Unseen, unheard
"Hey.....Hello?...Why aren't you listening?"
Mary-Rose sighed, "Come on dude, just move for a sec I can't see the screen" she said as she waved a hand in front of the boy's face that was illuminated by the light of his computer. He didn't flinch.
"Wow, you are amazing at playing the silent game" Still no response. Beginning to become irritated, Mary-Rose moved to the foot of the bed where she could look straight into his eyes, he didn't show any acknowledgement of her. Mary-Rose noticed how his eyes reflected the bright screen of his computer. She huffed with frustration and rested her hands on her hips. This wasn't a game anymore. She suddenly felt something, not physically but like something was wrong, something she couldn't really put her finger on.
But she brushed it off...
She reached out her hand towards him and his name escaped her lips still trying to get his attention.
"Tate..."
Then he shuffled a bit. Her eyes lit up thinking that he had finally stopped disregarding her. But he continued tapping keys on the computer, forcing the character on the screen to move, as if he was a puppet master controlling his puppeteer with small and simple movements of his pale, gentle hands. Although moved in response to her, he was just getting comfortable.
Mary-Rose kept leaning forward until she reached him. Her fingers lightly brushed his shoulder. His head suddenly jerked up. Wide eyes searching the room. His head twisting from side to side. Her hand went limp and retreated quickly as she pulled it back closer to her body. On instinct Tate's hand had reached up to his shoulder, and rubbed it in thought.
"I swear I felt something" he mumbled. He had one last glance around the room then tilted his head back down like nothing happened except for the small unsettling feeling that would annoy him for the rest of the night. Most likely to haunt him as he slept.
"That's right..." Mary-Rose trailed off "you can't hear me, you don't refuse to. You just can't, you weren't playing a game, I kind of wish you were but you can't even just pretend!" Her voice grew louder as she continued, trying to get any reaction, even though she knew she couldn't. "Why can't you just hear me for once? Why not?! I don't understand, such a small thing couldn't hurt anyone" She stopped yelling as her knees buckled and she dropped to the ground. Her eyes stayed on Tate.
"I don't blame you, it's not your fault, but why can't you hear me? You can't even see me" He looked up glancing around the room.
'I feel like I'm being watched' he thought, then looked at something across from him. Tate stood up next to the bed and walked closer to Mary-Rose. She didn't look up at him. Suddenly she felt him lean over her and towards the soft teddy that sat on his desk. She looked into his eyes as he turned the white bear around, so it faced the wall instead of him. Thinking it would settle his nerves. She didn't bother to move. He sighed, went back to his bed and closed his laptop. She rested her forehead on the side of the bed then closed her eyes.
He slid into his bed.
Tears slid across her cheeks.
He rolled over in his soft bed, still feeling like he was being watched.
Her tears rolled down her soft cheeks, to the hard wooden floor.
Tate slept silently.
Mary-Rose cried silently.
Her hand tightly gripped the edge of the blanket. "I'm sorry, don't blame yourself for my tears, it's my fault that I got attached to you." She gripped the thin blanket tighter in her fist. "I might just go insane if it stays like this" she mumbled. She stood up and crawled under the sheets next to the boy. "I just ask for one second that you notice me... without brushing me aside." She gently closed her eyes and drifted off to a place that was better for her, where what she wanted seemed true until she awoke to this nightmare again.
She hadn't drifted off for long until her eyes opened in shock. Arms had encircled her from behind and were now enclosed around her waist. Lips brushed against her ear as Tate whispered "I'll try"
She cried again, but this time for an entirely new reason. In between her silent cries she muttered out an unheard:
"Thank you"
By Malisha Skinner
YOU ARE READING
Unseen, unheard
Fantasy"Hey.....Hello?....why aren't you listening?" Mary-Rose sighed, "Come on dude, just move for a sec I can't see the screen" It just started out as a small request...