Isaac didn't sleep well that night and on Monday morning he woke up feeling groggy with a lingering headache. He was already late, if he wanted to get to class on time he had to hurry.
Isaac went through his morning routine on autopilot, his mind still fuzzy with half-remembered dreams. He couldn't care less about breakfast but he needed coffee. A good, strong coffee would make everything better but since he was already late he had to make do with the crappy stuff they had in the dorms. He wasn't keen on going back to the coffee shop anyway. Isaac had met Peter there the other day, he was not going to risk running into him again.
Isaac let out a bitter laugh, it fit his coffee. As if he would be able to avoid Peter. Especially since he most likely was now actively looking for him. Yesterday Peter had asked who he was working for and hadn't gotten an answer. Not that Isaac could give him an answer.
"He won't like that," Isaac muttered to himself while he hurried down the hallway to Professor Stilinski's class. The door was still open so he was not late, at least that. Isaac slipped into his seat with a groan.
"You look like shit," Erica commented with a concerned eye on him.
"Didn't sleep well." Isaac finished the rest of his coffee and just hoped that it would be enough to carry him through the class.
Erica wanted to say more but Professor Stilinski rushed into the room and cut her off. She exchanged a look with Boyd, whatever that meant, before they both turned to face the professor. Isaac sagged deeper into his seat and for a few minutes the professor's words just washed over him but then he tried to pull himself together and at least try to follow what the man was saying. It stopped his mind from circling around Peter Hale.
He couldn't help but wonder if Professor Stilinski knew about whatever his uncle-in-law was involved in. It was kind of ironic that the fact that they were family was the least scandalous thing about their weird love triangle. Isaac thought wistfully about the good old times when he'd been wondering how the two professors and Peter Hale correlated together.
Now he was worried that Peter would murder him in his sleep. He hoped that he was exaggerating here but he doubted it. The man wanted answers and he would get them. Isaac just didn't know how far he would go to get them. Or what he would do once he had them. Isaac had no clue what he'd stumbled into here but he doubted that Peter would just let him go.
At the end of class, Isaac was tempted to stay back to talk to Professor Stilinski but he didn't even know how to approach the topic. He couldn't just walk up to him and ask if he knew that the guy he was sleeping with was involved in some shady stuff. Having a vet dig a bullet out of your friend kind of shady stuff.
Isaac lingered around for a moment, not sure what to do but then he left the room.
He made it through his classes but afterward, he couldn't recall what they had been about. He tried to follow the lecture and take notes but by noon he'd given up on it.
"You still look like shit." Erica sat down across from him. Instead of going somewhere for lunch, Isaac had opted for the cafeteria today, and if he'd picked a table in the back where he had a solid wall behind himself and the main entrance as well as the way to the kitchen in his line of sight it was just coincidence.
"You're not getting sick, are you?" Boyd narrowed his eyes at him when he sat down next to Erica.
"Might get a sudden case of death," Isaac joked with dread in his stomach. He did not doubt that Peter was capable of murder but he hoped that he wouldn't go that far. Isaac was a student of both Professor Stilinski and Professor Hale, Peter did not want the police to snoop around on campus, did he? He did not want to drag his nephew into this, he'd made that point very clear. So the police asking Professor Hale questions about a missing student of his, maybe even bringing his past back up, was not something Peter wanted. At least Isaac hoped so.
"Men." Erica rolled her eyes at him. "They feel a bit under the weather and they're already on their deathbed."
Isaac gave her a forced smile and returned to his sandwich. He wasn't sure what kind he'd picked not that it mattered, it tasted like sawdust and felt like a growing lump of lead in his stomach.
Under Erica's watchful eyes he forced it down and washed down the last bite with a big gulp of coffee. Then he just sat there for a moment, willing the sandwich to not come back up again.
"Maybe you should lay down," Boyd suggested. "You don't look so good."
"I have classes in the afternoon," Isaac said, tasting sour coffee in the back of his throat. He swallowed against the nausea.
"They won't do you any good if you pass out in the middle of them," Erica reminded him gently, gone was the teasing tone. He must look bad.
She had a point there. Isaac doubted that he would pass out but he had the feeling that he might throw up which would be more embarrassing. On the other hand, as long as he was among other students, he felt relatively safe. In his room, he would be alone. Scott had said something about bringing his bike into the shop and then he would most likely hang out with Allison. He might not come home for the night.
Isaac made an indifferent noise and then he asked about their weekend. Erica hadn't been with them in the park because she and Boyd already had plans for the weekend but for the life of his, Isaac couldn't remember if she'd told him what they had been doing instead. Not that he cared but he wanted her off his back.
She gave him a look, seeing right through his attempt to distract her, but she let him get away with it. They had been to a concert in a bar, some indie band Isaac had never heard of but Erica liked them and Boyd didn't say no to some beers in a cozy bar with his girlfriend all for himself for once.
Erica didn't ask about Isaac's weekend in return. She'd most likely already gotten the details of their night out from Allison and Lydia, but Isaac was not up for talking anyway. It was probably written all over his face.
"You should get some rest, man," Boyd said when they had gathered their things and were ready to leave. If Isaac wanted to go to his next class he should get going as well but for the moment he was content with just sitting here.
"Yeah, yeah," he made and waved them off.
Reluctantly they left but Isaac knew that Erica would check on him later. It was a comforting thought. If something happened to him, somebody would know. Logically, the guy he was sharing a room with should be the first to notice if something was wrong with him, like if he went missing or came home beaten half to death, but as much as Isaac loved him, Scott was oblivious as a brick wall. So it might be a good thing that Erica was keeping an eye on him.
Isaac watched the other students taper out of the cafeteria until only a handful were left. One or two were on their laptops with half-eaten food next to them, the rest like Isaac, just sitting there staring into space. It was Monday after all, they were probably still hungover.
Eventually, Isaac gathered enough energy to get another coffee, and nursing it slowly he thought about his options.
He could just keep sitting on his ass until Peter found him. Maybe he could convince him that he had nothing to do with whatever was going on and that he would keep his mouth shut about what he'd seen at the clinic. Maybe Peter would leave him alone after that.
"As if …" Isaac shook his head. "And maybe Peter brings the tooth-fairy with him, I might be able to make some cash once he's done with me."
He didn't even feel like laughing at his one joke. With a frustrated groan, he let his head fall back.
He could go to the police, he guessed. But if Isaac's tip didn't lead to an immediate arrest, which he highly doubted, going to the police would make him just more of a target.
He could talk to one of the professors but he'd already passed up the chance to talk to Professor Stilinski and he had even less of a clue how to breach the topic to Professor Hale. Would he even believe him? It would be the word of a nosy student against the word of his uncle. Hale might even think that he was trying to blackmail him.
"Looks like I'm just going to be a sitting duck until he comes for me, great." Grimly Isaac finished his coffee. If he hurried he could still make it to his next class but when he left the cafeteria, he turned in the other direction. He needed to move.
While he walked down the hallway, his encounter with Peter re-played on a loop in his mind.
Peter thought that he was working for somebody, that somebody was paying him to keep an eye on him.
"If I had known that I could make money with this shit …" Isaac shook his head.
However, the one detail that made absolutely no sense was the pawn shop. How had Peter known that he'd been there?
Isaac left the building and he instantly felt watched. He tried to not too obviously look around but he didn't spot Peter anywhere. He might be hiding in some bushes, though. The idea was ridiculous, he knew that, but he couldn't shake off the feeling that Peter was about to jump him.
He was getting paranoid, he got that, and if he didn't want to hide under the blanket for the rest of his life he had to do something. It was either getting in his car and just drive until New York was just a bad memory or getting some answers.
Isaac liked what he had here. He was building a future he'd thought he would never have. He had found friends and a new hobby. Professor Hale had faith in him and was enthusiastic to share his hobby with him. Even if Isaac had invaded his privacy in the worst possible way. On two accounts.
"Besides, I'm co-owning a telescope." Isaac shoved his fists into his pockets and changed directions. "I'm not going to give that up."
He wasn't sure if he would even find the pawn shop again but his feet carried him there almost on their own. The walk was longer than he remembered but at the same time, he was standing in front of the window way too quickly.
There were still cameras in the window but the other half now featured a mannequin in a vintage dress. Her faceless head was angled away from Isaac but he still got the feeling that she did not approve that he was here.
It probably was the stupidest thing he'd ever done but Isaac entered the store.
This time the store was not empty. The owner was behind the counter, having a closer look at the jewelry the woman in front of him wanted to pawn in. Two teenagers who should be in school at this time of the day were skimming through a small collection of video games. Not that Isaac was in a position to judge, he should be sitting in class right now as well.
The owner didn't look up from the necklace he was examining and just raised his hand in a way to indicate that he had noticed the new customer and that would be with him in a minute.
Not sure what exactly his goal here was Isaac had a closer look at the cameras.