It shouldn't have been so perfect. If I honestly sit back and listen to the rational part of my mind speaking, I know it's borderline crazy. Well, not insane, but if my friends knew they'd probably think I had a screw loose somewhere. Several screws in fact, labeled 'Common Sense' and 'Being Realistic.'
We've known each other for so many years, felt such strong feelings, and yet have never met. I think back on those sunswept afternoons in my dorm room, watching the leaves blowing by through the picture window, the sounds of footsteps in the hallway and voices calling to each other on the sidewalk. I can't count the hours I spent on the computer, waiting breathlessly for you to log on.
It hurt, having my first serious boyfriend break up with me. I remember the words he used, so lightly, as if it were something he said everyday. "You're such a tease, to leave me all blue-balled. But I just don't think we're right for each other, you know? We'll always be friends, though." As he went on, I could read between the lines - in short, I wouldn't have sex with him so he was moving on. For some reason, the phrase 'I'm a virgin' didn't seem to explain it all. How could I with a straight face and not blushing, tell him that his kiss was the first one that sent sparks shooting through me, that woke a nameless desire to wrap my legs around him and work closer to that unrealized peak of pleasure?
In tears I returned to my dorm room, sat down at the computer, and when you logged on I poured my heart out to you. He had introduced us some months ago, you an old friend of his, me his latest interest being both attractive and interested in gaming. You were sympathetic and kind, listening well and trying to explain the mysteries of nineteen year-old guys to me. We sat up for hours after that, long past when the footsteps quieted in the hall outside my door, almost until the sun came up again. Instead of slaying monsters in a mythical land, we sat on a rock together, our characters, and chatted about anything, everything. By the time the sun rose I felt like we had been friends for years. "For some reason, I trust you," you typed.
It took a few weeks, but I finally felt I was past the ex. You stood by me in support, in so much as someone can in text. Without ever having heard your voice, I felt like you were wrapping strong arms around me to comfort, as real as any of my many real life friends.
How many months, years, after that did I beg and plead for you to come see me? We grew closer as time went on, chatting nonstop whenever we could, staying up all weekend just to spend time together. If I took a step back, it seemed crazy to feel such a connection to someone three thousand miles away. Yet, I couldn't deny the warmth that kindled in my heart when you jokingly said we'd be perfect for each other, or how my heart skipped a beat and my breath stilled when late one night you wrote, "You are my soul mate, or close to it, but you live so far away." I remember how thrilled I was at our first phone conversation, your Southern drawl gentle and pleasing to the ear, your laughter deep and masculine.
If I'd had the money I would have bought you a plane ticket, though common sense still reminded me that I didn't know you at all. So many cases splashed across the news of young women abducted, assaulted, murdered, for letting their guard down and meeting someone they knew from online. This was different though. I've always trusted my instincts to steer me right, and all of them screamed at me to find some way, any way, to be in your arms.
Sometimes you disappeared for weeks, unable to handle the pain of separation, or so you said when you would surface again. I had no choice but to wait, achingly, for you to call or log on again. School kept me busy, but it didn't seem half as important as knowing when you were coming back. Sometimes I laid awake at night, crying silently so my roommate wouldn't hear, vowing to move on past this intangible love to something more real.
You dealt with a handful of guys I dated in moments of weakness, trying to drown the dream of being with you. The relationships never lasted long, perhaps a month at most, when I realized these guys didn't satisfy the soul-deep need to have someone understand me without judging. You even accepted when I made a mistake one night, believing someone's coaxing words of love, and lost the virginity I'd always wanted to save as a prize for true love. In the end, I always wanted to come back to you, which is strange thought when I'd never laid eyes on you, only pictures.
Ahh, the pictures. Your piercing blue eyes and hair like sun-kissed brown silk. I wanted to run my hands through it, leave it the way it showed all touseled over your forehead. The mischief in your eyes matched the voice, laughter dancing in them, and I longed to lock my gaze with yours for real.
In spite of the depth of our feelings, we never spoke of sex in more than a joking manner. Never more than silly innuendo or risque/obscene comments traded in chat. I remember you telling me late one night, tipsy from drinking with your brother, how if I was there just arms' length away that you wouldn't want to control yourself, that you would be all over me in an instant. Despite my usual regard for such statements from others, I laughed sadly to my computer screen and typed only, "I wish."
It's been six years since I 'met' you through that ex-boyfriend. Six years of hoping, wishing, but never quite believing you were real, that I would ever be able to reach out and touch you.