Offline
1
~Andy's POV~
I tried to focus as the instructor drew numbers on the board but I couldn’t comprehend the material, I’ve always learned differently. After classes my girlfriend Olivia and I usually studied online together but everything seemed to be steadily going downhill since I moved away from home to go to college in a different city. Several hours of coding, debugging and compiling later I kicked the chair back from the computer out of frustration, sometimes I felt like the reason we had so many assignments due was to train us to sit in front of the computer for hours at a time.
It had been another day of ignored texts and rejected chat requests between Ollie and I, our schedules were pretty much the same but that somehow left us without any time to talk.
A text brought my phone to life where a picture of a doll dressed as a cowboy with the giant words, ‘OWDY PARDNER draped across the top.
My face lit up when I saw Emily’s name, suddenly the day didn’t suck anymore. Emily made the stress of everything go away, she accepted me for who I was, didn’t make me study and didn’t judge me when I drunk texted her. She’s been my best friend for years but we’ve never met in person. I sent back a picture of a wrestler and wrote, “Today has been brutal.”
“Out of curiosity, how drunk are you?” Emily replied.
“Not drunk at all but C sharp is messing with my brain if that counts.” I admitted, 8 hours in class followed by 4 hours of building a workable code had taken its toll on me.
“It sounds like a 2 or 3 shot kind of day.” She encouraged.
“Maybe one shot to kill the pain.” I pondered my limits.
“THREE SHOTS! DON’T MAKE ME GET UP IN YOUR GRILL!”
I went to the kitchen and grabbed a 40 oz and a shot glass with a mustache print on it. “One.” I poured one shot and tilted my head back, holding my breath as I swallowed. The after burn made me shake my head from side to size, wiggle my shoulders around and wait for the numbness to set in.
“C sharp < vodka. DON’T LET THEM WIN!” Emily texted.
I laughed “So C# is a gang now?” I poured another shot, wondering if she knew what C sharp was.
“A WHOLE GANG OF C’S! YOU GONNA PUT UP WITH THAT?!” She replied.
I downed the shot. “NO!” I texted back pouring a third shot. I thought I felt a quick lightning bolt shoot across my vision, followed by a wave of dizziness.
“Night Andy.” Olivia finally replied on messenger.
“Wait.” I typed, did I miss something? I scrolled through our old messages, skimming through hours of silence and small talk in a matter of seconds.
“I’m really tired so call if you want!” Ollie signed out.
I felt a stabbing sensation in my heart and clicked her screen name, staring at the word ‘Offline’ underneath it.
“I SAID THREE SHOTS!” Emily texted.
I smirked. “sadface.” I typed the word out as though the emoji wasn't enough.
“ONE MORE SHOT AND THE GANG OF C’S GETS IT!” She urged.
I swallowed a third, shook my head from side to side and typed, “DONE.”
“That's my boy.” Emily typed. “Vodka > C#!”
I looked through my notes from class, about three sentences that didn’t explain what I was working on. I rolled my eyes having realized another night of my life had been spent on homework. I clicked my screenname on messenger and changed my mood to read 'C# > life'.
“Olivia signed off.” I sighed.
“She’s missing the battle of C# vs life? Boo!”
The words started to skew sideways a little before I realized my head was tilting. “Booze kicked in right meow”
“POP! POP! POP! TAKE THAT GANG OF C’S!” She replied.
I actually laughed out loud, my hand clenching over my ribcage. “You make everything better.” I typed and smiled at the screen. I immersed myself in compiling and debugging, then compiling again until the program ran without error. I submitted the assignment and brought the empty bottle and shot glass back to the kitchen where I glanced at the window and noticed it was now dark out. Olivia hadn’t called all day and it seemed like she was ignoring me more.
I tried to focus as the instructor drew numbers on the board but I couldn’t comprehend the material, I’ve always learned differently. After classes my girlfriend Olivia and I usually studied online together but everything seemed to be steadily going downhill since I moved away from home to go to college in a different city. Several hours of coding, debugging and compiling later I kicked the chair back from the computer out of frustration, sometimes I felt like the reason we had so many assignments due was to train us to sit in front of the computer for hours at a time.
It had been another day of ignored texts and rejected chat requests between Ollie and I, our schedules were pretty much the same but that somehow left us without any time to talk.
A text brought my phone to life where a picture of a doll dressed as a cowboy with the giant words, ‘OWDY PARDNER draped across the top.
My face lit up when I saw Emily’s name, suddenly the day didn’t suck anymore. Emily made the stress of everything go away, she accepted me for who I was, didn’t make me study and didn’t judge me when I drunk texted her. She’s been my best friend for years but we’ve never met in person. I sent back a picture of a wrestler and wrote, “Today has been brutal.”
“Out of curiosity, how drunk are you?” Emily replied.
“Not drunk at all but C sharp is messing with my brain if that counts.” I admitted, 8 hours in class followed by 4 hours of building a workable code had taken its toll on me.
“It sounds like a 2 or 3 shot kind of day.” She encouraged.
“Maybe one shot to kill the pain.” I pondered my limits.
“THREE SHOTS! DON’T MAKE ME GET UP IN YOUR GRILL!”
I went to the kitchen and grabbed a 40 oz and a shot glass with a mustache print on it. “One.” I poured one shot and tilted my head back, holding my breath as I swallowed. The after burn made me shake my head from side to size, wiggle my shoulders around and wait for the numbness to set in.
“C sharp < vodka. DON’T LET THEM WIN!” Emily texted.
I laughed “So C# is a gang now?” I poured another shot, wondering if she knew what C sharp was.
“A WHOLE GANG OF C’S! YOU GONNA PUT UP WITH THAT?!” She replied.
I downed the shot. “NO!” I texted back pouring a third shot. I thought I felt a quick lightning bolt shoot across my vision, followed by a wave of dizziness.
“Night Andy.” Olivia finally replied on messenger.
“Wait.” I typed, did I miss something? I scrolled through our old messages, skimming through hours of silence and small talk in a matter of seconds.
“I’m really tired so call if you want!” Ollie signed out.
I felt a stabbing sensation in my heart and clicked her screen name, staring at the word ‘Offline’ underneath it.
“I SAID THREE SHOTS!” Emily texted.
I smirked. “sadface.” I typed the word out as though the emoji wasn't enough.
“ONE MORE SHOT AND THE GANG OF C’S GETS IT!” She urged.
I swallowed a third, shook my head from side to side and typed, “DONE.”
“That's my boy.” Emily typed. “Vodka > C#!”
I looked through my notes from class, about three sentences that didn’t explain what I was working on. I rolled my eyes having realized another night of my life had been spent on homework. I clicked my screenname on messenger and changed my mood to read 'C# > life'.
“Olivia signed off.” I sighed.
“She’s missing the battle of C# vs life? Boo!”
The words started to skew sideways a little before I realized my head was tilting. “Booze kicked in right meow”
“POP! POP! POP! TAKE THAT GANG OF C’S!” She replied.
I actually laughed out loud, my hand clenching over my ribcage. “You make everything better.” I typed and smiled at the screen. I immersed myself in compiling and debugging, then compiling again until the program ran without error. I submitted the assignment and brought the empty bottle and shot glass back to the kitchen where I glanced at the window and noticed it was now dark out. Olivia hadn’t called all day and it seemed like she was ignoring me more.
It me.
12/6/21