Even if it takes forever

Chapter 2: Before us

Before you I had nothing. Nothing good, anyway. I miss us, Alex.
March, 2015
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It Was finally March. And even if spring was slowly claiming her rightful place, In Romania, where she lived, it was still cold.
She hated it. Sometimes she told her parents that she was born in the wrong country.She was a summer person. She loved every little thing, from the sun, to the suffocating warmth.She grumbled in frustration when her alarm started ringing again.

Getting out of bed, she consoled herself with the thought that it was going to be ok, the day will pass, like so many others.

She dressed, put her laptop, charger and a bottle of water in the backpack, and ran downstairs after she washed her face and brushed her teeth She ate a bowl of cereal with cold milk, drank her coffee, thenwent towards the door.

Suddenly, she froze. "Mom, you upstairs?" Receiving no answer, she grumbled. Her father went to work, and she remembered that her mother told her two days before that she'll go to work earlier.

Running  upstairs she retrieved her white cane, then went and got her backpack.
Typing a code on the small keyboard that was next to the front door she waited for the 3 beeps, then smiled, knowing that the security alarms and sensors were activated.Opening the door, The cold air and rain hit her instantly.

"You're kidding me! I'm not walking to school on a weather like this."

No one answered, and she didn't expect someone to. Taking her phone out of her pocket, she called one of the taxi companies."hello. Can you please send me a taxi to the same address like last time?"
"The same name?" Said a bored person.
"yes." After a minute, the woman answered. "It will arrive in 2 minutes, the number is 202."
"Thanks, bie!" Said the girl. Satisfied, she opened an application called together in the darkness, and waited.
She wasn't idiot. When the taxi stopped in front of her, she tapped the start button on her touchscreen phone, and the video started.
"Hello, Adriana here. How can together in the darkness help you today?"
"hello Adriana, nice to meet you." She pointed her phone's camera towards the taxi.
"Can you please tell me if the number is 202?"
"Sure thing sweetheart, You've got it. That's 202." The girl entered in the taxi, and gave the man the school address, then turned her attention back to her phone.
"Thanks so much, I really appreciate your help. I don't want to take the wrong taxi or to be fooled by some idiots. Things like this don't happen often but still..."
"They don't happen, True. But it's better to be safe than sorry. Is there Anything else I can help with?"
Asked Adriana."Not at the moment, but thanks again."
"Anytime, That's why we're here. Have a great day!"
"You too." She tapped finish, then gave Adriana 5 stars. When they arrived at her school, the girl asked what was the price, The man answered 45 lei.
Calmly, she took a picture of the screen where the price was shown. The true one was 14 lei.
After she paid, she got out of the car and went to the driver's window.
"Advice. Never subestimate people. Blind or not, We don't like to be tricked. I know the usual prices, and I hate when idiots like you try to fool me.
Fire burns, you know? And lies ... Well. You'll see what lies can do." frowning, she opened the door and went in the school. Leaning on a wall, she called the taxi company.
The same woman answered in a bored tone.
"Can I talk to the manager, please? I have something to report." Afther a few minutes, her stubbornness won.
"Andrei Iancu here, How can I help, miss?"
"Hello. I'm sorry to bother you, But I need to report something.
I strongly believe that lies shouldn't be tolerated. So this is what happened.
I am blind and today I called a taxi, because it was cold." After she explained what happened, the man sighed."First... You didn't bother us. The truth is, if we want to change something, we need to do it ourselves. Change starts with us. I am sorry that this happened. Your next 10 trips will be free, and He will have 45% of his profit donated to organisations. Please pick two."
Taken by surprise, she stopped for a few seconds, then, in a determined voice, she said. "cancer organisations, and organisations for children born prematurely."
When he answered, the smile was clear in his voice. "alright. Thanks for reporting. You are a brave person, Miss. Have a nice day."
She smiled. That was a interesting beginning for her day. Closing her phone, she went to class.
****
She couldn't wait for class to end. Her eyes were basically closing, and she needed to go to the bathroom desperately. seven of her classmates were skipping class because they were supposed to review a book they liked.
She Didn't like doing her homework but she still crawled through the process. Anyway, she considered that school was just a waste of time. There are things that you learn, and never use. She'd rather learn online than bother to go at school, but she didn't want to disappoint her parents.
She knew what disappointment was. When her grandmother died she tried to fool herself that she'd return, but that never happened. She was protecting herself, and when she finally dared to pull the bandage of carefully crafted illusions away, it hurt. There were things she knew that will stay with her forever, like when she realized that her classmates wanted her friendship mainly because she was smart.
In her opinion, she wasn't smart. All she did was to read books at home, to write fanfiction and to play online games, but that was a recent hobby.

She hated when people tried to mess around with her. She heard them talking in the bathroom. They wanted the food she brought from home but never finished, help with homeworks, and someone to find believable excuses when they skipped class.
She liked sharing her food. She had no problem with that. But she hated when she was used for her good essays at English, stories at Romanian, psychology theories, and latin skills. People weren't pawns good only for a while, disposable when they finished their role.
Some of her classmates considered her a daddy's girl, because she dressed nice, had a laptop and a good phone. When her parents gave her money she used them to get her classmates out to pizza, coffee and things like that.
Even more, She hated when they mentioned her villa with a sarcastic tone, like it was her fault that her family worked and managed to build that. She didn't work on it, it wasn't her accomplishment, and anyway, it wasn't even a villa, it was a house with 3 bedrooms in a quiet part of the city.
**
Jumping slightly when the bell rang, signaling the end of the day she sighed, relief rushing through her.
Before she had time to move, one of her classmates was by her side.
"Hey hey! You busy? Maybe we can get out to drink something at the Mall?" She smiled to herself. "I'm sorry, I'm not free. I have something to do, and it is important."
Livia  could feel the frown in Mara's voice when she answered. "Come on, what can be more important than spending time with your friends?"
Unzipping her bag she pushed her hair out of her eyes. "How I said, I will be kind of busy, Sorry. Maybe another day?"

Mara rolled her eyes. "You're going with daddy to get the newest iPhone or something? Bored of your phone?" Changing her tone to a sweeter one the girl continued. "If you can't join us then can you please help me with the essay for next week?"
Glaring, she got out her cane, phone, put her laptop in her backpack, then answered in an icy tone. "I will tell you what, mara. What's more important than spending time with you and the others it's spending time with true friends. With people that understand me. With honest people, not liars. We are not in an American movie. Stop acting like the girls you see in movies."

She walked to the door, then added.

"I don't use an iPhone. I changed mine last year only because I dropped it in water. Ah, and by the way. Next time when you want an essay made, don't come to me. I prefer to have no friends than to be a disposable toy. I don't mind helping, Mara. But I don't want to be your friend only while I can help you. Have a nice day."With that, she left the class, knowing that the rumors will start soon. But she really didn't care.She wasn't a puppet. She wasn't going to let others control her life. When she got out of the building, she smiled. The sun was finally out, so she got her phone and typed the address of her house. Fitting one of the headphones in her ear, she started walking, following the directions from the GPS.She stopped, waiting to cross the street. When she heard the sound that signaled that she was free to go, she beamed. In her hurry, she hit the wheel of a car lightly with her cane. After she said sorry, she stepped on the sidewalk.**
Once she arrived home, she ran inside, typing the code to get the alarm to shut up. Locking the door, she ate, made her homework, then smiled brightly. She wasn't lying when she said that she was going to be busy.
In February, a teacher who heard that she liked text based games, told her about Alter Aeon. She said that it even had sounds.
That attracted Livia's attention instantly. She loved sounds and text. And even if she never played a game like that before, she fell in love from the moment she created her first character.
She typed commands, and the game answered with text. She killed mobs, made friends because it was multiplayer, with people from all over the world and at the same time, she practiced her English. She was really excited because  that day she had plans. She was going to join some friends in a group.
Typing her username and password, she was welcomed with the sound of the game opening.
A few seconds after that, her friends sent welcome messages to her on the friends channel. She loved playing there, it made her feel not so alone and, in her opinion, online friendships were worth as much as the real life ones. The fact she was a girl didn't stop her from having fun, everyone was polite, and the admins were really kind.
Sometimes where someone lived was no barrier. Barriers were for the ones who were afraid to take chances. And she wasn't.

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Alright! This chapter is longer. I wanted to show you how is Livia's life before she meets Alex.
But Don't worry, you'll get to know him in the next chapter!

Are you ready?
To be honest I am not, from here the story will get... intense and complicated.
The game Alter Aeon is real. Before I started this book I asked the admin if I can use some descriptions and game messages.

He agreed. Get ready!