Lucas'd fallen asleep quickly after he parted ways with Aimee since it was so silent except for her mind, which he could deal with. It was a couple hours of dreamless bliss before the rest of the people in the hall slowly filtered in, loud thoughts, drunken thoughts, buzzing in his ears in lieu of actual sound.
Two girls, Lane and Erin, laughing, the occasional alarm of pain in their heads as they tripped down the hall.
Daniel and Nina's minds in close proximity (not much of a surprise), Daniel's a-whir and Nina's a fuzzy darkness (a bit more alarming). Lucas found himself holding his breath, feeling a bit afraid, a bit skeeved out, when the two entered Daniel's room together-- but nothing happened other than Daniel falling asleep at a distance from her, like a robot being shut off.
The last person in the hall, Keevan, drifting in at near 3AM, gossip about people Lucas neither knew nor cared about flitting in his mind.
At that point Lucas decided to no longer attempt sleep.
From then on Lucas laid awake, staring at but not really seeing the ceiling. Like he was strapped to a chair with his eyes pried open, he was subjected to people's turbulent dreams, their disturbing nightmares. Somehow this is worse-- because of the higher number of people around him-- and better than-- because of the thicker walls muting everything substantially-- my shit apartment back home, he mused.
He tried to think of other things (though it was like attempting to do so in an IMAX) and a voice, a memory, floated up in his mind. You’re going to be okay. I can feel it. Aimee had said that last night, hadn't she? After Lucas'd quit with that 'wall' thing? He wallowed in negative feelings about that for a bit, about failing, about giving up, but a small part of him couldn't help but be impressed that he'd kept trying for that long. How did he...? Aimee. She kept saying I could do it. He found her belief in him a bit stupid, to be honest. She knew so much about him now, knew his mistakes, his fears, his failures, yet was convinced that he was worth something. That he'd "be okay" despite his miserable life. Misguided, but sort of admirable, he supposed. Maybe...maybe they could be friends.
After an agonizing amount of time, other people started to wake up. Muted thoughts and voices replaced the incoherent images around him. Probably a normal time to eat breakfast now, right? He got up, slipped back into his familiar hoodie, worn jeans, and ratty sneakers, and headed to the dining hall.
When he entered, he was hit with a wave of anger from different directions. He stopped short, looking around in confusion. On one end of the dining area were Nina and a silver-haired guy, Sterling, who's mind Lucas recognized as that of the other Russian speaker from the party. They were spitting insults at each other like cats. Lucas got a vibe from the ease at which they mocked each other that this happened a lot, and he had already decided to avoid Nina from here on out, so he paid them no mind.
On the other end of the hall was Aimee, leaning over the girl, Lane and glaring with a ferocity that Lucas never would've imagined possible from her. Her emotions were a roiling mix of fear, hurt, and anger, but only the anger showed. It was a bit unnerving to see in comparison to the soft-spoken girl from last night, who rocked on her heels and bit her lip when she was nervous and smiled at him gently, telling him to try again. Now she was all pain and rage, hurt at some betrayal. He couldn't read exactly what it was from over here but he was curious, and worried.
He began to walk towards the scene.