Insatiable (UNDERGOING REWRITES)

Chapter 15 : Nolan Daniels

All day, I could only think about Julian. And not in the way that I was every other day this week. I was worried about him. After he just left the restaurant this morning and then got that call, nothing quite added up where Julian was concerned. I wanted to see him just to make sure he was alright. I had tried to go after him when he ran away this morning, but I lost him quickly after he disappeared.

It was 7:15 and everyone that I had invited was already at Pins, taking up two lanes and one large booth area. Kyle and Daphne were sitting across the aisle from me, cuddling together while sipping their drinks. Tyler was going head-to-head with Caleb in the first round. Caleb was winning, of course. Next to me sat Toby Gelb, Kyle's cousin, a year younger than us in his freshman year. Kyle invited him because he didn't have much friends yet, and Caleb vouched for him as they knew one another from some art class.

"So, how are you liking college so far?" I asked Toby.

He turned a pair of dark blue eyes on me, a strand of blond hair falling onto his cheek. He gave a shrug of one shoulder.

I snorted. "You don't talk much, do you?"

Toby shook his head. "What's there to say? I won't waste my breath talking about something I'm not fond of."

I stretched an arm on the back of the couch, turning my body more towards Toby. "So what are you fond of then?"

Toby looked at me out of the corner of his narrowed eyes. "What's it to you?"

"Hey, you need to lighten up, buddy."

"Don't tell me what to do."

I held up my hands in defense. "Woah, Toby. Sorry. Just didn't want you to feel left out among a bunch of your cousins friends."

Toby let out a sigh, leaning forward and resting high forearms on his thighs. I leaned back and away from his again, not wanting to get in his space. He seemed like a moody kid, mostly from what Kyle has told me. His parents were never that close to Toby's. And Toby was never that close to his own parents. A supposed cocky troublemaker who had a rough time in high school. That was as much Kyle would give me. And the small fact he gave as an after thought being Toby witnessed someone close to him die. The poor kid might not ever come back from that.

So that's why I left Toby alone, but didn't leave his side. He might not want to talk, might not want the support right now, but I was going to make sure he wasn't alone. I barely know the kid, but nobody likes to be completely alone when going through hardships.

I turned my head at Caleb's cheers of victory that became immediately quiet as he got a rush of embarrassment.

"Hey, sorry we're late."

I craned my head backwards to see Dr. Sato smiling down at me, Julian coming up behind him with two others following. My eyes were immediately drawn to Julian, looking him over for any sign of distress, of him not being okay. For any sign of that earlier phone call. But he was stoic, not even a glimpse of an emotion on his face. I decided this was probably worse than him breaking down.

Ezra seemed to realize who I was staring at as he looking at Julian as well. With a tilt of his head, he bent down slightly and whispered something into his ear. Julian nodded and walked off towards the bar. I was about to follow after him when I caught Ezra's eyes. He shook his head before taking a seat next to me.

The two other figures came into the area and I recognized both immediately.

"Drake!"

He smiled brightly at me, coming to pull me into a hug. He took a step back so his partner could embrace me as well. I had met Joshua in passing many times, heard all about him from Drake. It felt like I had known Joshua for years now that it was so natural to hug upon seeing one another.