Chapter 34
"What's happened to you?! You look like you've seen a ghost!" I started and tore my eyes away from my laptop to see Ajay staring at me, a startled and almost scared expression on his face. My mind felt like it had gone numb, and I couldn't do anything except gaze uncomprehendingly at him. "Hello?" he spoke again. "Akash, snap out of it. What happened?" Slowly I began to think again and looked away from him, back to my laptop.
It was the day after the party, and while I had had quite a headache that morning, I had no intention of staying at the house and dealing with my housemates when I didn't have to. Remembering that Carrie had seemed stressed over the last few days, I decided to spend the day at campus so that if she wanted to talk, I would be available. She hadn't come online until the evening though, and I had been concerned to see that she still seemed preoccupied. We had talked for a little while, but it appeared as if the conversation was a little strained. And my suspicions were confirmed less than five minutes ago, when her replies stopped and I found that she had blocked me.
My heart was thumping painfully while I looked at the screen for a minute before I turned back to Ajay. Trying but failing to smile weakly, I replied at last. "It's something personal. I don't really want to talk about it."
He nodded slowly and went back to packing his books. It was now nearly eleven at night and he was about to head back. Slinging his bag over his shoulder he turned back. "Are you sure you're going to be all right?" he asked again, looking a little worried. "You still look like you had a heart attack."
"I guess you can say I kind of did," I said quietly, "but don't worry about me. I'll be okay."
He nodded. "You're still gonna be at the game tomorrow, right?" he asked.
"What game?"
"Our intramural game, first one is tomorrow," he said and I remembered; I had decided to play for my discipline's intramural soccer team this year, but had completely forgotten about that in the wake of what had just happened tonight.
"I don't know, Ajay, I might come," I said honestly. "Kinda depends on how I'm feeling tomorrow." He nodded and left; I continued to sit at my spot, not exactly sure what to do. It had hit me by now that Carrie hadn't felt like talking, but I guess I hadn't seen that at the time and I drove her to exasperation. I decided to ask Tracy for advice on how to fix things; although she said she wasn't going to personally get involved in the situation, she consoled me and told me that her sister just wanted a little space, and that she would speak to me again soon. We talked for about half an hour or so, after which I felt considerably better.
'So what did you do all day? Just lazed in bed?' she asked, causing me to start guiltily; I hadn't told her before about how late I had been staying at school every day so far. I winced in apprehension as I typed back, telling her I was still at the campus even though it was a Saturday and it was nearly midnight. Tracy reacted just as I had expected; she mock-scolded me and told me to go back right now or she wouldn't say another word more tonight. I smiled slightly at her concern and did as she said; once I exited the building she resumed the conversation and we continued to chat during the half-hour it took me to get back to Lynus Avenue. When I reached the house it appeared to be completely dark, which was a relief because I wasn't in the mood for my housemates' crap tonight. But my relief was short-lived.
As I felt my way to the staircase two firm hands grasped my shoulders and dragged me into the living room, forcing me down into a chair. I shielded my eyes as someone flicked the switch and the room filled with light. When my vision had adjusted to the sudden brightness I stared. Five of my housemates were in the room; two were standing very close to me, while the other three were blocking the entrance to the living room, presumably to stop me from leaving until they were done with me. "What the hell?" I said angrily. "Any reason I'm being treated like a criminal who's being investigated?" I made to get up but Kirk and Rob pushed me back into the chair.
