Page 42 of Lucky Shot
PrettyInLace:I feel like this is going to feel like it’s a little too real and maybe… jumping… but I’m going to ask this question anyway. Do you think people who meet online have a real chance at life together outside of the platform in which they meet?
My breath catches as I read his question over and over again. And then remind myself that I shouldn’t read so much into it. Realistically,I knowwe’ve only been talking for like two weeks. Has it even been two weeks? Logically,I knowit’s far too soon to think that this is more than… a temporary online infatuation.
But my heart doesn’t get the memo.
I have to force myself not to just blurt out YES because I need a realistic answer. I need to make sure neither of us fall for something that could be the rosy version of a fairy tale and then ignore all the darker stuff underneath it.
DemiDefenseKip:I think people who meet online aren’t so different from those who meet in bars or clubs or… however else people meet. Horror stories are just as frequent in each circumstance. As are happy endings. I think it might be both easier and more difficult when meeting online because there are no social cues or tones to words. And then there’s the possibility that the person you’re talking to is 100% a lie.
DemiDefenseKip:But I also think that sometimes, something bigger than you might put you in the right place at the right time to meet someone special. Did you know that the last time I logged into this game before the night we ran into each other was more than five months prior?
PrettyInLace:Really? Why?
DemiDefenseKip:Life is busy, primarily. But why did I log in that night? I don’t know. I couldn’t sleep. And out of all the things I could have chosen to do to pass the time, I chose to log into the game I haven’t played in months.
DemiDefenseKip:And there you were.
PrettyInLace:I don’t want to sound naïve or anything, but… I really kind of like you. You feel like the first real person I’ve met in a very long time. Which, the irony is not lost on me considering the foundation of our friendship is in a fantasy game!
DemiDefenseKip:lol. Oh, I understand that feeling.
PrettyInLace:So… you didn’t really answer my question.
Because I don’t want to give either of us hope if this isn’t going to work.Two weeks,I remind myself. We barely know each other. We’ve spent those nights asking each other silly questions.
Except those questions have lead to bigger discussions. Conversations that revealed more about the other person layer by layer. He’s not wrong. He’s the first real person I’ve met in a very, very long time. Someone who isn’t enamored with the spotlight. Who isn’t spellbound by my bank account. With my lifestyle.
All this person knows about me are the things I reveal when he asks me if I want to go to space.
DemiDefenseKip:Yes. I think they do.
DemiDefenseKip:And as much as I’d like to say that maybe all the signs point to good things, I think maybe they need to take it slowly and not rush into it.
PrettyInLace:I don’t disagree. Even though I’m going to pretend I’m not disappointed you didn’t just propose or something. :D
I chuckle.
PrettyInLace:I kind of just wanted to see where you were at. If you felt the same way I did. So many people would scoff and immediately write this off. “You met in a fucking game. Grow up.” I can hear the mockery now.
DemiDefenseKip:I could say the same about a bar. It’s cliché and you’re as likely to pick up crabs as you are a decent human being.
PrettyInLace:Hahahaha some might say more likely to pick up crabs!
DemiDefenseKip:I like you too, Pretty. I’ve spent countless hours trying to convince myself that we don’t know each other since we’ve only been talking for two weeks. But the truth is, I want to keep talking to you. All the time. I think about you constantly.
PrettyInLace:In dresses?
DemiDefenseKip:Fuck, you have no idea!
PrettyInLace:I like that. I like this. Let’s keep doing it until we’re brave enough to do something else.
DemiDefenseKip:What is ‘something else’? Maybe we should set an expectation for what we’re working toward?
PrettyInLace:Well, we’re in a game right now. I suppose the next most logical step would be to graduate from the game? Maybe phone numbers? It’s both terrifying and exhilarating thinking about it that way. Phone numbers make you a real person. You know?
DemiDefenseKip:I definitely know what you mean. Considering even most of the people I talk to on a daily basis don’t have my phone number since we just use messaging apps, it’s kind of a really big deal.
One I’m secretly chomping at the bit to get to.
