Screeching

It was a lovely fall afternoon with leaves crisp and fiery and nary a cloud in the sky. The sun shone gloriously in the deep cyan ether giving off the perfect amount of heat, the kind where you can wear shorts comfortably without that unsettling chill on your legs but you don't find yourself covered in sweat, unless you happen to be one of those who always seems to be sweating. I made my way to my last class for the afternoon. Having received word that my 5p.m. biology lab had been canceled, I was pretty happy about things. Just one boring economics lecture to go and I would be home free for a good twenty-four hours. Yep, I have Wednesdays off. I really love my schedule sometimes. As I made my way through the oppressive mob of students walking every-which way, I noticed my best friend and roommate, Tom. I waved to him, but he didn't seem to notice. So, raising my voice above the dull roar, I said 'Hey, Tom.' He lifted his head and his eyes darted over to me. We began to make our ways toward each other and as we did, I noticed something strange about him. Tom wasn't giving off his usual air of douchebaggery. Not to day he's a bad guy, although he does have a certain arrogance to him. Couple that with an appearance that would put Scumbag Steve to shame, and you have a snapshot of the guy your mother warned of. He had a heart of gold, though. Earlier that semester, he had snuck a dying kitten into our dorm. I mean, this thing was on the brink of death. And yet, somehow, Tom managed to nurse it back to health. And that's not even the most amazing part. He had five exams over the course of the two weeks he kept the kitten. He managed to ace all of them, which was quite an uncommon event for Tom as his free time was spent more on cheap alcohol than expensive textbooks. Yeah, douchebaggery is an unfair word for Tom. I guess liveliness would be better, as he was full of life. But right now, he seemed out of it. In a sort of uneasy haze. He certainly didn't look this way Monday night, when he told me he was going to stay with his girlfriend for a couple of days. I pulled him aside and asked what the matter was. 'Meh,' he said. 'I just haven't been able to sleep much lately. And I haven't been concentrating in class well either.' 'When have you ever concentrated in class?' I said jokingly. He faintly smiled at me. His look was tinged with a slight degree of pain, suggesting that maybe I had hit a raw nerve. 'Actually, it's not just class. It's everything. Anything. I can't focus on anything.' 'You think you might be developing a case of ADD or ADHD?' 'More like a case of TRIMEWLMTFA.' 'Come again?' 'This Ringing In My Ears Won't Leave Me The Fuck Alone!' 'Clearly,' I chuckled. 'I'm serious. It's this obnoxious high-pitched hum. The kind of thing you would normally dismiss as an effect of listening to music too loud. Only, it seems to be coming from...something else.' 'Like?' 'I don't know; it's like there's something in my head. And I mean, something in my head.' 'When did you first notice it? Have you been to a doctor?' 'No, and yesterday morning. I dismissed it as just me being hung over.' 'If I was talking to anyone else, I'd ask why you were out drinking on a Monday' I said in a last-ditch effort to lighten the mood. But he didn't even give much of a response to that one. Just a look that said 'are you gonna let me finish?' Tom continued 'anyway, I felt like shit, so I skipped out on class. And as the day went on, I began to feel better. But the ringing...that ringing...it got louder...slowly, as if someone, somewhere was turning up the volume. The funny thing is, every time I notice it getting louder, I get a little more...uneasy...' 'Well, I'm heading to class' I interrupted. 'I'm heading back to the dorm.' 'Wrong answer. You said dorm. You need to see a doctor.' 'I would...' his voice trailed off. 'But?' 'But...I feel like I would make no difference...' 'How?' 'Somehow...my fate is sealed.' Since Halloween was a few days away, I normally would have attributed this to Tom's rise in douchiness around this time of year. He alw