Chapter 20 Noise Behind the Static
“That’s all for today” the lecturer announced signaling the end of the class.
Noise erupted inside the lecture hall as students were either preparing to leave the lecture hall or were already skipping out the door.
Noah wasn’t ready to leave yet, he wanted to wait for the hall to be empty so that he can try and talk to Kael.
The silence bothered him more than he would like to admit, he missed what they had before and wanted it back.
But Kael wouldn’t let him, as he was arranging his words Kael had already made his way to the door.
Noah had no choice but to follow lest what happened in the previous class occur again. But that didn’t stop him from trying as they walked out.
“Can we just-” Noah started, his voice, though echoing off the sterile concrete walls of the hallway, was getting drowned by the hustle and bustle of students around him.
The speed Kael walked and constantly bumping into other students didn’t help one bit. Noah had to push through and run up to Kael before he spoke “Do you even know where you are going?” he shook his head and continued “Forget it, can were talk about this, us? I don’t like how things are, it’s suffocating Kael”
Kael didn’t break his stride, nor did he turn his head or slow down. He just kept moving with that infuriating, singular focus that made Noah feel like a backpack he was being forced to carry.
Noah stopped dead in his tracks understanding that Kael would rather run into heavy traffic than talk to him. His palms felt clammy, an oddly familiar itching static of Zhil vae humming just beneath his hairline. Noah didn’t know what it is or what it means but he was too pissed off at Kael to care.
“Fine. You want silence? You’ve got it” Noah shouted and muttered under his breath angrily.
In a fit of petty, frustrated defiance, Noah veered sharply to the opposite side of the hallway, putting maximum distance between them.
The tether; that invisible, magnetic leash that hummed against his ribs, tugged instantly, a sharp, rubbery snap of resistance. The oh-so familiar feeling blossomed inside him, the want, the pain of being separated.
It was a constant, nagging reminder that he wasn’t an individual anymore. He was a tethered weight. But Noah refused to give in, comforted by the thought that Kael is feeling it too.
He was still stewing in that irritation, glaring at his own reflection in the glass of the bulletin board, when a group of his course mates rounded the corner.
Noah! Hey man,” Leo called out, waving a hand. “You and your… friend? You guys are coming right? The bar near the station, the one on 5th, we are hitting it tonight. Drinks, maybe some food. I mean we all need a break from the books for once.”
Noah looked at them. They were bright, loud and blissfully unaware of the cold, regal shadow now looming three feet behind him.
The thought of a cramped, loud bar sounded like a nightmare, but then he looked at Kael’s bored, distant profile and thought, fck it. A spike of spite bloomed in Noah’s chest.
“Yeah,” Noah said, his voice harder than intended. “We’ll be there.”
Kael stiffened, his eyes narrowing. “Noah,” he murmured, a warning etched into the low, rasping tone of his voice.
“Don’t,” Noah snapped, turning on his heel. “You wanted to walk? Let’s walk.”
Outside, the sky had bruised into deep, sickly purple. As they stepped out of the campus gate, the first heavy drops of rain slapped against the pavement, cold and sharp.
I didn’t feel like a normal everyday rain, the wind was sharp and cold. The rain fell heavily, viscous even, like the sky was weeping oil.
Kael had no choice but to follow, his boots hitting the pavement in perfect, predatory sync with Noah’s own.
By the time the clouds became darker and the rain stronger, they had reached the bar and soon they were seated and the table now decorated with drinks and food.
Noah felt free, alive right there and then. He felt human again, a feeling he had seemed to have forgotten. But it all shattered when the questions started.
“Noah, what’s up with you this semester,” Leo started “You are barely concentrating and the fact that Noah fcking Ware missed not a day but a full week of school”
Another chimed in “Dudeee, like for real though, what’s up dude?” Noah chuckled awkwardly and sipped his drink, hoping the topic will fade away but it continued strong.
“The only thing he’s been focusing on is the tall, black hunk beside him” Another snickered.
“Wait, are they dating? They seem to be together all the time”
“Maybe that’s why he has forgotten about Jamie” One added maliciously.
“Ah, Jamie. The sweet summer child is in the hospital bed fighting for his life while his brother is out here openly fcking a man. How shameful”
Huh?
“I can’t imagine what the poor soul is thinking”
“Probably that his brother has abandoned him, so sad”
Wha- what is going on? What are they talking about?
Noah stood up sharply and stared at the faces in front of him. They bore twisted, gleeful smiles. It was like they were screaming ‘Go on. Scream. Make a scene’, they were waiting for a show. And Noah gave them one.
“Fck all of you, fcking bastards. Who the fck do you think you are, huh? Who the fck you think you are to judge me? TELL ME”
Silence descended on the entire bar, everyone looked at him like he’s lost his mind.
The twisted smiles were gone from the faces of those in front of him, now replaced with confusion and worry but he could catch glimpses of it in the larger crowd.
He stormed off to the bathroom but before he could enter, he was stopped by Kael who grabbed his shoulder.
“What the hell was that?” Kael asked, his voice laced with confusion.
“Fck off Kael, you are the one that refused to talk to me now you worried about me? Pick a lane and stick to it dude”
Kael loosen his grip and drew his hand back. “I never said I said I was worried about you” he started.
“I mean how, why would I be worried about a reckless, miserable human like you?” Kael continued scornfully before bursting into a loud unrestrained laughter “You really put yourself on a high pedestal. Pride, how human”
Noah looked at Kael hard, tears forming in his eyes. He did understand, he couldn’t.
How could they? How could Kael?
He ran into the bathroom and locked the door unwilling to face anyone. Kael grabbed the knob and pulled before banging on the door with his fists but Noah didn’t open the door.
He walked up to the mirror and stared at the tears rolling down his face before wiping them away. Whilst looking at himself, he noticed something sticking out of one of the stalls, legs.
“Hello?” Noah walked to the stall, calling out multiple times but got no response.
When he stood directly opposite the stall and looked in his breath got stuck in his throat.
Inside laid a body. Leo’s dead body.