Technicolor Daze [Currently Being Edited]

eighteen.

Saturday, May 10th, 2014

Noah hadn't sent him any more messages.

Theo stared blankly at the screen of his phone, waiting for the desired message, telling him he could see his inamorato. He received a couple of messages on Grindr of guys hitting him up, wanting to engage in some recreational carnal activities, only to be completely ignored by the grey-eyed man. He sometimes wondered if he should uninstall the app and delete his account, but he still hadn't gotten around to doing it. Even though he was still on the app, there was only one man on his mind. A man who had been the protagonist of his every fantasy ever since he had first laid eyes upon him, who made him afraid of how strongly he felt towards another person.

"Earth to Theo?" Alice waved her hand in front of Theo's face, blocking his view of the phone. He had been so immersed in his thoughts that he hadn't noticed that his friend, who had just joined him on the balcony, was talking to him. His forgotten and abandoned cigarette had been reduced to a long cylinder of ash carefully balanced on the small indentation of the ashtray.

"What's up?" Theo looked up at his flatmate, all dolled up and ready for a night out. Jamie stepped out of Alice's room, looking at her phone, probably texting her friends, before joining them on the balcony. Theo recalled that Alice had mentioned an outing with Jamie's friends, but unbeknownst to his housemate, his mind had drifted away to linger on thoughts of a pair of bewitching hazelnut eyes and a knowing mischievous smile.

"We're heading to Cubic in a bit. We're going out with some of Jamie's friends. Ivy and Yoyo will meet us there. Wanna join us?" Jamie pocketed her phone and wrapped her arms around the petite American brunette, nestling her chin on Alice's shoulder. Theo noticed that Jamie was wearing a small black dress and Alice was wearing a small white dress. Yin and Yang, Theo smirked, amused by that train of thought.

"Yeah, come with us!" Jamie urged before kissing Alice on the cheek. They had both already been pre-drinking a bit and were gleefully tipsy.

"Nah, I'll pass, but have fun," Theo said before stealing another glance at the silence emanating from his cellular device.

"He's whipped," Alice teased, using her hands to gesture the act of cracking a whip, "I bet you he isn't even listening to us right now."

"I am," Theo deadpanned, not even glancing away from his smartphone, even though all he could see whenever he glanced back at his device was radio silence.

And he kept on stealing glances at it throughout the night, even as Alice and Jamie left the apartment. Even as the night progressively grew darker and quieter as the neighborhood slowly succumbed to the surreal world of dreams. And yet, hope is always the last to die, so Theo remained expectant.

The universe still had time to grant his wish.

Time slowly dragged on. Minutes turned into hours, as Theo lay on his bed, scrolling through his phone, plugged into the charger, looking at his social media, watching a couple of videos, finding different sources of entertainment to keep him awake. His eyelids kept involuntarily fluttering shut out of drowsiness. He glanced at the time.

It was already 3 am.

As he looked out his window, he noticed that most of the other residents had their lights turned off. The whole neighborhood was immersed in peaceful slumber except for a small constellation of fellow night owls thriving in the nyctophiliac serenity, their windows twinkling in the sea of urban darkness like stars in the night sky. It was such a lovely sight to behold. He decided to go out on the balcony to look at it and smoke a cigarette.

If he doesn't message me by the time I finish my cigarette, I'll go to sleep, Theo thought to himself.

He stepped out onto the balcony, wearing nothing but his boxers, feeling the night breeze against his bare chest. The smoke soon left his parted lips, enveloping his body, as anxious thoughts infiltrated his mind. Had he done something wrong? Why was Noah distancing himself from him? Was he just hyperbolizing the whole situation? These thoughts were consuming him, the remaining hope that lingered in his spirit slowly dissipating along with the smoke.