Offscreen 『RinXLen』

01: Everything Simple

When your stomach twists and turns into knots and butterflies just flit around in your gut, maybe that's your cue to know that something has definitely gone downhill. At least, that's how it was for me.

Those times when I realized my dad wasn't home, at first it didn't seem suspicious. But even blasting music at max volume upstairs wasn't enough to keep out the shouting from the lower floor. The words my father was hollering at my mother broke the beauty of my music. In between the melodies I repeatedly listened to their discordant voices.

"You snuck out to see her again!" or "I can't believe you lied to me!" or "Just get out of my house!" Tension wouldn't stop building in my chest. But when those days became more frequent, it's not out of sorts that my parents distanced me from their lives.

Occasionally I'd just lock myself in my room all day. Simple, right? Wrong. If it just so happens that one of your best friends begin climbing through your window only to see you, make a break for it.

Oliver. He was cheery, a bit optimistic, and tapped at my window every afternoon waiting for me to open it up. And when I did, he'd always come out on top with something to bring me back to my feet. Truth was, I thought it was always going to be like that: my bad days turning into happy ones because of him.

Then the worst day of my life came at me like a brick to the face.

"Rin, we're moving."

My mom said that plain and simple, a sour look to her complexion. I was hoping she was kidding and for the rest of the afternoon I couldn't believe it. Oliver knocking at my window was the best thing that happened to me right then and there. But the morning that followed was a drizzle of rain blocking the sunshine. Actually, not a drizzle. More like a hurricane.

"Did you pack your bags? We're leaving later tonight."

I merely stared at her agape.

I could only sit to think, "Is she out of her mind? Is this woman crazy?"

Or perhaps, I was the only crazy one here.

He came frantically pounding on the glass earlier than usual. Sending a message about me leaving the town was a pity, and I didn't tell him what time I was parting to make sure he'd come as quick as possible. Oliver tried to reason out all our options: I could try to convince my mother to stay, or I could just run away, but the best one we agreed to was staying in touch.

I boarded the plane with nothing but two bags of luggage filled with clothing and technology equipment. My phone skyrocketed to one hundred percent on battery so Oliver and I would chat during the flight. Silly thing was, he didn't respond to my first text.

'Hey, I'm on the plane and apparently the pilot said we were 10,000 ft in the air. My first time on an airplane and they get to announce how high we are. Yippee for having a fear of heights.'

Tapping the tip of my phone against the seat tray didn't help me cope with my annoyance.

'Oliver, you there? An hour into the flight and you haven't talked with me like we agreed.'

'Hello!? Am I in a conversation with thin air? Ollie, please text back!'

'You're making me worry. Five hours and still no response.'

'I hope this isn't a prank, Oliver, or else you're going to be spammed with hundreds of my messages!'

Fourteen hours flew by with the plane until we touched the ground. Nothing but my own texts in columns of green boxes staring me in the face. Day after day, week after week, months passed and there still wasn't a single reply. A simple "I'm busy," "Hello," "Are you okay?," "How's your day?," nothing of that matter filled my inbox.