Page 72 of Quiet
He turned to go, but Alex grabbed him by the arm to hold him in place. “We were worried, man. Are you okay now?”
The need to get back to Isa joined together with the impossibility of explaining the events of the previous night. They created a hellish dissonance and made the contact too much. It sent an itch up his spine that went straight to his brain.
Briar shrugged off his friend’s hand and turned back around.
“Am okay.” At Alex’s look of irritation, he added, “Now.”
“I’m sorry, but I need more than that. How can I help you tell me?”
Briar took a deep breath and stared hard at the ceiling, trying to collect his thoughts enough to try and piece together something Alex could accept. “Food.” Briar hadn’t eaten since the hasty meal he and Isa had scarfed down on their way to the theater that morning. It would help ground him.
Alex brightened. “I can do that.”
As Alex bustled around the kitchen, shoving random snacks into Briar’s hands, Briar gave him a highly abridged version of the night before. It was a painful, awkward experience for both of them. It involved copious gesturing and guessing on Alex’s part. The story Briar came up with was that he’d accidentally been given caffeinated soda, and it combined with the chaos of the art show to send him spiraling into synesthesia.
“I knew you were sensitive, but damn. That sucks. I’ll tell everyone here no more caffeine.”
Briar held up a hand in alarm. Some of their roommates were coffee addicts. He wasn’t going to be responsible for a revolt. “Bea.”
“Shit. You’re right, she’d kill us within a week.”
Bea was notorious for her before-coffee temper.
As necessary as the past hour had been, Briar needed to go. He needed to go now. The scratching record was getting louder by the second. “I have to go,” Briar signed. His hands were shaking so much, he barely managed to form the words.
“You’ve got it bad, huh?” Alex asked with a slow grin. “From the way Isa acted last night, I think it’s mutual. He didn’t seem as small when he was ordering everyone around. It was pretty hot, actually.”
Briar growled and gave his friend the stink-eye.
“He’s yours! No one here is stupid enough to mess with him, buddy.”
Briar nodded and, without another word, turned and left. He decided to walk rather than take his car in case Isa was already on his way. He’d have a better chance of catching him that way. Isa’s phone was currently charging in his dorm room, so there was no way of texting him to find out where he was. Briar didn’t want to miss him in his rush to get to him.
He was nearly back at campus when he ran into Will.
Literally.
“Hey there, big guy. If you want me on all fours, all you had to do was ask,” Will said from the ground where he was trying—and failing to get off his knees. The six-inch platform heels probably had something to do with it.
Briar wanted to ask why the guy had been bent over in the middle of the sidewalk where anyone not watching could plow right into him, but it was beyond him. He raised an eyebrow instead and pointed at Will.
“Me? I was looking for our lost little lamb so I could drag him to your party. My ankle strap popped loose, and I was fixing it when you rear-ended me. That’snota complaint, by the way.” Will took the hand Briar held out to help him up and leaned into him heavily once he got on his feet. “We can go find him together!”
Will continued to lean on Briar, holding tight to his arm to keep his balance. What was the point of wearing shoes so tall you couldn’t walk in them? Briar stoically allowed Will to use him as a human walking stick. Isa probably wouldn’t appreciate him abandoning his overly grabby friend in the dark.
Every now and then, Will would stumble and catch himself on Briar’s chest. Each time Briar would wait patiently until he was able to right himself.
“It’s no fun when they’re this innocent,” Will grumbled to himself after the third time he’d had to use Briar to catch himself. At Briar’s look of inquiry, he said in a normal tone, “You and Isa are perfect for each other. But you both desperately need me in your lives to keep the creeps away.”
After that, Will seemed to get the hang of his shoes and stopped tripping over everything in sight. He continued to keep a hand on Briar’s arm, but he wasn’t squeezing as tightly as before. Briar took it as a godsend. Will’s fingernails were long, and Briar didn’t want holes in his shirt.
He was starting to worry he’d missed Isa somehow when a dark shape stumbled out of the woods and barreled right into him.
Briar didn’t need to see the silver-gray eyes to know it was Isa, he’d drawn him often enough to recognize Isa’s form instantly. “Isa.”
“Now he talks,” Will said with a laugh.
Briar wasn’t laughing though. It might be nighttime, but there was enough light for him to see a dark bruise forming on Isa’s face. He took the boy’s jaw in his hand and tilted it gently. One of his eyes was beautiful, the lid lined with eyeliner and a touch of eyeshadow. The other was swollen shut with makeup smeared across the side of his face. It was mixed with blood. Static filled Briar’s mind as he realized the bruise went from Isa’s temple to his jaw. Briar snatched his hand away, afraid his touch would hurt Isa more.
