This chapter contains topics of loss angst and possible death, that may be inappropriate for younger readers.
When Isaac got to class that morning, Gabe was already sitting in his usual spot next to him.
"Hey bro, hows the little guy?" He asked in a chipper voice.
"Good, we stayed up most of the night watching movie together" Isaac said sliding into the seat next to him.
"Awesome, oh! me and the gang were planning on hanging out later tonight and were wondering if you'd wanna join us?"
"Well, i did miss seein' ya'll last night...sure i think i can make it" he said pulling out his phone and scrolling through missed texts rom various friends.
"Awesome!!" The strawberry blonde cheered, quickly hushed by the teacher beginning their Lesson.
After school Isaac and his friends met up at a nearby restaurant to hang out.
"Hey man, glad you could make it!" One of his friends shouted as he slapped the teen on the back "we missed you last night"
"Yeah...i had plans"
"Well, your here now, so its time to PARTY!!" His friend shouted dragging Isaac to the place where all his friends were. He was greeted with a lot of the same response before joining in on some of the festivities. After a few hours Isaac had a strage feeling and decided to go home, but not without the aid MENT protest of his friends. Eventually he ended up being able to get away, but when he got home however, everything seemed normal, so he assumed the feeling had been irrational.
"Hey Ol, I'm back" he said as he shut his dorm door dropping his school bags in the entryway.
"Oliver?" He called, but the borrower was nowhere to be seen.
"What the heck...bro where are you?" He said looking around on the ground and counters, but the tiny teen wasn't anywhere. Finally Isaac decided that he was worrying for nothing and that his friend was probably just out. He did have a life outside of Isaac's.
"Yeah that must be it, he's probably out doing his own thing. He'll be back late. I'm probably just worried for nothing" he spoke to no one in particular.
After a few minuets of silence Isaac couldn't take the uneasy feeling in his gut "ugh! Where is he!? It's already super late. What if something got him, like a stray cat!?" The human boy was now pacing anxiously around his living room searching every nook and cranny with no avail.
He worried for the rest of the night until he finally fell asleep on his couch. When he woke in the morning, the borrower still hadn't retuned, but he found a note on the counter. Two words, that was it. the note read:
-I'M sOrRy-
That was it. The only thing Oliver had left him with.
A day later, still nothing.
A week later, nothing.
Nothing. Nothing. NOTHING!
A month later, and he had given up hope of finding his friend. He had looked everywhere, turned his dorm upside down but no luck. Oliver had simply vanished the note was his only clue, and it wasn't even useful. Weeks and weeks of sleepless nights spent worrying about his friend. His grades went down, due to the loss of sleep and he stopped hanging out with his friends altogether. He only ever talked to Gabe on occasions, but that was it.
He spent hours alone sitting in his bed staring at the ceiling thinking about Oliver not knowing what had the sorry note meant. His cute little face, the way he used to snort a little when he laughed, how his golden hair sparkled in the evening light. All their happy times together in the few weeks they had spent knowing each other.
All gone somehow.
He didn't know when he would ever see Oliver again. Heck! He didn't know if he would ever see him again. For all he knew, Oliver could've been killed.
"Oh no" Isaac said one evening after another episode of these depressing thoughts "what if-what if its all my fault?"
"What if somehow, i did something wrong that night, going to the party inested of coming right home?! What if i could've saved him but didn't because i wanted to go to some STUPID PARTY!?" Isaac was having a full blown emotional breakdown at this point. He was on his knees sobbing into his lap.
"W-what if...he hated me, so he left...I-ITS ALL MY FAULT!"
"My fault..."
"...my...fault..."
The words echoed in his head day in and day out. They stuck to him, burdening him continually. He didn't understand if Oliver had left him for some reason, if he had been mad at him, if something caused him to run away, or if the borrower was even alive.
By month three he was numb. He knew it couldn't have been a delusion of something he'd imagines, because Gabriel had seen the borrower too. He hoped that, if Oliver was still somewhere out there, he was okay. Just okay. Any sign. He would have done anything to know if his friend was at least alive. He didn't care if he never got to see him again, he just needed to know if Oliver was okay.