A little birthday present for Tropical Sorbet. It was going to be a o/s, but now I'm thinking 2, maybe three chapters. Thanks to Lidia and Susana for their help! Unbeta'd. Hope you like it.
I didn't do this.
I never, ever did this.
When Alice first suggested it. I laughed.
Looking for a boyfriend on the Internet, really? I wasn't even twenty-two yet.
I wasn't desperate for a boyfriend. I could get dates...if I wanted to.
But then Alice made me a profile on a dating website, and after a few too many glasses of wine, we spent an evening filling it out and then searching through my matches.
Most of my matches seemed like okay guys, but none of them really caught my eye.
"Oooh, Bella. That guy looks cute!" Alice pointed to a blond haired guy. I couldn't really see what he looked like, so I clicked on his profile to see a bigger pic of him.
"Alice, what the fuck. He has a ponytail. It looks longer than mine." I browsed through his interests. "Motorcycles and monster truck rallies? How do they figure this guy is a...fifty-seven percent match for me?"
"Maybe he has a sensitive side?" she giggled.
I glared at her. "Right. This is hopeless. A bad idea. Do you want more wine?"
She nodded and I stood up, going to the kitchen for a second bottle of wine.
"Bella!" Alice called from the living room. "How do you feel about World of Warcraft conventions?"
"I don't!" I yelled back.
"Okay, never mind."
When I came back to the living room, Alice was bouncing in her seat. "I found him!"
"Found who?" I sighed, pouring her a glass.
"Duh, your future husband," she took a gulp of her wine. "Come on and meet him."
I rolled my eyes and sat down beside her, filling up my own glass.
"His username is Cullen72. You guys have similar tastes in music. He likes outdoorsy stuff and books. Likes animals. On top of that, you're a ninety-four percent match!"
"I don't know, his profile is kind of...bare. You can't even see what he looks like." I squinted, trying to see his face in his profile picture. It was a full body shot and he was wearing a suit. He was definitely fit.
"Let's see..." Alice scrolled down to see what he filled in about his looks. "He's tall. 6'2. Green eyes, brown hair. One hundred and seventy pounds. He sounds hot, Bella. Green eyes."
I was a sucker for green eyes.
"Yeah, but what's he looking for in a girl?" I asked.
"Hmm. He's pretty vague. He didn't put anything in for physical looks. Just that you guys should share interests."
I read through his profile once more and the further I got through it, the more I was actually considering contacting him.
"Come on, Bella. Message him! I have a good feeling about this guy."
"I don't know," I repeated.
"Stop being such a fuddy-duddy. Just do it."
After taking another drink of wine, I agreed.
"Great!" Alice said, clicking on the message option. It's immediately goes to a page with subscription options. "Crap. You have to pay to message."
"Well, how much is it?" I asked.
"Uhh...it's sixty for a month subscription."
"Alice!" I groaned. "Just forget it."
"Nooo, come on, Bella. I'll pay for half. You can't miss out on meeting your future husband! The sixty dollars is so worth it."
Maybe it was the wine or maybe it was the fact I was starting to feel really intrigued about this guy. "Okay," I sighed. "Let me go get my credit card."
Alice squealed. "You won't regret this!"
Sixty dollars later, I was staring at an empty typing field.
"What do I say?"
"Umm, I don't know," Alice shrugged.
I glared at her. "Seriously? All this talk about future husbands and how you have a good feeling and you don't know what I should say?"
"Well, why don't you just say hi? Tell him that you saw his profile and you thought he was interesting. Then tell him a bit about yourself."
That sounded like a good idea, so I quickly wrote out a message for him. Before I could chicken out, I hit send.
"Now what?" I asked.
"I dunno," she shrugged. "More wine?"
I rolled my eyes at her and handed her the bottle. "Here, wino."
Alice stuck her tongue out at me and went back to looking at my matches.
"Bella! You have a new message!" Alice exclaimed, clicking on the notification box.
It was from Cullen72.
"What does it say?" I asked.
"Let's see..." she clicked it open and began to read.
"Hello, BSwan91.
I must say that I was intrigued as well upon looking at your profile. You're very beautiful. I was pleased to see that we also share many of the same interests. About you being concerned about the physical qualities I'm looking for in a woman, I wouldn't worry. I've learned long ago that what's inside counts more. Besides, we aren't a ninety-four percent match for nothing. ;)
-Edward"
"Wow, Bella. This guys is good." I nodded in agreement. "Are you gonna reply back?"
"Yeah. I mean, what's the harm?"
"Hi, Cullen72. Or can I call you Edward?
I was surprised to see you reply back so fast. It's kind of late here. Are you a night owl like me? I've never done this whole internet dating site thing before. Even tonight this was kind of a whim. Most of my matches didn't really seem like matches. For some reason, I seem to attract a lot of bikers, not sure why that is. I'm glad to hear that looks aren't all that matter to you. I have to say that while I don't think I'm ugly, I definitely rate myself as average. You said in your profile you enjoy reading, but didn't list what you like to read. I'd be interested in finding out.
-Bella"
"Aww, that's soo sweet, Bella!" Alice cooed. "BRB, I gotta go to the bathroom."
I laughed at Alice's text lingo and turned my attention back to my computer. I tried to not compulsively refresh the page, waiting to see if he would message me back. It was late, after midnight, he probably messaged me and then went to bed.
Five minutes later, Alice hadn't come back from the bathroom and I went to check on her, thinking she may have gotten sick.
She wasn't in the bathroom, so I went to look in my bedroom. Alice had curled up on my bed and was fast asleep, mouth wide open.
I grabbed a blanket from the foot of my bed and threw it over her, then went back to my computer.
I refreshed the browser and a new message notification pops up.
Almost giddily, I opened the new message and read it.
The next few hours passed the same.
I felt wide awake and apparently Edward felt the same.
We sent messages back and forth until it was starting to grow light outside. My eyes were closing against my will and my bed was calling my name as I waited for his response.
As if Edward could read my mind, his next message was shorter than the previous.
"Bella, It's late (or should I say early?) and I really should be getting to bed. Thanks for the conversation and company. What do you think about taking the conversation from computer to face to face? We could go for coffee or a drink, if you'd like.
Looking forward to hearing from you.
Sweet dreams, Edward."
I read and reread his message.
He wanted to meet me. In person.
When I had started messaging him, it was all in fun. The thought of actually meeting him in person hadn't even crossed my mind.
Did I want to meet him? Yes, I did.
I was just nervous. You heard all sorts of things about meeting people online and how unsafe it can be.
I mean, I had seen that Craigslist Killer movie on Lifetime, after all.
I decided not to answer his message and instead turned off my computer.
I'd sleep on it.
Leave a review and let me know what you think! Chapter two will come in the next few days.