“Okay, after class, we are all sitting down and swiping away. I want to see if this app is truly on to something or if I’m just getting lucky.”
“Well, we all know you aren’t getting lucky”—Macy winks—“but at least you’re having good conversations.”
Throughout the class, I cannot focus one bit, as my mind is fully on Online David. I’m dying to know what he really looks like, and it’s starting to freak me out a little. I’m really falling for this guy, but what if he’s not my type? Can I still be with a guy I’m not physically attracted to?
I have to keep reminding myself that one of my friends suggested him, so he can’t be that bad. I’m just nervous. I pray this is all real and it doesn’t change once we are in person together.
After yoga, we all go to the little coffee shop on the corner.
“Okay,” Chasity says as she pulls out her phone. “Let’s get to swiping. I’m sick of spending my weekends dateless.” She opens the app, then looks up at me. “Your name is Jenelle on here? How did I not notice that before?”
She shows me the screen, where my face is floating in a bubble in the upper corner.
“Oh, yeah, I used the name Jenelle just in case things got weird with a guy. I figured my name was on the more uncommon side, so I didn’t want him to figure out who I was in case I didn’t like him.”
“That’s actually pretty smart.”
I shrug. “I thought I could just explain why and he’d understand if we actually made it to meeting each other.”
She nods, then turns her screen to face us again. “Oh, he’s cute! Who should I recommend him to?”
Both Candace and Macy answer, “Me,” at the same time, making me giggle since they don’t even look at the photo while they are digging out their own phones to do the same thing.
“You’re not supposed to show the picture!” I announce, swatting the phone down so they don’t see what she’s trying to show them.
“Oh, please. You were dying to know what this Online David looked like after that first day, so don’t give us that,” Macy chimes in.
“Yeah, and I’m glad Joey didn’t tell me anything more. It really is nice, just getting to know the guy.”
“Well, I’m going to recommend every cute guy to both of you to up your chances. And you guys do the same for me.” Chasity swipes away on her phone.
“What if we get matched with the same guy and he starts talking to both of us?” Candace asks with her eyes wide, looking around at all of us.
“You would think in a place like New York City, there would be enough guys for us to choose from.” Macy tries to calm her concern. “They said they had a few hundred people sign up the first day, and I know more people have been added since then, so we should be fine.”
“More people, as in females only?” Chasity jokes. “I hope they are getting guys to sign up too!”
Macy waves her hand like she’s shooing away any bad vibes from the conversation. “They are; don’t worry. Keep swiping.”
David
“What’s going on?” I hold out my hand to Donny as I approach Central Park, where we meet to run every Saturday.
He slaps my hand. “Not much. Ready to blow off some steam for sure after the launch week.”
We both work our way through our pre-run stretches, getting ready for the three-mile course we’ve done for years now.
“How did it go?” I ask.
“Good. We’re up to over a thousand sign-ups, which is pretty good for not even a full week. We’re still working through some little glitches, but we’ll see how the first full seven days of talking goes. Hopefully, we’ll have some people who made it the whole way by Monday and are able to contact each other off the app.”
“Yeah, I might be one of them.” I pause as I wait for him to catch on to what I just said.
He stops mid-stretch and looks up at me. “No shit? That girl Chad recommended to you?”
I hold my hands out to my sides. “The one and only match I got.”
“How is it going, just talking to her?”
