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Enjolras was the last student to filter out of the stuffy classroom that night. As he exited his night class and walked into the dimly lit corridor, he began to plan how he was going to spend the rest of his Friday night. A philosophy presentation, a political science paper, and studying for a history exam were all looming over his head, but the hardest part was deciding which one he wanted to work on first. Perhaps he’d save his political science paper, the class he adored most, for last.
He pulled his red jacket closer around his body when he stepped into the cool night air. The sidewalks of campus were slightly illuminated with sparsely spaced streetlights. Enjolras tugged at his jacket once more, this time so he could fasten a few of the buttons, as he approached the bike rack where he had left his bike before class. His black ten-speed was alone on the rack, so he was easily able to unlock it before settling down onto the seat.
His dorm building was on the opposite end of campus, about a mile and a half away, so he rode his bike to and from class so he could maximize the amount of time he had to work on his homework. He found it was faster to ride on the street around campus rather than through it because he wouldn’t be bothered with trying to dodge the other students walking on the sidewalk. He had made that mistake freshman year; his intro to sociology class had gone past the allotted class time and he was running late for his advisory meeting. He thought riding his bike directly through campus would save him some time, but when his bike collided with a girl on a skateboard he missed his meeting trying to help the girl bandage up the scrape she received on her arm. Campus was quiet this time of night, but ever since that day Enjolras avoided biking through campus at all costs.
As he pedaled off campus, he could hear the faint noise that was seeping from inside the bars and fraternity houses and out into the street. Different kinds of music and the beginnings of drunken laughter were nearly drowning out the sound of the passing cars. It was close to 9:30 and the only people walking down the sidewalks were quickly ducking into the bars and intermixed houses to escape the brisk air. Enjolras easily merged into the bike lane on the street to avoid them.
His fellow classmates were just beginning their weekend night of drinking and partying, and he was rushing home to get started on his homework. He wasn’t paying attention to much of what was around him until he noticed a dark figure staggering on the sidewalk ahead of him. Enjolras rolled his eyes; it was so early and there was already someone punch-drunk trying to find their way home in the dark. He passed a glance at the man, or boy rather, when he rode by, and those unmistakable black curls caught him by surprise.
He didn’t know the boy’s name, but he knew he was the one who sat in front of him in his history lecture. Enjolras often became lost in those black curls every time his mind drifted off during a lesson he was already familiar with. Oftentimes he read ahead in the textbook to better prepare for the class, and any time the professor started reading directly from it, he was able to let his attention wander. He had never seen the curls move as much as they were now, as the boy struggled to keep upright; he was usually asleep during class.
Enjolras slowed down once he had passed him. He didn’t know where the boy lived or where he was going, but he hoped he got there safe. Once he had slowed his pace substantially, he found himself glancing back in the mirror he had installed on his bike. The boy was inching closer and closer into the road until he was finally in the bike path. Enjolras slowed down even more.
Without paying attention to what was in front of him, Enjolras kept his eyes locked on his fumbling classmate. He knew he should keep going and forget about it; he had work to do – tests to study for and papers to write. It wasn’t until the headlights behind him grew brighter and brighter, illuminating the boys figure much more than the streetlights, that he realized he needed to do something. If he didn’t get back on the sidewalk, and continued his leftward trajectory into the street he would be right in the vehicle’s path.
Thinking quickly, Enjolras threw his bike to the ground and sprinted back toward the boy. His bike would have gotten him there faster but his instincts told him to drop it and run. He could see the boy was now directly in the street, almost in front of the oncoming car. With the dark clothes he was wearing and the dark curls on his head, the driver surely couldn’t see the figure of the boy they were about to hit. Enjolras reached the boy just before the car did and pulled him back into the luckily unoccupied bike path.
The boy’s sanity was long gone and his eyes were struggling to keep from slipping behind his eyelids. Enjolras tried shaking him back into reality but it was no use.
“Are you okay?” Enjolras asked him slowly, being sure to emphasize each word. The boy looked at him but didn’t answer, probably unable to make sense of the words being said. “What is your name?” He asked in the same tone.
The boy stared back at him, almost bewildered. He opened his mouth to speak but only smiled back. The smell of alcohol quickly overcame Enjolras’ senses and he had to move his head further away so it wouldn’t cloud his senses. After a few seconds the only thing that came from his mouth was “R.”
Enjolras let out a sigh, placed the boy’s arm around his neck and his own arm around the boy’s waist. He walked with him back toward his bike, picked it up off the ground and directed both of them back onto the sidewalk. The two boys walked in silence for several blocks until they neared Enjolras’ dorm. With every step the boy’s head lolled side to side, and with every few feet he would stumble to either side and Enjolras would have to pause to steady him.
“Where do you live, R?” Another question that probably wasn’t going to be answered.
It wasn’t.
They stopped at a corner and Enjolras began fishing through the boy’s pockets after asking several times if he was allowed to. With nothing but a vacant look on R’s face he went ahead anyway, knowing he might find something directing him to where the boy lived. His pants pockets were filled with nothing but used beer caps and rubber bands. He didn’t have a wallet anywhere that Enjolras could see, but he did have a cell phone in his coat pocket. Enjolras desperately looked through his contacts, hoping to see a name of someone they both knew. There were barely any recent calls and no recent text messages. He couldn’t even find the phone numbers of the boy’s parents.
Enjolras slipped the phone back into its pocket and pulled out his own. He quickly found his roommate, Marius’, phone number and pressed call. Marius picked up after three rings.
“Marius, how are you?” Enjolras asked. He could hear soft music playing in the background mixed with the laughter of a girl. Cosette, probably.
“Hey, Enj,” Marius answered back cheerfully. “I’m just out with Cosette, how are you?”
Of course. “I’m fine, I just wanted to let you know I’m bringing a kid back to our room. He’s in my history class and I found him drunkenly wandering down the street. He nearly got hit by a car. I don’t know where he’s going or where he lives because he’s too far gone to tell me, so I was going to look after him until he sobers up. I hope you don’t mind.”
Marius was silent, absorbing what his roommate had just told him. “That’s fine, Enj,” Marius said with a laugh. “I’m staying with Cosette tonight anyways, but just make sure he doesn’t puke on my bed or anything.”
Enjolras smiled, “Alright, Marius, thank you.”
“No problem, have a good night.”
“You too,” and with that Enjolras ended the call. His companion was still hanging lazily on him, unaware of the phone call that just occurred.
Enjolras dragged him closer to the dorm. Supporting R was starting to become harder on his muscles, so Enjolras found himself staggering as well. To anyone else they probably looked like two friends walking home after a night of drinking.
Enjolras paused at the bike rack and let R lean against while he locked up his bike. He put his arm back around R and they made it safely through the front doors. There was no way he could manage to get R up seven flights of stairs, so Enjolras had opted for the elevator instead. The elevator doors slid open and he pulled R out into the hallway of the seventh floor. His floor was fairly quiet for a Friday night, but he could hear music pounding from the floors below. Living on the honors floor often had its perks on a Friday night
The two boys walked down the hallway together, and at this point it was unclear as to who was supporting who. Enjolras let go of R, who leaned against the wall, and fished through his pockets for his keys. He opened the door to his dark room and led R inside.
R seemed to have come to his senses a bit because he was able to walk himself over to Enjolras’ desk chair to sit down. Once the light was turned on he buried his face in his hands, seeking the comfort of the darkness. Taking the cue, Enjolras turned the lights back off and turned on the lamp next to Marius’ desk. R uncovered his face and looked happily up at Enjolras, like a puppy who had just met its new owner.
“I could make you some food, if you’d like,” Enjolras offered. He was going to make the food regardless of R’s acceptance or not. That was the fastest way to sober him up at this point.
R nodded, willingly, and Enjolras began searching through the bin of food under his bed. The only real tangible food he has was instant macaroni and cheese and a cup of noodles. Opting for the noodles, he filled the cup with some water and put it in the microwave.
The two boys sat in silence – Enjolras on his bed and Marius at his desk. The only sound occupying the room was the microwave and the soft bubbling of the noodles within. Once the timer went off, Enjolras took the cup out and waited for the steam to die down before handing it to R. R accepted the cup graciously and began eating. Enjolras couldn’t tell if the water might have been burning his mouth because R was eating as if he had never had food before in his life.
“R,” Enjolras started, wanting to make some kind of conversation. “Are you feeling okay?”
The boy looked back at him for a moment, slowly realizing he was being spoken to while a light seemed to switch on in his eyes. “Yes, just a little tired.”
After hearing the boy’s real voice for the very first time, Enjolras was taken aback by how deep it was. He handed R a water bottle from his refrigerator. “Drink this, and then you can get some sleep.”
He did as he was told, and downed the water in a few gulps. Enjolras found himself smiling. It felt like he was looking after a very attentive three year old, and he felt lucky that R wasn’t refusing his care. He was also lucky that R hadn’t showed any signs of needing to throw up. He reached out for R’s hand and helped him off the chair and over toward his bed. He removed a few of the pillows and put them on the floor for himself. R tried to climb on the bed and failed. He tried again, but found both of his feet still on the floor. With a sigh, Enjolras nervously placed his hand on R’s hip and helped boost him up into his bed. He pulled the covers over R’s tired body and nodded at him. R returned his nod with a smile, and then buried his curls into Enjolras’ pillow.
Enjolras sat down at his desk and tried to focus on the homework he’d been itching to get started, but he found it hard while listening to R’s soft, even breathing. After an hour or so, Enjolras found himself dozing off and elected to call it a night. He pulled a blanket off of Marius’ bed, knowing his roommate wouldn’t mind, and settled onto the floor with the pillows he had put there. He could still hear the breathing of the boy occupying his bed, and soon his breaths were matched and he found himself drifting off to sleep.
The next morning, when the sun began filtering through the blinds that he hadn’t cared to close, Enjolras noticed that the boys breathing sounded much louder this time. When he came to his senses, he felt an arm draped over his chest. He turned his head and there was R, huddled close to him on the floor. Enjolras felt a strange sense of comfort underneath R’s arm, and with a tired smile he closed his eyes and let himself fall back asleep, his worries over his impending studies dissolving at once.