The Ocean Between Us

Chapter 3

Toshinori

It's 5:30 am. Inside the little apartment, it's quiet. The only audible sound is a clock ticking, each tick sounding louder than normal. In the small bedroom to the left lay Toshinori, legs dangling over the edge of the bed, and arms spread out as far as they could reach. His messy blonde hair splayed out across his pillow, and his sharp blue eyes were staring at the ceiling.

Why can't I sleep? He thought. This is ridiculous. Sitting up, Toshinori stretched his back, waiting to hear the few cracks and creaks his bones typically produced. He shook his head and stepped out of bed, heading toward his little kitchen. His feet dragged across the floor, his socks twisting and becoming uncomfortable.

"These frickin socks." He grumbled, bending over to straighten them out. Opening the fridge, he grabbed a jug of water and brought it to his thin lips, taking slow sips. He felt the water run down his throat, feeling the cold liquid pass through his esophagus. He shuddered. That's refreshing. He smiled and put the jug back in the fridge. He walked over to his couch in the tiny living room and picked up his phone.

"Let me see." He unlocked the phone and checked his app for messages from Joanna. There were none. For some reason he felt a slight disappointment. It had only been a week since they'd met, but he was always happy to receive a message from her, whether it was her complaining about the price of books for school or just a quick 'how are you'. He sat down on the couch and contemplated texting her.

Maybe she's busy. She did say it was 12:30, and that was 2 hours ago. Toshinori opened the chat box, but waited a moment before beginning to type.

Then again, it's still Saturday where she is. Who's busy on a Saturday? Toshinori smiled and remembered what she had told him about how she spends her weekends.

Jojobear: I like to play video games and read. That's about it xD

Toshi46: Wow, sounds like fun. Video games never held any interest for me, but reading is absolutely wonderful.

Jojobear: pfffft laaaame, what are you, some kind of oldie? :P

Toshinori's smile faded. I still haven't told her my age. She sounds young, maybe I'll ask her how old she is.

Toshi46: hey 👋🏼 so, I couldn't fall asleep 😅 and I swear my phone was in the living room, I promise I wasn't playing on it.

He waited for a response but got none after about 10 minutes of waiting. He decided to try again.

Toshi46: so I've been thinking, I never did tell you my age, and you don't have to tell me yours if you don't want to. I'm 46.

He waited for a few minutes and still got no response.

Okay she's probably busy playing video games or something, Toshinori thought with a small hint of a frown on his face. But why am I feeling disappointed? Like she should respond to me immediately? Toshinori shook his head. Don't be dumb, she has a life and so do you. I bet she doesn't feel like this when you don't respond.

He decided once again to text her.

Toshi46: Your video games must be so interesting xD

Toshinori grimaced and erased that whole message. That's so bad, don't even think about sending that. What should I say though?

Toshi46: I figured you're probably busy playing video games. What kinds of games do you like?

Toshinori stared hard at his phone, then finally hit send. He put his phone down and went back to his room, determined to wait for a whole hour before checking the messages.