Before Time (The Time Trilogy Book 1) by Xunaira J.

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.
    I wanted to argue with him about decency, but where should I start? I thought he wouldn’t understand that.
    ME: Yes, I know! But…
    Impassioned: Ifs and buts are useless at this stage :) There is no point in the use of a condom after getting pregnant, is there?
    ME: Of course not.
    I giggled at his example. I had never heard that kind of dirty joke before.
    Impassioned: