𝐒𝐀𝐕𝐈𝐎𝐔𝐑; ethan landry

chapter one

CHAPTER ONE
"accidents happened for a reason."

JULIET HAMPTON WAS a sweetheart - not only in her ways but in her actions and lifestyle. She was adored by passerbys, her friends, her family. By just a single glance they could see her kindness and beauty and inner grace. She was all anyone ever wanted to be, her innocence remaining throughout even the darkest of storms. She could outlive them all if she ever tried, but she wouldn't. That wasn't her, she put the others first. Ethan was one of the only people she could name with ease that wouldn't let her.

Ethan Landry was different but the same. He was shy, valuing his studies over the social interaction that came with the bustling city. Life went on around him, the boy avoiding anything he didn't deem necessary. He was the nerdy kid you would walk past without a second stare, the person you'd bump into with a muttered apology and nothing more. That's why he appreciated Juliet so much, because she was one of the only people who didn't. She genuinely cared.

They had mutual connections, the boy having been roomed with Juliet's friend Chad, but they met before they'd even been formally introduced. She'd been roaming the college's library, browsing for anything that suited her fancy, when their eyes locked. It was a complete accident, but sometimes, accidents happened for a reason.

She'd pulled out a book from the shelf, the boy doing the same on the opposite side, creating a gap that lined the middle of the shelving. While he'd been hooked onto her glistening, youthful eyes, she'd been staring at his hair. She smiled, it looked so fluffy. 

"Hi," she grinned, her teeth pressing against her bottom lip in a smile. His cheeks grew red, his fingers drumming against the book that he held by his side, as his lips twitched upwards.

"Hi," he repeated. She laughed quietly before drawing her eyes away, moving to the left of her side of the shelf. He sighed, he'd thought she was gone. The one girl, the one person, that had showed him interest without him having to actually try, was gone only moments later. It really showed what kind of person he was, how he repelled people away without even trying. So, with a roll of his eyes, he looked away from the now empty spot.

However, while he'd been overthinking everything he'd ever said, the girl had continued to smile. She rounded the corner of the shelf, walking out the other side. "Economics," she gathered, glancing down at the book in his hands. "I don't know how you do that crap."

He looked up, startled, which only caused her to smile more. He took note of the way her eyes shined, her cheeks brightened, and her fingers subconsciously fiddled with the rings on her fingers.

With a quick glance down at his unborrowed book, he finally smiled. "Yeah, it's pretty boring sometimes. Are you studying . . ." his eyes darted down at the book in her hands, "- law?"

She nodded as she walked closer, twisting to lean against the shelf opposite the curly-haired boy. She held it up before her eyes. "Funnily enough, yeah. I don't know, though. I might swap out."

"Wh- why?" He asked, brows drawing in as his face morphed into genuine confusion. She looked up, her eyes tracing his cheeks, before she silently sighed.

"Just doesn't interest me like other things. Sociology, geography, even literature, are just . . . better," she shrugged with a harmless smile. He nodded.