Before Time (The Time Trilogy Book 1) (12 page)

ME:
Now, that is really sweet.

Impassioned:
People criticize ONLY the popular. Nobody even looks at a person who is not worthy of competition. Now I will tell you something.

ME:
I know there are many girls like that. They only pick on me.

Impassioned:
A girl who is 5’11 certainly has a higher view than others.

ME:
Of course!

Impassioned:
There was a girl in my university, very fat and ordinary, probably too fat. Once my sick-minded friends and I made a bet that it was very easy to get that girl, as she was nobody, and any charming person will easily spread her legs. That ugly-looking fat girl was probably the most arrogant and egotistical girl that I have met in my entire life. Let alone have sex, she didn’t say another word when I tried to approach her. She had a caliber greater than the beautiful girls there.

ME:
Of course, beautiful girls are spineless. They think that they are on the top of the world.

Impassioned:
She never let anyone pick on her. Only people who think that they need to be degraded degrade themselves.

ME:
I agree.

Impassioned:
She was not an idiot. She knew when I tried to approach her that I belonged to another class. I would definitely have no concern with her, except a motive which she understood in one second. After that, if I would’ve called her a gorilla or elephant, it would’ve been my disgrace, not hers.

ME:
Of course, I would understand as well.

Impassioned:
Another fact. Do you think that when you have sex with someone, you are inferior to them and you have to abide with whatever they say?

ME:
Yes.

Impassioned:
You are stating the obvious because it’s our society that makes it like this. In foreign countries, a girl sleeps with a man and kicks him out in the morning, saying ‘thank you very much, but I won’t see you again.’

ME:
I know that.

Impassioned:
This is where selection comes in, and that’s why I asked you to have a person who keeps a secret. You had sex with Sunny’s ex-friend?

ME:
No! His intentions were like that, but I got to know them and I gave him hell
.

Impassioned:
How many people did you have sexual relations with?

ME:
Three.

Impassioned:
Family or outsiders?

ME:
Outsiders.

Impassioned:
Any of these three had connections with Sunny or his friends?

ME:
No! They were totally out of his league and it was before anyone on mIRC knew me.

Impassioned:
On mIRC and real life, I have seen very FEW people of strength; you are one of them. Keep your weaknesses to yourself; I hope someone taught you how to do that.

ME:
Perhaps.

Impassioned:
Thank you for spending this night with me. I wish you a restless night; take care.

ME:
My pleasure, you take care of yourself as well. Restless?

Impassioned:
Think about it. Bye.

That night when I went to bed, my mind was on him. We had talked a lot, and all of the things he had told me swirled in my mind. Could he be right? He was the experienced one, and he would have more information than me, but how could I stop believing things that I had believed since I was thirteen? I had shared so many things with him, which I shouldn’t have done, because they were my deepest secrets.

I really didn’t know what had prompted me to share the story of my life with him, but I had. I shouldn’t have, my mind scolded me, but now what was done was done. Nobody could change that. I had made such a huge mistake. In the back of my mind, I knew that it would come back to haunt me, but how soon? I wasn’t sure. I just had to wait for that. My mind turned to the tenderness I felt in his words. It felt nice to be cared for, and with that thought in my mind, I slept.

Chapter 7

I woke up with a start. Sunlight streamed through the windows and flooded my face with its warm, baby-soft touch. I felt disoriented for a moment, which was usual. Picking up my cell phone from below my pillow, I looked at the time on its display. It was eight a.m. It had been only three hours since I went to sleep. Thinking over why I had woken up with a start, I blinked dimly and was surprised by a huge pang in my stomach.

Whoa!
I clutched my lower abdomen and closed my eyes tightly, willing the pain to go away. I had patience with illnesses because I’d been chronically sick since birth. It did stop, but as soon as it went, my back hurt as if a thousand welding irons had been applied to it. I felt stiff. I couldn’t stop whimpering. I had never felt such a pain in my life before, never believed it was possible to feel such pain, and it was all coming from my backside. I tried to go back to sleep, hoping it would go away. Thinking about that, I closed my eyes when another pang, stronger than the last one, doubled me over.

I always avoided informing my mom about my health, whether it was an asthma attack or mild fever. I was more of a suffer-in-silence type. I tried to survive on my own, thinking that worrying her was a bad idea.

Whenever I had an asthma attack, I knew where to go: my sister and best friend, Aliza. Her comfort was what I always sought. I quickly got off the bed and went in search of her, certain she would know what was wrong with me. This was the first time that I’d ever felt such an excruciating, mind-shattering pain.

I slowly made my way towards her room upstairs. She was sleeping. I shook her gently. She turned on her side, facing me, and then slowly opened her eyes.

“Liz, wake up!” I spoke in a whisper.

“What’s wrong?” she asked.

Owww!
I felt another cramp go through my lower abdomen and I shivered.

“I’m hurt…ing!” I said as I took a few deep breaths.

“Where?” she asked, now alert.

I touched the place and rested my head in her lap. I didn’t know what had gotten into me, or why it hurt so badly that I wanted to cry out loud.

“Wait here. I will get you some medicine,” she said, helping me to lie down on the bed. I breathed sharply as she rummaged through the medical box to find ibuprofen for me. Having found it, she quickly got me a glass of water and the tablet. I quickly gulped the medicine down.

“Just stay here and sleep with me,” she said. I nodded and closed my eyes. Talking took energy, and all my energy was being used to keep myself from screaming out aloud from the pain. I clenched my teeth tighter. Some minutes later, the tablet started working and my muscles relaxed. I slipped into an uncomfortable slumber, dreaming of a drive on a long, winding road, surrounded by fresh pine trees.

I woke up some hours later, fully rested and with my energy restored. I took out my cell phone from below my pillow. The display lightened; it was eight p.m. My stomach grumbled loudly. I slipped out of the bed and went in search of food. My mom was in the kitchen, making my favorite salad for me. She smiled at me when she saw me in the kitchen.

“Do you still have pain?” she asked.

“No. I’m good.” She mixed the salad one last time and then offered me some on a plate. I ate ravenously. After my stomach was full, there was nothing to do, so I turned on my computer and went online. He was there, but unresponsive; might be busy. When he didn’t reply for ten minutes, I quit because I felt all drained and wanted to rest. These were the side-effects of the pain, I guess.

The next day was quite uneventful. When I logged in to mIRC as usual, he was right there. As they say, too much of anything is bad, so I believed that some distance was necessary. I just greeted him on the main channel and didn’t deign to message him in his private stream. Sometime later, I was chatting with another nick, Cookie-monster, when I flicked through a channel. As usual, somebody was discussing me there, and that held my attention. Steaming, I messaged Impassioned. He seemed to understand me better than I understood myself.

ME:
So, people are still talking about my picture.

Impassioned:
You know how to ignore them :)

ME:
Yes, but look at what they’re saying!

Impassioned:
Don’t worry.

Me: Okay…

There was silence then, as neither of us said anything. With the way he had answered me, I had no other option than to stay quiet. Sometimes, I wondered how someone could be as emotionally strong as he was. I had happily categorized him as a weirdo, but I needed justifications for his behavior. My college biology teacher used to say that I had a thirst for knowledge, a curiosity that yearned to be satisfied.

His message popped up sometime later, as I was playing a game.

Impassioned:
Your fan club is growing by the minute.

ME:
I hate it. I have seen him talking in other channels about me as well.

Impassioned:
This is what you get when people see your shiny face on the stats pages and try to have you. :)

As if I had asked them to put my picture up there for everyone to see. I was extremely angry when I saw that there.

ME:
Did you know that they took it off for some time and then uploaded it again?

Impassioned:
I saw what they will never be able to see :) Therefore, I didn’t.

ME:
And what did you see?

Impassioned:
What they saw was only your face, while I saw your heart; as well, I saw you from head to foot.

I sighed at that. He saw me and knew how I looked, but why didn’t it matter to him?

ME:
Yeah!

Impassioned:
There is no need to bother about where they are going to upload it now or use the picture, at least. It’s already too late.