"Madam?"
Amanda looked up, taking her attention from her cell phone screen. She stared at the clerk behind the counter, waiting for her to hand over the payment.
"I'm sorry, what did you say?", Amanda inquired, confused. She had been distracted, and hadn't heard her say the amount owed.
"the coffee was 12 and 50, lady," retorted the woman, visibly irritated.
"Oh sorry..."
Amanda was always distracted when she texted her "virtual boyfriend", as she used to call him. A guy named Rafael, whose profile on a dating app had caught her eye. They'd been talking for months, and now they'd decided to meet in person.
She still had no idea how, after so long talking, they kept finding new things to discuss.
Tucking the phone into her pocket, Amanda fumbled for the debit card in her purse, showing it to the cashier. She pressed her lips together, flicking him in the air.
After paying for the cup of coffee, the girl left a bistro near the college. Mechanical Engineering classes were always heavy, but she was relieved that her day was finally free. She had time off from work, so she decided to meet a friend.
Matteo was what you might call a genius. A talent wasted by public and private power; a genius hidden to the world. A physics student fascinated by the universe and astrophysics — also many science fiction movies.
The young man was a freshman at Amanda's college, and he suggested opening an arcade bar near campus. Matteo had some money and was able to carry out his proposal by buying an old shed. At night, his bar called Arcade was always full of drunk college students. For part of the day, it was occupied by a bunch of scholars, doing experiments in the sheds far from the bar. Matteo said the bar is an investment with great financial returns.
Amanda loved to stop by now and then, because she enjoyed Matteo's astrophysics studies.
Even distracted, exchanging messages with Rafael, she passed through the doors of the shed that day. Her friend stopped what he was doing, looking at her at that moment. She was holding the coffee cup straw in her mouth, and moving her fingers quickly across the screen of her cell phone.
"You'll still get run over, Amanda," Matteo said, frowning. "You should watch where you're going."
The girl looked up from the phone screen to her friend. Matteo was a wiry, curly-haired boy who was heavily smeared with grease.
"I bet you're talking to your virtual friend," he said with a resentment in his voice. "Haven't let go of that phone in months."
"Hello to you too," Amanda replied. "Just so you know, walking and typing on my cell phone is a talent. Do you think I'm going to trip over thinking and walking at the same time?"
The friend seemed to doubt it. Which made Amanda feel her face flush, then snort with disdain.
"Well…" she smiled. "Rafael is my almost boyfriend."
Matteo laughed at that hypothesis.
"You really can't believe that guy you've never seen in your life is your twin star" he used irony and mockery at the same time.
"Twin Star?" Amanda repeated. "Wouldn't that be 'soulmate'?"
"I don't work with metaphysics."
Amanda chuckled, partially dividing her attention to what her friend was building.
"I smell grease and screw and mechanical engineering," she said, sending Rafael one last message. "Need my mechanical genius?"
Matteo moved his mouth, glancing at his build that was still taking shape. It was a telescope designate to cover the entire ceiling. It took a lot of time and money, but it was far from over. Sometimes, Amanda went there to help tighten some screws. Though she suspected Matteo had made it up to please her and keep her around.
When they first met, she told her friend that she loved the space and watching it from the city's observatory, closed for maintenance and never reopened. The observatory was a delightful childhood memory, and Matteo seemed to feel it in Amanda's bright eyes as she mentioned the days her father would take her to the telescope to "hunt" for stars.
"I always need your help," Matteo said. "I'm an astrophysicist who understands a little mechanics, but only theory. I have this problem with making the dome."
"Well" Amanda looked up, "that's a civil engineer thing, but I can try to help with something."
"The project is yours" Matteo shrugged. "And you were really supposed to be here ten minutes ago before I broke the roof vent valve."
Amanda felt heat rise from her chest to her face. She dropped the phone in her pocket, and ran to find one of the mechanical valves that opened the roof completely broken.
"Damn, Matteo!" she howled. "That cost a lot! Why the hell were you messing with what you don't know?"
"Because since you found your virtual boyfriend, you almost don't show up here. The other day I saw you sitting on a bench in the college garden, laughing to yourself with your face on that phone" Matteo had a tense line in his mouth. "I'm anxious, you know, I want to end this soon. I can't wait for you to finish dating."
Amanda shook her head. The friend always found a space to tease Rafael. If she didn't know him, she could tell Matteo was jealous.
"It has nothing to do with my friend, I just found a job. Unlike you, I need money to support myself" she replied, in the same tone. "How much did we spend on this project, man? Oh no! From today, I forbid you to touch the dome project.
"And when are you going to dedicate more time to him?" Matteo rubbed his greasy hand on his face. "Reminds me a lot of my cousin, who gets stuck on this damn phone talking to his "little friends." You're so beautiful, you have a lot of of guys wanting to date you. Life is made of matter, not bits and megabits, Amanda. You need to find an organic person, not a virtual one.
"I don't need to hear it from you."
They looked at each other, then laughed for a few moments. Matteo always teased Amanda about her virtual life. She just had some problems relating to someone real, because on the internet everything was easier. And she could barely remember the last time she'd had a real boyfriend.
Her life was completely focused on studying and getting a good job after that. She had studied hard to get a place at the federal university, leaving little time for other entertainment. After passing the entrance exam, things were no different.
"Well" Amanda sighed, looking at the soldering and metal work around the shed. "Since you did me the favor of breaking it, I'm going to go online and look for another part to replace. But you will pay!"
"Deal done." Matteo laughed.
But it took some time to work, Amanda and Matteo left the heavy tasks, to have fun in the arcades of the bar.
Their friend, a student in computer engineering, had asked them to test a new virtual reality engine, which he was betting on would be successful in the market. The racing simulator, however, was a tremendous failure. Amanda and Matteo came out of the simulator vomiting, because their brains didn't work well when the screen was moving in their eyes and their bodies were immobile.
Then they laughed, because it was so much fun.
As on a daily basis, the friends started talking about the project, and ended up having no idea how they stopped working on it. Amanda believed they would never end without the necessary focus.
Another day left, and she realized that despite the distractions, she would do better for the good of the project the next day. She returned home, thinking about it very hard, although she was happier that there had been no incidents with her irritating allergies.
Amanda's parents lived in a suburban neighborhood in the city of São Paulo. She lived in a traditional village, in a large, one-story house.
Her father worked as an accountant in his own company that made some good profits, her mother was her secretary. They led a humble life.
Amanda breathed in as soon as she entered the house, smelling her dinner. Her stomach growled loudly because she was tired from the full day and hungry from not having eaten yet.
She passed through the living room, heading to the kitchen. Her parents were already home. Mr. Richard was a tall man with dark skin tone and a large, curvy nose. Mrs. Louisa, a short woman, smaller than Amanda, plump and long bleached bronze locks. Her mother was stirring the sauce in an old pot, the color of which was starting to turn yellow.
"Oh, darling!" said Mr. Richard, smiling. "I thought I was going to go out with friends again."
Amanda loved her parents. They were decent, good people. She couldn't have asked for better people to raise her. She didn't even remember once being mistreated. And they loved her equally.
"I'm glad you came to dinner with us," her father continued, leading up to grab a third plate for her from a cabinet built into the wall. "How is the project?"
"Not even close to finished" Amanda replied, sitting up. "Matteo wasn't feeling well after we were playing arcade games, so we decided to close today's schedule."
Mrs. Louisa turned to the table, setting a plate of meatballs in the center.
"You and these games!" she complained, glancing at her daughter. "Your eyes are still going to drop from playing these silly little games."
She patted Amanda's hand as the girl turned her attention to the screen of her cell phone, which she had taken out of her jeans pocket.
"And you, your fingers are going to fall off from fiddling with that phone."
"Oh, Mom, please." Amanda held up her hand to defend herself. "I turned off my cell phone, I stayed all day without talking to anyone. I feel isolated, not knowing what is going on."
"You should at least wash up before coming to dinner" the woman picked up the phone. She looked at the screen, and shook her head. "I hope this kid has a job, because to send a hundred messages in a day, he has to be at least a bum."
The woman looked at her daughter.
"No phone at dinner, missy." She tossed the phone into her apron pocket.
"Oh, mom, come on?" Amanda tried to reach for the device. "I'm not a teenager anymore."
"She will always be my little girl, who still lives in my house. So you are under my rules."
Amanda wanted to retort, but for as long as she'd known herself, her mother had insisted on the ultimate rule: dinner is dinnertime, no TV, no cell phone. She did because she knew her daughter had a tendency to get too distracted when she found something of interest to her.
She grunted under her breath, picking up a meatball with a fork.
Her father chuckled, and at that exact moment, Lion, the family cat, jumped onto the table.
"Hey, cat!" exclaimed, Mrs. Louisa. "The dinner table is no place for you!"
"Lion!" Complained Mr. Richard, picking up the pussy carefully. "Go eat your food."
"He wants to see me" Amanda laughed, noticing the cat come up to her legs, brush her head. Every time he returned from his busy day, the animal would approach purring in search of affection.
Amanda believed her days were perfect. There wasn't one who didn't feel full and satisfied. Her parents were good, she made good friends. Life was not cruel to her. Then, like that day, when she laid her head on the pillow, she closed her eyes and prayed to God. She was grateful for everything she had, for the food on her plate, even for the bad days, which also came occasionally.
After dinner, she waited a while, after telling her parents how her day was. She waited for digestion, replying to Rafael who had sent her a bunch of silly messages. Mostly, he sent funny messages, the famous memes. So after that, she was feeling butterflies graze her belly.
They had arranged to meet the next day. They would have a date at a mall near a city subway line. They would watch any movie, talk in person. They would really know each other, going beyond the lines of code on a cell phone screen.
Amanda felt her stomach tickle, because Rafael was so handsome in the photo that it hurt. His blue eyes almost made her lose herself in childish dreams.
She laughed like a lonely idiot, feeding all her feminine dreams. She wondered if Rafael was like a prince. She hoped so.
Running a hand over her flushed face, Amanda nearly stepped on Lion, who ran past her legs as he realized she was going to the bathroom. The cat followed her everywhere when she got home.
"Hey Lion, you might have a daddy tomorrow" she said, laughing at the animal, picking it up in her arms. She looked at him, noting how his eyes were as blue as they were in Rafael's pictures. The cat let out a meow as the owner stared at it thoughtfully. "Yeah, I know, I shouldn't have so many expectations. But you know how I am... I fall in love easily."
She kissed the animal's head, releasing it to enter the bath. Amanda hummed loudly, only stopping when her mother knocked on the door, scolding her because it was late.
After that, still laughing like an idiot, Amanda straightened into her pajamas, ready to go to sleep. She settled back into the sheets of her bed, closing her eyes for a brief prayer. But before finishing the last thank you, she was startled when Lion jumped from the wardrobe beside her bed onto her legs.
"Damn, cat!" she complained, startled.
As if nothing had happened, the animal purred, then settled between her legs. She rolled a little, then started licking her own legs. Amanda ran a hand over his ears, and because of that, he ran away. I hated being touched.
Amanda shook her head, disillusioned by her contempt for the owner. Without meaning to, in the movement, she saw the telescope her father had given her after the city observatory had been closed.
She walked up to him and pointed to the sky. It was a little bad stargazing with such an old device and all the pollution. Still, Amanda always peeked into the space as a bedtime ritual.
Hunting for stars, even though it was bad to see them, Amanda saw some of them in the sea from space. The moon was beautiful that night. She turned from side to side, looking for nothing in particular.
Giving up she peered at the sky and the stars, and at that moment she saw a ray of light coming from the sky, something out of the ordinary. At first it looked like a prism, but a few minutes passed, and she was sure she was going crazy.
She pulled away, frowning. She peeked over her shoulder at her cat, puzzled. She felt her heart pound, looking back into the prismatic light. For a moment, it seemed to be heading towards her.
Confused, she turned away from the telescope. She looked out the window with her naked eye and saw the light shine brighter. She covered her eyes and wondered if he was watching a UFO incident. The light looked like a rainbow coming down from the sky like a bridge.
The girl felt the bright light enveloping her, and saw matching dots of glitter swirling in the air around her. She lifted her hand to make sure it wasn't melting, and found her hand dissolving into pieces. She saw herself blending as one with that prism and becoming a particle of light.
Amanda had no idea what was happening, only that the fear taking her whole was as powerful as the force that pushed her into the light to engulf her completely.