Because I Hear the Voices

Chapter 6

Devlin had not been in the best of spirits lately, and all he could attribute it to, was that Sean’s attitude had changed since he had discovered the truth about his family, and Devlin often wondered if indeed he even knew his friend anymore.

 All that talk about being crazy, was driving him bananas!  He almost wished he had the guts to tell Sean that if he was so concerned about his mental health then he should go to a trained professional to talk it through, and while he was there pick up some pills for the depression he was wallowing in; but because Dev knew how well that conversation would go, he had steered clear of it altogether.

 Sighing he parked his Ute under the highway bridge in the secured campus parking and took a moment to gather his thoughts and calm down.  It was not only the talk of craziness and the depression that was itching at him, but also the dreams.  Craziness and depression he could handle, after all Sean was never normal and often moody; but it was the dreams, the dreams that bothered him the most.

 How anyone could dream about a family member they had never meet before, without even knowing about their existence grated at his frayed nerves and ate away inside of him.  At first he thought it was a coincidence, then he thought that Sean was acting out and sometimes he even wondered how long Sean had known about his brother before the day ‘he found out the truth’.

 He knew that Sean dreamed of T.R, or at least pretended to, because he heard him talking to himself late at night in the next room; and on the following mornings he would wake surlier than ever, with an eerie haunted look in his eyes.

 Devlin had never believed in ghosts, and despite his strict Catholic upbringing, had trouble believing in any form of the afterlife.  So of course Sean was not actually communicating with his dead brother, and he could deal with Sean’s mental breakdown, but what he couldn’t deal with was the sudden sensations he felt from time to time during those nights he lay awake hearing Sean mumbling in his sleep.  Because it was at these times, late at night when the hairs on the back of his neck stood on end, that he believed.

 Sighing he left his car, pressing the lock button behind him and grinning at the sound, began to make his way towards the buildings with their endless hallways which contained the lecture theatres, labs and knowledge wherein his future lay.

As he neared the courtyard to the science block Devlin noticed that a bunch of guys gathered around a very thin pale individual that had apparently mastered the art of time travel.  The ‘Geek’ in question, because anyone would recognise him as one; was dressed in the punk design of the eighties, sporting a dark blue vest littered with shiny buckles and badges, frayed jeans and high-top boots with bright fluorescent green shoe laces that matched his spiky fluorescent green hair.  

When Devlin realised that the ‘Geek’ was in trouble, he surged forward to offer his assistance, until he realised that it wasn’t the ‘Punk Geek’ that had attracted the attentions from the six bullies that shoved at him now, but the geek behind him, the studious and quiet one with the six inch thick horned rimmed glasses. 

Devlin smiled as he realised that the “Punk Geek’ had in fact come to the aide of the other student, and continued forward towards the group in question that had managed to gather quite a crowd.

“So I see that I am in the presence of several members who never really graduated from primary school then, am I?” Devlin inquired in his most authoritative tone, not caring at all that he did not have either height or strength on his side. It was the simple fact that he eluded confidence in spite of this that had the others taking a step back, obviously wary of his arrival.  “Well?  What’s going on here?” Devlin continued

 “Not that’s it’s any of your business, but we were just explaining that our friend here was sitting in our spot, when this freak came along and started yelling,” the one who was the undisputed leader of the gang spoke up.

 “Oh I see and you couldn’t just sit somewhere else now could you, I mean it’s not like there aren’t empty seats everywhere in sight, oh right, there are.”

 “Yeah but this is where we sit.” The leader grunted belligerently.

 “Boohoo,” the punk styled geek interjected.

 “Do you guys even realise what that building is behind us?” Devlin inquired rationally.

 “Um no…”

 “Well that’s the science block, which seems to me like a pretty silly place for you guys to want to sit near, seeing as how it would be so much easier for you to pick up chicks if you sat near the law building or even the education department.  Because lets face it the honeys don’t frequent this area all too often, wouldn’t you agree.” 

 “I, ah, suppose not…” the leader of the group replied, squirming under Devlin’s penetrating gaze.  “We’ll just, like go…’ and with that they all lumbered off towards the nearest exit, much to the snickering of the crowd that had assembled.

 “I was handling it, but thanks man,” the loudly dressed geek declared as he grabbed his hand in a surprisingly firm grip and shook enthusiastically.  “I’m Giles, Giles Peterson, and I’m doing Information Technology.  You must be a law student right?”

 A contagious grin spread over Devlin’s face as he replied.  “No, not law, science, and I’m Devlin by the way, Devlin Summers.”

 “Science, you have got to be shitting me!” came the exasperated reply, from the one with the green hair, nose ring and reflecting wrap-around sunglasses

 “Why?”

 “Man you just don’t look the part.  I mean the black leather jacket, jeans and Doc Martins, not to mention the reasonable arguments and superior tone.  I mean you don’t fit the image of the science geek.”

 “Yeah well, you haven’t seen my t-shirt yet,” Devlin replied, opening his jacket to reveal the white t-shirt underneath with the figure of Astroboy printed on it.

 Giles gave a delighted laugh and held his hands in the air in a mock surrender, “My mistake man.”

 Devlin grinned back at him and just like that they were friends.

                                     *                                  *                                  *

 “So I met this guy today, a frigging whack job I am sure, green hair, and an eighties styled wardrobe, but once you get through the weirdness he’s not that bad.”

 “What do you mean eighties styled wardrobe?” I asked, even though I dreaded the mental picture that was beginning to form in my head.

 “Well, he has frayed jeans, high-tops and this vest thing that has like badges all over it.  Ones that say 'Happy 13thBirthday', 'Smile' or 'Life Be in It'.  Then there are rainbow ones and Air Force medals, and s**t that I haven’t seen since I was a kid.  He is wildly unique you know, for a full fledged geek.”

 “Yeah… sure…. right.”

 “Well, how was your day, meet anyone interesting?”

 I shrugged my shoulders and made to walk into the kitchen casually tossing out behind me.  “Do you realise that only girls take a Bachelor of Arts?”

 “What!”  Devlin exclaimed jumping out of his beanbag with surprising agility, in his haste to pursue me.

 “Yep, I mean I think I saw ten guys among us today.  They were all chicks.  The place was literally swarming with hundreds of chicks.”

 “Son of a b***h!  I have eleven chicks in my class and believe me, they’re nothing to get excited over.”

 “Well what did you expect when you took a science course?” I asked opening the fridge and rummaging through the contents.

 “Shut up,” Dev muttered good-naturedly and we grinned at each other, feeling more like ourselves with the easy banter, for the first time in months.

 “We’re out of beer,” I sighed closing the fridge and leaning back against it. 

 “I’ll drive,” Devlin responded, snatching up his keys and heading out the front door, with me close at his heels.

 It wasn’t until we were in the car and driving towards our destination that Devlin returned to our previous conversation. 

 “So did you get any of their phone numbers?”

 “I’m working on it.” I said as I reached over to tune the station to the alternative rock station I preferred.

 “What do you mean your working on it?  Ten guys, hundreds of girls; that’s like 20 girls a piece at least.”

 “You’re a sick man.”

 “Yeah, but accurate.” Devlin emphasized by reaching over and switching the channel back.

 “Well there is this one chick, she’s kinda wild.  Really artsy you know, with short bleached blonde hair and brown eyes, that you just want to sink into.  She was in my Criminal Justice class, and she has this pair of boobs that would put Jessica Myers to shame,” I stated with exaggerated eyebrow movements.

 “No s**t, really?”

 “Mamma.”

 “Oh man, you are killing me,” Devlin groaned.  “So do you even know her name?”

 “Gwyn Michaels.”

 “Okay, don’t tell me that Mr. I-can’t-talk-to-anyone Achias actually had the guts to go up to a girl, with huge knockers, and ask her name?”

 “No I sat next to her and I saw her name on her book.” I explained as the redness crept up my neck and blossomed at my ears.

 “I knew it was too good to be true,” Devlin sniggered earning an elbow in the ribs for his trouble.

 “Hey you can’t hit the driver whilst the car is in motion!” he protested.

 “Yes but technically I didn’t hit you, I elbowed you.”

 “Do you want me to drive you to work or not?  Cause I have no problem whatsoever in kicking your sorry ass out of the car right here, right now,” Dev joked in his serious manner, that would make most people unsure of his attentions.

 “Yeah right, like that’ll ever happen,” I smirked, resting my hands behind my head and looking at him lazily.

 “One day Sean.  One day I’m going to make you eat those words.”

 “Yeah, right and one day you’ll marry Jennifer Aniston, settle down with her and have three kids.” I scoffed good naturedly.

 “Hey, it could happen!”

 “Not even you Dev, could get a babe like that.” 

 “I don’t want a pig.”

 “Well that’s probably as close as you’ll get to the real thing.” I snorted at the vision that popped into my head starring Devlin in a tux and a large pig in a white wedding dress.

 “Yeah, well we’ll see, we’ll see.”