After chatting with an online friend for over a year, we finally met in person. On the day of our meeting, I discovered that my online friend was laughing and joking with my roommate at the agreed meeting place. I was left feeling betrayed, as my roommate ended up meeting my online friend instead of me...
Chapter 1
May 21st was the day John Howe and I had agreed to finally meet in person. I was so excited that I couldn't sleep all night.
John and I met on a video platform. Initially, he was interested in a Spanish teaching video I posted. He wanted to share it with his sister, so he messaged me privately for the materials.
Generously, I added him on WhatsApp and sent him the materials for free.
Why didn't I charge him? John asked me the same question.
I told him my intention was to share the public selflessly, but honestly, I lied.
I did want to make some pocket money by sharing those materials!
But when I saw John's profile picture, my mind quickly changed gears, and I hastily decided not to charge him.
After all, talking money would lose a good chance of meeting a handsome guy, while leaving a good first impression is the right path!
As we continued to chat, John was deeply attracted to my quirky and youthful charm.
I could sense that his feelings for me were a bit different.
When we played video games together, I was always clumsy, yet John never minded. He patiently guided me through tasks, giving me everything he could.
He even surprised me with rare weapons and exclusive skins, which required quite a lot of currency to exchange in game.
Gradually, my fondness for him skyrocketed, like a thermometer with no upper limit.
Every day, I eagerly anticipated when he would come online or kept an eye on WhatsApp for his messages.
A single word or emoji from him could brighten my entire day, while his absence could dampen my mood.
As they said, the anxiety of gain and loss was the beginning of love.
So, I fell in love. Of course, John had expectations for me too.
He often suggested meeting up, hoping we could take our online relationship offline. After all, our cities were only a 30-minute high-speed train ride apart.
This step forward was purely about becoming real-life friends, without any ulterior motives.
This was one of the things I liked and appreciated about John. Online, he never pressured me like other guys did. There were no inappropriate jokes, no requests for photos, or video chats. At most, we only had voice chats. His voice matched his profile picture perfectly-cool and attractive.
I was actually resistant to exchanging photos.
After all, I didn't have a model's face!
I weighed 110 pounds, stood 1.60 meters tall, and had an average face that blended into the crowd. A nobody.
I wasn't sure how I could impress John if we met. My quirky voice? My youthful charm?
So, I always politely declined his requests to meet.
Yet, on the other hand, I secretly planned for a meeting that would be advantageous for me.
I wasn't going to take the risk.
I decided to take a roundabout approach, aiming to be both gorgeous and slender. If I could achieve the latter, maybe I'd earn some extra points.
With a firm resolve to make a lasting impression with John, I finally managed to maintain my weight at 98 pounds. Paired with my cute face, if John happened to like the adorable type, I might just stand a chance...
So I struck while the iron was hot. Seeing the stable numbers on the scale, I stopped hesitating and delaying, and arranged to meet John. We set the date for May 21st. A day of good weather, making it a popular day for dating. If our meeting went well, it would definitely be a day worth remembering!
"Just when I was feeling smug and confident, life threw a cold splash of reality at me.