The Girl Who Speaks With Algebra

Epilogue

"That's hella distracting," I pointed out.

"Sorry," Paige said. She stopped kissing around my neck.

"I didn't say stop. I merely said it was hella distracting."

My girlfriend laughed. "Silly dip." Paige kissed my neck once more, followed by biting gently, making me shudder. She then straightened, throwing herself back onto my bed. Since I'm sure you're wondering – she was wearing that silk-like white blouse paired with the dark blue skirt again. We'd both changed after our self-defense courses.

"So, how far are you in those memoirs?" she asked.

"I'm at your bit. When we chose each other." I finished typing my sentence, then turned away from the computer at my desk to look at her. "You're really okay with me doing this?"

Paige gestured vaguely. "Yeah, yeah, just change my ex-es names to Monica and Gabrielle or something. By the time the thing's published, I'll probably be out of the closet, right?"

"I don't know if I'll publish it," I admitted. "I simply don't want to forget it. I mean, where does it even fit? Fantasy? LGBTQ? Romance? Mathematical non-fiction? New Adult? Magical girls?"

"Who cares?" Paige said. "Your article in the math newsletter was well received. Write more now, figure the rest out later."

"This might even qualify for erotica, given what happened on that beach blanket."

Paige sat up fast. "Flûte. You'll be putting THAT in too?!"

I laughed at her expression. "Maybe. In the extended version."

She rolled her eyes. "I'd say don't you dare, except now I'm damn curious to read about it from your point of view. Is this what it's like, dating a writer-slash-musician?"

"I wouldn't know. I'm dating a computer-scientist-slash-musician."

"Funny." Paige jerked her thumb over towards my wall. "How about that? You putting your note into the story too?"

I turned to look at the single sheet of paper taped there. The one that read 'Rose, It Gets Better. Eventually.'.

"Only at the end. I seriously don't remember it being in the narrative."

"I know you say that, but I saw it taped there the first day I was in your room," Paige objected. "You'd even started to wonder if you hadn't scrawled it in a sleep deprived state after all, but if someone was forging your handwriting."

"I don't think you're lying," I assured her. "I simply have no memory of it being there. Writing it, that time I travelled back? Was spur of the moment. I guess my timeline ended up in a slightly different quantum state as a result? Or something?"

"Or something. Maybe I'll understand it when I reach fourth year," Paige decided. "Make sure it gets in though. Self-affirmations, they can be more helpful than people think."

"Don't worry, I'll include it. Somehow." I raked my fingers back through my hair. "Also, I think I'll need to write all through this weekend, to try and get this done. Sorry, Paige, but – important bits are fading. And I was totally insubstantial on the math beach last night."

Even though I hadn't taken those last two of Julia's pills, I'd still been transported to Sine's beach every night for close to a week now. Whatever medication existed in my system was still concentrated enough to allow it; in fact, I'd avoided taking the new prescription, worrying that it would dilute the effect, as it had that time I'd experimented around Day 10.

The beach wasn't the same without Sine there. But being there did allow me eight hours of uninterrupted writing time each night, coupled with the ability to conjure events from my memory when they got spotty. So, I'd spent my week practically reliving the entire experience. For better or for worse.

Paige smiled sadly. "I'm sorry to hear that. About the fading that is, you can totally write all weekend. Did you want to take a pass on dinner tonight too?"

"Oh no. No, no, no," I said, reaching back to slap my laptop shut. "In fact, I want to show you something." I walked around to my closet, and pulled out my 'Algebra Girl' outfit. "Despite my link to their world fading more and more, this outfit? Still totally real."

"Yeah, well, we did kind of sacrifice a lot of fabric on our end for that," Paige remarked. "Did the dorm make you pay for replacement sheets?"

I grimaced. "Yeah. That's not the point though. Our mathie outfits weren't my first attempt." I replaced my pink outfit inside. "The night before, after rescuing Sine from the flood? When I first started thinking costumes? I pulled something else out. I figured it was a fair trade for the items I'd brought in to construct Sine's device."

Paige got that suspicious look. "Uh oh. Rose, what did you do?"

"I've kept an eye on it. It hasn't duplicated itself, or gone transparent, or fallen apart, or anything. And since you let slip yesterday that your birthday was coming up, I want you to have it."

Her eyes widened. "Rose, you're not saying that you re-created..."

I simply nodded, grinning broadly.

"Rose, no, you DIDN'T."

I reached into the back of the closet and pulled out the purple Princess dress that I'd accidentally put on Paige her first night in that dreamworld. "I totally did. My Princess Paige."

Paige stared at it, her eyes misting over a bit. I wasn't completely prepared for the enthusiasm of the tackle as she launched herself at me.

We ended up in something of a tangle on the floor, Paige peppering my face with kisses. "You're amazing, Rose," she sighed. "You're so sweet, and funny, and understanding, aaand I'm slowly realizing you are doing this on a Friday evening and not on my actual birthday because it's a more convenient day for 'roleplay', hmmmm?"

I cleared my throat. "Doesn't have to be tonight."

She pushed herself up, her hands on both sides of my head. "It totally can be, as long as you promise not to put it into the book."

"Sold," I said, running my fingers up and down her sides. "I'd never do such a scene justice anyway, the readers can use their imaginations."

I pulled her back down against me, and we kissed, and our tongues extended, and we rolled over until I was on top. "So how are you going to end the story then?" Paige murmured, as her mouth popped free.

"Oh, Paige," I cooed. "I think we both know that the story never ends. Mathematics is eternal."

By that, I mean you should totally get out there and read more about it. After all, who knows? It might help to change your life for the better. It certainly seems to have done a number on me.

END

(For more personified math, see "Taylor's Polynomials" on this site or my blog, mathtans.ca.)