Hope you like.
CHATTING
Willow was doing something really bad. Here she was,
sitting in her dorm room, and she was supposed to be
researching for a paper. Was she? No. Instead she
was just watching text roll down on the screen. She
was in a chat room. The teen chat room to be more
specific.
And if that wasn't bad enough, she wasn't even
chatting. Just watching. It was a guilty pleasure
that she hoped no one would ever find out about. She
knew most of the people were faking everything they
said, and some were even psychos.
But they were funny psychos. Funny was good.
Her name was RedH@ck. Not the cleverest name in the
world, but it suited her. It was honest. Besides,
nobody talked to her anyway.
***
Buffy had been walking back to the dorm when she
passed the computer lab. Normally she wouldn't go
near the place, but she had to search the Internet
for comparisons on classic American novels for her
English class. And since the lab was closer than the
dorm, she went in.
Picking a computer in the corner, she sat down.
Entering her name and password into the network, she
logged on. She opened the web browser, which
automatically went to ChatNet.
'What the hell is ChatNet?'
On top of that, she didn't know how she got there.
She remembered Willow saying that people could set a
browser to open to a certain page or something like
that. Well, Buffy was easily distracted. Even more
so because she wanted to avoid doing anything
class-related.
She clicked 'LOG ON AS GUEST' and then it asked her
for a temporary name.
'LargeMarge? Nah. Oh, I got it.'
She entered 'StakER' into the box, and entered the
chat complex. She picked the teen room.
***
Willow was on the verge of boredom. She was about
ready to close out, and get down to business. She
was supposed to be the diligent one, after all.
That's when the room announced that a new person had
arrived. 'StakER' was the name.
She had to grin. 'Reminds me of Buffy. Maybe.no. She
wouldn't go near a computer.' Nevertheless, she
decided to check out the new arrival's profile.
Clicking the mouse, she saw the person was listed as
a guest, which meant no profile.
'Oh well.'
***
Buffy wasn't exactly sure what she was supposed to
do. She skimmed the right side of the screen,
looking at the names of the members in the room. She
stopped when she something caught her eye.
'RedH@ck.'
"Why does that sound.?" She said quietly.
She clicked on the name, and she was surprised when
a small menu popped up.
'Send PM to RedH@ck
Check User Profile.'
Curious, Buffy did just that. A second screen
appeared, listing the person's information.
'Name: Willow R.
'Age: 18
Sex: F
Email.'
'Willow?'
Buffy clicked on the name again, and clicked 'Send
PM.'. A box popped up, and she assumed she was
supposed to type a message or something. And she
started to.
'Hey Will.it's -' 'No, I don't wanna let her know.'
Buffy grinned as she started to change what she
typed. She had a feeling this was going to be
interesting.
***
'ACCEPT PM FROM USER StakER?'
This was a first. Somebody was requesting a chat
with her?
'Why not?'
She clicked 'Yes' and a box appeared on her screen.
The person wrote, 'hey wanna chat?'
She typed her response.
***
RedH@ck: Sure. A/S/L?
StakER: Huh?
RedH@ack: Age/Sex/LocatIon. Not a bIg chatter?
StakER: I'm that obvIous?
RedH@ack: KInda. I'm 18/f/CA
StakER: Really? Me too.
RedH@ck: Cool. Where do you go to college? Do you
go?
'Think of a college, quick!' Buffy thought.
StakER: Yeah. UCLA. You?
RedH@ck: UC Sunnydale. Probably haven't heard of It.
KInda off the map.
StakER: No. I haven't. So what do you lIke to do?
StakER: FrIends? RelatIves? Pets?
RedH@ck: I'm a computer geek.
StakER: I'm sure you're not.
RedH@ack: Oh I so am. It's all I do. Anyway, I've
got 2 really good frIends. You?
StakER: I've got close frIends too. Don't know what
I'd do wIthout them. One especIally.
RedH@cker: That's great. I have someone lIke that
too.
StakER: Unfortunately, she's goIng through a tough
tIme rIght now.
RedH@ck: Oh :-( Why?
StakER: Her boyfrIend left.
Willow was starting to get a little suspicious.
'Back off! Back off!' Buffy yelled at herself.
StakER: She's gettIng better though.
RedH@ck: I hope so. I have some experIence In that
area myself.
StakER: Yeah? How are you dealIng?
RedH@ck: Well, my frIend Is beIng really supportIve
and sweet. She keeps me together.
StakER: Have you told her that?
RedH@ck: Not In those words, but I thInk she knows.
I