chapter 1 -- the song on the radio

Ellie Thomas checked the clock for the fifth time this class period. Amazingly, STILL not even half of the hour of Greek History had passed. This was going to be excruciating...

Today, as usual, Ellie's professor had been drawn into a rambling, animated debate with campus-wide star student Will Crespo. With his encyclopedic knowledge and boundless enthusiasm, Will could tempt any lecturer into venturing wildly off the syllabus, talking far above other students' heads, and utterly disregarding the designated end of class time.

Will stood front-and-center in the first row of seats, gently rocking on his heels as his smoothly chosen words steered the discussion astray. Greek History was his favorite subject, and Professor Alender was one of his favorite targets.

All across the room, heads nodded sleepily and phones and laptops were out. However, several people were keeping up with Will and Alender -- or at least admiring Will.

Ellie was one of the ones keeping up. As a music major with a particular interest in the earliest known vocal traditions, Ellie thought of history as a necessary and fascinating context for her main studies. She was certainly no stranger to the Greeks, and she appreciated the depth and variety Will added to this class.

What was excruciating for Ellie about today -- and every Tuesday and Thursday -- was that she was also one of the many people admiring Will for non-academic reasons.

She squirmed in her seat, hoping no one was paying attention to her. This was one of the main reasons she sat in the back of her classes.

It had taken only a little finagling of electives on Ellie's part to ensure that she and Will had had at least one class of some sort together every semester since they had arrived on campus. Luckily, Will seemed oblivious to Ellie's scheming, and she consoled herself that she had never been unethical or intrusive.

Will's artless ability to look like a perfectly carved statue in even the most unremarkable clothing was irresistible enough to Ellie. But soon, it became clear that Will was an enigma in many more ways, and she loved to solve a puzzle. First of all, Will clearly had no idea he was conventionally attractive--

Ellie hated this train of thought because that insipid boy band tune always came to mind: "Everyone else in the room can see it / Everyone else but you..."

Will seemed to want the attention of his classmates, but the minute someone invited him out to do anything, the answer was always a deer-in-the-headlights look and, "Oh... no... but thank you. So, ah, that next chapter..."

In fact, Ellie had only observed Will to have one friend in the two years she'd known him. A very loyal, close, and protective friend, for sure, and one who somehow managed to drag Will to parties, but still: only one.

Today, Will was wearing Ellie's favorite white long-sleeved shirt and what she supposed must be an older pair of jeans, because either these pants were worn-out enough to be loose, or--

She bit her lip, knowing her thoughts would continue whether she tried to stop them or not.

He'd be irresistible even if he didn't have his god-forsaken sleeves rolled up so I can drool over his unfairly muscular forearms, or even if he DIDN'T have that crescent of soft skin showing above that slightly relaxed waistband... Ellie fantasized.

Or even if I DIDN'T love to imagine that he bought those jeans when he--

Ellie shivered involuntarily.

When he WEIGHED a little more... she finished, shifting her crossed legs uncomfortably and suppressing her desire to slide her hand between her thighs and all the way on up, right there in class.

Maybe it's time to talk to Lydia about this... I need some serious advice.