Fic: Something New Under The Sun
Title: Something New Under The Sun
Pairing: Christy/Mark
Rating: PG
Disclaimer: TSN and its characters are not mine.
Summary: Christy was still growing into her skin when she first met Mark.
Author's Notes: A special thanks to reogulus, who helped me throughout the writing process and gave the the push I needed. Also, another thanks to everyone at Chatzy for being a wonderful support base. <3
Christy met Mark first.
He was in her electrical engineering lecture, sitting in the back row. Christy knew because she came late that day, so she took the seat next to him. There was a worksheet handed out before she arrived. She didn’t get one because there were no more copies. Christy swallowed her embarrassment and watched the PowerPoint lecture with obvious gaps that the worksheet would have helped her fill.
A piece of paper slid on her desk. It was a copy of the worksheet.
She looked at the guy next to her. Curly hair, bored expression on his face, leaning back on the chair, gazing down his nose at the lecture as if he was better than everyone else.
“Don’t you need this?”
“No.”
Christy was grateful, but she was a bit miffed at this guy’s arrogance. She wondered if he was one of those guys who talked shit out of his ass.
But then the professor asked a question and he answered it correctly while the rest of the class shuffled through the worksheet to find the answer.
Christy was impressed.
***
Christy’s mom called. She asked why Christy would choose engineering as a major because it was too hard for a girl. She sounded angry.
An ugly happiness crept into her heart. It was wrong, but Christy was happy that her mom was angry.
***
Christy never sat next to Mark again because she showed up to lecture on time ever since.
***
She later found out that his name was Mark Zuckerberg from her roommate, who ranted about Facesmash and feminism for several hours.
Christy laughed. Her roommate glared at her, but it was worth it.
***
Christy got a new roommate. Her name is Alice.
She liked Alice.
***
She later found out that Mark Zuckerberg created something called Thefacebook from Alice, who ranted about Thefacebook and how she’ll ‘totallly tap Mark’ for several hours.
Christy didn’t laugh. She listened.
***
Christy walked past her ex-roommate once. They hated each other, but the other girl stopped her for a chat. She began gushing about Thefacebook and how cool Mark Zuckerberg was.
Christy talked about feminism.
Her ex-roommate left.
***
Bill Gates came to give a talk. Christy went because he was Bill Gates.
She spotted Mark right away. She asked the guy next to him if that really was Mark, but inside, she knew.
The guy was hot. Christy asked if Mark and he wanted a drink with them later. The guy said yes.
Later, when Christy told Alice, Alice asked if she could have Mark; Christy could have Eduardo.
Christy liked Alice, so she said yes.
***
Hearing Mark on the other side of the stall was hot. And annoying because it Alice who got that noise from him.
***
Christy’s mom called and asked if she had a boyfriend yet. Christy said no. Her mom said that decent girls dated decent guys. Guys who made money and wore nice suits. Guys who asked girls out first and gave them nice presents.
***
Mark walked into lecture one day with the same hoodie he’d been wearing for the past two weeks.
***
Eduardo asked Christy if she wanted to have coffee sometimes. She said yes.
The dark blazer looked good on him.
***
Alice said she was going out with some guy. It wasn’t Mark.
***
Christy sat by Mark in the next lecture.
***
“Facebooked. Facebook me,” said Mark. “I like it.”
“Thanks.”
Christy smiled at Mark for the first time. Mark nodded and turned his attention back to the lecture.
***
Eduardo said he didn’t understand Mark because Mark didn’t want advertisers to monetize the site. He said Mark mumbled some nonsense about “not being cool,” which Eduardo didn’t understand because if there was nothing supporting the site, being cool would be the least of their problem.
Christy must not have understood Eduardo very well because she thought Mark made perfect sense.
***
Christy’s mom called. She told Christy that another cousin of hers was getting married.
She also told Christy that she liked Eduardo, and that Christy should bring him home over spring break. It was the first time she approved someone in Christy’s life.
Christy said yes, she’ll bring him home.
***
Eduardo was really nice. He brought gifts for her parents and sat through dinner patiently while her mother hammered on. They slept in separate bedrooms, but he gave her a good night kiss before they went to bed.
Eduardo was really nice.
***
Christy found out later that Mark didn’t go home over break. He was alone.
***
Mark looked exhausted.
***
“I know someone,” Christy told Mark. “You’ll like him.”
“Okay.”
***
Sean Parker was awesome. Eduardo was prissier than usual.
Christy didn’t understand Eduardo sometimes.
***
During the car ride, Christy wondered how it would feel if she leaned against Mark instead of Eduardo.
***
Eduardo was sturdy. Mark wasn’t. Mark moved too fast and Christy knew that she wouldn’t be able to keep up with him.
Eduardo would stay for her.
Mark wouldn’t. You either kept up with him or got left behind.
***
Christy wished she was stronger. Strong enough to leave someone behind. Only she wouldn't because she didn't want to be lonely.
***
Christy hated engineering. She didn’t know why it was her major.
“Engineering,” her cousin, who was getting married into a big-name business family, said flatly.
“Her boyfriend is into business, did you know that-” her mother said, but Christy didn’t need to hear the rest because she already knew. $300,000 one summer. Oil. Weather. She knew.
Christy continued with her engineering major anyway. Her resolve sounded so pathetic against Eduardo's accomplishments, but at least Eduardo was a nice guy.
***
It would been worse if Christy dated Mark.
***
“What are you trying to prove?” asked Mark.
Christy looked at him. She could deny it, but Mark was too intelligent for that. She wasn’t going to attempt making a fool out of him because she would only be embarrassing herself.
“What are you trying to prove?” She shot back instead. She briefly wondered how pissed the Winklevoss must be, how pissed Eduardo will be.
Mark turned back to the lecture, and that was that.
***
Pride was a beautiful, ugly thing.
***
Mark left for California.
***
Christy sat in the next semester of her electrical engineering course alone.
***
“Eduardo is pulling away from me,” said Christy.
“Eduardo is pulling away from everyone,” Mark sighed. He sounded tired over the phone, exhausted to the bone. She wondered if he’d eaten yet. She wondered if he was in front of his laptop now, in the dark with only a faint blue light from the screen illuminating his face.
“Get some sleep, Mark” was all she said before the conversation ended.
***
Christy felt as if everything she had was slipping through her fingers like sand.
***
“You hated engineering, but you still major in it. Why?” Mark asked.
“My mom said that I wasn’t smart enough to be an engineer because I was a girl. I was seventeen and thought it would be fun to prove her wrong. And to piss her off,” said Christy.
“Happy with your decision?”
“No.”
***
Christy didn't like her major, but she was at an age where she had accepted her mediocrity. At least she was good at engineering, even if it was peeling her inside.
And she liked Eduardo enough.
She could have an okay life.
***
“Women,” sighed her uncle. “With all their crying and their drama-”
***
Eduardo broke up with her. He gave her a scarf. A fucking scarf. Christy hated scarves. They snaked around your neck, trapped you, and choked you slowly.
Christy let the scarf burned and wished it was Eduardo instead.
***
Eduardo was supposed to be a nice guy.
It wasn’t fair.
***
Christy heard about it later. Heard about the arrest and the lawsuits. She called Mark.
They said nothing to each other.
Christy let Mark’s gentle breathing filled the empty void Eduardo left behind.
She wondered if Mark was doing the same.
***
Christy moved back to her parents’ house after graduation. No job. No boyfriend. Nothing.
Her mother just shook her head and said, “I told you so. Why didn’t you just marry a nice boy? I was eighteen when I married and I’m happy. I didn't even have a Harvard degree.”
***
“Remember when you asked what I was trying to prove?”
“Yes. Why?”
“I’m not trying to prove anything. I was trying to find me.”
“Oh.”
Mark hung up.
Christy continued to boil pasta on the stove. It was a simple call, but for some reason, she began to cry. She didn’t sob, but tears slipped gently down her face, and softly the invisible scarf around her neck began to unwound.
She tried to wipe the tears from her face, but more kept coming, and finally, she stopped trying and let herself go.
A year later and Christy finally allowed herself to cry. A year later and Christy finally allowed herself to cry over Eduardo. Two years later and Christy finally allowed herself to cry over Mark leaving. Four years later and Christy finally allowed herself to cry because she didn’t want many things to happen but she let them happen anyway without fighting back, just because she was trying to prove absolutely nothing.
***
Christy moved out of her parents’ house.
***
Mark called her again. He congratulated her. She thanked him.
***
“What are we doing?” Christy asked.
“What do you mean?”
“These phone calls.”
There was a pause, then, “You called me first.”
“You gave me your number.”
They danced around each other, and at the end, nothing happened.
***
The Facebook office looked amazing in person, all bright lights and open space and energetic people.
Mark was sitting in his office. Christy could walk in and say hi, but she was content to sit and watch him through the glass. Then Mark stopped working and rose from his seat, probably to get lunch (he actually ate during meal times now, Christy knew because he told her in those late night phone calls).
Mark saw her. He looked different. Stronger. Healthier. Happier.
Christy waved.
“You’ve grown,” Christy said as Mark approached her.
“You have as well,” said Mark when Christy stood, her heels making her a good inch taller than him.
“It’s the heels.”
“What are you doing here?” asked Mark.
Christy hesitated. Then, “I want to be here.”
“Really?”
“Yeah. Would you like to go out with me to lunch?”
“Will this be a date?”
Christy thought about how her mother wanted her to date a nice guy who always asked the girl out first, who wore nice suit and made money. She thought about how she was supposed to be many things, how she forced herself to be many things, how all of those things proved nothing.
Christy thought about what she wanted instead. She thought about the person that she really was.
“Yes.”
“Not trying to prove anything?”
“No.”
Mark smiled.
Christy felt, for the first time since college, free.
Pairing: Christy/Mark
Rating: PG
Disclaimer: TSN and its characters are not mine.
Summary: Christy was still growing into her skin when she first met Mark.
Author's Notes: A special thanks to reogulus, who helped me throughout the writing process and gave the the push I needed. Also, another thanks to everyone at Chatzy for being a wonderful support base. <3
Christy met Mark first.
He was in her electrical engineering lecture, sitting in the back row. Christy knew because she came late that day, so she took the seat next to him. There was a worksheet handed out before she arrived. She didn’t get one because there were no more copies. Christy swallowed her embarrassment and watched the PowerPoint lecture with obvious gaps that the worksheet would have helped her fill.
A piece of paper slid on her desk. It was a copy of the worksheet.
She looked at the guy next to her. Curly hair, bored expression on his face, leaning back on the chair, gazing down his nose at the lecture as if he was better than everyone else.
“Don’t you need this?”
“No.”
Christy was grateful, but she was a bit miffed at this guy’s arrogance. She wondered if he was one of those guys who talked shit out of his ass.
But then the professor asked a question and he answered it correctly while the rest of the class shuffled through the worksheet to find the answer.
Christy was impressed.
***
Christy’s mom called. She asked why Christy would choose engineering as a major because it was too hard for a girl. She sounded angry.
An ugly happiness crept into her heart. It was wrong, but Christy was happy that her mom was angry.
***
Christy never sat next to Mark again because she showed up to lecture on time ever since.
***
She later found out that his name was Mark Zuckerberg from her roommate, who ranted about Facesmash and feminism for several hours.
Christy laughed. Her roommate glared at her, but it was worth it.
***
Christy got a new roommate. Her name is Alice.
She liked Alice.
***
She later found out that Mark Zuckerberg created something called Thefacebook from Alice, who ranted about Thefacebook and how she’ll ‘totallly tap Mark’ for several hours.
Christy didn’t laugh. She listened.
***
Christy walked past her ex-roommate once. They hated each other, but the other girl stopped her for a chat. She began gushing about Thefacebook and how cool Mark Zuckerberg was.
Christy talked about feminism.
Her ex-roommate left.
***
Bill Gates came to give a talk. Christy went because he was Bill Gates.
She spotted Mark right away. She asked the guy next to him if that really was Mark, but inside, she knew.
The guy was hot. Christy asked if Mark and he wanted a drink with them later. The guy said yes.
Later, when Christy told Alice, Alice asked if she could have Mark; Christy could have Eduardo.
Christy liked Alice, so she said yes.
***
Hearing Mark on the other side of the stall was hot. And annoying because it Alice who got that noise from him.
***
Christy’s mom called and asked if she had a boyfriend yet. Christy said no. Her mom said that decent girls dated decent guys. Guys who made money and wore nice suits. Guys who asked girls out first and gave them nice presents.
***
Mark walked into lecture one day with the same hoodie he’d been wearing for the past two weeks.
***
Eduardo asked Christy if she wanted to have coffee sometimes. She said yes.
The dark blazer looked good on him.
***
Alice said she was going out with some guy. It wasn’t Mark.
***
Christy sat by Mark in the next lecture.
***
“Facebooked. Facebook me,” said Mark. “I like it.”
“Thanks.”
Christy smiled at Mark for the first time. Mark nodded and turned his attention back to the lecture.
***
Eduardo said he didn’t understand Mark because Mark didn’t want advertisers to monetize the site. He said Mark mumbled some nonsense about “not being cool,” which Eduardo didn’t understand because if there was nothing supporting the site, being cool would be the least of their problem.
Christy must not have understood Eduardo very well because she thought Mark made perfect sense.
***
Christy’s mom called. She told Christy that another cousin of hers was getting married.
She also told Christy that she liked Eduardo, and that Christy should bring him home over spring break. It was the first time she approved someone in Christy’s life.
Christy said yes, she’ll bring him home.
***
Eduardo was really nice. He brought gifts for her parents and sat through dinner patiently while her mother hammered on. They slept in separate bedrooms, but he gave her a good night kiss before they went to bed.
Eduardo was really nice.
***
Christy found out later that Mark didn’t go home over break. He was alone.
***
Mark looked exhausted.
***
“I know someone,” Christy told Mark. “You’ll like him.”
“Okay.”
***
Sean Parker was awesome. Eduardo was prissier than usual.
Christy didn’t understand Eduardo sometimes.
***
During the car ride, Christy wondered how it would feel if she leaned against Mark instead of Eduardo.
***
Eduardo was sturdy. Mark wasn’t. Mark moved too fast and Christy knew that she wouldn’t be able to keep up with him.
Eduardo would stay for her.
Mark wouldn’t. You either kept up with him or got left behind.
***
Christy wished she was stronger. Strong enough to leave someone behind. Only she wouldn't because she didn't want to be lonely.
***
Christy hated engineering. She didn’t know why it was her major.
“Engineering,” her cousin, who was getting married into a big-name business family, said flatly.
“Her boyfriend is into business, did you know that-” her mother said, but Christy didn’t need to hear the rest because she already knew. $300,000 one summer. Oil. Weather. She knew.
Christy continued with her engineering major anyway. Her resolve sounded so pathetic against Eduardo's accomplishments, but at least Eduardo was a nice guy.
***
It would been worse if Christy dated Mark.
***
“What are you trying to prove?” asked Mark.
Christy looked at him. She could deny it, but Mark was too intelligent for that. She wasn’t going to attempt making a fool out of him because she would only be embarrassing herself.
“What are you trying to prove?” She shot back instead. She briefly wondered how pissed the Winklevoss must be, how pissed Eduardo will be.
Mark turned back to the lecture, and that was that.
***
Pride was a beautiful, ugly thing.
***
Mark left for California.
***
Christy sat in the next semester of her electrical engineering course alone.
***
“Eduardo is pulling away from me,” said Christy.
“Eduardo is pulling away from everyone,” Mark sighed. He sounded tired over the phone, exhausted to the bone. She wondered if he’d eaten yet. She wondered if he was in front of his laptop now, in the dark with only a faint blue light from the screen illuminating his face.
“Get some sleep, Mark” was all she said before the conversation ended.
***
Christy felt as if everything she had was slipping through her fingers like sand.
***
“You hated engineering, but you still major in it. Why?” Mark asked.
“My mom said that I wasn’t smart enough to be an engineer because I was a girl. I was seventeen and thought it would be fun to prove her wrong. And to piss her off,” said Christy.
“Happy with your decision?”
“No.”
***
Christy didn't like her major, but she was at an age where she had accepted her mediocrity. At least she was good at engineering, even if it was peeling her inside.
And she liked Eduardo enough.
She could have an okay life.
***
“Women,” sighed her uncle. “With all their crying and their drama-”
***
Eduardo broke up with her. He gave her a scarf. A fucking scarf. Christy hated scarves. They snaked around your neck, trapped you, and choked you slowly.
Christy let the scarf burned and wished it was Eduardo instead.
***
Eduardo was supposed to be a nice guy.
It wasn’t fair.
***
Christy heard about it later. Heard about the arrest and the lawsuits. She called Mark.
They said nothing to each other.
Christy let Mark’s gentle breathing filled the empty void Eduardo left behind.
She wondered if Mark was doing the same.
***
Christy moved back to her parents’ house after graduation. No job. No boyfriend. Nothing.
Her mother just shook her head and said, “I told you so. Why didn’t you just marry a nice boy? I was eighteen when I married and I’m happy. I didn't even have a Harvard degree.”
***
“Remember when you asked what I was trying to prove?”
“Yes. Why?”
“I’m not trying to prove anything. I was trying to find me.”
“Oh.”
Mark hung up.
Christy continued to boil pasta on the stove. It was a simple call, but for some reason, she began to cry. She didn’t sob, but tears slipped gently down her face, and softly the invisible scarf around her neck began to unwound.
She tried to wipe the tears from her face, but more kept coming, and finally, she stopped trying and let herself go.
A year later and Christy finally allowed herself to cry. A year later and Christy finally allowed herself to cry over Eduardo. Two years later and Christy finally allowed herself to cry over Mark leaving. Four years later and Christy finally allowed herself to cry because she didn’t want many things to happen but she let them happen anyway without fighting back, just because she was trying to prove absolutely nothing.
***
Christy moved out of her parents’ house.
***
Mark called her again. He congratulated her. She thanked him.
***
“What are we doing?” Christy asked.
“What do you mean?”
“These phone calls.”
There was a pause, then, “You called me first.”
“You gave me your number.”
They danced around each other, and at the end, nothing happened.
***
The Facebook office looked amazing in person, all bright lights and open space and energetic people.
Mark was sitting in his office. Christy could walk in and say hi, but she was content to sit and watch him through the glass. Then Mark stopped working and rose from his seat, probably to get lunch (he actually ate during meal times now, Christy knew because he told her in those late night phone calls).
Mark saw her. He looked different. Stronger. Healthier. Happier.
Christy waved.
“You’ve grown,” Christy said as Mark approached her.
“You have as well,” said Mark when Christy stood, her heels making her a good inch taller than him.
“It’s the heels.”
“What are you doing here?” asked Mark.
Christy hesitated. Then, “I want to be here.”
“Really?”
“Yeah. Would you like to go out with me to lunch?”
“Will this be a date?”
Christy thought about how her mother wanted her to date a nice guy who always asked the girl out first, who wore nice suit and made money. She thought about how she was supposed to be many things, how she forced herself to be many things, how all of those things proved nothing.
Christy thought about what she wanted instead. She thought about the person that she really was.
“Yes.”
“Not trying to prove anything?”
“No.”
Mark smiled.
Christy felt, for the first time since college, free.