago everyone's rumor #1 was that Hughes gave one cheerleader chlamydia. Fun times! Noah was finally left alone for almost a week back then! 

"Get the hell out of here!" Hughes was already yelling, pointing at the door into the room furiously, meaning probably the front door. That was a great chance for Noah to escape the party kinda quietly and only being just slightly humiliated. But he was already carried away. Noah decided not to approach the door. Instead, he approached the U-shape couch, flopped onto it and put his feet on the coffee table provocatively. 

'The storm is gone, the sea is clear! Noah is the skipper here!'

"Just to clarify, are your parents aware of the party you're throwing here while they're gone to Atlanta?" Noah asked curiously, his eyes squinted. 

"None of your business," Hughes ruffled his hair angrily. He didn't expect Noah could have the audacity to behave like that. He was 100% sure that yelling and screaming would be more than enough for Noah to turn his tail and run away shamefully. Well, what a surprise. 

"Should I call them and ask?" Noah made sure he spoke slowly with a wistful smile. 

"For God's sake, Morgan, please don't bring yourself down to these disgusting phrases," Rufus rolled his eyes factitiously, trying to hide the panic that was already rising inside. The fact that Rufus' father was a strict military man who kept a firm hand on him, waiting to send his son to The United States Military Academy at West Point (if there was any kind of minor disobedience) was familiar to everybody around the university. If he found out about the party, Rufus would be screwed. If Noah had this kind of parents, he would never dare to throw a party like that in a family home. But Rufus was a different person. He was the one who could take a stupid risk just to earn some popularity points. He loved acting like a rebel. A rebel who will clean the whole house frantically and freaking out about some broken vases a couple of days after the party. 

"Why disgusting though?" Noah made a surprised face, "There's a note with a phone number of your parents' hotel room here on the fridge. Didn't you notice? It also says: 'Sweety, don't be afraid to call us at night if you have your nightmares again! Love, Mom'," he quoted. Rufus felt awkward. He didn't know that Noah had a habit of scanning and remembering every single detail when coming to the possible future battlefield. 'Devil's Eye' was searching for every escape route and collecting every piece of information to use in its own defense. Pointing out some physical imperfections was just a part of the strategy to defeat the enemy. First you piss them off, then you finish them. 

"So what do you say? Shall I call and interrupt your parents? Or maybe we can take the easier way and pretend like we don't see each other? You can go ahead and continue being a clown in front of your friends and I can peacefully finish my appetizers. How does that sound?" 

Noah's conscience twitched a bit. He should've just gone away when there was a chance. Intimidation was way over the line. But it was impossible to back down. Noah imagined himself being a little scared boy, who was sent to walk the plank by the pirates. He could only see countless waves of the ocean in front of him, while sabres were poking his back. There were two options: leave and cut himself on the sharp sabres, or continue the conversation and jump into the dark waters of his malevolent subconscious, judging himself for everything afterwards. Noah had always chosen the second option. And then he had always regretted it. It would be better to cut himself on the sabres and die fast. He didn't wanna drown in his own feelings for a painfully long time. But, at least for now, sabres scared Noah way more than the dark waters of the ocean. 

Hughes started working his jaws and clenched his hands. Noah tensed up. He didn't want to fight at all. He was a weak opponent in such a conflict. Why the hell is he such a coward, yet unbelievably stubborn?! Those character traits were usually mutually exclusive! A hassle with Hughes won't change much. Nobody would suddenly start respecting him and stop gossiping behind his back. Noah was just a person of convenience. He's always a good topic to talk shit about. Then why? Why is he always accepting all challenges like he's not frightened? Like ennui wasn't trying to tear him apart from the inside? Like he doesn't know about shame and doesn't suffer from loneliness? Why is he doing all that?

Noah suddenly felt the urge to lock himself up in his flat, cuddle Peanut and Fluffy and burst into tears, wallowing in his grief, thinking how pathetic he was. But he had to sit on the couch against Hughes, acting like a complete jerk and putting up with the host's vicious look. 

"Do whatever you want. You wanna stay at my party as a main fool? Good luck with that! But if I see you with one of the 'clients', I'll kick both of you out in a second. Do you understand?" Rufus said rapidly, after a long process of thinking. He decided that he'd rather lose some popularity points among his friends, then catch the devil from his dad. 

"Sure, baby," Noah nodded and finally relaxed a bit. How great that he escaped the fight again! 

"Now get away from my sight!" Rufus yelled menacingly, showing that, even though he let Noah stay at his party, it didn't mean that he could stick around his circle of contacts. 

"Your wish is my command, milord," Noah bowed his head sneeringly, stood up from the couch and was just about to go check whether all the appetizers were completely ruined by beer, or maybe there was still something left. But 'Devil's Eye' stopped again on the guy stuck between obtrusive twins. It was obvious that everyone was watching Noah and Rufus' fight with breathless attention, burning the hole in one and supporting the other. That's why it was almost bizarre that the guy in a medical mask was still staring at the coffee table throughout the whole fight. Like there was nothing else interesting for him. Like he was far-far away from Rufus' home with his stupid jokes and acid comments towards Noah. That stranger didn't fit in, not in this group of people, nor in the party. And it seems like he was aware of that. 

"And by the way…

Noah had no idea why he did that. Maybe 'Devil's Eye' turned into 'Devil's Mouth' for a second? "Stop touching him, okay? He isn't enjoying that. Maybe you're thinking he's happy about your pretensions to his body, but here's an opinion at the behest: he's not happy, he's pissed off, you're torturing him, please stop," he dropped a remark to the twins. Noah noticed that a guy in a mask flinched and probably glanced at him, but Morgan, not waiting for the reaction, went back to the table. Beer and snacks were waiting for his attention. 

5' 3"

A party with alcohol and cigarettes was the last place where Ethan wanted to be. But Audrey had a different opinion on that. Ethan thought she came here on purpose to piss him off. Or she didn't give a damn. Both variants had the right to exist. 

The party was only a part of the problem. Hughes, on the other hand, was a way more serious problem. While trying to hook up with Audrey, he convinced himself that he had to gain Ethan's favor first. He probably had no idea what kind of relationship brother and sister had. If Ethan had decided that Rufus was the best option for his sister, it would have put an end to his romantic inclinations, because Audrey would have rebuffed Rufus immediately. That was also why Ethan had to tolerate him. If Audrey had found out that her brother couldn't stand Rufus, she would have taken Rufus to bed the same night. Just out of spite. 

Despite that Rufus had an extremely unpleasant personality. So, in order to escape stupid debates and sarcastic comments to any childish jokes, Ethan focused on the coffee table in front of him. He was staring at crumbles 'decorating' it, at the magazines on the shelf underneath the glass and at the carpet with a weird pattern. Ethan would have loved to dissociate completely, but the twins didn't want to leave him alone. It suddenly got into their head like Ethan would enjoy that, or what? Or maybe they couldn't stop cuddling because he was keeping his hands to himself? There were thousands of different variants explaining girls' behavior. But Ethan stuck to the theory that the reason for that was his height. 5 feet and 3 inches. Ethan was taken for a cute puppy among all of those tall, drunk alfa-males surrounding him in almost every room. That's why the girls behaved like that towards Ethan. He was annoyed about that. He wasn't harmless, and he definitely wasn't a cute puppy. But he was putting up with it. He didn't want to give Audrey a reason to give Hughes attention. 

Besides that, Ethan had to deal with touching. It was fine through the clothes. But even the slightest move towards his naked skin would be stopped diligently, since Ethan had no idea how he could react. He couldn't deny that he wouldn't lose himself in response to their actions. What if he loses control and starts shoving antiseptic wet wipes into everyone's hands? Ethan was truly afraid of that. Morbidly afraid. If something like that happened, everyone would think he's crazy. Shit-talk didn't bother Ethan. But that would definitely affect his sister. Audrey would start hating him even more, and Ethan's pointless attempts to build a good relationship with his sister would fall into oblivion. There would be no second chance for him. 

"Just to clarify, are your parents aware of the party you're throwing here while they're gone to Atlanta?" that phrase brought Ethan out of emotional oblivion. It wasn't exactly the phrase, though. He didn't care who said what. He didn't have a habit of listening to what others say. Sometimes he wouldn't react to his own name. The voice dragged Ethan's attention. Its sonority. It was beautiful. 

'Don't look up,' Ethan ordered to himself. 'Don't you dare to look at him. You know how it usually ends.' 

The conversation between Rufus and voice's owner continued. Ethan was catching every single word unintentionally, pointing out the guy's perfect utterance and how good his speech tempo was. Absolutely his type. Amazing. Maybe he's working on the radio? Or maybe he's taking singing lessons? 

'Stop thinking about him. Don't theorize. Abstract yourself!' 

"…And by the way. Stop touching him, okay? He isn't enjoying that. Maybe you're thinking he's happy about your pretensions to his body, but here's an opinion at the behest: he's not happy, he's pissed off, you're torturing him, please stop." 

Ethan flinched and…

'Don't look at him!' 

…looked up at the speaker unintentionally, just to catch a glimpse of his back. Skinny legs, skinny dark blue jeans. His black kimono-shirt had The Great Wave off Kanagawa sewed on its back and wide sleeves. Dark brown hair in a man bun undercut. The ends of his hair showed that its owner had bleached and dyed it either dark-blue, or green. And now it's all faded to something like dirty green-blue. 

'What a goofy look,' Ethan thought, 'I wanna meet him,' the second thought came to his head immediately after the first one. Ethan knew himself way too good to understand: if that thought appeared, it wouldn't go away. 

"Who's that?" he asked, looking at Hughes. Hughes was even taken away because it was the first time Ethan had addressed him that night. 

"You mean Morgan?" he specified, like he couldn't believe that Ethan could actually speak. Before, their conversations looked like Rufus' verbal diarrhea and Ethan's concise 'yes', 'no', and 'dunno'. The fact that he knew other phrases besides those shocked Rufus. 

"If Morgan is the guy you were talking to, then yes, I'm talking about him," Ethan answered with a heavy look. 

"You don't know him?" one of the twins was so surprised, completely ignoring the stranger's request to stop touching Ethan. 

What a stupid question. Isn't it obvious that if Ethan knew him, he wouldn't start a conversation about this guy in a questionable manner?

"He's a local star!" the other one stated. She, on the contrary, paid attention to the request and loosened the grip. 

"I've never seen him before," Ethan said glumly. He rarely noticed other people. Apart from those who had beautiful voices. He could drown in clear speech like in deep waters. 

"You don't know him because you're not in the anonymous university chat!" one of the guys from Hughes' gang said. "Dude, you're missing out by rejecting the invitation!" 

Ethan thought he was missing out while still being at this party. It wasn't worth the time at all.

"So who's he?" he ignored that point. 

"Noah Morgan - the blowjob king and a local whore," Rufus introduced the stranger and was thrilled when others started laughing. 

"The blowjob king? How do you know?" Ethan asked and tilted his head to the side without taking his eyes off Hughes. The question sounded provocative. If there was someone else instead of Ethan, Rufus would immediately lose his shit. But now he was stuck. Interesting, what scared him more? Maybe it was a possible fight with Ethan that would screw his possible relationships with Audrey? Or maybe because three weeks ago Ethan beat the shit out of one of Hughes' 6'5" friends, who made a stupid joke about his height. Ethan wasn't proud of it, like he wasn't proud of his quick temper, which was the reason he was getting into the fight all the time. That's why he apologized for the accident. Even though he didn't consider himself truly guilty. It was quite fair to put such pranksters back in their place if they thought they had a right to mock him. 

"Everybody says that," one of the twins shrugged her shoulders. 

"And what exactly do they say?" Ethan insisted. There was something the girls didn't like in his voice. It gave them chills a little. 

"That Morgan sucks dick for money. I bet 10 bucks he has sucked more dicks than Penelope Wilson. And we know she's not a picky one," Hughes tried to make a joke, imagining himself being a standup comedian. His group of friends was really supportive with laughter, encouraging him to continue. 

Ethan had no idea who Penelope Wilson was and he also couldn't understand why being sexually active and changing partners was still something bad in the 21st century. Nobody is keeping their virginity till marriage now. What's the problem? Double standards? 

"You gotta check this out!" one of the twins giggled, slipping her phone to Ethan with a chat on the screen. 

"It's obvious he wasn't the one who wrote it," Ethan said coldly, scanning the message briefly. "Do you have any evidence or do you just follow those stupid rumors and anonymous chats?" 

The silence was the answer. 

"Rumors don't just happen," Rufus finally answered. 

"Rumors just happen all the time. They also happen due to people's hatred. You don't even have to do anything extraordinary. What if I wrote in this chat that you're doing heroin, what do you think, how fast the rumor would spread and how many people would believe it?" Ethan asked with pressure in his voice. 

"I don't understand where you're going," Hughes frowned. Seemed like his patience was slowly running out. 

"I mean that everything here's called bullying and nothing else. You're bullying a person who has done nothing bad to you, am I right?" 

"Oh my god, Ethan! We all know pretty well that you study law. You don't have to show it all the time!" the twin girl giggled nervously, trying to relax the atmosphere. 

"It's not about my major, it's about rationality. Every person is considered innocent until proven guilty. Does anybody have proof that… Morgan, is that right? Does anybody have proof that Morgan is selling himself as a prostitute? You say that he has sucked tons of dicks, but do you know at least one of his clients? Maybe you received information firsthand?" 

"He doesn't deny anything!" Rufus tried to justify himself. 

"Oh, so if he denied you would stop mocking him? Or maybe it would get worse?" 

Nobody dared to answer Ethan. 

"That's what I thought," Ethan snorted, standing up from the couch. "Have a good evening," he said and headed to the snack table.