Hate | Love

A Blatant Lie

(Chapter 8 2/2 of the novel )

***

His hand stopped mere inches from the doorknob.

Type could hear the hammering of his heart. Like his chest could not bear the staccato that only managed to magnify as he came nearer his dorm room; now that he was right front of the door, his feet were stuck and his hands froze before he could even open the room. Somehow, he knew that Tharn was inside. What he did not know was how to face him.

He remembered the conversation with Techno earlier.

"How the hell did that happened?" he practically screamed at his best friend when they were already safe inside the house. "I can't believe you would do that to me."

"What?" flustered, Techno looked at the panicked face of Type. He was all red that Techno was afraid he was getting the fever back, "Dude, you seriously have no idea that Tharn was nursing you for practically the whole time? No, actually, it was the whole time. Like he was your personal nurse or something. He fed you, made you drink, cleaned you... everything."

"But I saw you there!" Type screeched, he could not believe what he was saying. He also knew he was throwing a tantrum at Techno because he could not believe himself. He kept asking himself, "Why would Tharn do that? I hate him," but he could not really think of an answer except that Tharn wanted something from him... probably.

Techno could see his friend was over thinking. His face was all crimson and his hands were clenched in fists. Taking a step back, Techno murmured.

"Look, the dude is decent," he said, looking at the murderous stare that Type immediately aimed at him, "He skipped all his classes and stayed with you and took care of you."

"You were there!" Type shouted again.

Techno threw his arms in the air in surrender.

"I told you," he deliberately spoke slowly, "I went to see you that first day but after seeing Tharn take care of you, I knew you were going to be fine. And I can't miss class dude, I'm failing as it is. You know that!"

That made sense. But Type could still not believe nor could he fathom the reason behind why Tharn would do such a thing - unless he wanted something in return.

He went back to the dorm. Passed by the eatery on his way up and there he was, standing in front of the door with a plastic bag of food and he could not force himself to enter. He was embarrassed, his face and neck felt hot and he knew he was red-faced.

Type breathed in all the air that his lungs could muster and heavily sighed. Forced his hands to grab at the knob and turned it. Stepped into the harsh brightness of their dorm room, the brilliance magnifying the redness on his face.

Tharn had his back slightly turned towards Type, his hands on his desk, fingers tapping to the sound of whatever drumbeats was blaring inside his head through the earplugs.

Type took as step forward.

The small movement caught the drummer's attention. Turning his head, he saw the angry scowl on Type's face. The furious blush that was there for all to see; except there were only the two of them, so he knew that the anger was directed towards him. He though Type was staying the night at Techno's but here he was; as angry as ever.

Tharn was tired. He was still drained from all the sleepless nights of watching over Type. He did not have any will to argue. He just had to walk away. Turning off the music from his phone, he silently stood up and walked towards the door.

"Wait," Type's voice rang. Tharn's energy was depleted, he did not want a confrontation again that night. He needed rest, so he kept silent and continued to walk towards the door.