Pathetically, I've noticed her in the halls, in class, and when she slides into Zane’s passenger seat of his red and white convertible Sebring after school. The rare times she isn't attached to her jock of a boyfriend, she's walking in her pack of cheerleader clones. They're all the same, but she stands out like a black rose in a bouquet of red petals. “You can't be like all of the rest of them. There's no fucking way.”
I continue to sit anxiously in my computer chair as my computer mouse hovers over the “Add Friend” button like it's a repelling magnet. The slick white surface grows damp in my clammy hands, and my nerves make me feel like I'm vibrating. “Come on, just add her. Don't be a fucking pussy.”What if she rejects me?The agonizing question is so loud, I can't think straight.
“Damn it, Andrew, just do it!” With one click, my whole eighteen years play before my eyes. “Holy shit. Holy fucking shit! I just sent the hottest girl in my class a friend request.” I laugh out loud in disbelief. “I actually fucking did it!” Then it hits me. I've sent the hottest girl in school a friend request on MySpace. “What the hell did I just do?” I hold my head in my hands, peeking through the open spaces in my fingers as I scan over my friends list.
The pictures of my fellow online friends are in a sea of leather, black concert tees, vibrant colored hair, and facial piercings. Candi’s cheerleading uniform will stick out like the spikes on my dog collar choker.
“She's going to see all of my friends and look the other way. How could I have been so fucking stupid?!” My eyes stay glued to my screen. Specifically, the tiny envelope in the corner. The longer I stare at my notifications, the more I’m going to make myself crazy. “I should just cancel the request, right? There's no way she'll accept mine.” My hands are shaking as I reluctantly move my mouse to the little icon, but something stops me. My “friends” are up by one. “Wait… What? No fucking way. It couldn't be her… She wouldn't have accepted me so fast…”
To my surprise, she proves me wrong. So very, very wrong. One more person in my collection of electronic friends, only this one isn't someone I've never met before who lives across the country or who wears mesh shirts and a million plastic bracelets on their wrists. It's her.It's Candi.“Shit. What the hell do I do?
New message.My notification lights up red again, and my anxiety doubles. “There's no way she wants to talk to me…” Curiosity gets the best of me, and I click on the tiny “1” that won't go away, no matter how much I think I'm hallucinating.
Hey.It's the first message from the girl I've watched from afar for almost four years. I've been waiting for this moment since I laid my eyes on her… but what the hell am I supposed to say? Mymind goes blank, I feel like my heart is about to slide out of my throat.
Wassup? How fucking original, dumbass.
XoXo:Candi:XoXo:
nmu?
Nothing much. You? It's a little underwhelming, but what else should I expect for a first-time message? It's not as if she's going to tell me she's been waiting for this moment for years, or how exciting it is to talk to me.
Misfit_Bassist:
Same. Just chillin.
The girl of your dreams just sent you a message, and that's all you want to say? Come on… think.
XoXo:Candi:XoXo:
Wow. Look at us. Two seniors that are doing nothing on a Friday night.
Misfit_Bassist:
Haha. Yeah… Wait… What? You're one of the most popular girls in our class, and you're doing nothing on a Friday night? It seems… unbelievable.
XoXo:Candi:XoXo:
I could say the same thing about you. You don't have a show or something?
A show? Does she know I'm in a band?
Misfit_Bassist:
Haha. No, I just finished band practice. Wait… How did you know I was in a band?
XoXo:Candi:XoXo:
Just a lucky guess. You draw in history almost every day. I just guessed they were band names… I liked the one from today. Blood Red something… in really cool graffiti lettering.
Misfit_Bassist:
Blood Red Serenade. That's the name of my band.
XoXo:Candi:XoXo:
Oh, ok :) Cool name! What do you play?
