Glossary of some Chat room terms
* * = anything between quotes is an action done by the
characters.
j/k = joking, teasing, or making fun
lol = laughed out loud
laff = laugh
rl = real life
irl = in real life
newbies = people new to a chat room
prolly = probably
The room was very cold. That was one of the things I hated
about college, one out of many. I stood up and looked in the
mirror. My red hair was cut short, chin-length unlike high
school where it was past my shoulders. My face had lost most
of its babyish roundness. For the longest time I looked like
a twelve year old. Which wasn't too far off, you see, I was
skipped ahead two grades when I was young. So while most of
my classmates were nineteen, I was only seventeen..
But the age difference didn't bother me too much. I was just
lonely. I missed all of my friends back in California. I
always was shy but here I just can't seem to find anyone
nice. So like a good little hacker, I hung out in chat
rooms. Tonight I decided to try out a new chat room. I
accessed it and went in as "Minerva".
Minerva: Hello? Anyone want to chat?
BigJim: Only if you're up to having some fun! *grinz*
Minerva: Excuse me?
BigJim: Ya can't be that stupid!?! Come on baby! Let's do
the net thang!
Minerva: You disgusting creep! Get lost!
BigJim: Don't be an uptight bitch.
Raptor: Shut up BigJim! It's bad enough that we have to
listen to your mouth. Now you have to scare away all the
newbies.
BigJim: Go screw yourself, Raptor!
Raptor: You should know all about selfscrewing, BigJim. It's
one of your favorite activities. *whispers Minerva* I'm not
trying to proposition you or anything but the main room is a
bit rough here. Do you want to come to my private room and
talk? That's all I want to do. I don't want to hassle you.
Minerva: *whipsers to Raptor* OK. Sounds better than hanging
out here.
(So I typed in the right commands and found myself in
Raptor's room)
Raptor: There. I locked the room so no one can get in. But
you can leave anytime.
Minerva: I know. Thanks for helping me with that jerk.
Raptor: It's nothing. Sad part is that he seems to get alot
girls doing that.
Minerva: I maybe lonely but I'm not that desperate.
Raptor: Me neither. :)
Minerva: So where do you live?
Raptor: New York City. How about you?
Minerva: I'm in college in upstate New York.
Raptor: Oh. So what are some of your interests?
Minerva: I like computers, reading, folklore, music, and
more.
Raptor: I'm not really into computers. I like to read and
write. And I like music.
Minerva: That's odd. Most people I meet in chat rooms are
computer fanatics. And they seem to always want to try and
top each other off by how much stuff they have (hardware and
software), how much they know about computers, and what they
can do with their computers. It's like computer nerds have
their own sort of "macho" thing going on.
Raptor: *lol* That is so true. You should see my friend Lex
at his computer. He's so obsessed it that it's funny. But
I'm not going to sit here and insult him all night long. He
was the one who introduced me to chat rooms.
Minerva: You said before that you like to write? What do you
write?
Raptor: Mostly sci-fi and fantasy. I also like to draw but
I'm not great at that. I've also done my own comic book that
has never been published or read by anyone.
Minerva: Why don't you at least put it on the Internet?
Raptor: As I said, I'm not really computer literate. And if
I ask for Lex's help, he'll just launch into some
technobabble and confuse me.
Minerva: I'd love to help you.
Raptor: No thanks but thanks for asking. Everytime I try to
use this machine for anything that's not really simple, it
ends up breaking. *j/k*
Minerva: :) Maybe if I knew what goes wrong then I could
offer some advice.
Raptor: I usually get so pissed at it that I toss the
machine across the room. ;)
Minerva: *lol*
Raptor: So why are you in the "Lonely Hearts" Chat Room?
Minerva: Several girls in my dorm recommended this room to
me as a joke. They think that I'm such a social mess that I
can only get a boyfriend through a chat room. That's not
true exactly but lately I've really been a "Lonely Heart".
Raptor: Me too. *j/k* Want to compare stories on old loves
and see who's got the worst love life?
Minerva: Sure. :)
Raptor: My rl name is Brooklyn. And no I'm not j/k.
Minerva: Mine's Willow. Do you want me to start?
Raptor: Why not? Besides, mine are probably more depressing.
;)
Minerva: *lol* I doubt that! Well, my first love was my best
friend, Xander. I had a crush on him through middle school
and half of high school. But he never noticed me in that
way. He only saw me as a friend. At first he had a crush on
my friend Buffy then he fell in love with Cordelia. Cordy
was a total snob. All she cared about was being popular and
rich. But when she and Xander got together, she changed.
She's become a really nice person. Cordy's taken up acting
and she's pretty good at it. She and Xander are still dating
and are happy together. After all this time, I can say that
I'm happy for them. OK, it's your turn to tell me about a
horrible love experience.
Raptor: Sounds good. :) I've got two horrible experiences.
So I might as well tell you about the first one. I got a
crush on this woman named Maggie. When I met her, she was
going through an unpleasant change in her life. I tried to
help but she didn't want any help. For the longest time I
loved her but she ended up with my friend, Elisa's brother.
Your turn. :)
Minerva: I had a crush on a guy I met in a chat room. His
name was Malcom. But then he started to stalk me and he got
really weird. With the help of my friends, I got rid of him
and moved on. It was really scary. He started off to be
really sweet and nice but then he changed. The incident has
made really wary of the Internet and chat room. No offense
meant of course but things in chat rooms are never what they
seem.
Raptor: None taken. Things are rarely what they seem.
Minerva: Exactly. Your turn and then I'll finish with my
last story which is prolly the most painful.
Raptor: Yeah well this one is my most painful one. I fell in
love with another girl, named Angela. She was sweet and fun
to be with. My best friend Broadway and I used to fight over
her but she eventually chose Broadway over me. It hurt.
Actually it hurt a lot but I got over it. I was angry with
them both for the longest time. But even now, some small
part of me still hurts when I see them together. Lately it
seems that I'll never find anyone.
Minerva: I felt the same way when I saw Xander and Cordelia
together. I wanted to get even with them so badly for
hurting me. That was one of the reasons why I hooked up with
Oz. Oz was a genius in some ways. He was highly intelligent
(IQ wise) and very musical. Oz was also very sweet and
goofy. At first I wanted to be with him because I was angry
and depressed and I wanted to make Xander jealous. Oz
offered love and encouragement but he told me that he didn't
want me if all I wanted was to make Xander jealous. Oz
wanted me to love him back and I did. We stayed together for
a year. That was then his band started to take off. Oz kept
pressing me to sleep with him. One time he even asked me to
marry him. But I wasn't ready and that's what I told him. I
thought that he understood but a few days later I found him
sleeping with a groupie. We had a huge argument where Oz
blamed it all on me. He said that I was leading him on and
that I never really wanted him because of his problem. So he
broke up. And that hurt because I still loved him. But
slowly I'm getting over him.
Raptor: What kind of a problem did he have?
Minerva: He had a sort of disease that wasn't deadly but it
was inconvenient to a relationship if the other person
wasn't understanding. He was sort of deformed by the
disease. And no it wasn't anything sexual. I can't really
describe it to you without going into too many details that
I'd rather not reveal.
Raptor: Oh. You could love someone even if they were
deformed or something like that?
Minerva: I've seen a lot of weird stuff. I'm originally from
California. Yes, I could love anyone with a good heart,
regardless of outward appearance.
Raptor: Me too.
(We talked for several hours more. Our conversation ranged
from music to politics to movies to telling bad Star Trek
jokes. It was so natural and easy to talk to Brooklyn. But
all good things must end.)
Raptor: Shit! I didn't realize the time. Dawn's coming soon
and I got to go.
Minerva: Why?
Raptor: I've got work to do. See ya tomorrow night?
Minerva: I'll be here! :) Bye!
Raptor: Bye. :) See ya tomorrow night.
That was when I logged out of the chat room. I felt so good
about being there and talking to Brooklyn. He was sweet,
funny, and intelligent. And as I prepared to get a few hours
of sleep before my first class, I had a twinge of hope that
I could either meet him or someone as good as him, in real
life.
The End (for now)