Dripping in drama, "Freezing" details the life of Verona, a twenty-two year old from Seattle and her group of friends.
Follow Verona as she learns about a new world of hackers and technology, journeys through her own world of problems, falls in love and learns she's been in love the whole time.
"What would you say if I told you I could tell you about your future for the rest of the year, even including the most random detail to a point?"
"I'd tell you I don't believe in fortune telling and the occult," I laugh.
"I'm being serious Verona."
That is my name, Verona. It is a Latin name that is most popularly known by the Italian city, Verona. I am neither Latin nor Italian though, I am from Seattle. My mom is fully American and my dad is Portuguese and spent many years living in Britain.
"... What?" I say.
I am talking with my best friend. His name is Atticus. We have been friends since I was 9 and right now, I am 22 and he is 23.
He is sitting in front of rows of monitors. Yes, 6 in rows of 2 on top of each other. I never really understood why he was so addicted to technology but who am I to judge?
"There's a lot you don't know about me and I'm smarter than you think," he states.
I am not sure how we have ended up at this point of the conversation. Just a moment ago we were talking about my most recent break up and now we are here, talking about some kind of… nonsense it seems. Though, it appears to me that he is taking this quite seriously.
"Are you feeling okay, Atticus?" I ask him, I am genuinely concerned.
He sighs as if I do not really understand him at all. Honestly, I do not right now.
"I know you like the back of my hand." He tells me; he sounds softer now, less matter of fact.
I give out a little laugh. I suppose we have known each other for 13 years and I do tell him everything. It has been a couple of months since we have sat down to check in with each other.
"Yes, as do I to you," I reply.
He takes his turn to laugh now, the laughter he gives though not bitter, more so like I am a little dumb, gives me a sting in my chest.
"Well would you want to know?" He continues.
I bite my lip, look down at the floor and I play with the sleeve of my jacket.
"You're smart but you're a terrible planner. So, I took the time to plan it for you. Well, not plan it for you per say. Just work out what you would be doing. I have a lot of time on my hands, and I like a challenge," he explains.
I turn to my left to face him; he is sitting at his desk wearing an old brown hoodie and dark green corduroy pants. His hair is a little longer than it usually is, and it looks like he has not had a hair cut in a little while. He has sparse lines of stubble on his cheeks and a goatee is forming on his chin. His hair is dirty blonde, almost brown. He has olive skin, and he looks a little more tired than usual. He wears an earring on his right ear.
"Maybe I've left you alone for too long," I speak.
"You're not my only friend, Verona."
He turns in his swivel desk chair and faces his monitors, a little scowl forming on his face that quickly softens out. He continues talking quickly so that I do not have time to respond.
"How about I tell you and you'll thank me at the end of it?"
I decide to just humour him. It seems important to him, and I know he does like a challenge.
He swivels his chair round to face me again and he smiles as he does so. His light, hazel eyes pierce onto me as he stares directly at me.
"Okay, Atticus. So, tell me," I finally agree.
He finally smiles again and in turn I smile back at him.
Atticus is usually a bit of a goofball, he is the life of the party, but he is also the sensible one, usually the designated driver if we are out partying with friends. He can be quiet; he can be shy, or he can be loud and grandiose. You never really know what you are going to get with Atticus but that is just an extra added charm about him.
We met in school; he was studying in the year above me and we first started talking when he noticed that the kids in my class were picking on me for wearing huge dorky glasses. You know those stereotypical dork glasses, the big chunky ones with the thick frames. Yes, those.
We did not talk much in school but after that he would always look out for me. Fortunately, because we live two streets away, we ended up at the same high school and that is when we started talking more, when I was in my second year.
An even bigger fortune is that I traded in those glasses for contact lenses as soon as I started high school. Well, I will let Atticus be the bigger one.
He is super handsome, and all my female friends tend to bring him up in conversation. Yet strangely, he prefers to be alone. I have only known him to have one girlfriend when he was eighteen and that was serious.
They broke up about two years ago, when he was twenty-one and he has been single ever since.
I look eagerly up at him, there has been a little silence and I assumed he was trying to work out what to say, that or he has been pulling my strings as it has been a while since I last saw him.
He is thinking, his face keeps changing to smiles, then frowns. He is either inhaling or exhaling loudly. I can tell he is in a tough spot.
He gives one more thoughtful look before finally opening his mouth to speak and letting sound form into words this time.
"I'll start off easy as you probably won't believe what I have to say at the end. Well, you probably won't believe me at all."
I roll my eyes and nod my head. I wish he would just get out with it already. I do not speak as I fear it will only delay this conversation more and the amount of suspense he is creating is starting to get me interested.
"So, to start off, you're going to be single for the next six months which I don't think is enough time, especially considering who you're going to be dating."
He rolls his eyes and huffs at me, avoiding my eye contact for a moment.
"And anyway, you shouldn't jump so quickly in and out of relationships," he sounds a little like a parent and like he is scolding me.
I let out an embarrassed laugh.
"So, who's this guy I'll be dating?" I ask.
He flashes me a death stare and the smile quickly vanishes from my face.
"A guy from work, you'll be working as an intern in an office and please, just don't date this guy."
I stare at him blankly.
"I know you don't know who I'm talking about but just don't. Just stay single for a while, do not fall for it, Verona," he utters in a serious tone of voice.
He speaks fast again; it is almost hard to keep up, my face must be completely blank.
"In the meantime, before you date this guy in six months, which shouldn't be the milestone, it should be that you're starting a job which you should love. You will have a great deal of spare time on your hands." Atticus smiles in a mischievous manner.
"We'll spend some time together at parties. Chris is throwing a birthday party but we haven't been invited yet because he hasn't planned it."
He looks up at me and taps his head with his index finger and rolls his eyes in mock stupidity.
"Ah! But before that Chris will call you to ask what to get his girlfriend for her birthday. He will ask you to invite me because he is a little nervous to ask me himself. You'll think you know why, but you don't really."
I screw my face up and look at the floor again before giving him a quizzical look. He sighs and looks to the side, completely brushing me off. He continues speaking super-fast, almost robotic.
"Then two weeks later it's Olivia's birthday and she'll probably throw that in a nightclub in SoDo... can you believe it?"
I shake my head, no. I can't really imagine my best friend Olivia choosing to have her birthday party at a sleazy club in SoDo.
He looks down at his desk, thinking about something. He looks hesitant to continue. I have no idea what is going on in that mind of his right now.
"Anyway, after Olivia's birthday we don't have another birthday to attend for another couple of months, but Chris will throw a house party right before you land your job at Silverdale Offices. His parents will be going to Ontario for the week. You are not going to be looking for a job until around a week before Chris's party because you will be too busy missing the summer fun because of some bad things that will happen, I should not get into it, that is for you to find out. Then after you start working at the office as a personal assistant, we will barely see each other, and you will barely see any of our friends because you will be busy enjoying the summer again. Plus, your boss is absolutely freezing, and you will end up a little depressed.”
He takes a short pause to take a deep breath of air into his lungs and fidgets a bit in his swivel chair. He faces me to check that I am taking everything in, so I take the moment to speak.
"Silverdale Offices? Freezing cold boss?" I repeat, mimicking him in a playful tone.
He has really lost his marbles.
"Yes, and it's not just your boss that's freezing cold, it's everyone at the office because they're all stuck up and they'll patronise you on the daily. On your first day there, the receptionist will comment on how your white silk shirt needs an iron." He tells me, never taking his eyes away from mine.
"I don't even have a white silk shirt" I remark.
"That is exactly why I told you about it. You will buy it a week before you start when you get accepted for the job after a great interview. Congrats. You will end up buying a few things, which you chose and another special silk blouse in light blue. Also, Verona, you should stop wearing trousers because they don’t suit you as much as you think. You’re a woman, that’s all I’m saying.” He flashes me a big smile as though he is holding back from laughter, instead he takes a deep breath of air and turns around in his chair to face his computer screens.
He still has a playful look on his face as he continues speaking.
“She will comment on the need for an ironing job because you have woken up late on your first day because you will be up all-night texting Olivia. Since I will not reply because I know you will have an important day the next day. I apologize way in advance, but you should thank me really."
He really has lost it. I just nod my head at him and try not to laugh. He tuts at me, but I can see a small smirk forming on his face. He finally hides his playfulness and looks away from me again.
"Anyway, the only person who'll be nice to you- besides your manager for a short time before turning on you for no reason at all because you'll do a great job and she's just jealous because she's an insecure woman- is the guy you'll end up dating. And I am going to repeat myself again because I want you to remember. Don't date him."
"Why shouldn’t I?" I ask quickly, before he goes off into more endless rambling.
"I'll get there." He says, and he looks away. He stretches his neck side to side before making eye contact with me again.
"He'll be a bit of a dick the first time you meet, and you won't like him at all but that's his style because he's toxic and for some reason you always fall for that. I am not one hundred percent sure of the first thing he will say to you, but it will probably be something like 'Hi. Nice to meet you, I am Vinny'."
He says that last part in a thick New Jersey accent and I raise my eyebrows and laugh at him. He cannot be serious.
"I'm serious. Then after your first day at work he will ask you if you are down to hemp hemp hooray and you will just hooray even though you don't really want to because you just want to make friends at work and you probably haven't smoked one in about a week since Chris's party.”
He shrugs his shoulders in circular motions, and I am at a loss for words which is unusual for conversations between Atticus and me.
"Then after that he'll be really nice to you, and you'll start to fall for him though I really hope you don't. You will start to bond over the fact that he is an Italian from New Jersey, and your name is Verona. You will even make friends with the other people from the office but. They are not really your friends; they are Vinny's friends. None of your real friends like me or Chris, or Olivia or the others are going to see you but do not worry because you will be going out drinking with your 'friends' from the office every weekend.”
He cups his chin with his hands and then uses his left hand to rub hard on his forehead and brows. He looks as stressed out as I feel trying to keep up with him.
"We won't see you much really for six months until you break up with your new future boyfriend. Though I really hope you will just listen and do not even try it with Vinny.
He is not looking at me. He is stroking his fingers on top of his desk. I think of what to say but he continues in his mad ramblings.
"I'll be here for you, as a shoulder to cry on but I'm not really going to be happy about it because I warned you. I am warning you now.”
I raise my brows at him. He is being a little melodramatic and anyway, none of this is making any sense.
"You'll stay friends with the receptionist named Loren, who you should know by then isn't really your friend because she's more freezing than your boss but whatever because she's fake and she can be sweet at times. When really, she's sleeping with Vinny behind your back, and she hates you."
He nods his head strictly at me, as if I should be taking this seriously.
I cannot. I do not know any of these people.
"I'm not going to go into it about you and Vinny's relationship because to be quite frank I don't care and it's none of my business. I just had to tell you before something bad happens, you can stop it." He says.
I start playing with the sleeve of my jacket again. The way he is talking seems genuine and he really seems to believe what he is saying. It is starting to make me anxious. I cannot see why Atticus would wind me up like this. He has always been so protective and kind, so it is hard not to take it seriously. Though, there is a nagging thought in my mind that tells me I did leave him alone for too long. He is just pissed at me for ditching him when I got a new boyfriend.
"Then you'll get robbed on your way home from work one night when you get held back late and the robber will take your phone. The person you will decide to call on your landline when you get home is not me, but Vinny. Because he makes you feel better, even though he makes you feel like nothing." He tells me in a solemn tone of voice.
"Then you'll be back with Vinny"
He looks genuinely upset and slightly frustrated.
"You'll end things properly with Vinny about a month later and the breakup will be so bad that you'll quit your job at the office, and I'll be devastated because I'll know it would've been a good path for you."
Atticus is twiddling his thumbs, and the look of upset has not faltered from his face since it appeared.
"You'll be grandly depressed because you've lost your new lover but also because you loved that job even though it was a challenge…like me, you like those too."
He looks at me and smiles softly and I move my head a little and start to smile back at him.
"We'll hang out again and you'll get your friends back, your real friends that is."
He gives me a bigger smile and I am not sure why; but I tear up. He notices and speaks louder and faster.
"But I won't be around as much because I'm busy doing my own things and I am fed up being put on the back burner all the time."
Ah. So, I was right. This has all been a little plan to get me worked up so he can get back at me for ditching him for a boyfriend again. He really had me believing him for a sec-
"I’m still being serious. I am being honest.”
He cuts me off from my thoughts and I am a little taken aback. I furrow my brows and look straight at him trying to tell if he is being sincere or not. He really does look it, but I cannot understand why he is telling me all this.
"Vinny won't leave you alone and you'll keep falling back for, I don't know, you'll be different by then. I estimate another month. You will really try to stay away because by then you know he is really no good. You will even change your phone number a few times. Still, he won't leave you alone and that's why I'm telling you this...Because if you start something with Vinny, you'll be dead by next year before April."
I laugh at him, the kind of laughter that hurts the sides of your stomach. It's deep and filled with heart, I tilt my head backwards, so my face is entirely towards the ceiling and my neck begins to hurt. When I cannot laugh anymore, I stare at him.
He is not laughing with me.
"Serious," he says his tone is harsh and reprimanding.
"Vinny is a stalker with a bad temper and a big drug problem. Not just hemp hemp hooray. There are no hoorays with Vinny."
I sigh and shake my head.
"Listen, Atticus. If you are really that mad that we have not seen each other for some time because I was dating Mark, you really could have just said!" I tell him.
"I don't want to hear you talk about dating right now. I just want you to keep in mind what I have said. And anyway, do not come running to me with a super big crush after things mess up with Vinny, which you will...Because I am nothing like Vinny. I am protective and kind and exactly what you need, and you will realise that. And I expect you to have a crush on me in nine months’ time and I will be distancing myself away from you because I have my own life and my own things and to be honest with you Verona, sometimes you're really tiring in the way you make me feel. I would love to be your friend and support you through your breakup with Vinny, but I cannot at that point. In nine months. I cannot. So just listen to me now and stay away from Vinny or your life will be over in less than twelve months."
Well now I really cannot take him seriously. He says a man will want me dead and he knows that fact and he is not going to be there to protect me?
"Now you think that you can't take me seriously because a man wants you dead and I'll know that fact and I'm not going to be there to protect you." He says.
I stop dead cold and look at him with wide eyes. How did he guess that word for word?
"I told you I know you like the back of my hand, so just trust me," he says and turns back to his desk in a hurry, clicking on his mouse pad and turning his attention to the screens in front of him.
"Wait a minute… How do you know all of this?"
"It's about knowing people. Knowing you and from knowing you, working out what you will do next and from there working out the people you will know and what they're like… it's kind of like algorithms…or, to be technical; a transformer model." He tells me in a dismissive tone, still focused on whatever's on the computer screens in front of him.
"And how do you know things exactly to the point, people's names even where I'm going to work, what they'll be like?" I pester.
He sighs and shakes his head.
"Simple. I will tell you, but you cannot tell anyone because it's highly illegal”.
He stops what he is doing and looks me right in the eyes.
"I'm a hacker."
Chapter 2↷
