Binary

Darkness surrounded us all, isolating each mind from the world, focusing all the energy of the body on the glowing screen before our eyes and the keyboard at the reach of our fingertips. The room is cool, to keep the machines from overheating, but freezing us over. Yet we don't care, we can't feel it.

Programming… is speaking the language of God and Nature.

Think of the problem. Think of a solution. Pass that solution into a code the computer can understand. Write the code. Save and compile… If it passes the test, you can sigh in relief and relax on your chair as you run your program. If it does not, you have to go back to the editor and read each line of code carefully.

You choose: correct or incorrect. Pretty simple, actually…

And against all the laws that were established for that moment of tension, I turn to look at my right side, to look at him. Anger and jealousy rise inside of me, and they soon take over the place of my blood in my veins, accelerating my heartbeat. I have to finish before he does, and have it work better than his try.

Efficient and effective. The two main things any program must be.

Wait. That's all you can do while the computer compiles your program. Wait. And when it becomes a long wait, you know a long list of errors will come out, and you'll need to start over again. It's frustrating for most, but for me it isn't; I need my mistakes being pointed out, so I can work on them and make it all better, so I can win against him.

Perfect compilation, error-less execution… Isn't it sweet?

Oh, yes, it is. The sighs of relief are almost moans of pleasure when that happens. It means we're fine. It means we're smart. It means a good grade. It means you stay… It means I did it! I call the professor over with a whisper, he comes. He checks the program as it compiles and works.

A pat on the head, a smile, a note on the pad, and you're gone.

I won today… and I need to do it again.

They are scared from me; I can see it in their eyes as they talk to me, as they see me walk by… How can it be that a girl is now amongst them? One that's willing to fight them to reach the sky as well? And that fits in, as opposed to the normal girls, who don't and then run away from it?

Pretty girls don't fit in here. Go back home.

But he isn't scared. He mocks at me with just one glance, as talking to me would be wasting valuable oxygen, as moving to point at me and laugh would be too tiring. I'm small at his eyes. Small and worthless… and a girl. A girl trying to be a boy. An incomplete girl…

Zero and one. Binary… You're only zeros to my eyes.

I walk around the tables heading to the back of the room, avoiding being too close to any guy filling all the other spaces. I take out my laptop from my backpack and turn it on, my mind immediately leaving this world for another one that's better. But something on the back of my mind tells me to look up to the left, and I do…

Hello, my beloved doll. Ready to play?

I glare back at him, just before the professor reaches the desk at the front of the class. That's very far if you think about it from my perspective; it's almost Neptune being watched from Venus, with Mars, Jupiter, Saturn and Uranus in between. These bastards are all very tall, and the professor's too far away, I can't see!

Give up so easily? You disappoint me.

I glare again at him and take out my glasses from my backpack. It does get better, but my view is still being blocked by their big, nerdy heads. I poke the shoulder of the guy in front of me, and smile at him as he turns around. I politely ask him to move aside a little bit, so I can see… or he'll be eyeless by the end of the day. He moves.

Don't try to be a boy… Just don't, give up!

I send him another quick glare, before I smirk and turn to look at the front of the class, my attention back to the professor giving the class. I need to learn. I came here to learn. And nobody can question that, nobody can get in the middle, nobody will stop me from doing it… not even him, no matter how hard he tries.

I don't give up as easily either, just so that you know.

…I know, don't worry. But it gives the same, anyways.

Weekend. After a full week of programming work at school, we were out to do as we pleased. We were free to go outside and "keep running the program code of our lives," as the professor had told us during the last class with a big smile in his old, yet happy and warm face. "Beware of fatal errors."

Where do you think you're going? We're not over yet.

I met him at the stairs. We glared at each other for what seemed like an eternity, the students flowing around us, used to our way of being with each other. He was blocking my way down. He has this… I don't know, that some guys have and that capture you, don't let you move on. Could it be… his extra fat's gravity field?

I know you mock at me in your mind, just like I mock at you.

Oh, really? How would you know that? Oh, yes, I forgot! …you're God, aren't you? You know everything, you control everything. Then why I'm not out of your way yet, eh, God? I'm just a simple mortal, after all. A simple mortal girl. Why haven't you done anything against me yet? Are you afraid?

You know what? Shut up.

And I do. Surprisingly I do. His lips over mine, in a gentle kiss, we block out the world like when we sit down in front of our computers and begin programming. How strange… The problem here was our differences, our hatred. The solution was love. And the only way we found a way to apply the solution was a kiss.

I'm yours, you're mine. Nobody wins, nobody loses.

…but your code, my friend, doesn't compile successfully. You back off away from me, yet avoiding the stairs, an expression of pain on your face as you bend over. I bring my knee down and lean against the wall opposite from you, smirking while shifting my backpack from one shoulder to the other.

You think you're so smart. You think you won…

No, my friend. "I won," and I walk away, down the stairs, while humming my favorite song. "Have a nice weekend, my friend!"

Author's notes:

Very, very, VERY vaguely based upon my own experiences at college, and also vaguely inspired by God's Hand, written by Golden Vixen.

Just a random story, though; it's nothing special, really… Yet it says a lot, if the reader is the right one, if the moment and place are the right ones. Read and Enjoy.