Page 33 of Quiet
Briar wanted to say that no one told Isa about this limitation. He’d been reading Briar’s mind with ease for a while now. He didn’t think he’d be able to convey this information to Alex though. If Briar didn’t understand it himself, how was he supposed to communicate it?
“I know for sure,” Briar signed grumpily. Isa had been kissing him back enthusiastically until . . . until what? Until he’d decided to lie about dating another person. Briar was certain he was lying. Isa wouldn’t have kissed him back if he was involved with someone else. He didn’t know how he knew, but somehow Briar was positive Isa wasn’t that kind of person.
Alex humphed. “Whatever, man. Just be cool. If you want him, no looming, no getting up in his business, and always, always listen to the wordno. Let him come to you.” He gathered his brushes in one hand and clapped Briar on the arm with the other. “It’s almost showtime. Are you ready?”
Briar heaved a sigh and nodded. This was going to suck.
Chapter14
Isa
“Is this really necessary?” Isa asked nervously as he sat still and allowed a stranger to put makeup on him.
“Shush you. If you move, I’ll have to start over.” The makeup artist—a girl named Alice—poked Isa in the nose gently.
“Thanks for stepping in at the last minute, Alice. Our makeup person totally bailed on us.”
Alice tossed her long, magenta hair over one shoulder and smiled a thousand-watt smile. “No worries, Bea. I love doing this! And Isa is the perfect model. I would kill for these lips.” Alice dabbed her finger at the corner of Isa’s mouth to wipe away excess lipstick.
It might have been Isa’s imagination, but Briar seemed to twitch at the touch.
It was probably his imagination. In defiance of all of Isa’s nervous expectations, Briar had barely even acknowledged Isa when he’d shown up at the studio. The spirit of insanity possessed Isa long enough to make him go over to where Briar was setting up to say hello. Briar had grunted and continued to set up. He hadn’t even looked at Isa.
It was great. Wonderful, even. It meant Isa had successfully managed to get Briar to change his mind about pursuing him.
It was so wonderful, the lump in Isa’s throat had doubled in size.
He sat docilly in the chair while Alice did arcane and mysterious things to his face. He hadn’t been brave enough to put makeup on by himself in ages, so he had no idea what she was doing or how he’d look once she was done.
It wasn’t that Isa was unfamiliar with wearing makeup—Will had strong armed him into being his guinea pig countless times—but applying it himself reminded him of all the time he’d spent stuck in the hallway closet back home nursing bruises. If someone else put it on for him, it didn’t give him flashbacks of being punished for being different.
“I’m almost done. Isa, thank you for being such a good subject. Close your eyes, please.” Alice waited until Isa complied before applying the setting spray to his face. “You are absolutely lovely. I can’t believe there are two of you on campus.”
“Two of us?”
“Pretty, sweet boys. I always thought Eli was the prettiest boy I’d ever seen, but you rival him. Don’t call him pretty though, his boyfriend will crush you into paste.”
“You know Eli?” Isa was pulled from his gloomy funk instantly.
“He’s my bestie, of course I know him. You don’t have a crush on him, do you? Because that will not end well for you.”
“No!” Maybe a little, at the beginning of the year, but it had faded to simple admiration after a month or so. “I’m a member of his fan club though.”
“So, it’s his boyfriend Haruka you’re into?” Alice narrowed her eyes. “That might be even worse, dear.”
The area around Briar’s workstation had gone impossibly quiet.
Isa laughed. “I don’t want to get shanked in the shower. I’m not suicidal.” Eli’s reputation for possessive behavior toward his boyfriend was rivaled only by Haruka’s. “Eli is just an inspiration to me, I guess. He has burdens most people don’t, but he doesn’t let them stop him from living the life he wants.”
“So, just to be clear, you aren’t interested in either of them, right? You’re growing on me, Isa. I’d hate to see you die young.”
“No interest at all, I promise. Besides, I’m not available.” He emphasized the last part.
Alice’s eyes darted to Briar’s corner and back again. “Good to know.” Alice put her brushes away and handed Isa a mirror. “What do you think?”
Isa was stunned when he took in the face in the mirror. Alice had gone heavy on the pink, giving him the appearance of a blushing anime girl. Over the pink, she’d added a collection of white dots resembling freckles. He took in the smoky, mysterious eyes staring back at him from the mirror. “Alice . . . I’m beautiful.”
Alice clapped her hands like a child. “You were already beautiful, Isa. I just turned it up to an eleven. Do you like it?”
