"The sign saying 'Do Not Disturb' usually means exactly that, you know," Jake stated, looking away from his laptop to glare at Mateo. "What made you think you could walk right in?"
"People use it when they're having sex, and I knew that was not a possibility in your case, so I couldn't possibly be invading your privacy."
"What if I was naked and dancing to a ridiculous pop song?"
"You don't do that, do you?"
Jake ignored the question and went back to staring at the screen in front of him.
"Is that all you plan to do today? I came over to ask you if you wanted to step out into the sunshine, maybe get some food or alcohol-"
"Oh no, defintely not. This is the one day in the week that I get to myself. It's binge-watch Sunday and you are not taking that away from me."
"Binge-watch Sunday?"
"I start watching a T.V series as soon as I wake up, and spend the entire day watching it."
"Sounds... fun." Mateo didn't look entirely convinced.
"It is. I don't even have to move to get food, I just keep it within reach."
Mateo eyed the various packets of food scattered on Jake's bed. All of them didn't seem like particularly healthy options, but he wasn't going to say so, because he had his habits that weren't exactly beneficial to his health either.
"If you don't want to hang out, it's cool. I'm leaving."
"I didn't say I didn't want to hang out with you. I just said I wasn't going to leave my room today. You can stay, if you want."
"What are you watching?" Mateo inquired, leaning over Jake's shoulder to get a glimpse of the show he was watching.
"Skins. The U.K version, of course. I'm watching the second season right now, but I can explain who the characters are and how they're related in a few minutes," Jake suggested.
"Should I be tempted?"
"There's a lot of sex, drugs and alcohol."
"I'm in."
Mateo kicked his shoes off and settled down on the part of Jake's bed that had been cleared for him. Jake disconnected his earphones and set the laptop's speaker to the highest level.
"So you've seen the Breakfast Club right? Similar theme present here, but darker. The group of teenagers in this are all different but friends, and each episode is about one of them. Towards the end of the season, their stories start to connect and become one messy whole."
"I see."
"There's Tony, he's the popular, attractive, charismatic one."
"Sounds like me," Mateo claimed, grinning.
"He was hit by a bus in the first season's final episode, and lost most of his charm and a few motor abilities."
"That sucks."
"His best friend is Sid. He's considered the loser of the group, and looks up to Tony."
Mateo glanced slyly at Jake, who vehemently protested against being compared to Sid before resuming his description of the characters.
"Then there's Maxxie, who is openly gay, also attractive, and a dancer."
"Tell me that doesn't sound Mihir."
"Mihir dances?"
"Quite well. He has stage fright though, so he only dances in front of people he's known for years."
Jake stored the information away to examine at a later time.
"Anwar is a Muslim boy who is having trouble balancing both his religion and his lifestyle."
"Okay, you have to admit there's a pattern here. Even their names are alike," Mateo commented, referring to Arman.
"There's Chris, who only likes parties and drugs, but is a loyal friend."
"You got me there, I don't know anyone like that."
"The girls are Jal, Michelle and Cassie. Jal plays the clarinet and is quite serious. Michelle is Tony's girlfriend at the beginning of the show, but breaks up with him for treating her badly. Cassie is in love with Sid, but struggles with mental illness which makes her react to her feelings in unhealthy ways sometimes."
"Got it. You can tell me who the minor characters are later."
"Just remember to hit pause when you have a question. I hate it when people speak over a character's dialogues."
Jake touched the bandage that was poking through the neck of his shirt absent-mindedly.
"How's your tattoo doing?" Mateo asked, noticing the action.
"It's a little sore, but I can deal with that. I still can't believe you convinced me to get a tattoo."
"I can't believe you got a phoenix tattooed on your back, you wannabe hipster."
"Let's just watch the show," Jake said, starting to play the first episode.
Mateo watched in silence for the most part, asking the occasional question, while respecting Jake's condition. He seemed to enjoy the storyline and was attentive to details. At one point, he expressed his admiration for the character development, although he did not have enough information to fully appreciate the extent to which some characters had changed.
Jake was forced to take a break after five episodes, and to eat food that hadn't come out of a packet. He was impressed by the fact that Mateo could cook, but was slightly disappointed when he discovered that the only thing he could make was sandwiches. He offered his visitor a juice box, who surveyed it with distaste. Apparently the last time he had held a juice box was in middle school. However, he reluctantly accepted it because it reminded him of a Twenty One Pilots music video that he showed Jake before resuming their viewing of Skins.
When they finished the second-last episode and started the season finale, Jake was startled by a choking sound that seemed to have come from Mateo. He turned to look at him, and was shocked by the sight that met his eyes. Mateo Valdez, the last person he would have expected to be emotionally affected by fictional characters, was weeping. He was frantically rubbing his red eyes that already seemed swollen, missing some of the tears that had travelled down his cheeks to reach the collar of his shirt.
Jake did what any other boy would have done in this situation (at least that's what he told himself). He burst out laughing.
"I can't believe Mr. Tough Guy is crying!" he shrieked.
"How can you be so heartless?" Mateo wailed. "How can you laugh after that happened to Chris? He deserved better!"
"Wait, I'm just going to record this. It's going to make a great Vine."
"I hate you! I can't believe made me watch this."
"I think I'll call it 'muscular, tattooed, motorcycle-owning child has a meltdown'."
"It was supposed to be about teenagers dealing with the obstacles that come with adolescence, and partying," Mateo yelled, trying to hide his face from the phone that Jake was aiming in his direction.
"Here we can see a rare sight, Mateo Valdez, a terrifying creature, crying about fictional characters," Jake whispered, bringing the phone camera closer to Mateo and trying to push his hands away with one arm.
In one fluid move, Mateo grabbed the phone and shoved it into his pocket. He then turned his back to Jake to stare at the wall behind him.
"Are you alright, buddy? Let me get you some tissues," Jake finally offered, feeling ashamed for not having done it earlier.
He slid a box of tissues that he found at the bottom of his closet, towards Mateo who grabbed it after a moment of hesitation.
"I'll make some hot chocolate. Hopefully the microwave is working."
Jake jumped to his feet, and walked towards the shared kitchen. He had some trouble locating the tin that contained cocoa powder, but after that it was smooth sailing.
He had often made hot chocolate for his younger sister when she had a rough day. She hadn't exactly been popular back in their hometown, something that always confused Jake. Lexa used to say that he'd never understand because he always found popular friends, no matter where he went. He couldn't fathom how he did. He wasn't an extrovert, or particularly interesting. Perhaps it was became he was a people-pleaser.
When the hot chocolate was ready, he picked up the two mugs he had poured it into, and started to carefully walk back to his room. He had stepped on a skateboard once while walking back with chicken nuggets, and had nearly cried when he saw them scattered over the dirty carpet after he had recovered from his fall.
As he stepped through the door, he became aware of the smell of cigarette smoke that had not been there when he left. Mateo was sitting near the window, holding a cigarette casually in his hand. Somehow, he looked perfectly fine, like he hadn't been sobbing a few minutes ago.
"Can you not smoke in here? It so hard to get rid of that disgusting smell."
"Just use air freshener," Mateo shrugged, looking unconcerned.
"Here, take one," Jake ordered, holding a mug out to him.
"Unless there's vodka in that, I'm not going to have any."
Jake felt anger spread through his veins. How could Mateo transform so quickly? One moment he was vulnerable and nice, the next, emotionally distant and rude. Did he do it on purpose? If so, why? It did nothing but hurt people (usually Jake).
"What's your problem?" Jake snapped. "Are you angry about what happened before? I'm sorry, okay? You don't have to act like this just because I teased you a little."
"What are you talking about? I'm fine. I'm starting to think you're overly sensitive, as a matter of fact," Mateo claimed, his eyes giving nothing away.
Sometimes, it's better to lose an argument than make somebody feel like they have to redeem themselves. Jake was aware of this, but decided to ignore the clever voice in his head for one that just wanted to be right.
"I have proof on my phone, which you still haven't returned, by the way."
"Are you sure?" Mateo smirked, handing Jake's phone back to him.
Jake's fingers flew over the phone's screen to access the gallery, and was dismayed to find no recent videos.
"You deleted them," he stated, defeated.
"You really should put a passcode on your phone. Hadn't you learned from the last time I invaded your privacy?"
"I'm afraid of not able to call for help fast enough if a serial killer enters my room."
"Are you kidding?" Mateo asked, laughing. "I'm sure that it won't take that long to press four numbers on your phone."
Jake's strange comment seemed to have a relaxing effect on him. His shoulders started to look less tense and laughter had caused his jaw to unclench.
"Not if the killer is grabbing my ankle in an attempt to drag me out from under the bed," Jake said nonchalantly, like it was something that happened often in college dorms.
"You have been watching too many movies."
"I cannot deny that. It's always good to be prepared, though."
"I believe in being prepared too," Mateo commented, his eyes gleaming. "Which is why I happen to have a video that will ensure that you will tell no one about what you saw today."
The sinking feeling in Jake's stomach grew stronger as Mateo hit play on the video. He was the focus of the clip, which seemed to have been taken the very night he had gone to Vince's party with Mihir. Some time after he had been let out of the closet, Mihir had convinced him to dance. He had never been a good dancer when sober, but with the alcohol in his body, he was downright embarrassing.
"You did the Macarena for half an hour, apparently," Mateo informed. "Regardless of what song they were playing. Mihir was delighted to see this and did not let go of the opportunity to film this for preserving the memory."
"He didn't realize that he was giving you blackmail material when he sent you this, did he?"
"Nah, he's too pure to think like me."
"Calling him pure is a bit of stretch, but sure, I know what you mean."
"Anyway, if you don't want this to be uploaded to Youtube and immediately become a meme more popular than that Rick Astley song, keep your mouth shut about the events that transpired today," Mateo told Jake, holding his hand out to seal the deal with a handshake.
"I will. I'm not meme material, but I'm not going to take the risk," Jake agreed, shaking Mateo's hand firmly.
-
I'm so sleep-deprived but I love y'all so here.
Also, I need to write 6k words in the next 3 days to win Nano. God help me.