A Valley High kinda story. Sorta
Back in the days I used to have boy-crushes all the time. I’m certain a large part was due to the fact that I was highly insecure as a female and wanted to be validated by the opposite gender.
I’m not hideously ugly, but I’m far from gorgeous and glamor (like my new friend Sandy! who is also Chinese who have beautiful facial features). Besides, I don’t wear make-up or high heels or bat my eyelashes at the opposite gender. But I just wanted to be like other girls who have boys swarming around them. Heck I’d settle for one boy (but of course not just any boy). High school is tough. Mixed with a dose of raging puberty hormones and loads of peer pressure, it’s not pretty. In hind sight, it was for the best that no one fell for me. I was still a kid!
In college I gained more confidence. It wasn’t easy but I thought in college, boys would be a little more mature and some could look past the cliques and actually see me for who I am. So I thought.
Shortly after I started college, someone showed me how IRC worked and I was instantly hooked. (This was 1995, the days of archaic internet.) Instead of going to parties or checking out people at the bars, I hung out in the library or the computer labs. I can type out what I wanted to say, proofread it before hitting the enter key. The chances of saying the wrong thing or saying something in the wrong way was much lower than if you’re in front of someone, and being a non-native English speaker, that was tremendous to me. I heart IRC.
One evening, shortly before Christmas break, someone from within my university messaged me. We chatted for a short while, and again the next few days. Christmas break was coming up and I wouldn’t have internet access once I go home for break. He asked for my phone number so that he can continue talking with me. What was I going to say, no? He wanted to talk to me! He liked talking to me! Over the next few weeks, we talked on the phone quite a bit, from anything to everything. It seemed as though we had a good rapport going, and yet we still don’t know what the other person looked like. It was exciting to be able to talk with a guy so comfortably about anything. I wasn’t used to this.
And his voice. OMG his voice.
After break was over and everyone came back to tackle the new semester, we continued to talk on the phone. I kind of knew where he lived and what sort of classes he was taking, and tried to guess who he was. It was insanely exhilarating, not knowing if I’m walking past the same guy on campus that I just spent hours on the phone with yesterday evening. The suspense didn’t last long. He wanted to know who I was, where I was, mainly, what I looked like I suppose. Naturally so did I.
I didn’t want to go on a blind date. I’ve never been on one. I’ve heard all sorts of horror stories and I wasn’t keen on the idea.
So we devised a plan. Stay tuned for tomorrow’s post (if I get to it tomorrow) to find out more.
I don’t mean to put the suspense on you, too. But the time is ticking away and it’s nearly midnight! Must hit the “publish” button, right now.
Updated: Read Part II here.