Human Spines

Rooms Number Eight-IV

Hans

        It was like I was playing a card game. Like Emmeline and I were playing slapjack and with each card flipped, we both learned a new piece of information, connecting dots that were only connectable by the act of both our cards being revealed at once. It was a profound presentiment! Until of course we realized the contrariety of our words.

        I eat my noodles while the tall one and Dumaine eat from plates of funny fish formations. Emmeline picks at the rice Dumaine ordered, glancing at the boys with a nauseated look as they dig into the raw fish.

        It's quite a silly thing, watching the boy with the girl. I can see he likes her. But she has no idea what it even feels like to like someone the way he likes her. His palms are sweating as she holds his hand, his cheeks are red when she looks at him and his words are soft as he speaks to her.

        "So... you think I'm an... Opaque?" he asks.

        "Slightly." She shrugs. She likes to pretend nothing is a big deal until she has solid proof it is.

        "None of you think I'm human? Even a little bit?" He's small as he speaks.

        "If you really think you're human, then I also think you're human. But if you're unsure, I feel you're as inhuman as you are unsure... Did you make certain that's not still alive?" She points to the sushi.

        The two communicate softly with each other, more like twin siblings than friends. They haven't even known each other for a month. They simply click like Joeni and I. I like it.

        They converse, leaning into each other, Emmeline using her hands and Dumaine raising his eyebrows. Words about jellyfish, alligators, and other nonsense. I turn to Lochlan, silently dipping sushi in a dark sauce.

        "What did you steal from me earlier? I'm not mad—"

        "Just curious?" He smiles to himself and I nod. "Just some paper and a marker. Nothing really."

        "If it was 'nothing really,' why would you have stolen it? You wrote a very important message with that marker and paper, didn't you? Short, but important."

        "You can always tell can't you? Every single little thing, you see it all and you understand. I miss you, Hans." His eyes fall closed and he digs his palms into them.

        I lean in and whisper one of my favorite quotes. "You'll miss the best things if you keep your eyes shut."

        He freezes, and his shoulders begin to shake. He doesn't move his hands as he stands. "Excuse me." His voice is a trembling puff as he dashes to the back of the restaurant. He hides his face until he reaches the bathroom, glancing back at me for the shortest moment. His eyes are glistening, red around the edges. But he smiles when he sees me.

        "How do you know how to use chopsticks, yet you've never had sushi before?" Dumaine laughs as Emmeline forces the chopsticks into his hand.

        "Well, I'm only half Asian." She grins.

        "My gosh, Emmeline! Your hands are tiny!" The boy grabs her wrists and holds them up. And oh my! They are small! The size of the smallest children's in my classes!

        "They've always been like that." She inspects her hands like they belong to someone else.

        "Emmeline, have you by any chance, had any sort of growth spurt recently, or within the last two or three years, even?" Dumaine sounds like a doctor.