The first portion of Mr Evans' class had finished.

"You may leave the classroom to stretch your legs, everyone." Mr Evans called out, pointing towards the light-brown oak door. "Be back in five minutes, understood?" The man had mellowed over the course of the first few weeks. I was confident Nelly's parents had something to do with the sudden change. Considering their past interventions, I would bet money on the fact they forced a different approach upon the old man.

His inquiry met its answer in the form of a collective affirmative. Shortly thereafter, most of my classmates rose to their feet. Then, they all slung their bags onto their backs and awkwardly filed out of the classroom.

Nelly and her mindless minion wormed their way through the masses, as per usual. Both of their faces were ridden with frustration as they withheld from cussing everyone out. Their vulgar attitude was still the same as on the first day.

I turned away with a shake of the head, shrugging the notion off.

As I attempted to ignore my surroundings, I peered out the window. Clouds had settled in, looming over the trees. They had already exchanged their verdant green for an autumnal pelt. It was a lovely sight, inspirational even.

I pulled my notebook closer, along with a pencil and began constructing a rough outline. I hoped to finish it before the block hour's second part commenced.

But that wishful thinking was soon wholly forfeited.

In the corner of my eye laid the sketch of Ethan's face.

My sight trailed back to the drawing on Ethan's side of the desk. Some of the pencil lines had been blurred. The smile I drew was unrecognisable, yet the image brought forth the memory of his comment.

Immediately, I felt a small smile bubbling up. And I simply could not contain it.

At this point, I had to admit it. I may or may not be smitten with Ethan, and still, I hardly knew anything about him. Was it just to be so fixated based on no more than... appearance?

A sudden realisation washed over me.

Ethan hadn't gotten up, no, no. Instead, he was slouched over in his chair- his tilted chin almost touching his chest. He had fallen asleep. Last night must have been rough on him. I had never seen him as much as yawn during classes.

It was odd. And still, Ethan seemed at peace.

I looked around; thankfully, the classroom still resembled a ghost town. Only the two of us, Mr Evans and a few students near the front rows, had remained seated. And as such, nobody else seemed to have noticed Ethan had succumbed to his apparent restlessness.

"Hey, Ethan," I muttered shyly.

I lifted my arm towards him hesitantly. It was weird. Though I had the intent to awaken him, I, too, felt conflicted. He much needed some shuteye. I considered the matter for a moment, realising it'd be best for him to resume his power nap.

However, plans were prone to change, and fate unmistakably desired an alternative approach to the day's happenings.

The school bell rang once more.

With that, a steady stream of scurrying classmates raced through the doorway.

Mr Evans rose from his seat, his eyes firmly glued onto the clock on the wall. He continued to tap on his wrist, almost as though he was counting the time left until the five minutes had wholly passed. But, to be honest- I wouldn't put it above him.

Everyone returned to their seats, still far too occupied with their boundless chitchatting to notice a sleeping Ethan.

"Calm down, calm down. Your break is over," exclaimed Mr Evans, pacing to the door and closing it shut with a loud slam; the thin plaster walls seemed to shake upon impact. "Resume your textbook assignments. We will discuss your answers and thought process in thirty minutes. If you finish in time, you may work ahead on page forty-seven... or do last-minute homework that you had not seen," finishing, the man sat down behind his desk once more.

I glanced around to meet a few relieved expressions. It was a kind gesture - and frankly, I would need the additional time too. Yesterday was terrible. I practically roamed across the grounds mindlessly: dark bags below my eyes. Similarly to Ethan's current state, I succumbed to the lull of sleep - inevitably lacking the necessary time to do the day's homework.

Then, I looked back at Mr Evans, his head was tilted to the side, and his eyes were narrowed down, tossing a fixated look in my direction. He stood up, slowly walking toward the middle of the classroom, his gaze fixed on me.

He cleared his throat with a cough, a stern look in his eyes. "What's his- Ah, right," Mr Evans whispered under his breath, though, regardless, I still perceived his quiet, husky voice. "Ethan," added the man, furrowing his brows.

No response: neither from Ethan nor any classmate.

"Boy, are-" Mr Evans halted his words, a deadpan stare dominating his features. "Xavier, is he... sleeping?"

Upon the mention of a sleeping classmate, all faces turned to the back of the room. All their gazes were vehemently drilling into my body. I shifted in place, ducking my head.

"Answer me, please," I felt the weight of his mere glance on my shoulders. It was a crushing feeling. But it wasn't as bad as my classmates' unyielding stares. Not by a long shot.

I gave a swift nod, "Yeah," I barely managed to get a word out of my throat. The social pressure clearly affected my vocal abilities. But that was nothing out of the ordinary at this point. However, the teacher did not appear to have heard my voice; the background noise - consisting of the collective gossiping - had blocked out my soft-spoken response.

I sighed, speaking at the top of my lungs. "I think so," it almost came out equally faint.

Mr Evans shook his head, running his hand over his head.

Then he did it.

Mr Evans vocalised his blasphemous request - well, in all honesty, what he uttered sounded much more like a stern command, "Wake him up, please."

I froze in place, my retort dying out well before I could articulate a reply.

I progressively turned my head toward Ethan; the distress in my eyes was clearly noticeable. Hell, it shone brighter than the moon amid a starless sky. And that, unfortunately, was obvious to not just Mr Evans but my classmates too.

Only their snickering and a few snorts answered my radio silence.

One of the boys, stowed away in the other corner of the room, whispered too audibly, "Just kick him off his chair."

Everyone broke into laughter.

Some girl jumped in, "He's already enduring enough backlash- no way he will."

The atmosphere tensed up; the roaring laughter died out, replaced only by a profound coldness.

"Oh, for goodness sake," growled Mr Evans.

With the collective focus on my every move, I cleared my throat with a tentative swallow. I leaned closer to Ethan, tapping on his shoulder. I attempted to wake him up but bore no fruit thus far. I kept nudging, my classmates mocking my careful approach.

Ethan clearly was a heavy sleeper; more appropriate methods were due.

I grabbed onto his arm, receiving an immediate whistle, much to my dismay.

Rolling my eyes, I began tugging.

A few seconds in, Ethan's green eyes opened - still dazed.

I loosened my grip as he yawned excessively.

Looking over to see people chuckling, something emerged in the corner of my eye. I cocked my head.

Wham.

Ethan's balled hand collided with my face, from my ear to my nose, in a straight line.

I let out an immediate grunt, a sense of pain flaring up.

The mere happening immobilised me. Under the shifting pressure, I heard a snapping sound. I felt the right leg of my glasses snap loose. The rest had twisted, slowly crawling along the width of my head as Ethan stretched his arm out further, still unaware.

Then, with a final push, the pair of glasses tilted in place, tipping off my nose and came crashing down to the floor along with everyone's jaws.

A sharp crack resonated through the room, and the situation finally dawned upon a sleepy Ethan.

Nobody articulated a word, each and all spellbound by the unfortunate series of events. Including myself, still too baffled and shocked to even look at - what I presumed to be, broken pair of glasses on the floor.

────「♔」────

- 03/11/'22

Apologies for the cliffhangers, dear readers~ <3