02. WHAT IS LACTOSE INTOLERANCE, ANYWAY?

TOBY COULDN'T CONCENTRATE IN CLASS the next day. His brain felt like it was clawing it way out of his forehead and his eyelids kept drooping. The (mostly) usual hunger for learning was absent.

Professor Howland keeps droning on and usually, Toby hangs on to every word but right now, his words sound nothing more than bees humming together in a chaotic buzz.

Toby and Charlie barely slept for forty minutes. They stayed up, talking about their bizarre experience and formulating theories which included everything from a bombing attempt to secretly opening the Chamber of Secrets. Toby just had to wait for the building to explode or one of the kids to get petrified by a giant serpent for their theories to be proven true.

Charlie on the other hand, was a man possessed. He was convinced that what they witnessed was part of something big. He refused to listen to anything else. Right now, Charlie was attending a lecture on gothic arches or something. (Toby didn't get architecture- to him; all that mattered was that his building shouldn't collapse on him.)

Toby yawns behind his hand, trying to stay out of Professor Howland's gaze. He tries to rub the sleep from his eyes when someone passes him a chit.

He sits up suddenly and accidently pokes himself in the eye. He curses inwardly.

The girl who just passes him a folded piece of notebook paper giggles. Toby recalls her from Subway a few days ago when he accidentally squirted mayonnaise on her shirt while preparing a salad for her (usually not recommended if one wants to make an impression) and then offering the salad for free.

Her eyes twinkle with unhidden amusement as she taps the pieces of paper with an impeccably manicured fingernail.

Toby offers her a forced smile as he unfolds the paper. He reads a neatly scrawled HEY YOU REMEMBER ME?

Toby nods at her, confused. She shakes her head and points to the paper.

Toby tries not to roll his eyes. He does not want to pass chits with her. Still he just scribbles YEAH on the paper and slides it back to her. She reads it and smiles, showing off a set of uneven teeth. She scribbles something on it before passing it back to Toby.

Professor Howland is taking about why one doesn't laugh when they tickle oneself and Toby really wants to know why one doesn't laugh when they tickle oneself and so he quietly slides his books a few feet away from the girl and follows suit. Out of the corner of his eye, he looks at the girl. She is staring at him, open mouthed and incredulous. Toby has to admit what he did was rude but he doesn't really give a damn one way or the other. Sue him. He probably just declined a potential hook up or something.

Professor Howland keeps talking as though not even a tempestuous sea could stop him.

*

"Maybe it was a druggie." Charlie suggests.

Toby doesn't bother looking up. His fingers are hovering over the keys of Charlie's laptop. His mind is irritatingly blank and this sort of hollowness makes Toby feel frustrated. He knows what to write; it's clear in his mind, and yet he feels blank as though he has forgotten the English alphabet. "Uh huh."

"Let's check it out again."

"I'm working."

"Come on."

Toby ignores him. He clicks CTRL+S even though his Word document contains nothing but the topic ('A Brief History of Psychology') and walks to the shelf of books shared by Charlie and himself. He looks at Charlie through the corner of his eye. The other boy is sprawled on his bed, with headphones plugged in. He is going through his music library on his Ipod with the far-away look in his eyes which Toby associates with someone who is floating in his music quite literally, as though his conversation with Toby never happened. Toby isn't surprised, really. Charlie has a surprisingly short attention span.

He rummages through the mountain of reference books and comics. It's only been a week since they moved in so everything feels sort of alien to touch. The books-even though they sit on top of one another - feel as though they are forced to be that way. The Neihardt residence hall dorm rooms are considerably much smaller than the other halls and that makes the room feel sort of musty and cramped. Toby knows it's going to take him a few months to get used to the orange walls and small windows and the wooden desks that are too dark for his taste and the way dried leaves fly into the room sometime when the window is left open, bringing in a gust of warm, dry air. Even Toby's old belongings in the room feel odd and out of place as his face photoshopped on James Dean's would look.

He grabs Applying the Science of the Mind and stashes it under his armpit. He tries to clear up the top shelf before returning (read, starting) his essay. He straightens up Charlie's bottles of Seroquel and sleeping pills and places them neatly in a corner after placing the right cap on each bottle. He then brushes off the cookie crumbs off the shelf and straightens up a few notebook pages strewed around. He returns to his bed.

Charlie is still not sparing him a glance. It makes Toby's veins fuel with frustration he didn't know he felt. Quietly, he begins working on his essay.

For almost two hours, the boys sit on the twin beds, each engrossed in their own work and not saying a word to each other. Charlie doesn't remove his headphones even once and Toby works on his essay completing almost eight hundred out of the designated words. This sort of awkwardness is something unpleasantly new to Toby and as he sneaks a glance at the other boy sitting on his bed- swaying his head to irritatingly loud alternative rock music- the general stupidity of the situation hits him. This Charlie for God's sake.

Toby removes the laptop from his lap and places it on the bed. The hotness of the underside of the laptop leaves him strangely cold. "Charlie?" He calls out.

Charlie doesn't reply. His eyes are closed but he is lip syncing.

Toby throws a pillow at him.

The pillow hits him on the shoulder (of course as he demonstrated, Toby has Legolas' aim and precision) and he opens his eyes, startled. Toby gestures at him to remove the headphones. "Let's go out," he remarks when Charlie is rid of his headphones.

Charlie fiddles with the headphones in his hand. He stares at Toby uncomprehendingly. "Like, on a date?"

"What? No, it's seven. Let's go to Einstein."

Charlie shrugs. The university added fast food joints like Subway and Burger King very, very recently. They weren't located in any of the halls so that people wouldn't get confused about having to pay or not. You're usually supposed to eat in your own dining hall but sometimes, guests were allowed and Toby and Charlie could saunter into the Einstein residence hall easily because Zara lived there. "Yeah. Yeah, okay. Let me just put on underwear."

Toby wrinkles his nose in disgust. "You're gross."

Charlie throws open the closet and grins at him. "Tell you what, let's try to socialize tonight."

"Huh?"

"Meet people. Zara's already become like, a party animal or something. I'm beginning to feel like a loser." He admits, rummaging through his closet. He messes it up so much looking for one part of underwear that Toby can't help but wince. He has to admit Charlie is right. It took Zara approximately six seconds to make new friends. She introduced them to Toby and Charlie but they hadn't invited the boys to hang out with them or anything which sucked because some of them actually were pretty cool people. Maybe that was the reason. Maybe Zara thought Charlie and Toby were embarrassingly lame.  "Yeah, okay."

"You should probably change your shirt or something." Charlie adds. "It looks like you're wearing your sixty year old uncle's shirt or something."

Toby is offended. "This is my favorite shirt!"

"I know, man." He says sadly before throwing open the door and making his way to the bathroom. As soon as he opened the door, a chatter of conversation and loud music seeps into the room like water seeping through a cracked vessel. Toby slams the door shut.

He looks at himself in the mirror. He hadn't bothered to change after class. He is wearing a plaid blue shirt and a pair of old jeans that sag in weird places. The jeans compliment his dark complexion. He wouldn't even give this outfit a second glance but Charlie's words keep ringing in his ears. He throws on another shirt and waits for Charlie to return. He texts Zara in the meanwhile to let her know they're coming but she doesn't reply. He's pretty sure she's read it.

Charlie throws open the door so hard that it slams into the wall. Toby jumps. "What even?"

Charlie smiles self-consciously. He balls up his old clothes and throws them on the bed. "Excitement."

"What the hell are you excited about? Dinner?"

"No. I don't know. Let's go."

*

As Toby had anticipated, Zara wasn't surprised to see them. She led them to her table (already seating six people) and introduced everyone (Khalid, Verity, Bran, Harley, Phoebe) to them even though they had been acquainted with everyone but Verity. Toby later found out why- she is Harley's girlfriend who is five years elder to him and has come to visit him. Verity was twenty three. She worked as waitress.

Toby and Charlie were too busy enjoying the Einstein food to talk to anyone at first but Zara's friends were determined. They kept trying to start conversations (Toby answered in embarrassed monosyllables at first while Charlie happily chatted) when another tall boy approached their table. He had a back slung over his shoulder. He grinned collectively at the table and announced in a giddy, high pitched voice, "I got it!"

"Got what?" Harley asks.

"The booze, stupid." This guy reminded Toby profoundly of his neighbour's son- a boy of six who was as dumb as they can get and yet acted as though he was seventeen. He even had the same babyish, round face.

"Seriously?" Zara sounds astounded. "Where'd you get it?"

"Those senior guys- uh, Brad or Chad or something and his friends. I asked, I paid and I got it!" He pats his bag tenderly.

Phoebe looks delighted. She runs her hand through her short brown hair and announces, "Well, let's go back to the dorms! They'll kill us if they catch us here."

"They'll kill you if they catch you here too." Toby speaks up. Everyone turns to look at him. The boy who brought the alcohol gives him a heartbroken look. Then he frowns. "Who the hell are you?"

"I'm Toby."

"And you?" he points at Charlie.

Charlie is stuffing himself with barbequed chicken pizza. He stops suddenly when he realises that everyone has their eyes on them. He swallows and speaks, without opening his mouth too much, "I'm Charlie."

"Oh. Cool. I'm Sandra."

Charlie frowns. "Sand- ow!" He yelps suddenly when Toby kicks him under the table.

Zara tries to change the subject. "They're from Newton."

Sandra nods, obviously uninterested. "Okay. Cool. Who's coming?"

Phoebe, Khalid and Bran leave with Sandra so fast, an onlooker would have guessed someone died.

"So, what's your minor?" Harley asks Toby.

"Um, English. You?"

"Hey, mine's English too. You, Charlie"?

Charlie looks up. "English. You?"

"Hey, I'm English too. You, Charlie?"
"English."

"Nice. Everyone loves English."

Zara snorts. "Anyone here who is not minoring in English?"

Verity slowly raises her hand. She shrugs light heartedly.

"What did you minor in?" Charlie asks.

"I... didn't go to college, actually."

"Oh."

Verity seems to sense the awkward situation. She turns to Harley, "Baby, could you please get me some more pasta?"

Harley nods as she hands him her empty plate. Verity plants a wet kiss on his cheek. Toby wonders why Verity couldn't get her own pasta. Zara must have noticed his expression. She leans toward him and whispers, "The guy at the pasta counter has a thing for Verity."

Toby nods without caring.

Charlie lets out a snort of laughter. He is eating his pizza casually and not really looking at anyone. Verity looks confused.

Zara stands up. "Charlie, let's go get ice-cream."

Charlie looks at her with pizza in his mouth. He chews quickly and says, "The coffee ice-cream you've been talking about?"

"Chocolate chip, Charlie . Come on." She gestures for him to hurry up. She smiles sweetly at Toby. "You want some ice cream, Toby?"

Toby scowls. "No, thank you."

"You should really try it," Verity speaks up out of nowhere. She shrugs. "Harley loves it."

"I would try it," Toby says. "But"-

"If he did, we wouldn't be able to breathe." Zara laughs. Charlie grins at Toby.

"Wait, what?" Verity looks confused. For a second, Zara, Charlie and Toby exchange glances with each other, wondering if she is pulling their leg but when she stares back at them blankly they realise that she probably isn't.

"He's lactose intolerant." Charlie says slowly as if explaining something to a little child.

"What's that?"

Toby's jaw practically drops. Zara stares at Verity, her lip twitching with controlled laughter. Charlie bites his lip so as to prevent himself from cracking up.

"What?" Verity demands incredulously.

"Nothing." Zara tells her. "Do you want ice cream?"

"No, I'm good."

She still looks perplexed as she watched Zara and Charlie walk away. When they think they are a safe distance away, the two burst out laughing.

"So what is lactose intolerance?' Verity asks.

Toby whips around to look at her. It's only then he realises that the two are alone. He gulps. "Ugh, you can't consume dairy products."

"Oh. What happens if you do?"

"Let's just say it's not pretty."

"Oh." She says. She cranes her neck forward, probably searching for Harley. Not even five seconds alone with him and Verity is itching for the situation to end. Toby doesn't say anything. He quietly picks up one of Charlie's neatly separated pizza crusts and nibbles at it, waiting for his friends to return.

Verity is looking at him. She pushes a stray curl behind her ear. "So, how's college?"

"Uh, fine."

"Oh. Good."

They sit awkwardly and wait for someone to return. Toby thanks his luck stars when Harley returns to the table, holding a plate of steaming white sauce pasta with broccoli on it. "Order's up!"

Verity laughs and kisses him. Toby looks away and waits for his friends.

*

The night lasts longer than expected. Toby and Charlie return to their room well after eleven o'clock, a little after Charlie told Harley about their encounter last night and Harley was a little too interested and Verity got mad because she said he was ignoring her and then Harley and Verity had a make-out session that lasted for well over two minutes during which Zara stood awkwardly while Toby demanded why Charlie told him to which Charlie said he didn't think it mattered and Zara asks them what they are talking about and as though they had rehearsed it, they quickly reply, "Nothing."

Sometime during the night, Toby is gently woken up. He knows its Charlie before even opening his tired eyes. He would know Charlie anywhere; in darkness and in light so blind that his eyes hurt, he would know him as well he knew the curve of him own palms. He opens his eyes.

A silhouette stands over his bed, its head bent. Charlie is trembling.

Toby sits up almost instinctively. "Are you okay?"

The silhouette shakes its head. It seems to be wringing its hands together. "I had a nightmare."

Toby swallows. He licks his lips and scoots over, pressing into the cold wall. "You want to...?"

The silhouette says nothing for a moment, it is shaking too much. Then it nods.

Charlie climbs in beside Toby and Toby finally realizes how much his friend is shaking. He doesn't ask about the nightmare, he just pulls Charlie into him and even though, there is close to no space in the tiny bed, the two fit perfectly with each other like the last two pieces of a puzzle. Charlie's skin is warm and coated with a thin film of sweat and he is breathing heavily as he leans into Toby.

Toby's eyes are closing but he fights sleep until Charlie has stopped trembling and has fallen asleep. He waits an extra five minutes to make sure before he closes his eyes.

Charlie sighs in his sleep.

*

A distant murmur of voices seeps its way into Toby's sleep. He wonders if someone is practicing a satanic ritual in the room. He opens his eyes.

It's seems like about five in the morning. A netted beam of sunlight from the window gives the only illumination in the room. Charlie is fast asleep. A faint crust of drool is running down his chin.

Toby hears quite a commotion outside. He frowns.

He throws off his covers, gently slips away from the bed, careful not to wake Charlie. He makes his way toward the door.

People are milling about outside. Someone of them are on their phones, anxiously trying to make calls while others are talking excitedly amongst themselves. Toby rubs the sleep out of his eyes, confused. He slowly approaches a group of boys, one of whom he recognizes from his classes- Jared.

"What's going on?" Toby asks.

The boys turn to look at him. One of them shrugs but he looks sort of excited. "They found a dead body."

Toby stares at him incredulously. "What?"

"Yeah, man. In the basement. I didn't even know they had a basement!"

"Who was it? What happened?"

Jared bites his lip. He glances at a blonde boy next to him, trying to make a call but failing. "They're saying it was a suicide or somethin'. Dunno. They just found the body, like half an hour ago."

"In the basement?" Toby asks, his heart racing in his chest.

"Yeah."

"Who was it?"

Jared just shrugs but the other boy says, "Not sure. But they're saying it was someone from Einstein."

Toby feels like his blood has frozen in his arteries. "E-Einstein?"

"Yeah, man. You know somebody there?"

It takes all of Toby's energy to nod. He feels frozen and rooted the ground. Have to call Zara, he thinks. I have to call Zara.

"I'm so sorry man." The boy tells him but Toby is already rushing back into his room. He throws the door open and it slams it slams into the wall. Toby winces. Charlie is still sleeping like a baby, oblivious about the rest of the world. It would be nice to live like that.

He picks up his phone and goes back outside. He doesn't even think as he rushes to the bathrooms and locks himself in one of the stalls. He puts down the toilet seat and calls Zara, his fingers shaking all this time.

Every beep reminds Toby of his own heartbeat. Pick up, he thinks frantically. Pick up, oh God, please.

She doesn't.

Toby tries again.

This time, Zara answers on the first ring. "Toby?"

"Zara! Are you okay? Oh, God."

"Toby," her voice sounds watery and broken. "This is not really a good time."

"Listen, I heard. Who was it?"

Zara is silent for a second. "Harley."

"Harley?"

"Yes, Toby. I don't know. He was going on about something cool he wanted to check out in the Neihardt basement, he must have snuck off, I don't know. They... they're saying he killed himself?" She broke off and was quiet. Toby realizes she must have been crying but his mind feels like it is going to explode. Something in the basement.

"I'll talk to you later, okay?" Zara says in a small voice.

"Okay, okay. Hang in there, okay?"

"Yeah." She says and hangs up.

Toby stares at the phone in his hand for a good ten minutes. Harley wouldn't kill himself. Toby had spent one night with him and he knew that, he just did. Not like this. Not in the basement of another building.

Something in the basement.