Free Minds

Chapter 34.

   I'd only left Rav's room a few seconds after Dorian had but was surprised to find no one in the hallway. It was even more astonishing when it took me a while to reach the door with the flights of stairs that led to the roof. Did he sprint or something?

   As I walked through the door, my ears were met with the sound of pounding footsteps making their way up the stairs. Figuring out whose they were wasn't rocket science. I took a deep breath before beginning my journey to meet with Dorian a few steps ahead.

   As expected, he didn't acknowledge me when I eventually caught up beside him. His eyes were locked straight ahead, focused on the subsequent stairs like it was a life or death mission. I looked over to the handles of his backpack his hands were clutching. They seemed like he was squeezing the life out of them.

"You're mad," I made the stupid mistake of letting that observation slip out in a whisper.

   Then the reason for his actions suddenly clicked.

   The fullness of my stomach with what I believed was a well-earned two rounds of breakfast was enough to awaken my senses and make me realise that I may have let hunger and tiredness get the best of me. And Dorian had borne the brunt of my irritability.

"What gave you that idea?" His feet appeared to move even quicker.

   I had given up on trying to keep up with him when I realised it was either save the food I had just eaten or lose it trying to follow lightning feet. Besides, it was almost hard to feel his fury a few stairs below.

   Almost.

   Okay, so maybe he had been genuinely concerned when he mentioned earlier that I seemed exhausted and since I really was...uh, exhausted, I mistook that for hostility.

   But honestly, that wasn't my fault, was it? When unusual things—like the Grinch bringing back Christmas or Stan Lee in a DC Cameo or Dorian Mathers, caring about your well-being—happened, it was hard to just let go of your typical impulsive response.

   Anyway, I was still uncertain as to whether I was dealing with a two-faced liar. How could I say for sure that he cared?

"You haven't spoken to me since we were in Rav's room and you were silent through most of breakfast and the way you left..." I trailed off.

   I often hated confrontations, but after everything that we'd all been through and the somewhat social progress we'd made as a group, it didn't feel right to let something as petty as this linger this long.

   Dorian shifted his backpack which contained the packaged cameras as he halted on the stair just before the door leading to the roof. "Let's just get this over with."

   By the time I walked through the opened door he was already surveying the area, probably for the best spot to test the cameras. He barely glanced my way when he walked back to where I was standing, digging through his bag to get out the boxed up devices.

"Could you at least be careful with those?" I muttered, as he threw the boxes against the roof's floor with a sound I feared was more than the cameras could handle.

"The only reason," The next slam that came from Dorian was from the impact of his bag this time. "I said what I said was because I was concerned. It wasn't my intention to insult you."

"I admit this was partly on me for over-reacting and I'm—"

"Excuse me, did you say partly?" His green eyes seemed to switch to a darker shade from what was a mixture of anger and a mocking amusement. "You've got to be kidding me."

"Are you serious? Dorian, you have never liked me!" I exclaimed. "You made it clear from the very moment Minji invited me to join you guys' lunch table at Zavlon. If not for this whole situation, you can't possibly tell me that that would've changed. Not that it really has now or anything, but I'm just choosing to accept the fact that you don't glare holes into me anymore as a win."