What I think the characters look like. On the left, Stacy Travie. Just imagine glasses and acne. And on the right, Nick Cam. But without the cross necklace. Enjoy!
STACY
"Send me a pic of you."
"Nice try."
"Send me one of you."
"Mmhh. I can live with that."
"Wow,"
"What? Chris Hemsworth's hot."
"I bet you're hot."
"My goodness, if only you knew."
"Then let me know!"
"No!"
"Last name?"
"Not gonna happen."
"Worth a shot. I'll get it one way or another."
"😏"
"Haaaa! You used an emoji!"😲😃
"Yeah, I don't use them too often." 🤓
"I like it when you do."🙃
"😎"
"😜"
"🤪"
"👻"
"🐒"
"🐶"
"You seem to like to stick your tongue out."
"Only when I'm trying to flirt."
"That was flirting?"
"Yeah, don't you remember? I'm trying to make you fall in love with me so that I can kidnap you and murder you."
"Right, I almost forgot."
"I guess I got caught up in falling for you."
"I'm just that good at my job."
"Night!"
"Already?"
"Um, we both have school in the morning."
"Fine, night!"😚
I was blushing madly and my heart was leaping out of my chest as I laid in bed in the dark, my phone illuminating my face. His kissy face emoji had caught me off guard. For three weeks we have been texting now. It was so weird. I felt like I had a boyfriend or something.
NICK
The second day of March, Monday morning, I found myself loading a bus with the rest of my first period class. I sat down next to Kyle but texted my mystery girl the whole way to the museum. I asked why she was texting in class and she answered that she was on a school field trip. I couldn't believe the coincidences. Lately everything began to feel uncanny. Her Sadie Hawkins dance was the same day as mine. Both our schools were sniffed by dogs for drugs last Thursday, and an even more preternatural thing was when both our schools had a fire drill on the same day, at the same time. I was convinced she went to my school.
I poked my head up and looked over all the heads of my classmates on the bus to the museum. Everyone was either on their phone or sleeping. I decided to test my theory of my mystery girl being on the bus with me or not.
"Did you give my number to a random chick?"
"Maybe. She was annoying."
"Why did she want your number?"
"We're partners for some chemistry project and she acted like we were friends. I was getting irritated because she's such a loser and yeah. Gave her the wrong number when she asked for it."
"Well that was fucking rude."
"Whatever."
"What? Did she actually text you?"
"Oh my fucking God that is hilarious!"
"What did you say?"
"Nothing."
"Tell me what the girl's name is."
"Why? Do you liiiiike her?"
"Gross."
"Why is it gross?"
"You actually like her!"
"I can't believe it."
"Because. She's a whale."🐋
"What is a whale?"
"A fat chick who can't say no to the cookie."
"What did she ever do to you?"
"Name please?"
"She just thinks she's better than everyone else with her stupid religion and smart ass mind."
"So she's better than you."
"Shut the fuck up. She's not! I'm so much hotter than her. Girl can't even get a guy to look at her. Besides, if you did like her, she'd never go for you."
"What is that supposed to mean?"
"One you're a player and two you're not mormon. All that smoking and drinking and drug use needs to go."
"What's her name!?"
"Stacy."
"Last name?"
"Travie."
I didn't text back as I tried to think who this Stacy Travie was. I didn't know anyone named Stacy Travie.
"Yo, Kyle, you know anyone named Stacy Travie?" I nudged my friend who was half asleep. He moaned then poked one eye open.
"No," he simply said. I ignored him and turned to the guy across the aisle.
"Hey, Mark," I said. He turned to me. "You know anyone named Stacy Travie?" He shook his head. I motioned him to ask the girl next to him. She didn't know either. This Stacy girl was going to be harder to find than I thought. She was most definitely on this bus with me and I couldn't even find her. Where the hell was she?
"You still there?"
She texted me. I texted her back a question that would keep her from answering me until I called her later.
"Is your last name Travie?"
We got to the museum and I looked at every girl that was in my group. I didn't have enough time to investigate every girl with dark hair due to the teacher telling us to split up into groups of four. Kyle and I separated with two other guys and began wandering the museum. I kept looking over my shoulder and around me at other groups that passed by. I wasn't going to leave this museum until I found my mystery girl. The girl I've been crushing on for two weeks.
I stopped and read a brass plaque that explained the life of one of the founders of our town.
"Who's this?" Kyle came up beside me.
"Charles Croeker." I simply answered, shoving my hands into the pockets of my tan chinos.
"It's Charles Crocker." Both Kyle and I turned to the female voice and I caught my breath at the sight of the overweight girl from the park, who the teacher had called Stacy once.
It was my Stacy, and not once had she lied over the phone. She really had dark brown hair, but she didn't wear it luscious and flowing like I had imagined. Oh no. She had it up in a messy bun. She wore thick, hipster glasses and had acne on her face. I couldn't see her teeth but knew mettle brackets were hiding behind her juicy, pink lips.
"St—Stacy!" I finally let out. She looked at me quizzically then walked away. I studied her as her hips swayed and her big bum moved fluently with her movements. She was wearing dark, tight jeans and a button up pink shirt. She could pass for some professor or something. Maybe even a librarian. She was totally not my type. Not even close. I was into much thinner girls with blond hair. I also thought about what Jane said over text. Stacy was mormon. And I wasn't. Even if I did like the girl, she would never go out with me. I realized right there and then that no matter what, I was uglier than her, and that was a definite turn off for anyone as righteous as her.