TEENTALK IN CYBERLAND
By Claire ReadPete flips the switch and waits for his PC to boot up. The light comes on and flickers. He watches anxiously. The computer is old. . . .crashes are common.
The screen comes to life with a steady glow and the images begin to dance across it. Would she be there tonight. She was most nights, but you never could tell what she'd do. The image settles down to rows of words. He has arrived at his favorite chat room.
He leans forward, squinting a little. There she is . . . . his Sheila, his cybersweeite . . . talking to someone about football. He scrolls a little it's that strange guy with the initials, no name, just AJW.
CYBERSWEETIE: We have to win the next two to go. It's going be hard. . . . this is our best season. We are five and three. I hope we got it. It will be the first in about five years. if not more. I come from a very small school and it's going to be hard without Chris. He is so upset I have been with him all weekend, but it's all he thinks about.
and in answer to a question from AJW,
CYBERSWEETIE :He screwed uplike. not only fumbled the ball, but got busted afterward and had that accident. . . . drivin' drunk,bustin' up the car, was bad enough but the worst is,Jeannie is still in the hospital, like, no airbag on her side. He's probably out for the season."
Pete types a quick greeting and contributes his bit to the conversation.
PETE: HI Cyber, WASSUP?
and then, PETE: My old school was pretty small too. You know, before we moved here last year. It would suck to work so hard, then have something like that happen. We were one game away from state and fumbled on the one yard line...lost the game. Losing sucks.
CYBERSWEETIE:: HI PETE.Ó that sucks. We should be five and two. We got screwed over by the refs one night real bad, but five and three isn't anything to complain about. We have to play teams that are eight in the whole state. We still gave them a run."
(private message from Pete to cybersweetie.) are you ok. did it come yet, like are you feeling all right. . . . how late are you now?
Pete, back to the chat room and in public . . . .
PETE: cyber-- I hate when the refs do that. . . . at least u made it a close game. I think we we're ranked eleventh in the state.
(private message from Cybersweetie) I'm getting a stomach. Ithink it's too soon, I know, but it feels like I am maybe . . . .
She can't bring herself to say the words,Six weeks is a long time for not having a period, when you have to remember to take the pills and sometimes you forget.
CYBERSWEETIE (still private) I lost a whole lot of weight last christmas doing all those situps and everything and I did that again this week, for like one night.
she continues . . . explaining . . , anxious now.
CYBERSWEETIE: (private message). I used to wake up and didn't even have a stomach and got sick because I had lost so much weight.. and now I feel all full and puffy . . . sheesh itsucks, what if I"m really pregnant? I'm so afraid of having it show, I barely eat a lot of the time I skip meals. For breakfast, I have toast and for lunch at school, I ate like, 3 fries, and took like, two drinks of water, and didn't eat dinner. I get real sick in the morning too."
She returns to her conversation with AJW.
. CYBERSWEETIE: AJW. . . well we have to win at least 6 games to go, but I don't know if its 4 and 3 or 5 and 3. . . . we really want to go. We have worked so hard."
Sunflower shows up on the screen and says hello , followed by LA DEE DA.
Nobody likes La Dee Da. She's too weird for most of them. Her handle and tagline say it all.
LADEEDA: it's dat CRAZY ..."FOXY-CHICK@*++SuMoNe you've NeVeRseen BeFore---aLwAyz doing SuMtHING STRANGE & WACKY. *surprise-surprise* AND WAIT dairz more!! (JeSSICAZ in Da HoUsE! D@MN the M@N! I can't help but be HyPeD up++itz just my way ++TIP ov da Day++if u got that HaPpY-go LuCKY thang goin on KeeP it UP!ThaT goes 4 U 2 buster !++14FeMMe/Minn. GrOoVy Baby GroOvY! if u think u know meeh++THINK AGAIN..orTRY!). . . . . HEY EVERYONE I AM HERE!!
CYBERSWEETIE disappears from the screen. She didn't say goodbye; so it's probably a crash. Pete reaches for the phone. He wants to talk to her without all the interruptions, but can't get through. there's only one telephone line at her house. and she's on it. He boots up the computer again and there she is, chatting. with AJW25, football, always football, or maybe it's AJW. He's coming on strong with her.
AJW: cyber- oh trust me we work for it. Practice every night of the week till about 6:20-6:30. Its hell, but that's what u have to do if u want to win. You shouldn't want to cheer for anyone else its your team!!
Others are present. John's telling Sunflower he's' "sorry 'bout last night" and she's saying in capitals for emphases, 'I ACCEPT YOUR APOLOGY.' A nosy GUEST poster asks. . . 'what happened last night'. and John just smiles, making it on the screen with a colon, an equal sign, and a half parenthesis.
Pete sends a pm to Cyber.
PETE: (private message)There's this kit you can get at the drugstore. I think it makes your pee blue or pink or something. . . like we could find out.'
Hers comes back. CYBERSWEETIE: and have the whole town know what's happening. You know that Patti who works there has a big mouth. I guess we'll just have to wait and see. But I don't want to tell my parents until I have too. We're Catholic and they won't let me have an abortion.'
Pete stares at the screen in horror.
Cybersweetie has forgotten to press the right buttons and her message flashes across the screen in public view. The whole room can see it. But no one comments. The talk is still about the most important thing of all, at this time, in this town. . . . FOOTBALL
© CLAIRE READ 1999
NOTE: this is the correct e-mail address. Not all the pages have been updated
Note: This was written within a writers workshop. The assignment was to tell a story using a conversation between teeagers. Well, I listened in on a chat room full of them and then made it somehow become a story. The dialogue is theirs. . . the story is mine.