Chapter Thirty-One
ELLIOT HATED himself for hurting Barve. He almost wished he had said yes to going on a date with him, but it would have been crueller in the long run. As soon as Barve had said how he felt yesterday, Elliot had thought of Farlden. Barve was the one who had feelings for him but it was Farlden who Elliot was falling for. Was it still a love triangle if no one got to be happy?
He hadn’t seen either of the brothers again yesterday after turning Barve down. Was Farlden angry at him for hurting his brother? How was it that he seemed to go from one disaster to another these days?
He lay in bed and thought about staying here, where he couldn’t make things any worse, all day. He then got up, showered and went to a lecture, then worked on an essay in the library. At lunchtime he walked slowly to the canteen.
He looked round and his insides clenched at the sight of Barve and Farlden sitting with Callie and Lila as if it was just another day. He got some food and approached them, slipping into a seat and waiting for the explosion.
“Meet Al Greela,” Callie said to him, turning her laptop towards him. No one else reacted to his presence in any negative way, although Barve avoided his eyes. He hadn’t told Farlden, Elliot realised, as his brother would never stay quiet. He felt relieved and then guilty because the least Barve deserved in his unhappiness was to have his brother to lean on. “Go on,” Callie urged him, “Look.”
Elliot looked at the screen. It was a Facebook page and there was a photo of a young man, thin faced, with a worried expression. Despite the name, he didn’t look like a Nean – no brow ridge or low forehead – so, like Elliot, perhaps he only had a distant relation who had been Nean. “Al Greela,” he read. The page said he attended this university and was born in Essex. “What about Nolan? Does he have a Facebook page?”
“Yes, he does, although it hasn’t been updated in ages,” she said. “It has him listed as attending here too, for the course he was supposed to be registered for, but isn’t.”
He pressed the History button at the top of the browser page and found Nolan’s page, bringing it up so he could see it. “What’s going on?”
“No idea,” said Lila, “but there’s something messed up about it all.”
Farlden nudged Elliot, a casual touch that made his arm tingle. He looked round at him, drinking in his features, and then belatedly followed his gaze to where Eva was standing speaking loudly to Nolan two tables away from theirs. She was certainly happy to share their arguments with the world.
“I know you’re lying to me,” she exclaimed, voice high-pitched. “Why won’t you just admit it?”
Elliot couldn’t hear his reply but Nolan was shaking his head.
“If you won’t tell me what’s going on then it’s over. We’re finished.”
Again, Elliot couldn’t hear Nolan but it looked as if he was pleading with her. She shook his hand off her arm and marched out of the canteen. Nolan sank down into his chair. The others at the table tried to speak to him, but he just ignored them and then abruptly got up and left.
“Where does that leave us?” Lila asked.
“Without the person who hired us probably,” Elliot said, “but I doubt anyone wants to just drop this.”
“When it’s got this interesting?” Callie said. “No way.”
“Then we’re still going to try and read Nolan’s mind?” Elliot checked with Farlden, glancing at Barve to see if he would object to this now.
Again, Barve didn’t look at him but Farlden said, “Let’s go.”
They spent twenty minutes walking round in circles, looking for Nolan, but he had clearly left the campus, so Elliot reluctantly concluded that their curiosity would have to wait another day.
He met up with the others and said to Barve, “I’ll drive you to the other campus for your afternoon class.” He held his breath and waited.
Barve hesitated for so long that Elliot had given up hope of a positive answer when he finally gave a pale smile and said, “Okay.”