Page 31 of Talk to Me

“How?” I barked back. “How is that against the rules? That’s how everyone plays the game!”

“It’s against the official rules if you would bother to read them!”

“Official rules?” I scoffed. “Nerd. I bet you always return your cart to the corral and refold the t-shirts at the store after you look at them.”

Theo cocked an eyebrow at me.

“Well, yeah,” he said. “Only dicks leave their carts all over the lot or just throw clothing back on the rack like an asshole.”

“Oh my god, I know,” I sighed, admitting defeat. “It’s so annoying. Call me a nerd, too.”

“I would,” he said, grinning evilly at me. “If you played by the official Uno rules!”

We both laughed. I was sitting at the head of my bed, cross-legged, facing Theo, who was sitting at the foot, mirroring my position. Between us on the bed lay a pile of Uno cards, the game we had been playing for over an hour.

Friday night, we’d spent hours studying before Theo went back to his dorm in the wee hours of the morning. We’d eaten nearly an entire pizza apiece, slugged down a liter of sugary soda each, and had a really good time doing it. By the time he’d left, we were practically set for the next several weeks for American Lit reading and homework. Before Theo had left, we exchanged numbers so we could message each other without opening Peepers to do it.

Which is why I woke to a text from him on Saturday morning.

Want to go to the dining hall for breakfast? Text me when you get up.

Smiling, I’d showered and primped quickly after texting him back. We ended up in the dining hall together, having breakfast like a couple of normal college students. Due to it being early-ish on a Saturday, the dining hall wasn’t all that busy. Theo had been anxious on the walk over and upon entering, but seeing the light crowd, he seemed to loosen up a bit. We were able to get through the food line and check out, then find a seat without any problems.

As we ate, I noticed a few students at other tables were staring and whispering, but we didn’t have to endure any shouted insults or name-calling. I could tell throughout breakfast that Theo was on edge, as most of his responses to the conversation I tried to keep going were monosyllabic. However, he didn’t make a dash for the exit in the middle of the meal, or try to rush through eating breakfast. As far as I was concerned, he did a great job putting on a brave face and claiming his rightful space in the dining hall for the thirty minutes we were there.

The rest of the morning, we spent roaming around campus. We grabbed a coffee at Midway Roasters, which required a bit of bravery from Theo as well. However, we only had stares and whispers again. We took our coffees and books to the quad and sat under the tree Theo loved and read a few chapters for fun. Lunch was in the dining hall again with no further incident. Saturday afternoon we went to a free showing of Amelie in the student auditorium. Sharing a bag of stale popcorn and room temperature bottled sodas, we found ourselves engrossed in the French film.

Afterwards, of course, we had to discuss how much Americans miss out on by eschewing foreign films with subtitles. Then we laughed at our pretentious proclamation, admitting that we had no idea what percentage of Americans watched foreign films. We could only make a judgment based on the fact that the auditorium had only been a third full. A nearly empty movie screening on campus probably had more to do with the beautiful weather and it being a weekend more than the fact the movie was a foreign film with subtitles.

By the time Saturday evening rolled around, we had to venture to the dining hall a third time to have dinner. Theo was feeling bold and confident after two trips to the dining hall had gone by without incident. Obviously, that meant that someone was going to try to ruin our streak. A student at a nearby table actually turned in his seat, looked directly at Theo, and called him a “dick.” Theo, sighing, started to put his fork down, but I spun in my seat and stared the kid down.

“For God’s sake, get a life, kid.” I waved a hand at him, indicating he should turn around “Find a better hobby than harassing strangers.”

The kid scowled at me, but having not expected any pushback, turned around. When I turned back to Theo, his cheeks were a little rosy, but he continued eating his food. The incident had killed our conversation a bit, but Theo didn’t let the rude comment completely ruin his dinner. Afterwards, we found ourselves back in my dorm, going over Economics of Information homework, trying our best to get ahead in class.

After a few hours of that, the Uno cards came out and a late-night pizza was ordered. Snacking on pizza and chugging soda again, the clock crept towards midnight as we sat on my bed, chatting and playing cards.

“I’m going to take a poll—” I began.

“And shove it up your ass, I hope?” Theo quipped.

I laughed. “A vote, you turd! I’m going to find a sampling of students, ask them how they play Uno, and then you’ll see that everyone, or most of them anyway, play Uno my way.”

“That still doesn’t make it right.” Theo snorted, laying his cards face-down on the bed. “It just means they also cheat. What does that prove at all?”

“Ugh,” I groaned as I laid my hand down as well, “nothing, I guess. But you still know that I’m right. I didn’t just make those rules up. That’s how everyone plays.”

“I wouldn’t know.” Theo stuck his nose up in the air comically. “I don’t play with cheaters and swindlers.”

“Swindlers?” I scoffed. “Swindlers? What are you? An ole-timey bartender in an Old West saloon?”

Theo laughed, holding his stomach.

“You got a lot of nerve calling me a swindler without proof that I’m wrong,” I said, laughing with him.

“Okay, okay,” he said, waving me off. “Fine. Maybe a lot of people play that way. However, if I can admit that, you can admit that it is against the official rules and everyone knows it.”

“I concede nothing.” I folded my arms over my chest. “I doubt anyone even reads the official rules. Uno is a game that has been tearing families and friend groups apart for decades, whose traditions and rules have been passed down orally since the dawn of time.”