Sherin is sitting outside of the class door waiting for me after the bell rings. Finally the day is over. We're going to go see a movie later. She takes my hand and leads me, like she always does, as I follow dumbly waiting for what excitement she'll lead me to next. Sherin is my life. My sanity. Without her I don't think I'd be able to make it through the blurry days and crystal nights that always have to end. She's the light that makes my days seem clearer. She giggles as I question her on where we're headed.
Her long raven hair splashes across her face, mingling with her flushed cheeks and her grin. Her blue eyes glitter with mischief as she leads me down into a rarely-used stairwell.
"Look what I found Emmy." . Emmy, her nickname for me. My real name is Emerson. Great name, huh? First day of school I was fondly nicknamed by the seniors "Tuba". I find her pet name to be much more satisfactory. She growls girlishly, sinking into the shadows underneath the stairs, and pulling my hand to follow. A door underneath leads into and dingy closet. It looks like no one's been in there in ages. Cobwebs string along from old mop to mop, and spiral down an empty rust-encrusted pail. A dim flickering bare bulb springs to life on the ceiling with the flick of a switch. "What are you up to?" I half-smile, as she softly shuts the door behind her.
And then it's her hands on my waist and my neck crooked down to face her. My lips curve into a smile as hers caress them. As we kiss I take a step backward and fall down over an old toolbox. "Are you okay?" she asks, concerned, bending down to see if I'm alright. "Yeah," I murmur in reply. My butt hurts though.
She smiles. "Good."
I kiss Sherin goodbye after the movie and we walk separate paths to our houses. We live in Boston. Boston in the fall's supposed to be so great. Why do all the vivid oranges and reds my family croons over seem so dull? Like a movie façade.
I go into my room and close the door. My mind is tired. I plop down in front of the computer, the whole room is dark except for the glow of the monitor, lighting my face. I run my fingers through my slightly curled brown hair. It's getting a little long. Sherin says she likes it, and she twists her fingers in it when she's bored. It gets in my eyes, and I brush it away distractedly and click away on the computer. I've always been a computer nut. From my parent's first old blue screen Mac I've been clacking away at them. Learning all their little tricks and secrets. I can reprogram a computer in about ten minutes, hack into almost any site you can give me, and I could mess with anybody's computer who happens to have an instant messenger program.
I have learned some valuable tricks on hacker forums, websites that can only be professionally hacked into, and also just from books and things I've picked up from people I've met here and there.
I've had a few close calls with hacking before. But that was middle school years. I was less careful then. Not now. Now I was up there with some of the greats skill-wise. But I'd never done anything that could have gotten me into any serious trouble. Not military crap. I stayed away from anything government.
But people like Trinity, or Ezra. They were legends. I pretty much idolized anything they lay their hands on. I dreamt of someday being as great as them.
:blackXnight has signed on:
crew_cut: dude. you'll never guess what I heard.
blackXnight: what is it now?
crew_cut: some guy told me he thinks trinity's not a dude.
blackXnight: wtf? of course trinity's a dude.
crew_cut: I know thats what I said. but the more I thought about it the more it made sense we really dont know if she/hes a girl or what.
blackXnight: I guess youre right…but still I mean everyone thinks hes a dude. Who's to say were wrong?
crew_cut: I dunno but think about it. What if trinitys actually a total babe?
blackXnight: I dunno.
crew_cut: come on. You know it would rock.
blackXnight: yeah…I know…lol…that would rock so much.
crew_cut: hell yeah.
crew_cut: so howre you and Sher doin?
blackXnight: great. You and…uhh…jen?
crew_cut:…yeah. We broke up.
That's Jim. He was my best friend since second grade. Then he left. His family moved to like, Wisconsin. He hates it, but we still correspond in hacker networks. He's about as good as I am when it comes to that kind of stuff.
He's the guy I talk to about everything. My best bud… I tell him about high school, Sherin, fuckin upperclassmen, hacking…anything.
crew_cut: fuck. The rents are home. Im out man.
blackXnight: talk to you later.
:crew_cut has signed off:
His parent's aren't my biggest fans. They seem to blame everything that's ever gone wrong in his life on me. And if they caught him on a hacker chat and talking to me… well, let's just say the doo-doo would be deep.
He's kind of had girl troubles lately. Basically getting one. Then keeping one.
But that doesn't matter. Cause he's still a great guy.
I feel my eyelids droop and know I don't want to spend another night with my head pressed against my keyboard. I pull off my shirt and shorts and then crash on my bed.
