CHAPTER 127: LIAM

"What’s up man?" The words felt strange coming from him.

Even the one the words were being said to frowned in confusion as he asked just to make sure, "you’re Ethan right?"

Ethan gave him a chuckle before saying, "a lot has changed, hasn’t it?"

He wasn’t wrong, the relatively chubby Liam he remembered was nowhere to be found, instead he was replaced by a somewhat muscular one.

His brown hair was still messy but at least it was neatly so.... If that made sense.

Even his hazel eyes held a lot more confidence in them now, not like they ever lacked them.

Liam wasn’t the only one who felt surprised at Ethan’s greeting, even the ones that had been trying to get close to him since he walked in, were also surprised.

Beside the fact that Ethan hadn’t tried interacting with any of them, they also knew that Liam was always the one chasing Ethan around like a duck.

Since, just like Ethan, he was too smart was his age, only being a year older than him when they first entered university.

But unlike Ethan who didn’t care how people saw him, Liam was determined to make at least one friend.

But since he had been isolated by almost all his course mates, his goal of making friends became slightly more difficult.

Keyword, difficult...not impossible.

At least that was his thought process anyway. He soon realized how hard it was, especially when people saw you as not belonging.

Did that cause him to give up? Not in the least. And that’s when he identified his target, Ethan Carter.

Just like him the kid was an outcast among course mates, so Liam figured, why not band together.

Yeah, that thought was immediately discarded when he realized the kid was alone by choice.

Liam was pretty proud of his smarts, but Ethan was on another level. The kid was balancing multiple programs like it was nothing.

How had that even been allowed? He had no idea but one thing was for certain, Ethan Carter wasn’t normal.

He remembered back then, sitting in the library with stacks of books around him, while Ethan would just casually stroll past, balancing coursework from engineering, computer science, and somehow medical electives on the side.

Liam had thought it was arrogance at first, maybe the kid was biting more than he could chew, just to stand out. But he quickly realized it wasn’t really arrogance, nor was Ethan showing off, he was simply... built different.

And that was even more reason to become friends.

Day after day, week after week, he hovered around him, sometimes with questions about coursework, sometimes with jokes that never landed, sometimes just sitting in silence near Ethan’s usual corner of the library.

Most would’ve called it pathetic. Liam called it persistence.

And maybe... just maybe... it worked.

Because every now and then, Ethan would answer. A short sentence here, a casual remark there. But it was progress enough.

So Ethan completely understood the reaction at him making a conversation first.

"Yeah," Liam responded, "you even seem a bit more friendly than before."

"I wouldn’t say friendly," Ethan chuckled as he glanced behind him at the stunned face of their course mates.

"Oh," Liam quickly realized what must’ve went on, "then I must be special I guess."

"Don’t push your luck," Ethan responded with a chuckle before adding, "wanna grab a drink?"

Liam blinked in surprise, then laughed in disbelief. "Wait... you’re inviting me for a drink? Did hell freeze over and nobody told me?"

Ethan smirked, already turning toward the door. "Let’s just say there’s a first time for everything."

"Well then, bye guys," Liam turned to the still frozen group and said before falling in step behind Ethan.

"D-did he just ignore Leonard but talk to Liam?" Someone asked in disbelief.

With that question they all turned to Leonard but instead of a frown, there was a smile on his face.

But Chat who sat close could clearly see his fists clenched but a moment after, Leonard unclenched them and turn to everyone else,

"What’s with the mood?" He asked still keeping his smile, "we’re here for a reunion, let’s make it seem like one."

With that everyone else went back to interacting, seemingly forgetting about Liam and Ethan.

But deep down, Leonard’s dislike for Ethan just got several levels higher.

________________

Outside,Liam walked a bit faster to catch up to Ethan who had deliberately slowed down.

"So..." Liam started, the moment he was close enough to him, "where are we headed to?"

"A bar just across the street," Ethan replied, "it should be quieter and filled with less nosy people."

"Alright then, lead the way." He said, the enthusiasm Ethan remembered him for had returned.

The walk to the bar wasn’t that long since it was just across the street. Ethan and Liam were welcomed into a really quiet place, much to Ethan’s satisfaction.

They moved to a certain corner of the bar, took a seat and almost immediately a waiter appeared with a pen and pad in hand.

"Amaretto for me," he then turned to Liam who had just gotten comfortable on his seat, "and—"

"I’ll take the same," he answered and the waiter disappeared leaving the two alone.

"So... What’s with the new look?" Liam started, "you look different, like rich different."

Ethan smiled in response choosing to say nothing, just yet as the waiter soon returned with their drinks.

"I guess I was being too —"

Before Liam could complete his words, Ethan cut him off, "I work for a relatively small company right now."

He took a sip of his drink as he answered, causing Liam to get even more curious.

"What company?" He asked.

With Ethan’s brilliance, why would he settle for a small company rather than applying to a bigger on or maybe even started his own.

But if he really was working for a small company then how come he looked so... well-off?

And Ethan’s answer was really not what Liam expected.

"OmniTech Corp."