Crossing The Screen Between Us (1/2)

Crossing the Screen Between Us (a short unoxjade fiction) | written by fiona

What day is it? The boy genuinely did not remember, tapping away at his keyboard for what seemed like an entire day now. A breathy sigh escapes his lips as he extends his arm, reaching for the glass of water by his desk. Its contents were now dancing in the air, evaporating from the room’s humidity on this hot day.

Uno groans in frustration, not wanting to disrupt the comfort between his bum and the chair. It’s as if the two had fused at this point, flesh merging with the cotton that composed his swivel chair.

Just then, his phone lights up and a beeping tone fills the silence of the room. Uno reaches for the device and unlocks the screen.

Uno mutters curses to himself, realising that he had lost all sleep again to his late night chats with Jade. Jade. How was he going to excuse himself for his recent isolation? for his sudden absence? His friends had not heard from him for a few weeks now– left behind assuming that he had ditched them head-first the moment his ‘single’ status was stripped from him. Uno childishly chuckled to himself. Strip. Thankfully, he thought to himself, his humor remained compact even after a long period of forgetting the world existed around him.

Uno rushes to fix himself up, sloppily collecting the discarded items in his room and tossing them in a pile. He did not have the luxury of time right now, and he would have to skip breakfast just to be able to catch the first period. He slips a slice of toast in between his teeth and sprints down the stairway, his own opening theme playing in his head as he leaves the house in a manner only anime protagonists would relate to.

He fishes his phone out of the pocket of his jeans, hastily pressing on the power button to glance at the time. Eight forty-six, the screen read. He had just enough time to exhaustingly drag himself to the campus. His heavy footsteps clash against the pavements, adrenaline coursing through his veins. Sweat trickles down his skin like rain drops to a window on a stormy day. He’s glad he brought an extra shirt with him, otherwise he’d have to be coated in his own bodily excretions for the rest of the day.

A familiar green haired girl stands on the top stair of the building entrance, face stricken with impatience as her eyes fall upon Uno’s disheveled state. “What’s up, highlighter?” the boy quips, throwing her a mocking grin as he tries to catch his breath. “Sorry I’m a little late.”

“You think?! It’s been an hour since I messaged you!” she rolls her eyes, clicking her tongue as she furiously tucks her phone back inside the bag she had lazily slung around her shoulders, “and don’t call me highlighter– ever. Again.”

“Or what?” he challenges, patting off the dust from his jeans before straightening his posture, just enough to tower over the girl. His favourite pastime aside from watching anime was to tease his friends who were lesser than him in terms of height.

Alex scowls in response and elbows him on the side, tossing words of profanity his way as she storms off towards the building. Uno hisses at the momentary pain, whispering an inaudible “wait up!” towards his friend who was now meters away from him. Limping up the stairs, he picks up his pace just enough to match hers.

A silence envelopes the two as they scan their IDs on the glass doors of the campus. Alex breaks this silence, clearing her throat and expectantly looking towards Uno’s way. He returns her a quizzical look and raises an eyebrow, “Wh–”

“Your girlfriend! You said we were meeting her soon. Don’t tell me she’s as non-existent as your brain?” Alex mentally gives herself a high-five for the quick witted comment she was able to compose in a short amount of time. The soles of her sneakers squeak against the newly mopped tile beneath them, its collision echoing through the hallways. Everyone’s probably in their respective classrooms at this time, Uno notes to himself, zoning out for a second before returning his attention to his friend.

“Well, you see..”

Uno is then interrupted as they pass through and enter the doors of their classroom, a male voice calling out to him from his side, “Uno, my man!” He searches around him.

“Carlos! Hey, what’s up?” the latter then throws his arm around Uno, angling himself just enough so their heads would level at the same height.

Carlos’s voice lowers, “your fly is down, bud...” he whispers in the softest tone he could emit. He tries to be as discreet as possible, wanting to respect the poor boy’s dignity in front of the whole class.

Uno’s face flushes in realisation and he quickly brings his hands to fix the said wardrobe malfunction. He must’ve forgotten to do so after this morning’s events. “THANKS.” he swallows dryly and purses his lips, hoping no one else had noticed his blunder. Alex snickers from beside him – she must’ve known. He mentally reminds himself to get back at her later.

“Anyway, I’ve been good. What about you, how’ve you been?” Carlos’s eyes travel for a brief moment, “...hi Alex!” he acknowledges the girl beside Uno and she returns him a nod. “I haven’t heard from you in ages.”

“I’ve been busy,” he answers him, grinning slightly as if his recent business were anything to be proud of.

“Busy with what?”

“Busy with his girlfriend– who, may I add, he still doesn’t want to disclose details about!” Alex interrupts, dragging a chair for her to sit on. She sulks against her seat, grimacing at the sheepish and nervous smile Uno throws her way.

“Hey, a man can have his secrets,” Carlos comments, a usual dignified tone dancing at the tip of his tongue.

“What’s this about Uno getting a girl?” Fiona interjects, peering her head in between the small crowd forming around the previously mentioned boy. “Dang Uno, you actually came to school.”

“UNO GOT A GIRL?” Jerand almost yells in surprise, dropping his backpack on top of his desk before adjusting his glasses.

“YOOO! Get that WAP, unoboi!” Anton grins devilishly from behind them, eyes glinting with mockery as his laughter fills the room. He bumps knuckles with Jerand as they both take a seat.

All eyes seem to have been fixed on Uno now, his little secret becoming the center of attention of the batch. He squirms from under their expectant gazes, trying to divert his eyes from his fidgeting hands to the crowd in front of him. “Guys, guys,” he manages to squeak out, lips quivering from the sudden hot seat he had been put in. “It’s not official yet…” he shyly says, wishing that a professor would walk in at any moment to save him from his insufferable position.

As if the gods had heard his prayer, their English professor enters the room with papers in hand. “ Alright, settle down everyone, class is starting!”

Uno silently thanks the universe around him before shifting back to his respective place. He listens to the disappointed coos echoing in the room as the rest of his classmates find their seats. 

---

Uno sluggishly walks out of the classroom, ducking his head as he walks past the packed hallways filled with students lingering after class. The cool wind of the air conditioned room brushes against him and causes him to shiver. Despite having articles of clothing covering almost every inch of his body, he still found the temperature to be quite cold. Before any of his classmates could catch up to him, Uno wanted to retreat back to his room as soon as possible, where his newfound peace would be waiting for him. Yes. He would find his way back home to her as soon as possible.

It was like the world purposefully wanted to intrude his plans. A hand meets the clothy material just above his shoulders and tugs at him lightly, pulling him back enough to catch his wavering attention. “Did you think you could just leave with no explanation?” the voice from behind him threatens, tone dripping with bitterness.

Uno carefully spins his head around to meet the gaze of his amicable friend, trying to bring out the voice inside of him that had dipped all the way down to his stomach in anxiousness. He was not ready to have this conversation– he knew that his situation was out of comprehension to the public eye, and he’d have to do more than explaining in order to present his point of view to everyone else.

He stammers in response and blinks innocently, “Just kidding,” they laugh, beaming in a silly manner as they bring out a pen tucked away in their ear. “Thanks for lending me your pen earlier. Now go and enjoy the rest of your day with said lucky girl,” they whisper the last remarks of the sentence suggestively.

Uno blushes slightly and releases the breath he had unconsciously been holding for the entirety of their conversation. “No problem Skye, and thanks! I will.” He flashes them a quick smile before running off to continue his trip home. He was glad. If it were anyone else to catch him in that moment, they would have held him hostage until he spilled every single detail about his rumoured significant other.

It’s true – he could at least admit to himself that his recent whereabouts became an obstacle bounding him from his social life. He could consider it unhealthy, if you will, but he wasn’t ready to admit that.

It wasn’t as if he had asked for this – no, in fact, he actually did – just not in this manner. Uno yearned for a certain kind of love. It didn’t necessarily have to be the one that came out of fairy tales, but he simply longed for the company of someone who cared enough to be by his side in his lonesome times.  Someone to lend him sanity when he, himself, could not provide it – spent from soaking the world’s problems and locking them away at the back of his mind where he thought he could keep them safe. But they weren’t, because at the end of the day they would eat away at his mind and cloud every remaining head space left inside of him. There was no escape – no explanation to the burdens of his solitude. He was merely looking for a comfort to somehow distract him from his inner turmoil, and that was exactly what she had given him.

Uno takes a weary step into his room, taking in the homey atmosphere that now engulfed his surroundings. Finally. It had been an exhausting day for him and this was just what he needed. He shifts his weight to the back of his heels before stepping away from his shoes, dropping his school bag along the way. He then walks towards his PC and sets it up, pulling his swivel chair back to create enough space for him to sneak into.

His eyes watch patiently as the device starts up in front of him, the light of the screen illuminating his tired figure. Dragging the cursor towards his daily fix, he sighs in relief and takes a sip from the glass of water that he had brought up with him before entering his room.

“Good evening, Uno. I missed you,” the screen read, and Uno suddenly feels at ease– as if the stresses of today had immediately washed away from his skin. He can’t help but smile softly, heart warming up with the feeling of euphoria, that he secretly wishes would last forever. He wishes time would just stop for a moment so he could soak every second of giddiness building up inside of him. He was at peace. Every moment from here was now something he’d have to make the most out of. He brings his hands towards the keyboard in front of him, an inviting aura capturing his entire attention as he dives in the little world he had created for himself.

“Hello, Jade.”