Dissonance - Book One

eighteen

Wyler fumbles to get up. His cheeks are flush and his eyes unfocused. Whatever the reason he has for sitting outside of Kelly's door, it's clear that he wasn't expecting us to come walking out of it right at that moment.

"What are you doing here?" I ask in bewilderment.

"I could ask you the same question," he retorts. Is he mad? He seems mad, but I don't have time right now to hop onboard of Wyler's emotional rollercoaster. I need to get off of that ride.

"That's really none of your business," I respond in irritation.

"The hell it isn't! What did you do to her?" He lunges in Kelly's direction, but I step in between the two of them and place my hand against Wyler's chest, signaling for him to stop. With Wyler this close, I can smell the stench of liquor on his breath.

"What are you doing? Have you lost your mind?" I yell, but he ignores my question and talks right through me as I push him back with both hands.

"Did he touch you? You better not have laid a finger on her!"

"It's hard not to touch someone when they're sleeping in your bed," Kelly says, purposely trying to get under Wyler's skin.

"You, stop it." I point towards Kelly. He can't keep his big mouth shut for one second. "That isn't helping the situation."

"So it's true then?" Wyler asks. He looks defeated as he wobbles on his feet.

"Are you drunk?"

"No," he responds defensively, pushing my hands off of him. "Well, maybe, just a little."

"It doesn't smell like a little." I wave my hand back and forth in front of my face, trying to clear the air from the stench of alcohol.

"Great, this is just what we need right now." Kelly rolls his eyes.

"What you need right now is a punch to the face." Wyler lunges towards Kelly again, but I can tell by how easily I stopped him before, that he's not actually going to do anything.

I've never seen this side of Wyler. It's odd, but also kind of...nice, to see him fighting for me, if that's what you want to call it. Maybe his pride is just hurt by the fact that I'm with Kelly and not him, but he made it clear that he doesn't care, so I don't know why he is so angry. Maybe it's the alcohol. If there was one thing I learned from the few parties that I attended in high school, it's that alcohol will make people say and do odd things that they normally wouldn't say or do when sober.

"Why don't you head back to your room," I instruct him.

"Not a chance." He angrily folds his arms across his chest like a little kid determined to get his way. He sways back and forth, trying to stay upright.

"Fine, then we'll leave you here to do whatever it was you were doing." I'm sick of playing emotional ping pong with Wyler. It's exhausting.

"Where do you think you're going?" He grabs me by the arm as I turn to leave.

"Why does it matter?" As the words leave my lips, I realize I've already gotten on the ride, whether I intended to or not. Or maybe I never got off to begin with. Why is he hanging out in front of Kelly's door? Why is he drunk? Whatever the reason, it's clear I care what Wyler has to say, but I don't want him to know it. I need to close myself off to him in order to stay focused on the mission.

"We're headed to Environettix," Kelly surprises me by saying. I whip my head around, shocked that he actually told Wyler where we are going.

"Why would you tell him that?"