Nora's body went stiff again — just for a second — but she forced herself to be polite. She lifted her head enough to look at him for half a second, then looked back down at the desk. Her voice barely made it past a whisper.
"Hi. I'm... Nora. Nora Wren."
She shook his hand — the fastest, most minimal handshake possible — then pulled back like she'd been burned and retreated into her corner.
Ethan didn't push it. He didn't lean in or follow up with another question. He just let the silence sit, then said quietly, almost like he was thinking out loud:
"Has anyone ever told you that you have really striking eyes?"
He'd noticed the second she looked up — even half-hidden behind those heavy bangs and thick frames, her eyes were something else. Clear and still, like water nobody had touched in a long time.
Nora didn't answer. She just tucked her chin down a little more.
She had walls. Big ones, carefully built and constantly maintained. The outside world came at her like noise, and she'd spent years learning how to tune it out. To most people here, she already seemed weird — the outfit, the posture, the way she tried to disappear into the furniture made her stand out, and people didn't know what to do with that.
Ethan's comment got through all that somehow and just sat there, unanswered. But it got through.
The classroom door swung open.
A young guy walked in — mid-twenties, maybe twenty-five or twenty-six. He had on a neat button-down and slacks, and his face had that look you see on someone fresh out of school trying to seem more confident than they actually feel.
His name was Mr. Hayes. First name Daniel, though he'd introduce himself as Mr. Hayes. He'd just finished his master's at some state school upstate and landed a faculty advisor job at NYU right after graduation — his first real job, first class, first everything.
He set his folder down on the podium, looked out at the room, decided enough people were there, and cleared his throat.
"Alright, everyone — let's settle down."
The low buzz of conversation died down.
He smiled, and it was genuine even if it looked a little stiff. "Hey, everyone. My name is Daniel Hayes, and I'll be your academic advisor for the next four years. Mr. Hayes is fine. First of all — welcome to NYU Stern, welcome to Business Administration Section Two, and welcome to New York." He paused. "For those of you already from New York — welcome back, I guess."
A few people laughed. He looked a bit more relaxed.
He held up a printed roster. "Okay, first thing — the classic first-day tradition. Roll call and introductions. When I call your name, come up and say something about yourself. Doesn't have to be long. Let's just start putting names to faces." He looked down at the paper. "Alright — Cameron Knox."
"Here."
A decent-looking guy near the middle stood up and walked to the front. He walked with confidence. Then he got to the podium, turned around, saw forty people staring at him, and completely deflated.
His face went red. His voice got quiet. "Uh — hey. I'm Cameron. I'm from Charlotte, North Carolina. I, uh... I like music. Singing, dancing, basketball..." He touched the back of his neck. "...rap, I guess. Yeah."
He gave an awkward smile and looked at Mr. Hayes like he was waiting to be let go.
The room took it fine. Nervous freshman, nothing unusual.
Ethan had to press his lips together to keep from laughing. This kid has the whole package. Something about it — singing, dancing, rap, basketball, the sheepish grin — reminded him of watching idol auditions. Did I just accidentally witness a K-pop trainee introduction in a college classroom?
"Great, thanks Cameron." Mr. Hayes checked something off. "Next — Summer Lin."
A girl near the front stood up with easy confidence that looked completely natural. She walked to the podium at a normal pace — not rushed, not slow — and actually took a second to look around the room before speaking.
"Hi, everyone." Her smile was wide and genuine. "I'm Summer Lin. Born and raised in Queens, New York — so this is basically home for me. I'm really excited to be here and meet all of you. I like people, I like getting things done, and I'm always down to grab coffee if anyone wants to talk. Looking forward to the next four years — let's make it count."
She stepped back and people clapped a bit more than they had for Cameron.
Ethan nodded to himself. Same as always. She had this natural thing about her that you couldn't teach — this quality that made rooms shift around her without her even trying. She was going to run something someday. That had always been obvious.
The introductions kept going. Marcus went up and said something loud, charming, and way too long. Derek kept his short and solid. Kevin walked up, said four sentences like the whole thing was beneath him, and walked back.
Then Mr. Hayes looked at his paper and called the next name.
"Ethan Miller."
The reaction was instant — a wave of noise ran through the room faster than it had for anyone else.
"Wait, Ethan Miller? The perfect SAT kid?"
"He's actually in our section?"
"Oh my God, I saw him on the website — I didn't think he was real—"
"He gave up Harvard for this? That's crazy."
Ethan stood up and walked to the front without rushing.
As he passed Nora's seat, he caught it — the tiniest movement. Her head lifted just a bit, a sliver of her eyes visible through her dark hair, watching him for exactly one second before looking away again.
She'd probably figured it out earlier. When he'd sat down next to her and introduced himself — she'd probably recognized the name, put it together. The banner outside the admissions building had been up for two weeks. But him sitting right next to her had apparently scrambled her brain before she could process it.
Now, watching him walk up to the podium, she felt something she couldn't quite name — a quiet, involuntary flicker that might've been envy, or admiration, or some feeling that didn't have a clean label yet.
It lasted about three seconds before her attention snapped back to her own panic: your name is on that list and you're going to have to stand up there in front of everyone.
Her palms were already sweating.
Ethan grabbed a dry-erase marker, turned to the whiteboard, and wrote in clean letters:
ETHAN MILLER
He capped the marker, set it down, and turned to face the class with a relaxed half-smile.
"Hey. I'm Ethan." He let a beat pass. "And yeah — if you've seen the banner out front by the admissions building, that's probably me. Sorry about the photo. I think I looked better in person that day."
The room cracked up.
Mr. Hayes, standing to the side, covered his mouth with his hand.
Ethan waited for the laughter to die down, then kept going. "As for hobbies — honestly, my main hobby is learning." He paused, watching a few people look skeptical. "I know how that sounds. But I mean it pretty broadly." He held up one finger. "Browsing the internet counts as learning, right? You're taking in information." Another finger. "Gaming — teamwork, strategy, reaction time. Educational." He tilted his head. "And, you know..." He let the pause hang. "I'm genuinely interested in learning about all the things most normal guys are into."
He spread his hands with a completely straight face.
The room erupted.
Mr. Hayes laughed despite himself, shaking his head. Twenty-six years old, fresh out of grad school, and he already knew this kid was going to make the next four years interesting.
The gap between me and this generation, he thought, apparently isn't that wide after all.
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